Mar 14, 2020, 4:58 pm
Last edit by: corporate-wage-slave
BA Covid-19 Rebooking / Cancellation / Refund Help & Advice
If your flight is cancelled by BA:
Commercial booking: Your options are: cash refund OR Future Travel Voucher (FTV) OR rebooking OR Avios credit
Redemption booking: Your options are: full refund of cash and Avios OR FTV OR rebooking.
BA Holidays booking: You should be given a refund pro-actively.
If your flight is cancelled by BA - any flight in the PNR - you can get a full refund so long as you booked directly with BA. You can only get a refund by telephoning BA. Refunds are taking between a few hours to a few weeks to be repaid, depending on the sort of booking made. If you don't wish to travel you can opt for an FTV or eVoucher valid for travel until 30 April 2022, though flights more than 355 days away are not currently bookable - flights are enabled at 355 days before departure. Vouchers such as 2-4-1 are also thereby extended. You can do this even if the flight is operating. The best advice we can give is to delay opting for an eVoucher options until the last moment, since if BA cancel your flight you have more options. BA have also adjusted the Standard Customer Guidelines so that if BA cancel the flight you can be rebooked to anytime in 12 months after you originally bought the ticket, so long as there is space in the cabin - there is no need to have a fare bucket available or Avios availability. If you choose the Avios credit you will get between 108 to 126 Avios per GBP of your fare. Note older posts in this thread may now be inaccuarate since the current policy has been amended several times.
===
If your flight is not cancelled but you don't wish to travel
Commercial booking: If you are eligible for Buy with Confidence, you can have an FTV valid until April 2022. Rebooking may lead to a fare recalculation but no change fee.
Redemption booking: Your can do the normal Avios refund, with the redeposit fee capped at GBP 35 per person. Alternatively for the same fee you can rebook to new dates subject to availability. Alternatively you can have an FTV.
BA Holidays booking: You may be get a refund proactively, otherwise you are looking at an FTV for at least the flight component of your trip, maybe for all components.
If all of the flights in your booking are still scheduled and you don't wish to travel then you best wait until a few days before departure in case there is a cancellation. As you can see above, a cancellation gives you better options. You are in scope with Buy with Confidence if you are flying between now and completing travel before 31 August 2021, also if you bought your ticket after 3 March and due to complete all flights before September 2021. The BA web page on this is:
ba.com/confidence
===
Below are some of the options / workarounds being suggested in order to obtain a refund as opposed to a Future Travel Voucher, but they probably no longer work:
Refund of Cancelled Flights:
Paid Seating Refund:
Bookings made using Lloyds Upgrade Voucher
You should expect to receive:
Lloyds Upgrade Voucher Notes
If your flight is cancelled by BA:
Commercial booking: Your options are: cash refund OR Future Travel Voucher (FTV) OR rebooking OR Avios credit
Redemption booking: Your options are: full refund of cash and Avios OR FTV OR rebooking.
BA Holidays booking: You should be given a refund pro-actively.
If your flight is cancelled by BA - any flight in the PNR - you can get a full refund so long as you booked directly with BA. You can only get a refund by telephoning BA. Refunds are taking between a few hours to a few weeks to be repaid, depending on the sort of booking made. If you don't wish to travel you can opt for an FTV or eVoucher valid for travel until 30 April 2022, though flights more than 355 days away are not currently bookable - flights are enabled at 355 days before departure. Vouchers such as 2-4-1 are also thereby extended. You can do this even if the flight is operating. The best advice we can give is to delay opting for an eVoucher options until the last moment, since if BA cancel your flight you have more options. BA have also adjusted the Standard Customer Guidelines so that if BA cancel the flight you can be rebooked to anytime in 12 months after you originally bought the ticket, so long as there is space in the cabin - there is no need to have a fare bucket available or Avios availability. If you choose the Avios credit you will get between 108 to 126 Avios per GBP of your fare. Note older posts in this thread may now be inaccuarate since the current policy has been amended several times.
===
If your flight is not cancelled but you don't wish to travel
Commercial booking: If you are eligible for Buy with Confidence, you can have an FTV valid until April 2022. Rebooking may lead to a fare recalculation but no change fee.
Redemption booking: Your can do the normal Avios refund, with the redeposit fee capped at GBP 35 per person. Alternatively for the same fee you can rebook to new dates subject to availability. Alternatively you can have an FTV.
BA Holidays booking: You may be get a refund proactively, otherwise you are looking at an FTV for at least the flight component of your trip, maybe for all components.
If all of the flights in your booking are still scheduled and you don't wish to travel then you best wait until a few days before departure in case there is a cancellation. As you can see above, a cancellation gives you better options. You are in scope with Buy with Confidence if you are flying between now and completing travel before 31 August 2021, also if you bought your ticket after 3 March and due to complete all flights before September 2021. The BA web page on this is:
ba.com/confidence
===
Below are some of the options / workarounds being suggested in order to obtain a refund as opposed to a Future Travel Voucher, but they probably no longer work:
Refund of Cancelled Flights:
- Call BA (no longer a requirement to be travelling in the next 72 hours, you may need to make repeated calls to get through). Telephone numbers are in this thread, but you can also find them on BA.com at the bottom left of the website, under Help and Contacts.
- Online forms (Post #435 - corporate-wage-slave) - manual process which may take many weeks
Paid Seating Refund:
- https://www.britishairways.com/trave...ing_claim_form (Post #765 - travelhappypair)
Bookings made using Lloyds Upgrade Voucher
You should expect to receive:
- Full refund of Avios and money paid
- A new voucher issued, which has validity for 6 months (from the date of issue, i.e. when you request the 'refund')
Lloyds Upgrade Voucher Notes
- Flights can be used within 12 months, so it will be good for travel up until the end 6 months plus 12 months if you book just before the new expiry
- It's been advised to take the voucher instead of rebooking as it gives me more flexibility.
- The original expiry date of the voucher was irrelevant because the booking was cancelled.
- You must book within 6 months of the voucher being issued and the ticket has 12 months validity so you can change flights after, provided the new flights are within the 12 month window.
- You won't receive any email, only the refund and the miles.
- Use the Qantas website and look back to your original PNR. Step by step guide in post 954
Covid-19 BA Rebooking/Cancellation/Refund HELP & ADVICE *No Speculation etc*
Nov 5, 2020, 4:30 pm
#4456
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Newcastle UK
Posts: 1,114
Hi. I have a domestic connecting (with stopovers at LHR) to international return soon. The domestics have schedule changes. The final return domestic flight has been brought forward by 2 hrs 15 mins. Is this fine for requesting a full refund rather than ANOTHER FTV? Thanks.
Nov 5, 2020, 4:45 pm
#4457
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,967
you would need a schedule change of 4 hours or more now to be able to request a full refund.
this changed from 2 hours in late september https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32709124-post4001.html
this changed from 2 hours in late september https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32709124-post4001.html
Nov 5, 2020, 4:50 pm
#4458
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,967
(Found out the answer from BA Call Center. See bottom of post)
Outbound flight LHR to MLE got cancelled. This was a 241 voucher Avios redemption booking.
Tried to select new dates in the online tool, but it keeps telling me there is no availability. I searched through the normal cash booking engine, and there are seats available for cash. Tried multiple dates, no luck.
Also checked dates with Avios availability (to see if its just a cash vs Avios availability thing) but also keep getting the same message.
Anyone know if this is a bug or something I need to do different?
Don't want to have to call the BA line and be on hold for ages if I can get this rebooking done online.
Answer: I was told by BA call center that they can only rebook to any available class in the same cabin, only within 14 days of original flight. If other dates, it needed to be X class as that was my redemption class.
Outbound flight LHR to MLE got cancelled. This was a 241 voucher Avios redemption booking.
Tried to select new dates in the online tool, but it keeps telling me there is no availability. I searched through the normal cash booking engine, and there are seats available for cash. Tried multiple dates, no luck.
Also checked dates with Avios availability (to see if its just a cash vs Avios availability thing) but also keep getting the same message.
Anyone know if this is a bug or something I need to do different?
Don't want to have to call the BA line and be on hold for ages if I can get this rebooking done online.
Answer: I was told by BA call center that they can only rebook to any available class in the same cabin, only within 14 days of original flight. If other dates, it needed to be X class as that was my redemption class.
Nov 5, 2020, 7:29 pm
#4459
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 5
(Found out the answer from BA Call Center. See bottom of post)
Outbound flight LHR to MLE got cancelled. This was a 241 voucher Avios redemption booking.
Tried to select new dates in the online tool, but it keeps telling me there is no availability. I searched through the normal cash booking engine, and there are seats available for cash. Tried multiple dates, no luck.
Also checked dates with Avios availability (to see if its just a cash vs Avios availability thing) but also keep getting the same message.
Anyone know if this is a bug or something I need to do different?
Don't want to have to call the BA line and be on hold for ages if I can get this rebooking done online.
Answer: I was told by BA call center that they can only rebook to any available class in the same cabin, only within 14 days of original flight. If other dates, it needed to be X class as that was my redemption class.
Outbound flight LHR to MLE got cancelled. This was a 241 voucher Avios redemption booking.
Tried to select new dates in the online tool, but it keeps telling me there is no availability. I searched through the normal cash booking engine, and there are seats available for cash. Tried multiple dates, no luck.
Also checked dates with Avios availability (to see if its just a cash vs Avios availability thing) but also keep getting the same message.
Anyone know if this is a bug or something I need to do different?
Don't want to have to call the BA line and be on hold for ages if I can get this rebooking done online.
Answer: I was told by BA call center that they can only rebook to any available class in the same cabin, only within 14 days of original flight. If other dates, it needed to be X class as that was my redemption class.
If we wanted to stay until the 16th or close to that, will they offer a rerouting option with Qatar does anyone know? Trying to figure out if my 11 day holiday must be cut short or not...
Nov 6, 2020, 5:31 am
#4460
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 398
I assume BA has a duty of care for those stranded. I actually don’t expect that BA will be very liberal at a) rebooking onto other carriers or b) refunding accommodation and meal costs for a rather long additional stay given that these drain cash.
Does anyone have any experiences with claiming accommodation& food expenses from BA for e.g. 2 weeks? I would assume if they delay your journey home by e.g. 2 weeks they would be required to compensate you for your stay if they don’t offer you a rerouting under comparable conditions. Or am I wrong about this?
My only experience with them is a one night stay (actually we had to leave one day early, I don’t think this would have fallen under EU261) and after some initial hesitation from their side they ended up refunding us for the one night we couldn’t stay. That was pre-corona though.
While I feel for BA as this is somewhat out of their control, someone in revenue management will have run the numbers and decided that its cost effective to cancel, well knowing that they ll have to pay for rerouting and/or accommodation for some share of these passengers.
Does anyone have any experiences with claiming accommodation& food expenses from BA for e.g. 2 weeks? I would assume if they delay your journey home by e.g. 2 weeks they would be required to compensate you for your stay if they don’t offer you a rerouting under comparable conditions. Or am I wrong about this?
My only experience with them is a one night stay (actually we had to leave one day early, I don’t think this would have fallen under EU261) and after some initial hesitation from their side they ended up refunding us for the one night we couldn’t stay. That was pre-corona though.
While I feel for BA as this is somewhat out of their control, someone in revenue management will have run the numbers and decided that its cost effective to cancel, well knowing that they ll have to pay for rerouting and/or accommodation for some share of these passengers.
Nov 6, 2020, 5:39 am
#4461
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,021
I would have thought a duty of care would be restricted in the amount you can spend; it doesn't automatically mean you can stay in the resort you chose for your holiday, without having to foot some of the bill. I've seen £200 a night mentioned on the forum before, so you may need to move to a cheaper place, if your dream holiday included an expensive hotel.
Nov 6, 2020, 5:55 am
#4462
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
When EC261/2004 applies, BA has no other choice other than to rebook those affected passengers to another airline or providing hotel accommodation plus meals until the rebooked flight.
I don't know how many of the people here would deal with EC261/2004 complaints to the appropriate government body in the UK or in a legal jurisdiction but if you complain to the relevant place or go to court, you would definitely get what you want.
I don't know how many of the people here would deal with EC261/2004 complaints to the appropriate government body in the UK or in a legal jurisdiction but if you complain to the relevant place or go to court, you would definitely get what you want.
Nov 6, 2020, 5:57 am
#4463
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,809
I’m in the same position. Flew out to MLE in F on the 5th. Scheduled to return on the 16th and just received cancellation email. No availability comes up using the online rebooking options.
If we wanted to stay until the 16th or close to that, will they offer a rerouting option with Qatar does anyone know? Trying to figure out if my 11 day holiday must be cut short or not...
If we wanted to stay until the 16th or close to that, will they offer a rerouting option with Qatar does anyone know? Trying to figure out if my 11 day holiday must be cut short or not...
It's not clear to me if you are on a commercial (cash) booking, a redemption (Avios) booking or BA Holidays (inclusive tour), and these all make a difference. Rather than go through all the scenarios, they should allow you to switch to Qatar, but there are some complications given all the variables. The best thing to do is to use Skype to call the right part of BA, with your preferred option on QR written out and hopefully it will be easy to do.
Nov 6, 2020, 6:09 am
#4464
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 582
I called up BA on the 0800 number this morning to request a refund for a cancelled cash flight booking. I’ve received a confirmation email with subject ‘cancellation and refund Ref PNR’ The email states passenger names and ticket numbers but does not state the amount that will be refunded. Last week I cancelled a BA Holidays standalone hotel booking and the cancellation email did state the refund amount. Should the flight booking cancellation email state the refund amount?
Nov 6, 2020, 6:15 am
#4465
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 5
Does anyone have any experience with a flight showing cancelled in flight status but not on Manage My Booking, Ba are trying to tell me its showing cancelled by mistake but all the flights on this leg (Heathrow to Aberdeen) are also showing cancelled from 10 nov onwards - if I wait until they officially cancel it I could get stuck in London ? Is this a ploy to make me
pay to change the flight instead of waiting for them to “officially” cancel it ?
pay to change the flight instead of waiting for them to “officially” cancel it ?
Nov 6, 2020, 6:39 am
#4466
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,809
I called up BA on the 0800 number this morning to request a refund for a cancelled cash flight booking. I’ve received a confirmation email with subject ‘cancellation and refund Ref PNR’ The email states passenger names and ticket numbers but does not state the amount that will be refunded. Last week I cancelled a BA Holidays standalone hotel booking and the cancellation email did state the refund amount. Should the flight booking cancellation email state the refund amount?
Nov 6, 2020, 6:44 am
#4467
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,809
Does anyone have any experience with a flight showing cancelled in flight status but not on Manage My Booking, Ba are trying to tell me its showing cancelled by mistake but all the flights on this leg (Heathrow to Aberdeen) are also showing cancelled from 10 nov onwards - if I wait until they officially cancel it I could get stuck in London ? Is this a ploy to make me
pay to change the flight instead of waiting for them to “officially” cancel it ?
pay to change the flight instead of waiting for them to “officially” cancel it ?
Nov 6, 2020, 6:49 am
#4468
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 5
Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum Sarah R. If you want to give the date and flight number I can check to see if there is a cancellation, but in essence if you could now make a new booking for the flight on BA.com then as things stand the flight is operating. You may be able to move flights via MMB. I doubt you will get stuck in London; Apart from the EDI flights, there is a regular train service to Aberdeen which is operating. It won't be a ploy, after a while the various IT limitations of BA will become more evident to you.
Nov 6, 2020, 6:52 am
#4469
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 5
Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum Graeme Underwood.
It's not clear to me if you are on a commercial (cash) booking, a redemption (Avios) booking or BA Holidays (inclusive tour), and these all make a difference. Rather than go through all the scenarios, they should allow you to switch to Qatar, but there are some complications given all the variables. The best thing to do is to use Skype to call the right part of BA, with your preferred option on QR written out and hopefully it will be easy to do.
It's not clear to me if you are on a commercial (cash) booking, a redemption (Avios) booking or BA Holidays (inclusive tour), and these all make a difference. Rather than go through all the scenarios, they should allow you to switch to Qatar, but there are some complications given all the variables. The best thing to do is to use Skype to call the right part of BA, with your preferred option on QR written out and hopefully it will be easy to do.
Nov 6, 2020, 6:56 am
#4470
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,809
J9 C9 D0 R0 I0 Y9 B7 H2 K0 M0 L0 V0 N0 O0 Q9 S9 G9
which means not full, but BA want to sell more expensive tickets at this point before perhaps cutting fares.