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 12, 2020, 2:05 pm
#4591
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 487
As cws noted this really doesn't seem right. I don't see how an online evoucher can hold anything other than cash. The whole point of an evoucher is you can use it online, so it seems bizarre to issue you with one when you can't.
If the voucher holds anything else such as avios or voucher it should be an offline FTV.
If the voucher holds anything else such as avios or voucher it should be an offline FTV.
Are there any BA insiders on Flyertalk who can provide further insight?
Last edited by doctoravios; Nov 12, 2020 at 2:13 pm
Nov 12, 2020, 2:53 pm
#4592
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: London. Edinburgh, Cornwall
Programs: BA GGL, British Midland Lifetime* Loser
Posts: 7,950
Don't get BA Amex to to a chargeback; BA will just sit on the refund for another 2 months.
Still waiting for a Sep 1 refund of a *full fare, fully-flexible, fully-refundable* ticket. Now told it won't be refunded until the end of December "because of the chargeback".
Still waiting for a Sep 1 refund of a *full fare, fully-flexible, fully-refundable* ticket. Now told it won't be refunded until the end of December "because of the chargeback".
Nov 12, 2020, 3:23 pm
#4593
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 798
Yes, the "Period" section makes it clear that is for cancellations within 1 day of departure. In the good old days this was the way flights were cancelled! So you can't use this option for cancellations made weeks off.
For the rest, as I say, the various guidelines may change, BA often needs to negotiate arrangements with other airlines, and that takes effort (particularly with so many staff furloughed). So keep an eye on the situation and call up from time to time, particularly if you see a QR based codeshare near your travel dates. There is the option of travelling back on another airline and charging it to BA after getting back. This is an uncertain path, but there is some CAA guidance (guidance, not law) that suggests that this is a reasonable way forward if an airline doesn't rebook.
For the rest, as I say, the various guidelines may change, BA often needs to negotiate arrangements with other airlines, and that takes effort (particularly with so many staff furloughed). So keep an eye on the situation and call up from time to time, particularly if you see a QR based codeshare near your travel dates. There is the option of travelling back on another airline and charging it to BA after getting back. This is an uncertain path, but there is some CAA guidance (guidance, not law) that suggests that this is a reasonable way forward if an airline doesn't rebook.
Nov 12, 2020, 11:36 pm
#4594
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 398
I researched these exact flights (as a back up) when it looked a possibility to bring our flights forward to avoid the Boris Ban.
On 16/11 there is EK708 SEZ-DXB followed by BA104 DXB-LHR on 17/11. That involves over 7 hours wait at DXB, if BA were kinder there is EK1 which would halve the connection time.
As far as I can see EK708 only has a code share with QF (QF8708) not BA, this may be the sticking point, but the flights do exist!
On 16/11 there is EK708 SEZ-DXB followed by BA104 DXB-LHR on 17/11. That involves over 7 hours wait at DXB, if BA were kinder there is EK1 which would halve the connection time.
As far as I can see EK708 only has a code share with QF (QF8708) not BA, this may be the sticking point, but the flights do exist!
Yes, I saw the EK option too. There is lots of other (more BA and oneworld) options available too, e.g. on UL via CMB or on Air Seychelles and BA via JNB.
It seems quite mean of BA not to rebook on another airline and insist to rebook a month later just because thats when the next BA flight is? I understand prioritizing BA if its a viable option but in this case, flying back on the 14th Dec vs. original date of 16th Nov is not reasonable by any stretch of the imagination?
Shouldn't one of the responsibilities of the airline be to get the pax to their destination within a reasonable timeframe of what they booked, if its the airline that cancelled in the first place? In their standard guidelines for cancelled BA flights, they list 10 options for rebooking/refunding, which pretty much covers the spectrum of disruptions and possible remedies. Option 10, booking any other carrier, just says that the rebooked flight has to be +/- 1 day of original cancelled flight, so as long as the pax finds a SEZ-LHR on any airline that departs on the 15/16/17 Nov, shouldn't s/he be entitled to that rebooking, given that BA can't offer ANY solution? Or did I miss something in the guidelines and misinterpret them? I can't imagine any reasonable agent not seeing the logic and using option 10 to rebook...
This brings us to the current situation: airlines are selling flights months ahead they know they will cancel to get our cash, and given the unprecedented situation we are facing, I actually think thats OK, in the sense that they need positive cash flow to pay their bills and employees. But we passengers also book knowing there is a risk of disruptions and we are willing to accept that because we also know that there is a set of guidelines in place to protect us and provide solutions. Abandoning a pax while on holiday in a foreign land for a month just to avoid booking on another airline seems to be quite a failure of responsibility and fairness? Or am I just bonkers?!!
Shouldn't one of the responsibilities of the airline be to get the pax to their destination within a reasonable timeframe of what they booked, if its the airline that cancelled in the first place? In their standard guidelines for cancelled BA flights, they list 10 options for rebooking/refunding, which pretty much covers the spectrum of disruptions and possible remedies. Option 10, booking any other carrier, just says that the rebooked flight has to be +/- 1 day of original cancelled flight, so as long as the pax finds a SEZ-LHR on any airline that departs on the 15/16/17 Nov, shouldn't s/he be entitled to that rebooking, given that BA can't offer ANY solution? Or did I miss something in the guidelines and misinterpret them? I can't imagine any reasonable agent not seeing the logic and using option 10 to rebook...
This brings us to the current situation: airlines are selling flights months ahead they know they will cancel to get our cash, and given the unprecedented situation we are facing, I actually think thats OK, in the sense that they need positive cash flow to pay their bills and employees. But we passengers also book knowing there is a risk of disruptions and we are willing to accept that because we also know that there is a set of guidelines in place to protect us and provide solutions. Abandoning a pax while on holiday in a foreign land for a month just to avoid booking on another airline seems to be quite a failure of responsibility and fairness? Or am I just bonkers?!!
It is all bonkers. Even more bonkers as BA fly one of the two segments.
I must admit BA gave us the option to move our flights forward to the same flight to avoid the Boris Ban, one of our reservations was whether BA would still be operating the flight to bring us home, the other reservations was getting a PCR test within the timescales set and the prospect of coming home via DXB and having to isolate, hence our decision to cancel.
Today's news actually gets rid of the isolation requirement, if anyone does fly via DXB.
I suppose now the choice OP has is to pay out himself to fly via DXB or remain in SEZ for another 2+ weeks. Given there is a risk of having to go via MCOL to get back the cost either way.
I must admit BA gave us the option to move our flights forward to the same flight to avoid the Boris Ban, one of our reservations was whether BA would still be operating the flight to bring us home, the other reservations was getting a PCR test within the timescales set and the prospect of coming home via DXB and having to isolate, hence our decision to cancel.
Today's news actually gets rid of the isolation requirement, if anyone does fly via DXB.
I suppose now the choice OP has is to pay out himself to fly via DXB or remain in SEZ for another 2+ weeks. Given there is a risk of having to go via MCOL to get back the cost either way.
Nov 13, 2020, 1:25 am
#4595
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: London
Programs: BA Executive Club, UA Mileage Plus, bmi Diamond Club
Posts: 480
Is there any way to apply an e-voucher to the cash element of a 241 booking? I can't see how to add the vouchers online, and assume it isn't possible because of the need to pay for a 241 with an Amex, but I don't really want to give BA another £1200 when I've got an e-voucher for almost that exact amount!
Nov 13, 2020, 2:23 am
#4596
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,021
MCOL=Money Claim OnLine,
Money Claim Online (MCOL) is HM Courts & Tribunals Service Internet based service for claimants and defendants
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome
Money Claim Online (MCOL) is HM Courts & Tribunals Service Internet based service for claimants and defendants
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome
Nov 13, 2020, 3:11 am
#4597
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 798
I did indeed read out all of the flight numbers but the first agent would not entertain it. Tried ringing again just now and had the same initial response about there being no flights visible, but after reading out the flight numbers I was put on hold whilst they spoke to a manager and after 45 minutes all in was ticketed on the all LH routing. The second agent was very jolly and had excellent perseverance!
Nov 13, 2020, 3:25 am
#4598
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: 63,853
Is there any way to apply an e-voucher to the cash element of a 241 booking? I can't see how to add the vouchers online, and assume it isn't possible because of the need to pay for a 241 with an Amex, but I don't really want to give BA another £1200 when I've got an e-voucher for almost that exact amount!
Nov 13, 2020, 4:11 am
#4599
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: London
Programs: BA GGL, HH Diamond, IHG Spire, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 160
Rebooking during lockdown
I do appreciate this might have been answered but my eyes have gone cross-eyed going through everything (although learning a lot!).
We have an avios booking during lockdown, booked on avios to BGI, just by luck (or not), on the one weekly flight that wasn’t cancelled. There is zero avios availability to move to after lockdown. As there is a lockdown and we shouldn’t travel, is BA under any obligation to get us onto a flight after lockdown, even if no avios seats?
We do have reasons to travel (above and beyond a holiday), but I’m worried about the potential lack of insurance if the trip goes ahead, and would love to push it back, but it seems impossible! Any advice would be hugely appreciated.
We have an avios booking during lockdown, booked on avios to BGI, just by luck (or not), on the one weekly flight that wasn’t cancelled. There is zero avios availability to move to after lockdown. As there is a lockdown and we shouldn’t travel, is BA under any obligation to get us onto a flight after lockdown, even if no avios seats?
We do have reasons to travel (above and beyond a holiday), but I’m worried about the potential lack of insurance if the trip goes ahead, and would love to push it back, but it seems impossible! Any advice would be hugely appreciated.
Nov 13, 2020, 4:19 am
#4600
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,991
I do appreciate this might have been answered but my eyes have gone cross-eyed going through everything (although learning a lot!).
We have an avios booking during lockdown, booked on avios to BGI, just by luck (or not), on the one weekly flight that wasn’t cancelled. There is zero avios availability to move to after lockdown. As there is a lockdown and we shouldn’t travel, is BA under any obligation to get us onto a flight after lockdown, even if no avios seats?
We do have reasons to travel (above and beyond a holiday), but I’m worried about the potential lack of insurance if the trip goes ahead, and would love to push it back, but it seems impossible! Any advice would be hugely appreciated.
We have an avios booking during lockdown, booked on avios to BGI, just by luck (or not), on the one weekly flight that wasn’t cancelled. There is zero avios availability to move to after lockdown. As there is a lockdown and we shouldn’t travel, is BA under any obligation to get us onto a flight after lockdown, even if no avios seats?
We do have reasons to travel (above and beyond a holiday), but I’m worried about the potential lack of insurance if the trip goes ahead, and would love to push it back, but it seems impossible! Any advice would be hugely appreciated.
your options are change to another date or even another route in the same band at a cost of £35 per person but you need reward availability, cancel at least 24 hours before the flight and lose £35 per person from the refund, or use a FTV which incurs no costs and allows you to use the value of the booking towards a new one for travel up to april 2022
Nov 13, 2020, 4:57 am
#4601
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: London
Programs: BA GGL, HH Diamond, IHG Spire, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 160
no obligation on BA (BA Holiday bookings may be an exception).
your options are change to another date or even another route in the same band at a cost of £35 per person but you need reward availability, cancel at least 24 hours before the flight and lose £35 per person from the refund, or use a FTV which incurs no costs and allows you to use the value of the booking towards a new one for travel up to april 2022
your options are change to another date or even another route in the same band at a cost of £35 per person but you need reward availability, cancel at least 24 hours before the flight and lose £35 per person from the refund, or use a FTV which incurs no costs and allows you to use the value of the booking towards a new one for travel up to april 2022
Nov 13, 2020, 5:42 am
#4602
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,061
It is definitely an eVoucher because I requested it in MMB and received an e-mail (very promptly - within an hour) with the 125- voucher number and headed, "Your eVoucher has arrived". I did a dummy booking online and was able to apply the eVoucher code and it pulled up the correct cash amount. The BAEC agent I spoke to was adamant the voucher included the notes on the previously redeemed GUF2 voucher. I am guessing these vouchers must include "metadata" related to the original booking. And is it not the case that BA are migrating FTVs to eVouchers anyway? Perhaps they now have a method to record GUFs on eVouchers? It does seem a little awkward not being able to "see" the contents of an eVoucher at the customer end but I see no reason why BA would renege on a previously held GUF at a future date.
The only ‘exception’ (and I use ‘exception’ in inverted commas as it’s not really) is Cash & Avios, which can be converted to an e-voucher but only because the Avios part has a real cash value. So it just gets converted back to cash and the voucher is issued for the full pre-discount sale amount. I don’t know how far along in their conversion plan they are, so don’t know how many of these have yet been done.
Nov 13, 2020, 6:23 am
#4603
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 487
e-vouchers are standard EMD-S documents that are issued in full accordance with relevant IATA standards and following their protocols. Nothing bespoke to a particular airline, they’re full accountable documents the same as any other. You can investigate further yourself if you want, but long story short, there’s no functionality in these documents to allow for points as a currency, or to include airline-specific vouchers (such as GUFs or 2-4-1s).
The only ‘exception’ (and I use ‘exception’ in inverted commas as it’s not really) is Cash & Avios, which can be converted to an e-voucher but only because the Avios part has a real cash value. So it just gets converted back to cash and the voucher is issued for the full pre-discount sale amount. I don’t know how far along in their conversion plan they are, so don’t know how many of these have yet been done.
The only ‘exception’ (and I use ‘exception’ in inverted commas as it’s not really) is Cash & Avios, which can be converted to an e-voucher but only because the Avios part has a real cash value. So it just gets converted back to cash and the voucher is issued for the full pre-discount sale amount. I don’t know how far along in their conversion plan they are, so don’t know how many of these have yet been done.
Nov 13, 2020, 8:53 am
#4604
Join Date: Oct 2019
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 28
How long does it take to get a E-Voucher?
Last month i took a FTV for my Trip to japan as i'm from the UK i was not allowed to travel so yesterday i used part of that FTV to book a CE trip to bucharest in march of next year, i was told by the sales rep on the phone that i would be receiving a E-Voucher for the balance (begining with a 4 rather than a 2) that i can then use online to book future trips.
its now been 24Hrs + since the booking, the flight is in MMB but i still have not had a email with the new E-Voucher, should i be worried or is this normal?
Last month i took a FTV for my Trip to japan as i'm from the UK i was not allowed to travel so yesterday i used part of that FTV to book a CE trip to bucharest in march of next year, i was told by the sales rep on the phone that i would be receiving a E-Voucher for the balance (begining with a 4 rather than a 2) that i can then use online to book future trips.
its now been 24Hrs + since the booking, the flight is in MMB but i still have not had a email with the new E-Voucher, should i be worried or is this normal?
Nov 13, 2020, 9:46 am
#4605
Moderator, Hertz; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: KRK
Programs: UA 1MM, BA GGL, Hyatt Glob, Hilton Diamond and others
Posts: 12,691
It would remain one ticket to guarantee your baggage and connectivity, but almost certainly BA will plug it as KRK-MUC/FRA-LHR-ORD, with the last sector on BA metal, the rest on the Lufthansa Group. They may look at LH Group throughout as an option, but the guidance says to use BA / AA / JB where ever possible. There maybe another JB option involving AA in mainland Europe, I've lost track of their network.
Last edited by jason8612; Nov 13, 2020 at 8:17 pm