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
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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*
#4666
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BA Gold,
Posts: 58
I think with the number of overlapping deadlines it is easy to get confused.
1. FTV rules are new travel must be completed (outbound & inbound) by 30th April 2022.
2. 241 rules are that all outbound travel must be completed by voucher expiry.
I would think 1 trumps 2 so for any new booking using a FTV all travel must be completed by 30th April 2022.
1. FTV rules are new travel must be completed (outbound & inbound) by 30th April 2022.
2. 241 rules are that all outbound travel must be completed by voucher expiry.
I would think 1 trumps 2 so for any new booking using a FTV all travel must be completed by 30th April 2022.
Unless there is a recent change, all flights must be completed by April 2022 so that wasn't correct. But that apart the options to you are as given.
ba.com/confidence was updated today, but this key sentence remains: "Your new trip booked with your voucher must be fully completed by 30 April 2022 (departure and return). You will receive your voucher by email within seven days of your application."
ba.com/confidence was updated today, but this key sentence remains: "Your new trip booked with your voucher must be fully completed by 30 April 2022 (departure and return). You will receive your voucher by email within seven days of your application."
Appreciate the responses.
STTB
#4667
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: South East England
Programs: Status with BA Exec Club; KrisFlyer; Hilton Honors; IHG One; Marriott Bonvoy
Posts: 543
My December out / January return Avios reward booking to SJO was cancelled a few days ago. It was already a rebooking from a previous cancellation from July 2020. It was a booking for four people in J thus I was expecting to hit issues with (a) award availability for four on the route for a future date of our liking and (b) preferred dates being > 365 days from the original booking.
Went online and fixed up new return booking through MMB without any fuss despite insufficient award availability on our dates. We have one more in our party who is booked with a Lloyds Avios upgrade voucher, she has to call up tomorrow to do the same thing, but I assume that will be OK too on the basis on my experience.
Went online and fixed up new return booking through MMB without any fuss despite insufficient award availability on our dates. We have one more in our party who is booked with a Lloyds Avios upgrade voucher, she has to call up tomorrow to do the same thing, but I assume that will be OK too on the basis on my experience.
My partner called up and re-booked for a new return in the summer. This involved a call to Avios.com as the online service and standard BAEC call centre can’t deal with Lloyds voucher bookings. She was booked onto the same flights as the rest of us without argument or escalation.
So, that’s two rebookings for a future date with no Avios availability, one accomplished online, and one through the call centre, with no difficulty or pushback from call agents. When our original booking in the summer 2020 was cancelled and we tried to rebook this was impossible online, and initially denied by multiple phone agents when we called up. Persistence and escalations then paid off. Now it seems the IT systems and the customer service centre briefings have been improved.
#4668
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 52
Rebooking Redemptions
On 6th October I booked LHR-SYD online out in J and return in Y using a 241. Within the 24hr change window I called to amend the return to Premium a day earlier which made it peak and cost further Avios, taken immediately, and £37 which was taken on the 16th November when the trip was reticketed with different ticket numbers. My questions are ;
1. If either flight is cancelled by BA what is my rebooking window, reward availability not being required, Can I book such that the return is within 365 days from the 6th October 2020 or the 16th November 2020?
2. Does all travel have to be completed within 365 days of ticketing or just the outbound journey?
1. If either flight is cancelled by BA what is my rebooking window, reward availability not being required, Can I book such that the return is within 365 days from the 6th October 2020 or the 16th November 2020?
2. Does all travel have to be completed within 365 days of ticketing or just the outbound journey?
#4669
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: 63,804
On 6th October I booked LHR-SYD online out in J and return in Y using a 241. Within the 24hr change window I called to amend the return to Premium a day earlier which made it peak and cost further Avios, taken immediately, and £37 which was taken on the 16th November when the trip was reticketed with different ticket numbers. My questions are ;
1. If either flight is cancelled by BA what is my rebooking window, reward availability not being required, Can I book such that the return is within 365 days from the 6th October 2020 or the 16th November 2020?
2. Does all travel have to be completed within 365 days of ticketing or just the outbound journey?
1. If either flight is cancelled by BA what is my rebooking window, reward availability not being required, Can I book such that the return is within 365 days from the 6th October 2020 or the 16th November 2020?
2. Does all travel have to be completed within 365 days of ticketing or just the outbound journey?
#4670
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Lincolnshire, UK
Programs: BA GGL - maybe only briefly!
Posts: 1,378
Is this new? - Seems you can now claim a refund online for a cancelled flight. https://www.britishairways.com/trave...=covidn_refund
Although there still doesn't seem to be an option to cancel (for refund) an award booking online.
Although there still doesn't seem to be an option to cancel (for refund) an award booking online.
#4671
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 99
Sorry if this is old news, i've only just seen this, but there is now an a page to claim an online refund
https://www.britishairways.com/trave...=covidn_refund
https://www.britishairways.com/trave...=covidn_refund
#4672
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: LON
Programs: Mucci, BAEC, Eurostar
Posts: 3,293
Sorry if this is old news, i've only just seen this, but there is now an a page to claim an online refund
https://www.britishairways.com/trave...=covidn_refund
https://www.britishairways.com/trave...=covidn_refund
#4673
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,964
Sorry if this is old news, i've only just seen this, but there is now an a page to claim an online refund
https://www.britishairways.com/trave...=covidn_refund
https://www.britishairways.com/trave...=covidn_refund
#4674
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: DUB/ABZ/GLA
Programs: Aer Club Silver | BAEC Bronze | ALL Silver | Sixt Platinum
Posts: 277
Cancelled Flight - Rerouting options
BA1306 LHR-ABZ flight had been cancelled on the 25 December. BA have moved me to the BA1314 (16:30) flight on the 24th. Only problem is my flight from LCA arrives at LHR at 22:20 on the 24th.
What's the chances of getting rerouted via AMS on KL 1000 and KL 1443 on the 25th? (Yes, completely different alliance).
Unfortunately can't take the LCA-LHR flight on the 23rd due to work commitments and don't particularly want to spend Christmas day in the Ibis hotel at Heathrow.
Any thoughts and suggestions welcome!
Thanks.
What's the chances of getting rerouted via AMS on KL 1000 and KL 1443 on the 25th? (Yes, completely different alliance).
Unfortunately can't take the LCA-LHR flight on the 23rd due to work commitments and don't particularly want to spend Christmas day in the Ibis hotel at Heathrow.
Any thoughts and suggestions welcome!
Thanks.
#4675
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: 63,804
If you do self rebook (and by all means ask BA if they can come up with an alternative option) then you could try claiming any losses from BA. If you avoid the hotel night then maybe it won't be too expensive.
#4676
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: DUB/ABZ/GLA
Programs: Aer Club Silver | BAEC Bronze | ALL Silver | Sixt Platinum
Posts: 277
I can't see that happening and I can't see any other easy solution either given there are no Christmas Day flights to EDI or GLA. So I suspect you are either looking at a refund / self rebook on A3 or travelling some other time or finding somewhere more cheerful than the Ibis.
If you do self rebook (and by all means ask BA if they can come up with an alternative option) then you could try claiming any losses from BA. If you avoid the hotel night then maybe it won't be too expensive.
If you do self rebook (and by all means ask BA if they can come up with an alternative option) then you could try claiming any losses from BA. If you avoid the hotel night then maybe it won't be too expensive.
I did think it was a bit optimistic...
Will give them a phone and see what they say.
#4677
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 52
I think it is questionable whether this is going to work well, given that I'm not convinced BA will resume flights to Australia anytime soon, see my multiple "maybe" bookings comments upthread. But as a somewhat theoretical exercise, you ideally want to complete all travel by 15 November 2021, that should be within policy. On paper you could travel on or before 14 November 2021 and return by 14 November 2022 but that will be very difficult to arrange for multiple reasons.
#4678
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Executive Club - Silver (OWS)
Posts: 768
A similar but slightly different situation to the one I have quoted above. I have a booking which was made with an e-voucher (Best Price Guarantee not FTV) and cash. I no longer intend to travel and will be requesting a FTV. Will the FTV be for the full value of the booking or will I get the e-voucher back and a new FTV for the cash element?
The reason I ask is the e-voucher would have been due to expire in January and ideally I don't want to lose the value.
#4679
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: 63,804
A similar but slightly different situation to the one I have quoted above. I have a booking which was made with an e-voucher (Best Price Guarantee not FTV) and cash. I no longer intend to travel and will be requesting a FTV. Will the FTV be for the full value of the booking or will I get the e-voucher back and a new FTV for the cash element?
#4680
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Lincolnshire, UK
Programs: BA GGL - maybe only briefly!
Posts: 1,378
A similar but slightly different situation to the one I have quoted above. I have a booking which was made with an e-voucher (Best Price Guarantee not FTV) and cash. I no longer intend to travel and will be requesting a FTV. Will the FTV be for the full value of the booking or will I get the e-voucher back and a new FTV for the cash element?
This would be a guess on my part, but I'm fairly sure the outcome would be that you would end up with an FTV for the full amount of the booking, with no separate return of the eVoucher. As far as I can recall, all FTVs have been on this basis, there haven't been any part value FTVs.