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Covid-19 BA Rebooking/Cancellation/Refund HELP & ADVICE *No Speculation etc*

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Old Mar 14, 2020, 4:58 pm
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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:
  • 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.

Paid Seating Refund:
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.
How to find out the status of your voucher and the amount it contains Future Travel Vouchers versus eVouchers
  • See posts 3052 and 3151 to understand the difference. FTVs cannot be used online (and are not really vouchers), whereas eVouchers, issued for simple bookings, can be used online.
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Covid-19 BA Rebooking/Cancellation/Refund HELP & ADVICE *No Speculation etc*

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Old Dec 5, 2020, 5:17 am
  #4816  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1,357
I booked LHR-MEX in J as part of the £999 seat sale a few months ago, booked it as a BA Hol so deposit only.

I’m considering changing the return date to come back a week later but obviously prices have gone up significantly. If I was to leave my outbound and change the return date, I’d it only the flight back from MEX that’ll change or will they reprice the outbound too?

Also, if I change the return date but come back in W instead of J and use avios to then upgrade back to J to keep the price down, I’d this possible?
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Old Dec 5, 2020, 5:28 am
  #4817  
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
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Originally Posted by andymcdonnell
I booked LHR-MEX in J as part of the £999 seat sale a few months ago, booked it as a BA Hol so deposit only.

I’m considering changing the return date to come back a week later but obviously prices have gone up significantly. If I was to leave my outbound and change the return date, I’d it only the flight back from MEX that’ll change or will they reprice the outbound too?

Also, if I change the return date but come back in W instead of J and use avios to then upgrade back to J to keep the price down, I’d this possible?
If you have only paid a deposit then this is a BA Holidays booking, not a flight only booking. In which case it's more complex. What did you add on top? Hotel? Car? Experiences? But the short answer is that you are likely to have to pay the fare difference, depending on myriad other details.
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Old Dec 5, 2020, 5:29 am
  #4818  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1,357
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
If you have only paid a deposit then this is a BA Holidays booking, not a flight only booking. In which case it's more complex. What did you add on top? Hotel? Car? Experiences? But the short answer is that you are likely to have to pay the fare difference, depending on myriad other details.
It was return J flights and 7 nights hotel. So they’ll likely re-quote for the whole thing?
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Old Dec 5, 2020, 5:35 am
  #4819  
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
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Posts: 63,828
Originally Posted by andymcdonnell
It was return J flights and 7 nights hotel. So they’ll likely re-quote for the whole thing?
Yes, potentially, but you can go for the FTV option. The longer answer is that it depends on the precise cancellation conditions on your hotel - they vary from hotel to hotel but it would have been indicated during the booking process - and that may not be refundable at all. Or fully refundable. Unless you have absolutely definitely made up your mind you may want to wait until nearer departure time to see if the flight is cancelled, in which case you will have a lot of flexibility. But if the flight operates then it's an FTV for the flight component and whatever the hotel refund arrangement is. Or you may just throw away the deposit if that is the better option. If you simply want to extend the same hotel, fly as departed, then there are further complexities, where it may (or may not) make sense to make the change after you have arrived in Mexico. But in theory if it's a simple extension and a different return flight, you will be requoted for the hotel - usually at current rates - and the flight - ditto - but packaged together so you won't know which is which. It should only be a 10 minute call.

Be wary of maybe bookings (and maybe maybe bookings!).
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Old Dec 5, 2020, 5:56 am
  #4820  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1,357
Thanks as always CWS
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Old Dec 5, 2020, 8:16 am
  #4821  
A13
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Sussex, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 489
Quick one. I called up last night to cancel my Avios booking using a companion voucher to LAX (In F) in March (mainly because i don't see the US being open/wanting to go by then, but also partner will be 7 months pregnant by then and isn't that keen on going anymore), to rebook to DXB in January in Club World instead. I was going to just cancel, take the £35pp hit and rebook online, but the agent suggest she could just convert the booking into a FTV and she could rebook there and then.

I got the LAX F flights in the half price offer, so were 100k avios with companion voucher and £1333.94 in taxes.

The new DXB flights in J are also 100k avios with the companion voucher and £1,059.48 in taxes.

The agent on the phone could only see that there were no more avios or taxes required, but couldn't see that i'd already paid £1,334 in taxes, but said i'd get the difference back once it gets ticketed by back office.

Question is, should i expect the £275 difference in taxes back in cash, or will the fact the agent converted the booking into a FTV to do this mean i'll only get the difference back as a voucher. She just said i'd get it refunded but the more i think about it i think i'm going to get a voucher. thoughts?
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Old Dec 5, 2020, 9:29 am
  #4822  
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 127
Originally Posted by wilsnunn
I am 99% sure that I understand what my options are, but want to make sure that I don't do something stupid.

I have received a cancellation on LHR-LAX as part off a BA Holidays booking (flight + car). They have rebooked me on a flight just a few hours later, but I have not yet accepted this. If I leave it as it is, will this entitle me to rebook at a later date? I would like to leave it as late as possible to do anything to give a bit more flexibility in the booking so as to avoid a "maybe" booking.
I had a similar situation last month.

I booked BAH to LAX with car in the £999 deal. Booked for November 2020 and obv this was cancelled.

I rebooked for September 2021 and had to pay £6 towards the car as it was more expensive. However, the agent did say I would not be allowed any more changes on the booking.
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Old Dec 5, 2020, 12:44 pm
  #4823  
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: 63,828
Originally Posted by A13
Question is, should i expect the £275 difference in taxes back in cash, or will the fact the agent converted the booking into a FTV to do this mean i'll only get the difference back as a voucher. She just said i'd get it refunded but the more i think about it i think i'm going to get a voucher. thoughts?
No, I think you should get that back in cash, given it was an Avios booking.
corporate-wage-slave is online now  
Old Dec 5, 2020, 1:02 pm
  #4824  
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: OW
Posts: 226
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
No, I think you should get that back in cash, given it was an Avios booking.
I had an identical fact pattern over the summer, and was expecting cash but received an e-voucher in the correct amount (or technically 2 e-vouchers - one for each passenger).
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Old Dec 5, 2020, 1:06 pm
  #4825  
A13
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Sussex, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 489
Originally Posted by eh220160
I had an identical fact pattern over the summer, and was expecting cash but received an e-voucher in the correct amount (or technically 2 e-vouchers - one for each passenger).
OK thanks, not overly bothered either way as will make use of any vouchers. Lets see.
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Old Dec 6, 2020, 5:15 am
  #4826  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Newcastle/London & Worldwide
Programs: BAEC Gold, Virgin Flying Club Silver
Posts: 818
QQ - I’m sure it’s in the thread somewhere but I couldn’t see it - if I made a booking using a FTV but then that booking is now cancelled - am I entitled to a refund back to my credit card or will I need to accept a voucher ?
Chris9642 is offline  
Old Dec 6, 2020, 5:18 am
  #4827  
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: 63,828
Originally Posted by Chris9642
QQ - I’m sure it’s in the thread somewhere but I couldn’t see it - if I made a booking using a FTV but then that booking is now cancelled - am I entitled to a refund back to my credit card or will I need to accept a voucher ?
If the new FTV'd trip is cancelled by BA then you should get a refund back to the original form of payment of the original underlying booking even if that one was a voluntary change.
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Old Dec 6, 2020, 5:22 am
  #4828  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Newcastle/London & Worldwide
Programs: BAEC Gold, Virgin Flying Club Silver
Posts: 818
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
If the new FTV'd trip is cancelled by BA then you should get a refund back to the original form of payment of the original underlying booking even if that one was a voluntary change.
So I can ask for a refund to my credit card ?
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Old Dec 6, 2020, 5:58 am
  #4829  
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: 63,828
Originally Posted by Chris9642
So I can ask for a refund to my credit card ?
Yes, if the FTV came originally from a trip paid with that same credit card. So Trip1 = you pay with credit card A. You decide not to go. You get FTV. You then book Trip2 with that FTV. BA cancel Trip2, you want a refund. BA should refund Trip1 to credit card A.
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Old Dec 6, 2020, 7:09 am
  #4830  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Programs: Executive Club
Posts: 1,115
Extending ticket validity

I mainly fly one route, back and forth from LGW to PUJ. The route has been suspended all year so far and flights are starting again in a week or so. Result is that I had a lot of redemption tickets cancelled with no flights to change to. BA agreed to take the flights out of these bookings and put dummy flights in until the route was back up, and then allow me to call and choose the flight I wanted, and because the original flight had been cancelled, this meant that I could choose a flight without Avios availability. The issue is that I am now running out of ticket validity and I have one ticket that was ticketed 27th March 2020 and I want to fly on 2 May 2021. Any thoughts on how possible it would be to get the ticket validity extended?
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