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*
Dec 9, 2020, 8:23 am
#4876
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,964
What is the MCT BA to AA and AA to BA at JFK? I've searched and have different answers, ranging from 1hr15mins to 2 hours?
I recall there is a footnote on the guidance somewhere which extends the MCT and in the past, I've experienced issues with AA flight numbers but operated by BA as that seems to fool the MCT until closer to departure time.
I recall there is a footnote on the guidance somewhere which extends the MCT and in the past, I've experienced issues with AA flight numbers but operated by BA as that seems to fool the MCT until closer to departure time.
Dec 9, 2020, 8:24 am
#4877
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: 63,805
Thanks for reporting back on your call with the contact centre, which was in line with what I thought was the situation. The outbound has to be done by 14 June 2021. In theory you then have 1 year to complete the return, so 13 June 2022, and had you already flown the first sector I think that would not have been a problem either. However the reality will be that at this point, before travel, the agents won't rebook your tickets past 1 year, including the return. This is one of the reasons why I've been warning against "maybe" bookings upthread, since at some point you run out of options. Luckily there is the FTV option if all else fails.
Dec 9, 2020, 8:47 am
#4878
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: near Heathrow
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL (OWE), SA LifePlat (*G), BD Gold to the end, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,911
Thanks KARFA. That's what I thought but I have a couple of speculative future bookings that have allowed a shorter connection between AA domestic into T8 connecting onto an AA code on a BA flight out of T7. Matrix also allows shorter connections onto an AA codeshare than the BA prime code. I was sure I recall it falling over eventually and then having to rebook but couldn't find the definitive guide so thanks for clarifying.
Dec 9, 2020, 9:26 am
#4879
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Newcastle UK
Posts: 1,114
Thanks for reporting back on your call with the contact centre, which was in line with what I thought was the situation. The outbound has to be done by 14 June 2021. In theory you then have 1 year to complete the return, so 13 June 2022, and had you already flown the first sector I think that would not have been a problem either. However the reality will be that at this point, before travel, the agents won't rebook your tickets past 1 year, including the return. This is one of the reasons why I've been warning against "maybe" bookings upthread, since at some point you run out of options. Luckily there is the FTV option if all else fails.
Thanks.
Dec 9, 2020, 9:40 am
#4880
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: 63,805
Thanks for both replies above. It is a UUA booking from J to F both ways, so do I simply look for First reward seats on any route, then I pay extra cash if more/get an FTV for the difference if less, then either use extra Avios if a longer journey band or get some Avios refunded if a shorter journey band?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Dec 9, 2020, 10:30 am
#4881
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Newcastle UK
Posts: 1,114
Yes, that's the general principle, though what you can do is technically, but briefly pass via a FTV - the agent will help you - and then pay extra cash/Avios if necessary. You will need First availability. There may also be a fare difference in either direction, if it costs less than the original booking you will end up with a remaining FTV, or cash if it's a small amount. Avios get refunded directly back. You do have the option of cancelling the UuA if there is no prospect of you needing it on this trip, this will remove your rights to EC261 reimbursement, but it gives you an immediate ability to do something else with the Avios. As ever, don't move too quickly, things may change many more times.
Dec 9, 2020, 10:32 am
#4882
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 79
I booked an ex-Paris WTP trip to Seattle for May, wishful thinking I know. The return flight has already been cancelled and we've been automatically moved to the later flight (BA48). Now means we arrived into LHR a few ours after our flight to Paris leaves.
As we didn't really want to go back to Paris in the first place what is BA's policy on using this to get the final destination changed to LHR?
As we didn't really want to go back to Paris in the first place what is BA's policy on using this to get the final destination changed to LHR?
Dec 9, 2020, 10:42 am
#4883
Join Date: Oct 2005
Programs: BA GGL & GfL, AA LTP, Marriott (sigh) Ambassador, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,234
What is the MCT BA to AA and AA to BA at JFK? I've searched and have different answers, ranging from 1hr15mins to 2 hours?
I recall there is a footnote on the guidance somewhere which extends the MCT and in the past, I've experienced issues with AA flight numbers but operated by BA as that seems to fool the MCT until closer to departure time.
I recall there is a footnote on the guidance somewhere which extends the MCT and in the past, I've experienced issues with AA flight numbers but operated by BA as that seems to fool the MCT until closer to departure time.
Dec 9, 2020, 10:44 am
#4884
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: 63,805
For that leg, you can simply call up and ask BA to delete the Paris sector, you will even get a modest refund. Alternatively you could move that Paris leg to sometime in the distant future for a different visit, or indeed your next ex Paris escapade. You still need to start from Paris, as things stand.
Dec 9, 2020, 10:47 am
#4885
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,964
Results from https://www.ExpertFlyer.com
Code:
Minimum Connect Times: Connecting at JFK Incoming airline BA Outgoing airline AA Flight type International to Domestic STANDARD.D/D...D/I...I/D...I/I. ONLINE 1.00 1.15 1.45 2.00 OFFLINE 1.00 1.15 1.45 2.00 ** OR * ARE ALL BA-AA ID 2.00 **-AA ID GLSUP CDS 2Z - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS 2Z - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS AD - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS AD - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS AR - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS AR - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS BC - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS BC - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS BT - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS BT - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS D8 - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS D8 - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS DI - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS DI - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS DY - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS DY - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS EK - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS EK - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS EW - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS EW - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS F9 - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS F9 - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS H2 - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS H2 - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS HX - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS HX - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS KC - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS KC - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS NK - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS NK - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS O2 - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS O2 - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS PC - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS PC - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS PD - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS PD - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS QS - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS QS - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS SY - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS SY - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS TR - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS TR - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS TS - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS TS - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS UX - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS UX - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS VA - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS VA - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS VB - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS VB - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS W6 - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS W6 - N/A **-AA ID GLSUP CDS Y4 - ** **-AA ID GLSUP CDS Y4 - N/A **-AA ID 2.00 TRM 7 - 8 **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - 2Z **-** ID GLSUP CDS 2Z - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS AD - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS AR - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS BC - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS BT - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS D8 - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS DI - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS DY - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS EK - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS EW - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS F9 - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS H2 - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS HX - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS KC - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS NK - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS O2 - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS PC - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS PD - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS QS - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS RO - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS SY - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS TR - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS TS - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS UX - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS VA - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS VB - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS W6 - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS Y4 - AA **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - AR **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - BC **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - BT **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - D8 **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - DI **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - DY **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - EK **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - EW **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - F9 **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - H2 **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - KC **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - NK **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - O2 **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - PC **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - PD **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - QS **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - RO **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - SY **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - TR **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - UX **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - VA **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - VB **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - W6 **-** ID GLSUP CDS AA - Y4 .
Dec 9, 2020, 10:50 am
#4886
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: 63,805
So who are you gonna believe? A carefully trained professional AA agent? Or a random guy off the internet called KARFA?
Dec 9, 2020, 10:52 am
#4887
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 79
Thanks for the reply C-W-S, really helpful.
Follow on question, if I may, in what scenario would a change in the outbound enable Paris to be dropped entirely? e.g. LHR-SEA changing, maybe causing a long wait at Heathrow, or would it have to be something that impacted the viability of the Paris flight?
Follow on question, if I may, in what scenario would a change in the outbound enable Paris to be dropped entirely? e.g. LHR-SEA changing, maybe causing a long wait at Heathrow, or would it have to be something that impacted the viability of the Paris flight?
Dec 9, 2020, 10:53 am
#4888
Join Date: Oct 2005
Programs: BA GGL & GfL, AA LTP, Marriott (sigh) Ambassador, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,234
lol well EITHER WAY the new flight BA automatically put me on falls far short of the 90mins the AAgent told me or the lovely luxury of two hours!
Dec 9, 2020, 11:01 am
#4889
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: 63,805
The CDG-LHR service would need to be cancelled, or retimed past the longhaul service.
Dec 9, 2020, 12:06 pm
#4890
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 79
Just an update, rang BAH, because the flights originate in France apparently there is a specific BAH France team that handles queries who were closed when I rang. Was given +33 157324975 to ring tomorrow.