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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
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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 Mar 25, 2020, 9:12 am
  #991  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,709
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Sorry, outside my circle of competence I am afraid. Something has to be.
Best I can do then I suppose is to wait 10 days and then call as it falls within the 72 hour period of when the flight was due to originally depart. Thanks anyway!
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Old Mar 25, 2020, 9:13 am
  #992  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Herts, UK
Programs: BAEC GGL, HH Diamond.
Posts: 3,178
Originally Posted by flashware
I have a flight booked using OnBusiness points that were going to expire, which are well past expiry now. If I opt for a cash refund (the co-pay on it) do you expect the OB points would therefore be lost due to expiry? In that case would my only option be to opt for a) rebooking or b) eVoucher ?
Not sure you can get through to a specific OB team as you used to be able to, But they were quite helpful , so a chance you could get those points back.
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Old Mar 25, 2020, 9:23 am
  #993  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,709
Originally Posted by stewaran
Not sure you can get through to a specific OB team as you used to be able to, But they were quite helpful , so a chance you could get those points back.
Have reached out to the OB team, will see what they say.
flashware is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2020, 9:41 am
  #994  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond *, IHG, Couples Romance Rewards
Posts: 2,351
They are cancelling May now, just had my flights to Thira (Santorini) cancelled. Used the javascript method, hopefully will see my avios and taxes back in due course...
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firstlight is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2020, 10:41 am
  #995  
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: NOC/LAX
Posts: 432
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
For Avios bookings it is similar in that for 2 weeks you just need space in the cabin, after that you do need Avios availability.,
Sorry, would you be so kind as to clarify this as it's the first I'm hearing it? If BA cancels my flight (F reward) I can choose any flight with F space 14 days after or 3 days before, even if there's no F reward availability for the flight?
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Old Mar 25, 2020, 11:01 am
  #996  
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 5,380
My IB flight (BA codeshare) to Madrid on Good Friday cancelled today. Used javascript method above to obtain cash refund. Very helpful
Flexible preferences is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2020, 11:06 am
  #997  
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 29
urgent advice needed, trying to get from the outer Hebrides to Heathrow for work as currently work as a doctor. Had a flight booked as a BA code share from Benbecula to Glasgow and then Glasgow to Heathrow. my first flight has been cancelled, attempted to call Logan air who can only hold the booking on the flight which has been arranged for 20 minutes prior, advised to speak to British Airways but at present this seems nigh on impossible to get through to anyone.
any advice or anyone know of anything else I can do as its of the utmost importance I get to London.
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Old Mar 25, 2020, 11:10 am
  #998  
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Programs: BA executive club
Posts: 109
A big thank you to willmatt for explaining a working cash refund procedure using ba.com. I had to use it after my fligths were cancelled and it worked perfectly well. Great people here on FT!
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Old Mar 25, 2020, 11:15 am
  #999  
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: 63,821
Originally Posted by hedur
Sorry, would you be so kind as to clarify this as it's the first I'm hearing it? If BA cancels my flight (F reward) I can choose any flight with F space 14 days after or 3 days before, even if there's no F reward availability for the flight?
Correct. That's is in the standard guidelines for this. Clearly there needs to be revenue availability, if the cabin is sold out there isn't much anyone can do, but from -3 to +14 days is the accommodation period, so if you can actually travel you should ideally select a seat in this time frame.

Having said that, I imagine BA will be looking to encourage people back to flying as soon as possible, even if that is weeks / months away, and one way to do that is to keep the taps open on Avios availability - an option that works for BA probably better than any other large airline.
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corporate-wage-slave is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2020, 11:31 am
  #1000  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 447
Odd activity on my 2-4-1 booking I discussed earlier up the thread...

Originally booked in J, total for 2 pax was 120k Avios + cash. I then saw availability in F, and paid the 20k + change fee.

So far no voucher redeposit or cash back on payment card, but my avios account activity says that 120k were redeposited today, and then 140k were withdrawn as 'Redemption'.

Not really sure what's going on here - does this make sense to anyone? Will monitor for a few days...
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Old Mar 25, 2020, 12:28 pm
  #1001  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 629
Finally after a couple of weeks we have had some clarification 're vouchers and use.


Q - Customer has called and the booking has been processed for voucher issue. Can they now get a refund?
A - No, once the itinerary has been cancelled through the voucher process, the customer is no longer eligible for a refund

Q - Customer has requested a voucher online. They have received notification that their original flights are cancelled, are they entitled to a refund
A - If the flights have not been cancelled through the voucher process and showing UN status in the PNR, the customer is eligible for a refund.
Q - Customer has applied for a voucher, their flights have been cancelled through the voucher process, can we reinstate their original flights
A - No, once the flights have been cancelled through the voucher process, any rebooking is subject to the voucher conditions

Q - Customer has applied for a voucher, their flights have not yet been cancelled, can they keep their original flights
A - Advise the customer we can attempt to stop the voucher process from canceling the flights but it cannot be guaranteed. Insert the following AP elements into the PNR


Q - Can the new booking be in a different name to that on the original ticket?
A - No, name changes are not allowed.

Q - Does both outbound and inbound travel need to be completed within the 12 month period from original date of travel?
A - Yes, travel is to be completed within 12 months from the original date of travel.

Q - If Avios have been used as part payment to reduce the commercial fare and a voucher is requested, will the Avios be refunded?
A - There will be no refund of Avios however the total value spent by the customer (part payment and part Avios) will be included in the voucher total.

Q - What happens if the new flight is cheaper than the value of the voucher?
A - Any difference between the new fare and the original fare paid will be issued on a standalone EMD-S (residual value for further transportation). GCC will need to issue this EMD and provide the number to the customer for future use.
Hawk777 is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2020, 12:36 pm
  #1002  
gms
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: South East, UK
Programs: BA Gold / GfL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,432
My return flight from Santiago (12 April) just got cancelled today, meaning I could process the cancellation/refund online (having previously posted about the incorrect cancellation charge calculation due to a GUF2 being used). That is done and I got the email confirming the full refund.

Based on recent experiences, can anyone provide an indication as to how long it will take for the Avios/2-4-1/GUF2 to be returned to my account? Once again I don't want to pester the poor people on the phone lines when there are others in more dire need of their help.
gms is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2020, 1:16 pm
  #1003  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: DFW or GOT or...
Programs: BA Silver, Marriott GFL
Posts: 819
Yesterday got an email advising the AY flight HEL-GOT 27May is cancelled, no alternatives offered.

I see the writing on the wall and feel certain other flights of my trip will be cancelled, so will wait til just 14 days before I pull the plug.

I understand why, but cannot help to be a little sad since this was my first proper TP-run (GOT > HEL > LHR > BOS >LAX > DFW > LAX > JFK > LHR > HEL > GOT). I will just hope I manage something similar, or better, once the world is back to feeling better again.

Thanks for all the info on this site, it is invaluable!

LcS
LCSinTexas is online now  
Old Mar 25, 2020, 2:07 pm
  #1004  
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: RIX
Programs: BA Executive Club GOLD, LH Miles & More, DL SkyMiles
Posts: 17
[QUOTE=flashware;32230201]GGL there will be no fee, but for Gold there will be the standard £35 cancellation fee; unless of course they have cancelled the flight then as a Gold you would get the full amount refunded.

Canceling avios flights on BA website as Gold member I always got back full refund (avios and cash) without £35 fee.
Albert1980 is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2020, 2:07 pm
  #1005  
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 302
Not sure if this is right place: but odds on BA cancelling the A350 flight to DXB on the 2nd May. I ideally want cash back for my booking than a voucher.
PrivatePilotDR40 is offline  


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