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*
#1036
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,934
Can anyone advise me. My original booking was using a 241 voucher with my outbound flight to MIA in January. I then added the return flight for April when those flights became available.
I am now stuck in the US and BA have cancelled the return flights. The only option I appear to be given is a refund or to re book. Is this a restriction because I used a 241 voucher.?
I cannot get through on the phone due to the long waiting times and BA is not replying to me via twitter.
I am getting more concerned if the U.K. stop flights from the US prior to my original return date.
i shall be grateful for any views from those of you with more experience of how BA operate.
I am now stuck in the US and BA have cancelled the return flights. The only option I appear to be given is a refund or to re book. Is this a restriction because I used a 241 voucher.?
I cannot get through on the phone due to the long waiting times and BA is not replying to me via twitter.
I am getting more concerned if the U.K. stop flights from the US prior to my original return date.
i shall be grateful for any views from those of you with more experience of how BA operate.
#1037
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 319
If you are in the US and want to return then do not cancel or apply for a voucher. Your original BA flights may be cancelled, but there are still a fair few BA and AA flight from the US to the UK. BA does have a duty to reroute you so you can get home. Your only option really is to discuss this with BA and work out a route home, that may involve additional AA connections in the US to a suitable gateway back such as JFK.
#1038
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: 63,766
It's best to make a decision then to call perhaps next week. The queues at the Contact Centre for the UK and USA have fallen significantly.
#1039
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold for Life
Posts: 469
Apologies if this has been addressed earlier, but I haven't seen it.........
I finally go an email that my flights to and from AGP in April are cancelled. in MMB it says, quite rightly, that I can apply for a complete refund. However if I apply online, I can only get vouchers. But as BA cancelled the flights I am entitled to cash/avios fully refunded. BA suggest that the only way I can do this is by ringing in!! So adding to the many thousands trying to get through to what must be a much pressurised front line team. Why do this, it just adds to the operational bottleneck, or is it just a sly approach that most people will go the easy option and get vouchers (less impacting on BA's financial figures). How can I get the full refund without having to wait on hold for hours?
I finally go an email that my flights to and from AGP in April are cancelled. in MMB it says, quite rightly, that I can apply for a complete refund. However if I apply online, I can only get vouchers. But as BA cancelled the flights I am entitled to cash/avios fully refunded. BA suggest that the only way I can do this is by ringing in!! So adding to the many thousands trying to get through to what must be a much pressurised front line team. Why do this, it just adds to the operational bottleneck, or is it just a sly approach that most people will go the easy option and get vouchers (less impacting on BA's financial figures). How can I get the full refund without having to wait on hold for hours?
#1040
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BRS
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 4,992
Have a cancelled flight and BA.com redirects me to the new style manage my booking which is frankly awful to look at. And now the Javascript thing doesn't work.
#1041
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,934
#1042
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 319
It's not entirely clear what your ideal outcome is, but your 2 options are rebooking to another date without further payment, and at the moment there are over a dozen flights a day from the Eastern Seaboard to LHR; or a part Involuntary refund, which won't be generous, since you would lose the 2-4-1.
It's best to make a decision then to call perhaps next week. The queues at the Contact Centre for the UK and USA have fallen significantly.
It's best to make a decision then to call perhaps next week. The queues at the Contact Centre for the UK and USA have fallen significantly.
#1044
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: 63,766
#1045
Join Date: Feb 2009
Programs: Executive Club
Posts: 1,115
That's great, thanks for the data point - it is probably worth adding that to the Wiki.
Do you by chance remember your original expiry of the upgrade voucher? Just want to ensure it's 6 months from when they process the 'refund' rather than just extending the original voucher by 6 months
Do you by chance remember your original expiry of the upgrade voucher? Just want to ensure it's 6 months from when they process the 'refund' rather than just extending the original voucher by 6 months
#1046
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold for Life
Posts: 469
Thanks corporate-wage-slave. Looked at that and tried to take action as suggested. Disabling JAvaScript seems to just stop anything happening on my MacBook, so I dont get to cash refund form (or any form), until I re-enable JavaScript.....and then of course it moves on to the Voucher claim form! Perhaps I am missing something on the technology front?
But anyway, BA should not be putting these hurdles in front of customers who a rightfully claiming a full refund when their flights have been cancelled
But anyway, BA should not be putting these hurdles in front of customers who a rightfully claiming a full refund when their flights have been cancelled
#1048
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 24
Hello all,
I apologise, I am feeling really dense but I've read *every* post in this thread and am still not sure of the answers I need :-( . I don't really want to phone and add to the load on the contact centre folks, but I'm not sure of what I should do.
I've got a booking for two people LHR-IST on 14 April in business, booked with all Avios and an Amex 2-4-1 voucher, so the only cash element was the taxes. Both outbound and inbound flights have now been cancelled.
So - if I go for the refund, I think I get the Avios credited back to my account, the 2-4-1 voucher reinstated (maybe with an extended expiry) and the taxes back in cash to my credit card. Yes?
But if I go for the voucher, what do I get? I've seen mention of the 'cash equivalent' of Avios but can't track that through the posts to figure that one out. And how does it work with the 2-4-1?
Help please ....
GG
I apologise, I am feeling really dense but I've read *every* post in this thread and am still not sure of the answers I need :-( . I don't really want to phone and add to the load on the contact centre folks, but I'm not sure of what I should do.
I've got a booking for two people LHR-IST on 14 April in business, booked with all Avios and an Amex 2-4-1 voucher, so the only cash element was the taxes. Both outbound and inbound flights have now been cancelled.
So - if I go for the refund, I think I get the Avios credited back to my account, the 2-4-1 voucher reinstated (maybe with an extended expiry) and the taxes back in cash to my credit card. Yes?
But if I go for the voucher, what do I get? I've seen mention of the 'cash equivalent' of Avios but can't track that through the posts to figure that one out. And how does it work with the 2-4-1?
Help please ....
GG
#1049
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,934
Hello all,
I apologise, I am feeling really dense but I've read *every* post in this thread and am still not sure of the answers I need :-( . I don't really want to phone and add to the load on the contact centre folks, but I'm not sure of what I should do.
I've got a booking for two people LHR-IST on 14 April in business, booked with all Avios and an Amex 2-4-1 voucher, so the only cash element was the taxes. Both outbound and inbound flights have now been cancelled.
So - if I go for the refund, I think I get the Avios credited back to my account, the 2-4-1 voucher reinstated (maybe with an extended expiry) and the taxes back in cash to my credit card. Yes?
But if I go for the voucher, what do I get? I've seen mention of the 'cash equivalent' of Avios but can't track that through the posts to figure that one out. And how does it work with the 2-4-1?
Help please ....
GG
I apologise, I am feeling really dense but I've read *every* post in this thread and am still not sure of the answers I need :-( . I don't really want to phone and add to the load on the contact centre folks, but I'm not sure of what I should do.
I've got a booking for two people LHR-IST on 14 April in business, booked with all Avios and an Amex 2-4-1 voucher, so the only cash element was the taxes. Both outbound and inbound flights have now been cancelled.
So - if I go for the refund, I think I get the Avios credited back to my account, the 2-4-1 voucher reinstated (maybe with an extended expiry) and the taxes back in cash to my credit card. Yes?
But if I go for the voucher, what do I get? I've seen mention of the 'cash equivalent' of Avios but can't track that through the posts to figure that one out. And how does it work with the 2-4-1?
Help please ....
GG
#1050
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Cheshire
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 37
HeadForPoints has now posted this link for cancelled ticket cash refunds: https://www.britishairways.com/trave..._ticket_refund
Only use it for bookings where you have received a formal cancellation email - do not use it otherwise or you will only get taxes back!!
Only use it for bookings where you have received a formal cancellation email - do not use it otherwise or you will only get taxes back!!