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

Old Mar 14, 20, 4:58 pm
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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*

Old Mar 27, 20, 2:54 am
  #1111  
HNS
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Programs: Flying Blue, SPG, Marriott Rewards, Delta SkyMiles
Posts: 86
Originally Posted by Hawk777
refunds are taking longer than normal at moment due to the volume of them if you are travelling within 72 hours call again and get your refund if not wait
Thanks Hawk. I am perfectly fine with waiting 14 days, I just want confirmation about my option of requesting a refund.
I am flying within the 72 hours window but my question was if the call cuts off when I select the refund option how do I get in contact with them?
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Old Mar 27, 20, 2:57 am
  #1112  
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Join Date: Dec 2019
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Originally Posted by HNS
Thanks Hawk. I am perfectly fine with waiting 14 days, I just want confirmation about my option of requesting a refund.
I am flying within the 72 hours window but my question was if the call cuts off when I select the refund option how do I get in contact with them?
just wait and try again phone should be cutting off what number are you calling?
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Old Mar 27, 20, 3:00 am
  #1113  
HNS
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
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0800727800. The 084 number just points to the 0800 one. I already called 14 times 😄
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Old Mar 27, 20, 3:46 am
  #1114  
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 21
Originally Posted by KARFA
as your flights are cancelled i honestly see no reason you should even think about going down the voucher route, you can now cancel the booking (use the javascript workaround or call) and you will get back the 2-4-1, all the cash you paid (taxes/fees/charges), and all the avios. ba seems to have extended all 2-4-1 vouchers by 6 months so when it is re-issued it should have an expiry date of 6 months after the original expiry date.
Thank you Karfa, that's clear. I just wondered if there were any benefits in taking the voucher instead (unlikely, I suspect!). Just need to get through on the phone now.

Last edited by GetawayGertie; Mar 27, 20 at 3:50 am Reason: Added quoted text
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Old Mar 27, 20, 4:31 am
  #1115  
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: UK
Posts: 390
My reward flight to ORD was cancelled and I called You First to arrange a refund. My 2-4-1 was refunded instantly but the Avios did not reappear. I called a day or two later and was told it had “glitched” and they appeared later that day. I have still not received the cash refund to my Amex card 10 days later and don’t know if it is part of the original glitch or if they are just more than 10 days behind. I don’t want to call again unnecessarily so how long should I realistically wait for a refund to appear?
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Old Mar 27, 20, 5:31 am
  #1116  
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Join Date: May 1998
Location: Northern England
Posts: 1,488
Originally Posted by Grace B
Just for info, the JavaScript workaround still does work (at least with an avios booking and the Chrome browser).

I tried it a few minutes ago, and my avios were returned almost instantaneously, with the nett cash refund (taxes, etc) being clearly indicated.
Not if your flight has been cancelled
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Old Mar 27, 20, 5:32 am
  #1117  
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: London UK
Programs: BAEC Silver, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 2,036
Originally Posted by Definitas
My reward flight to ORD was cancelled and I called You First to arrange a refund. My 2-4-1 was refunded instantly but the Avios did not reappear. I called a day or two later and was told it had “glitched” and they appeared later that day. I have still not received the cash refund to my Amex card 10 days later and don’t know if it is part of the original glitch or if they are just more than 10 days behind. I don’t want to call again unnecessarily so how long should I realistically wait for a refund to appear?
Quite a while longer I suspect. I'm on day 15 and still waiting and that cancellation was done before the mass shut down. I would imagine the refund queues now are enormous so am prepared to wait for a month before going down any chargeback route. I have been able to get refunds within days from other travel companies (facing the same situation as BA) via simple online processes . BA are not shining here
ens100 and Definitas like this.
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Old Mar 27, 20, 6:02 am
  #1118  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Accor Live Limitless Gold, Hilton Honours Gold, Avis Preferred Plus
Posts: 1,806
I have a family member in Singapore at the moment, originally meant to come back on BA12 on 22nd April. This was cancelled so I moved them onto BA16 on the same day. Now all BA services between SIN and LON have been zeroed out for the whole of April. BA16 on the 22nd April has not yet been cancelled in MMB but I guess that once it does there will be little that can be done? BA seem to not be flying LHR-SIN-LHR for the whole of April and the same for SQ.

Would BA rebook them onto the QR services in the hope that they are still running or will it be a case of them being stuck there until BA flights resume? This is the return portion of a booking. They had no choice but to travel and there is no issue with them being stuck there (Singapore citizen and have family there they can stay with) but as they have indefinite leave to remain here in the UK and also have a house and are based here they would rather come home (but only after 22nd April when they are able to given commitments in Singapore). Travel insurance will not cover anything here (if it comes to that) as the booking was made after the date set out by their policy for COVID-19 disruptions.

EDIT: it seems as if the service has been un-zeroed... Lets see what happens!

Last edited by wilsnunn; Mar 27, 20 at 6:50 am
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Old Mar 27, 20, 6:27 am
  #1119  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 1
Originally Posted by britenbsas
Quite a while longer I suspect. I'm on day 15 and still waiting and that cancellation was done before the mass shut down. I would imagine the refund queues now are enormous so am prepared to wait for a month before going down any chargeback route. I have been able to get refunds within days from other travel companies (facing the same situation as BA) via simple online processes . BA are not shining here
Was this a redemption booking or cash? I'm on day 13 from initiating the refund online for a 241. So far no avios back, no voucher back and no cash returned to card.
Interestingly I called on Wednesday to cancel and refund a flight for Saturday as I was within the 72 hrs. It was a part pay cash ticket. Avios was refunded instantly and cash was back on card yesterday, 1 day after call.
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Old Mar 27, 20, 6:39 am
  #1120  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Programs: Executive Club
Posts: 960
Cancel / Refund Avios Booking, flight not cancelled

I had a flight I needed to cancel, which so far is still operating, booked with Avios and I paid the taxes. I was happy to lose the £35 fee for cancelling. In MMB it takes you through to the normal refund voucher page, but I used the Java procedure detailed on Head for Points and this worked. I know some people have commented that the Java trick is not working, but it has just done for me, using Chrome at 12.30 on Friday 27th. Just in case anyone needs to do this, the link is below:

https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/0...google-chrome/
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Old Mar 27, 20, 7:03 am
  #1121  
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: London UK
Programs: BAEC Silver, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 2,036
Originally Posted by Dazzmac
Was this a redemption booking or cash? I'm on day 13 from initiating the refund online for a 241. So far no avios back, no voucher back and no cash returned to card.
Interestingly I called on Wednesday to cancel and refund a flight for Saturday as I was within the 72 hrs. It was a part pay cash ticket. Avios was refunded instantly and cash was back on card yesterday, 1 day after call.
It was a cash booking upgraded using Avios. No sign of the cash or Avios yet.
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Old Mar 27, 20, 7:07 am
  #1122  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Manchester
Programs: BAEC (Silver), Hilton HHonors (Gold)
Posts: 312
The Javascript workaround has just worked for me but the refund page is no longer stating the amount to be refunded and that BA will calculate it using their own T&Cs and is final and non-negotiable. Is this just a way of getting people to go for the voucher instead? Or has their policy changed since I last cancelled (and refunded) a different flight last week?

For clarity, the previous flight I refunded (again using the JS workaround) had been cancelled and the refund amount was on the page before I submitted it. The flight I am now trying to cancel and refund is for May but still showing as scheduled etc. (e.g. not yet cancelled).

Any advice welcome, I am not comfortable to submit a refund request when BA can then chose how much to refund me after the event etc, and certainly do not want a travel voucher.

Thanks,

NV
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Old Mar 27, 20, 7:14 am
  #1123  
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Join Date: Apr 2012
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Posts: 39,945
Originally Posted by northernvilla
The Javascript workaround has just worked for me but the refund page is no longer stating the amount to be refunded and that BA will calculate it using their own T&Cs and is final and non-negotiable. Is this just a way of getting people to go for the voucher instead? Or has their policy changed since I last cancelled (and refunded) a different flight last week?

For clarity, the previous flight I refunded (again using the JS workaround) had been cancelled and the refund amount was on the page before I submitted it. The flight I am now trying to cancel and refund is for May but still showing as scheduled etc. (e.g. not yet cancelled).

Any advice welcome, I am not comfortable to submit a refund request when BA can then chose how much to refund me after the event etc, and certainly do not want a travel voucher.

Thanks,

NV
It has always been the case that some bookings will give you a cancellation quote (usually if they are simple and no changes have happend), and some like yours require manual calculation. It won't affect what you get back at all. If the flight is cancelled then just fill in the form and you will get a full refund in due course.
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Old Mar 27, 20, 7:14 am
  #1124  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Scotland
Posts: 370
Thumbs up

Originally Posted by KARFA
Yes, either that manual form or calling would allow you to get a full refund. If the flight is not imminent and you do want to call it may be best to leave it until next week when the call centres are hopefully a little less busy.
Originally Posted by pred02
My flight using Avios miles was cancelled. I would like to arrange for a refund (taxes+miles). The JS workaround does not work anymore as I see a blue button that takes to voucher page. How do I best get the refund using the manual cancelation form below or else:

https://www.britishairways.com/trave..._ticket_refund
Thats great tried the Google Chrome workaround but didnt work for me refund now processing
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Old Mar 27, 20, 7:56 am
  #1125  
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Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 629
Refund times

anyone with reward bookings the automatic system that the agents normally use to issue the cash and taxes part isn't working so they are having to queue all cash refunds to the manual team which is delaying refunds for reward bookings it isn't impacting commercial bookings
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