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
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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*
#1291
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,709
If you request a voucher do you receive a confirmation e-mail that the form was submitted? I saw the on screen message that we have your request and it'll be done in 7 days... But no e-mail confirmation?
With the cash refund I received a confirmation e-mail. Just checking this is the correct user experience so I'm not sat on my hands waiting for nothing. Don't see it in the wiki
With the cash refund I received a confirmation e-mail. Just checking this is the correct user experience so I'm not sat on my hands waiting for nothing. Don't see it in the wiki
All 3 agents I dealt with today (BA Gold line, Avios, OnBusiness) well all very courteous, friendly and seemed in good spirit.
#1292
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 29
Asked for ba holidays voucher on March 15, had email saying would be processed in 7 days a few days later but still yet to have voucher. Have tried to Qantas method above to see if it had been processed but nothing appearing on there. Unsure on what to do or if this is just normal?
#1293
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 28
thanks, for the twitter idea, I've been on twitter trying to message BA for over an hour and not getting a response. Any other ideas would be most welcomed?
#1294
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 28
Just an update in case it is useful to anyone. The twitter team just replied and canceled my booking. Avios and 2-4-1 voucher already back in my account. Thank you so much for all the advice!
#1295
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Miami Beach FL, Philadelphia PA, and Oxfordshire UK
Programs: BA Gold, AA Executive Platinum, PriorityPass, Global Entry, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 737
Quick question - USA Gold line for cash bookings not working - says technical fault. I got through to the Avios ticket line and the agents there say they can’t do anything as it is an Avios booking - they can only help with Avios related bookings. I tried You First 24 hour line, but this is no longer 24 hours. Says to call in normal hours. I’m EST, so does anyone have any quick idea where to call to get a booking changed?
Only urgent because only a couple seats left on the flight back in 2 days, and don’t want to miss out. (I have sent a tweet to @BA so will see if they can do anything too... )
Thanks very much.
Edited to add - Twitter team sorted this out for me just now - so thanks so much BA Twitter team! Awesome, and very straight forward!
Still not sure why BA Gold Line in USA not working - but hopefully it will be fixed for others using it asap.
Only urgent because only a couple seats left on the flight back in 2 days, and don’t want to miss out. (I have sent a tweet to @BA so will see if they can do anything too... )
Thanks very much.
Edited to add - Twitter team sorted this out for me just now - so thanks so much BA Twitter team! Awesome, and very straight forward!
Still not sure why BA Gold Line in USA not working - but hopefully it will be fixed for others using it asap.
Last edited by Jet Ranger; Apr 2, 2020 at 7:23 pm Reason: Update on situation....
#1296
Join Date: May 2012
Location: London & Penzance (UK)
Programs: BA Bronze, KrisFlyer Silver
Posts: 347
this is an avios/companion voucher booking where I am just looking to refund, but all rebook/refund options are greyed our online so even if I was happy to accept a voucher I can’t request one. Does anyone know what happens in this situation if I can’t contact before flight time - does it go to refund automatically or will I have to have a fight after the event?
#1297
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: MAN/JNB
Programs: KL/BMI/BA
Posts: 412
Stated he has sent it to be done manually but couldn’t say how long it would take as “there is no one here”.
Don’t mind waiting for the cash element to be returned but would like the avios returned so that I can look at booking something else.
#1298
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: 63,823
I can see what has happened here. Normally YouFirst is handled by the Contact Centre in south Manchester, but during the European night time, calls are transferred to the New Delhi office, where a specialist team look after YouFirst, Prems and GGLs. They are actually quite good, on my very limited experience, but the India operation has now been completely closed down by local regulations, and so everything is now being done in the UK, and at this point in time reverting the Manchester office back to 24 hour operation is presumably unrealistic. So to answer your question, you best call in the USA mornings when the Manchester team will still be open. Not sure what their current hours are, but I suspect they are open until somewhere between 20:00 and 22:00 hrs BST.
#1299
Join Date: Jan 2020
Programs: British Airways
Posts: 55
Just to add to the earlier conversation on receiving a confirmation e-mail for vouchers.
I received a confirmation e-mail, that includes the correct booking reference, to acknowledge my request has been received and will be processed in 7 days. The e mail was received approx 24 hours after form submission.
Not sure if this is new, if not just ignore . I thought from comments above to my question there would be no confirmation e-mail at all.
I received a confirmation e-mail, that includes the correct booking reference, to acknowledge my request has been received and will be processed in 7 days. The e mail was received approx 24 hours after form submission.
Not sure if this is new, if not just ignore . I thought from comments above to my question there would be no confirmation e-mail at all.
#1300
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: London, UK
Programs: QF, TK, VA, SQ
Posts: 695
We (2pax) have a cash booking in first next Thursday LHR-SEA, then return the following week in club. Was a sale fare so there's no flexibility inherently in the ticket.
It looks unlikely that the daily Seattle flights will be cancelled (unless someone has info I don't) so I don't think we're likely to get a refund offered by BA. I have other tick
My question is:
- What's the latest point I can wait until to request a voucher, just in case the flight does get cancelled?
- Are there limitations for what vouchers can be used for? (e.g. w/ Qantas, their vouchers can't be used on multi city trips, or flights originating out of Australia-- are BA similar?) I want to book an ex-EU open jaw to AU and return from NZ in Jan '21, I wasn't going to book this with BA, but would be ok with the voucher if I could put it toward this.
Is there a place where discussions about travel insurance options are better placed? I doubt that it's here.
Thanks in advance for any help...
It looks unlikely that the daily Seattle flights will be cancelled (unless someone has info I don't) so I don't think we're likely to get a refund offered by BA. I have other tick
My question is:
- What's the latest point I can wait until to request a voucher, just in case the flight does get cancelled?
- Are there limitations for what vouchers can be used for? (e.g. w/ Qantas, their vouchers can't be used on multi city trips, or flights originating out of Australia-- are BA similar?) I want to book an ex-EU open jaw to AU and return from NZ in Jan '21, I wasn't going to book this with BA, but would be ok with the voucher if I could put it toward this.
Is there a place where discussions about travel insurance options are better placed? I doubt that it's here.
Thanks in advance for any help...
#1301
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Miami Beach FL, Philadelphia PA, and Oxfordshire UK
Programs: BA Gold, AA Executive Platinum, PriorityPass, Global Entry, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 737
I can see what has happened here. Normally YouFirst is handled by the Contact Centre in south Manchester, but during the European night time, calls are transferred to the New Delhi office, where a specialist team look after YouFirst, Prems and GGLs. They are actually quite good, on my very limited experience, but the India operation has now been completely closed down by local regulations, and so everything is now being done in the UK, and at this point in time reverting the Manchester office back to 24 hour operation is presumably unrealistic. So to answer your question, you best call in the USA mornings when the Manchester team will still be open. Not sure what their current hours are, but I suspect they are open until somewhere between 20:00 and 22:00 hrs BST.
Do you know if that is the case for the USA Gold line - calling at 7pm EST either didn’t work, just cut off immediately after choosing option for a cash booking, or gave a recorded message that there were technical faults. Choosing the Avios option worked, but they couldn’t handle a cash booking because of the “jurisdiction” of the transaction, apparently.
#1302
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: 63,823
My question is:
- What's the latest point I can wait until to request a voucher, just in case the flight does get cancelled?
- Are there limitations for what vouchers can be used for? (e.g. w/ Qantas, their vouchers can't be used on multi city trips, or flights originating out of Australia-- are BA similar?) I want to book an ex-EU open jaw to AU and return from NZ in Jan '21, I wasn't going to book this with BA, but would be ok with the voucher if I could put it toward this.
- What's the latest point I can wait until to request a voucher, just in case the flight does get cancelled?
- Are there limitations for what vouchers can be used for? (e.g. w/ Qantas, their vouchers can't be used on multi city trips, or flights originating out of Australia-- are BA similar?) I want to book an ex-EU open jaw to AU and return from NZ in Jan '21, I wasn't going to book this with BA, but would be ok with the voucher if I could put it toward this.
#1303
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: 63,823
Thank you for the explanation CWS. Makes sense.
Do you know if that is the case for the USA Gold line - calling at 7pm EST either didn’t work, just cut off immediately after choosing option for a cash booking, or gave a recorded message that there were technical faults. Choosing the Avios option worked, but they couldn’t handle a cash booking because of the “jurisdiction” of the transaction, apparently.
Do you know if that is the case for the USA Gold line - calling at 7pm EST either didn’t work, just cut off immediately after choosing option for a cash booking, or gave a recorded message that there were technical faults. Choosing the Avios option worked, but they couldn’t handle a cash booking because of the “jurisdiction” of the transaction, apparently.
#1304
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 31
Looking for a bit of advice, I've scrolled through as many posts as possible and searched the thread for a few keywords but not quite come up an answer.
I'm due to be flying out to Canada in June, however the tour operator has now canceled the tour of the Rockies I was due to join. I booked my flights myself directly with BA:
Outbound on 11th June: EDI->LHR->YYC (in WTP)
Return 24th June: YVR->LHR->EDI (in J)
All on a single booking paid for with Cash+Avios, I also paid for seat bookings on all legs. The flights were booked in December 2019
Currently it appears that BA are only offering the vouchers for flights before the 31st of May, do I currently have any options? Should I wait to see if BA extends the voucher dates?
Thanks for the amazing job that everyone ones is doing to answer all these queries and to all BA staff in general.
I'm due to be flying out to Canada in June, however the tour operator has now canceled the tour of the Rockies I was due to join. I booked my flights myself directly with BA:
Outbound on 11th June: EDI->LHR->YYC (in WTP)
Return 24th June: YVR->LHR->EDI (in J)
All on a single booking paid for with Cash+Avios, I also paid for seat bookings on all legs. The flights were booked in December 2019
Currently it appears that BA are only offering the vouchers for flights before the 31st of May, do I currently have any options? Should I wait to see if BA extends the voucher dates?
Thanks for the amazing job that everyone ones is doing to answer all these queries and to all BA staff in general.