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*
#1366
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 24
Morning all
I'm trying to get a refund for a booking with Avios plus 2-4-1 Amex voucher for flights that are cancelled. I've called (and called and called) but can't get any further than a recorded message telling me to try later.
So, what happens if I'm still trying when the flight should have departed? Have I got a 'grace period' to get my refund? Not sure what rules apply for a non-cash fare.
And to add to the joy, I shall have to do the same again when next month's flights cancel :-)
Thanks
GG
I'm trying to get a refund for a booking with Avios plus 2-4-1 Amex voucher for flights that are cancelled. I've called (and called and called) but can't get any further than a recorded message telling me to try later.
So, what happens if I'm still trying when the flight should have departed? Have I got a 'grace period' to get my refund? Not sure what rules apply for a non-cash fare.
And to add to the joy, I shall have to do the same again when next month's flights cancel :-)
Thanks
GG
#1367
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
Your post says you booked on the BA website, so you should be calling BA only. If they tell you otherwise, the agent is either mistaken or incompetent.
#1368
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Accor Live Limitless Gold, Hilton Honours Gold, Avis Preferred Plus
Posts: 1,807
Morning all
I'm trying to get a refund for a booking with Avios plus 2-4-1 Amex voucher for flights that are cancelled. I've called (and called and called) but can't get any further than a recorded message telling me to try later.
So, what happens if I'm still trying when the flight should have departed? Have I got a 'grace period' to get my refund? Not sure what rules apply for a non-cash fare.
And to add to the joy, I shall have to do the same again when next month's flights cancel :-)
Thanks
GG
I'm trying to get a refund for a booking with Avios plus 2-4-1 Amex voucher for flights that are cancelled. I've called (and called and called) but can't get any further than a recorded message telling me to try later.
So, what happens if I'm still trying when the flight should have departed? Have I got a 'grace period' to get my refund? Not sure what rules apply for a non-cash fare.
And to add to the joy, I shall have to do the same again when next month's flights cancel :-)
Thanks
GG
As far as I am aware, you are still entitled to your cash refund for a period after the flight was meant to happen, the length of this period I am not sure but I am sure that it is long enough to not worry about at the moment. I expect somebody will be able to confirm the length period.
Good luck!
#1369
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 24
Do you happen to be calling from a Three mobile? Whenever I have called recently from my Three mobile I get cut off at some point during the recorded messages. I found that if you call from Skype (and that should be free to certain numbers, the Gold number certainly is free) then you get through and don't get cut off. A few people further up this thread have reported this working for them too.
Thanks for the quick reply Wilsnunn. Yes, it's a Three mobile but I have also tried Skype - no luck there either. Unfortunately I'm only a Silver and the Silver line directs me back to the main number ....
GG
Last edited by GetawayGertie; Apr 7, 2020 at 2:19 am Reason: Mistyping
#1370
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,964
I booked 2 return flights to PHX departing Oct 7th on the BA website, but flying on AA195. I checked the booking on the AA website and it shows the flight is running and that i am booked on it. October 7th is the first day that the PHX flight has been reinstated.
BA have sent me an email stating the flight is cancelled.
I phoned BA and they have stated that the flight is cancelled, they also confirmed that the afternoon flight BA289 is running. I asked that if necessary could i be moved onto that, but they have said i would have to ring AA, even though i made the booking on their website.
I appreciate this is months away and am going to sit on it for a while to see how things shake out, but if i do need to call, who should i ring AA or BA?
BA have sent me an email stating the flight is cancelled.
I phoned BA and they have stated that the flight is cancelled, they also confirmed that the afternoon flight BA289 is running. I asked that if necessary could i be moved onto that, but they have said i would have to ring AA, even though i made the booking on their website.
I appreciate this is months away and am going to sit on it for a while to see how things shake out, but if i do need to call, who should i ring AA or BA?
Looking on expertflyer AA195 is still showing as running on 7 October. It is also still showing for sale on aa.com and ba.com for sale so I am not convinced it is cancelled - so perhaps that is causing the problem?
#1371
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,709
Do you happen to be calling from a Three mobile? Whenever I have called recently from my Three mobile I get cut off at some point during the recorded messages. I found that if you call from Skype (and that should be free to certain numbers, the Gold number certainly is free) then you get through and don't get cut off. A few people further up this thread have reported this working for them too.
As far as I am aware, you are still entitled to your cash refund for a period after the flight was meant to happen, the length of this period I am not sure but I am sure that it is long enough to not worry about at the moment. I expect somebody will be able to confirm the length period.
Good luck!
As far as I am aware, you are still entitled to your cash refund for a period after the flight was meant to happen, the length of this period I am not sure but I am sure that it is long enough to not worry about at the moment. I expect somebody will be able to confirm the length period.
Good luck!
#1373
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Brighton England
Programs: AA Plat, various hotels
Posts: 1,220
Thank you for the quick response, its a 125 ticket, so i will leave it a while and phone BA if necessary
#1374
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Accor Live Limitless Gold, Hilton Honours Gold, Avis Preferred Plus
Posts: 1,807
I have just called and it seems to be working for me.
#1375
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 24
Yes that's the one I'm trying - I can get through and navigate through the options to 'if you booked with Avios', then get a recorded message saying try again.
I'll just keep trying I guess, I'd just be reassured if I knew how long I've got before I lose the chance of a refund.
GG
I'll just keep trying I guess, I'd just be reassured if I knew how long I've got before I lose the chance of a refund.
GG
#1376
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Accor Live Limitless Gold, Hilton Honours Gold, Avis Preferred Plus
Posts: 1,807
Yes that's the one I'm trying - I can get through and navigate through the options to 'if you booked with Avios', then get a recorded message saying try again.
I'll just keep trying I guess, I'd just be reassured if I knew how long I've got before I lose the chance of a refund.
GG
I'll just keep trying I guess, I'd just be reassured if I knew how long I've got before I lose the chance of a refund.
GG
#1377
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: clue is in the nym
Programs: BA Gold, TP Gold, VS Gold, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 832
If you are booked on AA195, if it is cancelled, and if you are booked on a BA issued ticket, I don't see any issue for BA to rebook you on BA289 if that's is still running. I don't see why the agent would need to call AA in those circumstances? They should be able just to rebook you on to the BA service.
Looking on expertflyer AA195 is still showing as running on 7 October. It is also still showing for sale on aa.com and ba.com for sale so I am not convinced it is cancelled - so perhaps that is causing the problem?
Looking on expertflyer AA195 is still showing as running on 7 October. It is also still showing for sale on aa.com and ba.com for sale so I am not convinced it is cancelled - so perhaps that is causing the problem?
Potentially, if the BA1526 codeshare number dropped out of the system briefly after a recent update it might trigger an automatic cancellation email?
If AA's system still shows the passenger as booked to fly then BA's database should re-build the entry at some point in the next few days but probably worth checking both sites and calling BA if nothing reappears in MMB soon.
#1379
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,964
Hasn't there been an issue in the past where periodic schedule updates between Sabre (AA) and Amadeus (BA) cause the codeshare linkages to go 'walkies' for a short while and thus the flight doesn't immediately show up in BA's itinerary? I think I recall having read something to this effect on FT in the past.
Potentially, if the BA1526 codeshare number dropped out of the system briefly after a recent update it might trigger an automatic cancellation email?
If AA's system still shows the passenger as booked to fly then BA's database should re-build the entry at some point in the next few days but probably worth checking both sites and calling BA if nothing reappears in MMB soon.
Potentially, if the BA1526 codeshare number dropped out of the system briefly after a recent update it might trigger an automatic cancellation email?
If AA's system still shows the passenger as booked to fly then BA's database should re-build the entry at some point in the next few days but probably worth checking both sites and calling BA if nothing reappears in MMB soon.
#1380
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Cheshire
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 37
Morning all
I'm trying to get a refund for a booking with Avios plus 2-4-1 Amex voucher for flights that are cancelled. I've called (and called and called) but can't get any further than a recorded message telling me to try later.
So, what happens if I'm still trying when the flight should have departed? Have I got a 'grace period' to get my refund? Not sure what rules apply for a non-cash fare.
And to add to the joy, I shall have to do the same again when next month's flights cancel :-)
Thanks
GG
I'm trying to get a refund for a booking with Avios plus 2-4-1 Amex voucher for flights that are cancelled. I've called (and called and called) but can't get any further than a recorded message telling me to try later.
So, what happens if I'm still trying when the flight should have departed? Have I got a 'grace period' to get my refund? Not sure what rules apply for a non-cash fare.
And to add to the joy, I shall have to do the same again when next month's flights cancel :-)
Thanks
GG