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*
#1396
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,968
I have previously used the java fix on two bookings successfully. Today I could not find a way to do it as the UI has changed and I couldn't access the old UI. Seems that if you want a cash refund, you need to call, which I am sure is meant to put people off so that they accept the voucher.
#1397
Ambassador: World of Hyatt
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: UK - the nearest airport is named after a motorway !
Posts: 4,235
I have previously used the java fix on two bookings successfully. Today I could not find a way to do it as the UI has changed and I couldn't access the old UI. Seems that if you want a cash refund, you need to call, which I am sure is meant to put people off so that they accept the voucher.
#1398
Join Date: Apr 2020
Programs: BA Executive Club
Posts: 7
If you go in to the normal MMB screen then the JS trick still works and you should be able to avoid the future travel voucher form However, if when you go in to the booking you are immediately taken in to the disrupted booking view there doesn't seem to be any way to avoid the voucher form - if you disable JS and click on cancel booking you still go to the future travel voucher form.
#1399
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 327
I've been trying to get a full refund for two cancelled Avios bookings - I finally got through to BA today on the phone and they have told me that the bookings have both been converted into vouchers, so they are unable to process a refund.
However, I never requested a voucher. I was told the voucher was processed on 23rd March which is the same date I got the cancellation email.
I was unfortunately unable to cancel the bookings myself online using the Javascript workaround, as my card number has changed since I made the booking (I didn't keep my old card), and it was needed as verification in order to cancel. The bookings disappeared from MMB about 2 weeks ago. I made absolutely sure to not request a voucher as I knew I wanted a full refund. I've confirmed via the Qantas method that the bookings have indeed been converted into vouchers.
Anyone else in this situation? Is there anything I can do to get the refund I was entitled to?
However, I never requested a voucher. I was told the voucher was processed on 23rd March which is the same date I got the cancellation email.
I was unfortunately unable to cancel the bookings myself online using the Javascript workaround, as my card number has changed since I made the booking (I didn't keep my old card), and it was needed as verification in order to cancel. The bookings disappeared from MMB about 2 weeks ago. I made absolutely sure to not request a voucher as I knew I wanted a full refund. I've confirmed via the Qantas method that the bookings have indeed been converted into vouchers.
Anyone else in this situation? Is there anything I can do to get the refund I was entitled to?
#1400
Join Date: Apr 2020
Programs: BA Executive Club
Posts: 7
Well I've just been able to speak to BA o the phone. I was advised, very politely, that due to the backlog of requests as far ahead as August (currently 15-16 days to process) and staff working from home (system limitations of home-working) that cash refunds are not being processed unless it is 72 hours or less before departure. I was also told that this is also the reason that the cash refund option has been temporarily withdrawn from the website.
The chap I spoke with apologised that it is not clear from emails or the website that you will not be able to progress a refund request unless it's T-72 but did assure me that there would be no problem and suggested that the online option to request a cash refund may be re-enabled in the near future and to keep checking online.
The chap I spoke with apologised that it is not clear from emails or the website that you will not be able to progress a refund request unless it's T-72 but did assure me that there would be no problem and suggested that the online option to request a cash refund may be re-enabled in the near future and to keep checking online.
#1401
Join Date: Apr 2020
Programs: BA Executive Club
Posts: 7
Just managed to get through to a very polite chap at BA. The upshot is that due to the volume of refund requests and system restrictions due to home-working, the online option has been temporarily withdrawn and phone requests are not being processed unless it is 72 hours or less before departure.
He did say that the online option may be re-enabled at some point and to keep checking the website/MMB.
Hope this helps others
He did say that the online option may be re-enabled at some point and to keep checking the website/MMB.
Hope this helps others
#1402
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 629
Just managed to get through to a very polite chap at BA. The upshot is that due to the volume of refund requests and system restrictions due to home-working, the online option has been temporarily withdrawn and phone requests are not being processed unless it is 72 hours or less before departure.
He did say that the online option may be re-enabled at some point and to keep checking the website/MMB.
Hope this helps others
He did say that the online option may be re-enabled at some point and to keep checking the website/MMB.
Hope this helps others
Last edited by Hawk777; Apr 7, 2020 at 9:53 am
#1403
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,968
#1404
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,709
In any case, as someone who had issues calling last week and successfully used the Skype option to call in - both my mobile (Three) and Skype are now dropping after the pre-recorded message, calling both the standard number as well as the gold line, so I can't get through at all.
It looks like lots of May cancellations have been processed too as have received 6 cancellation e-mails regarding various bookings.
#1405
Join Date: Apr 2020
Programs: BA Executive Club
Posts: 7
I don't' want to get into a slanging match but I would like something to back up a challenge to that line from BA.
#1406
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 629
just tell them that policy ended last week and if they aren't aware of it to speak to a duty manager to confirm it for them
#1407
Join Date: Dec 2017
Programs: BA Executive Club
Posts: 15
Refunded a Dublin flight two weeks ago. Had the money refunded two days ago but still waiting on the 8000 avios to be refunded - should I expect that soon?
#1408
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 166
I just called (8:30 UK time Wed) to cancel for a refund which can't be done online even using the work around which was available a week or so ago. Results (I'm silver):
1. Called the gold number listed on here a few posts back. Got through fairly quickly but they wouldn't process me as I'm silver (fair enough).
2. Called the silver number. It told me to call the general number (0800 727 800) and hung up.
3. Called 0800 727 800. It gave out a message relating the difficulties and hung up.
Conclusion: it's not possible to cancel and get a refund at the moment unless you're Gold.
1. Called the gold number listed on here a few posts back. Got through fairly quickly but they wouldn't process me as I'm silver (fair enough).
2. Called the silver number. It told me to call the general number (0800 727 800) and hung up.
3. Called 0800 727 800. It gave out a message relating the difficulties and hung up.
Conclusion: it's not possible to cancel and get a refund at the moment unless you're Gold.
#1409
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: MAN/JNB
Programs: KL/BMI/BA
Posts: 412
Called this morning at 07.45 (I believe they open at 07.30) and was put in the queue and I got to speak to someone after 15 mins.
#1410
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 635
I just called (8:30 UK time Wed) to cancel for a refund which can't be done online even using the work around which was available a week or so ago. Results (I'm silver):
1. Called the gold number listed on here a few posts back. Got through fairly quickly but they wouldn't process me as I'm silver (fair enough).
2. Called the silver number. It told me to call the general number (0800 727 800) and hung up.
3. Called 0800 727 800. It gave out a message relating the difficulties and hung up.
Conclusion: it's not possible to cancel and get a refund at the moment unless you're Gold.
1. Called the gold number listed on here a few posts back. Got through fairly quickly but they wouldn't process me as I'm silver (fair enough).
2. Called the silver number. It told me to call the general number (0800 727 800) and hung up.
3. Called 0800 727 800. It gave out a message relating the difficulties and hung up.
Conclusion: it's not possible to cancel and get a refund at the moment unless you're Gold.