Mar 14, 2020, 4:58 pm
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*
Mar 14, 2020, 4:57 pm
#1
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Battleaxe Alliance
Posts: 22,127
Covid-19 BA Rebooking/Cancellation/Refund HELP & ADVICE *No Speculation etc*
Following the US ban on those who have been in the UK, Eire or Schengen are in 14 days prior, and various other countries introducing measures to disallow non-citizens/residents or based on travel history, and anticipated mass cancellation of BA flights, it has been decided that we'd have one thread for seeking and providing specific and practical assistance to deal with specific BA cancellations, rebooking and refunds pertaining to your BA flight, whether that is due to BA-initiated cancellation or due to your inability to enter the country, or for other reasons.
IMPORTANT RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
Your post will be removed (either moved or deleted) without notice or explanation if it does not meet the following strict criteria for participation in this thread.
Adherence to the rules is important because this thread exists to help people who are having questions or difficulties in connection with cancelled BA flights, rebooking options or obtaining refunds. Anything that does not meet the purpose of the thread will make it more difficult for people to seek or provide help.
If you have a verifiable source of information, and you have over 90 posts on FT, please help by keeping the Wiki up-to-date.
Existing threads on cancellations/rebooking/refunds, while closed (just so that a single new thread with relevant could be set up - merging the old two stopped some of the flow of the posts from making sense), also provides very useful information. Please read them before you post your question:
US ban-related cancellation/rebooking help thread: US Ban: BA flight Canx/Rebook Info & Help ONLY *No general discussion/speculation*
Non-US Covid-19 cancellation/rebooking help thread: Covid-19 and BA flight cancellations & rebooking: info & advice thread [*noise-free*]
Again, all general discussions and questions related to Covid-19 and BA are to be posted on the following thread.
BA Covid-19 news, views, speculations, general questions, rants & more
It's time for FlyerTalk BA forum community to help each other. Please help others to help you and others.
One of the ways of doing this by not contaminating this thread with anything that does not meet the posting criteria for this thread.
Thank you for your help.
IMPORTANT RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
Your post will be removed (either moved or deleted) without notice or explanation if it does not meet the following strict criteria for participation in this thread.
Adherence to the rules is important because this thread exists to help people who are having questions or difficulties in connection with cancelled BA flights, rebooking options or obtaining refunds. Anything that does not meet the purpose of the thread will make it more difficult for people to seek or provide help.
- This is a thread for seeking or providing practical assistance to deal with specific BA flight cancellations, rebooking or refunds.
- No speculation, non-BA specific matters or rants
- Please think before you post on this thread - "Is my post in the spirit of this thread"?
- Please be considerate towards those trying to help you - please read the Wiki and the thread yourself first, before posting your question.
- Please only post questions that are not speculative - e.g. "Do you think BA will cancel BA [XXX]?" is not a suitable question for this thread.
- Please do not create another thread seeking or providing advice on BA cancellation/rebooking/refunds.
- General questions, comments etc. needs to be directed to BA Covid-19 news, views, speculations, general questions, rants & more
If you have a verifiable source of information, and you have over 90 posts on FT, please help by keeping the Wiki up-to-date.
Existing threads on cancellations/rebooking/refunds, while closed (just so that a single new thread with relevant could be set up - merging the old two stopped some of the flow of the posts from making sense), also provides very useful information. Please read them before you post your question:
US ban-related cancellation/rebooking help thread: US Ban: BA flight Canx/Rebook Info & Help ONLY *No general discussion/speculation*
Non-US Covid-19 cancellation/rebooking help thread: Covid-19 and BA flight cancellations & rebooking: info & advice thread [*noise-free*]
Again, all general discussions and questions related to Covid-19 and BA are to be posted on the following thread.
BA Covid-19 news, views, speculations, general questions, rants & more
It's time for FlyerTalk BA forum community to help each other. Please help others to help you and others.
One of the ways of doing this by not contaminating this thread with anything that does not meet the posting criteria for this thread.
Thank you for your help.
Last edited by LTN Phobia; Mar 15, 2020 at 3:22 am
Mar 14, 2020, 5:07 pm
#2
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Battleaxe Alliance
Posts: 22,127
IMPORTANT
Please ONLY call BA if your flight is within the next 72 hours. It is important that the BA call centre team are allowed to deal with more urgent cases first.
Please ONLY call BA if your flight is within the next 72 hours. It is important that the BA call centre team are allowed to deal with more urgent cases first.
Mar 14, 2020, 5:43 pm
#3
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 100
Apologies if this is a wrong place (or been answered already) couldn't see an explicit reference to bookings made with Avios with a quick glance.
How does award bookings on BA work? I recently booked a trip to Rome albeit in August but as per my understanding Book with Confidence covers bookings made between 3rd of March and 31st of May 2020 for travel in the next 12 months.
Does this mean the Ł35 flight change fee would be waived, assuming there's award availability on other flights?
Thank you.
How does award bookings on BA work? I recently booked a trip to Rome albeit in August but as per my understanding Book with Confidence covers bookings made between 3rd of March and 31st of May 2020 for travel in the next 12 months.
Does this mean the Ł35 flight change fee would be waived, assuming there's award availability on other flights?
Thank you.
Mar 14, 2020, 5:53 pm
#4
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: 63,804
Yes, the change fee or rather the redeposit fee would be waived if you transfer to another fight. If you can't a suitable new flight but need to cancel the old flight, the Ł35 redeposit fee is your maximum exposure.
Mar 14, 2020, 6:22 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2006
Location: LHR
Programs: HH Gold; BA Gold; Hertz PC
Posts: 102
Expiring 2-4-1
We have an expiring 2-4-1 (I think May or June) which we were using for Vegas on 3rd April but obviously now will be cancelled. What are they doing about extending these as we already have a 2-4-1 booked for Vegas in August and another 2-4-1 which we haven't booked yet expiring next March. I'm assuming the extensions are not going to be that generous and who knows what will happen with availability over the next 6 months. I had a search around but so much noise in the forum now and phoning is obviously pointless at the moment.
Mar 14, 2020, 6:29 pm
#6
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: 63,804
I don't think there has been an official statement on that, however some anecdotes which have suggested a 6 month extension have been offered. Any more recent anecdotes are welcome here, there was one anecdote which suggested that BA are not extending 2-4-1 vouchers, so it's not totally clear.
Mar 14, 2020, 6:35 pm
#7
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 629
We have an expiring 2-4-1 (I think May or June) which we were using for Vegas on 3rd April but obviously now will be cancelled. What are they doing about extending these as we already have a 2-4-1 booked for Vegas in August and another 2-4-1 which we haven't booked yet expiring next March. I'm assuming the extensions are not going to be that generous and who knows what will happen with availability over the next 6 months. I had a search around but so much noise in the forum now and phoning is obviously pointless at the moment.
Mar 14, 2020, 6:38 pm
#8
Join Date: May 2006
Location: LHR
Programs: HH Gold; BA Gold; Hertz PC
Posts: 102
I assume that there is no chance of EC261 either now, so will phone when the initial rush is over end of next week/week after and see what they offer. The trip was with a group of 12, so we have no idea if we will reschedule as one is a teacher so with the school holidays to work around it could be hard. It was my last flight before dropping back to Silver so disappointed not to have the enjoyment of that.
Mar 14, 2020, 8:31 pm
#9
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SEA, YVR
Programs: Alaska MVPG, Flying Blue Gold, BA Silver, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 568
Asking on behalf of a non ft-er friend. Does anyone know exactly when the UK ban goes into place on Monday? He is Canadian, currently in UK but needs to get back to USA. Thought was to book an afternoon flight out of lhr on Monday.
edit: never mind, just read the full proclamation it is 11:59 on March 16 eastern time.
edit: never mind, just read the full proclamation it is 11:59 on March 16 eastern time.
Mar 14, 2020, 8:37 pm
#10
Join Date: May 2018
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 320
Asking on behalf of a non ft-er friend. Does anyone know exactly when the UK ban goes into place on Monday? He is Canadian, currently in UK but needs to get back to USA. Thought was to book an afternoon flight out of lhr on Monday.
edit: never mind, just read the full proclamation it is 11:59 on March 16 eastern time.
edit: never mind, just read the full proclamation it is 11:59 on March 16 eastern time.
Mar 14, 2020, 9:11 pm
#11
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: BAEC, AerClub
Posts: 134
I am booked to travel DUB-LGW-LAS on the 25th of March, returning to DUB via LHR on April 4th.
As I part paid with Avios, I wonder how a refund will work, given that I've read about protracted delays getting the Avios back into a person's BAEC account?
Or is it the case that BA will only be offering a voucher, so that I can rebook at a later date?
Also, I booked a car with Avis through BA for the same dates. I would expect that would be looked after in the same way, no?
As I part paid with Avios, I wonder how a refund will work, given that I've read about protracted delays getting the Avios back into a person's BAEC account?
Or is it the case that BA will only be offering a voucher, so that I can rebook at a later date?
Also, I booked a car with Avis through BA for the same dates. I would expect that would be looked after in the same way, no?
Mar 14, 2020, 9:39 pm
#12
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 143
Flight home cancelled by BA
Hi. I'm currently in Romania on holiday from UK. Flights were booked as reward flights do part Avios and part cash. Flight was booked as return. Arrived on Fri 13 from Heathrow, due to go back on 415pm flight on Wed 18. As far as I can see there are no direct restrictions to or from Romania in relation to Covid 19. Received email/SMS from BA yesterday informing me my return flight is cancelled, but rebooking me on the morning flight home on same day. In the greater scheme of things not a massive issue, although early morning arrivals at airports is not my preference. Anyway, my email from BA suggested I needed to accept this change and clicking the link from email and SMS took me to My Booking area of BA website where there were two links.....accept change or look for alternative flights. My initial preference was to ask to go on evening flight on following day if BA would pay reasonable expenses ok booking extra night in hotel. So I clicked that link and result generated an "error, unable to find itinerary". So I tried to call. I had not seen the advice about 72 hours. My flight (originally) was around 96 hours ahead, and if on new flight, then about 88 hours ahead. First time I called I got through the initial messages and then was just cut off. I left it s few hours and called back. I was aware longer I left it the harder or more expensive hotels were going to be, or even the possibility of getting on alternative flights if everyone else in same situation as me had the same idea. Next time I called I was on hold for around 30 mins before I gave up.....partly due to cost of calling (I do not have access to free minutes and call is not toll free) and partly thinking I could have waited on line another 30 mins with same result.
I then tried link to my booking again and decided to click the link to accept change and rebook. This link also produced error.
Can I see reason for future flight cancellations? Am I likely to be able to claim under EC261? What additional costs will BA pay?
All if this is speculation anyway if I am unable to actually contact BA. Looking at their Twitter feed others are in same boat. I also understand the ongoing issues with countries that have imposed restrictions such as Spain and USA, but I do need to get home and on a flight that I can make it to airport to board.
As I write this, my new flight (if I was able to accept) is in around 75 hours. BA helpdesk opens in around 4 hours. Advice most welcome.
I then tried link to my booking again and decided to click the link to accept change and rebook. This link also produced error.
Can I see reason for future flight cancellations? Am I likely to be able to claim under EC261? What additional costs will BA pay?
All if this is speculation anyway if I am unable to actually contact BA. Looking at their Twitter feed others are in same boat. I also understand the ongoing issues with countries that have imposed restrictions such as Spain and USA, but I do need to get home and on a flight that I can make it to airport to board.
As I write this, my new flight (if I was able to accept) is in around 75 hours. BA helpdesk opens in around 4 hours. Advice most welcome.
Mar 14, 2020, 9:44 pm
#13
Join Date: May 2018
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 320
Hi. I'm currently in Romania on holiday from UK. Flights were booked as reward flights do part Avios and part cash. Flight was booked as return. Arrived on Fri 13 from Heathrow, due to go back on 415pm flight on Wed 18. As far as I can see there are no direct restrictions to or from Romania in relation to Covid 19. Received email/SMS from BA yesterday informing me my return flight is cancelled, but rebooking me on the morning flight home on same day. In the greater scheme of things not a massive issue, although early morning arrivals at airports is not my preference. Anyway, my email from BA suggested I needed to accept this change and clicking the link from email and SMS took me to My Booking area of BA website where there were two links.....accept change or look for alternative flights. My initial preference was to ask to go on evening flight on following day if BA would pay reasonable expenses ok booking extra night in hotel. So I clicked that link and result generated an "error, unable to find itinerary". So I tried to call. I had not seen the advice about 72 hours. My flight (originally) was around 96 hours ahead, and if on new flight, then about 88 hours ahead. First time I called I got through the initial messages and then was just cut off. I left it s few hours and called back. I was aware longer I left it the harder or more expensive hotels were going to be, or even the possibility of getting on alternative flights if everyone else in same situation as me had the same idea. Next time I called I was on hold for around 30 mins before I gave up.....partly due to cost of calling (I do not have access to free minutes and call is not toll free) and partly thinking I could have waited on line another 30 mins with same result.
I then tried link to my booking again and decided to click the link to accept change and rebook. This link also produced error.
Can I see reason for future flight cancellations? Am I likely to be able to claim under EC261? What additional costs will BA pay?
All if this is speculation anyway if I am unable to actually contact BA. Looking at their Twitter feed others are in same boat. I also understand the ongoing issues with countries that have imposed restrictions such as Spain and USA, but I do need to get home and on a flight that I can make it to airport to board.
As I write this, my new flight (if I was able to accept) is in around 75 hours. BA helpdesk opens in around 4 hours. Advice most welcome.
I then tried link to my booking again and decided to click the link to accept change and rebook. This link also produced error.
Can I see reason for future flight cancellations? Am I likely to be able to claim under EC261? What additional costs will BA pay?
All if this is speculation anyway if I am unable to actually contact BA. Looking at their Twitter feed others are in same boat. I also understand the ongoing issues with countries that have imposed restrictions such as Spain and USA, but I do need to get home and on a flight that I can make it to airport to board.
As I write this, my new flight (if I was able to accept) is in around 75 hours. BA helpdesk opens in around 4 hours. Advice most welcome.
Mar 14, 2020, 10:07 pm
#14
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: AA PLTPRO, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,559
I hope this helps - I had a flight for the first week of April and sent a Direct Message (DM) to BA via Twitter on 3/11/2020. I received an automatic reply:
Please let us know how we can help. We'll need your full name, contact number, booking reference and email address. For Data Protection purposes, please can you also confirm two of the following in the order they appear: • The first line of your billing address and postcode • The last 4 digits of your original payment card • Name one other passenger • Passport number (If in the booking) • Passport expiry (If in the booking) If you have made your booking with a travel agent, please confirm the name of the agent. Please note, due to high volumes, we’re only able to make changes to British Airways Holidays package bookings where the first flight is on or before 14 April 2020. If your British Airways Holidays package booking includes a flight due to depart after 14 April 2020, please contact us closer to your departure date.
I responded with the info and received a telephone call this afternoon from an agent and we resolved my cancellation request. It came in as "Unknown Caller" on my phone. The agent was very helpful and polite and apologized for the delay in reaching out but it was obviously understandable given the circumstances.
Please let us know how we can help. We'll need your full name, contact number, booking reference and email address. For Data Protection purposes, please can you also confirm two of the following in the order they appear: • The first line of your billing address and postcode • The last 4 digits of your original payment card • Name one other passenger • Passport number (If in the booking) • Passport expiry (If in the booking) If you have made your booking with a travel agent, please confirm the name of the agent. Please note, due to high volumes, we’re only able to make changes to British Airways Holidays package bookings where the first flight is on or before 14 April 2020. If your British Airways Holidays package booking includes a flight due to depart after 14 April 2020, please contact us closer to your departure date.
I responded with the info and received a telephone call this afternoon from an agent and we resolved my cancellation request. It came in as "Unknown Caller" on my phone. The agent was very helpful and polite and apologized for the delay in reaching out but it was obviously understandable given the circumstances.
Mar 14, 2020, 10:29 pm
#15
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 35
Have a flight from the U.S. to UK booked in late April that is not going to happen now. I’m hoping to reschedule for June but that’s dependent on what conditions are like in the next couple months and any additional travel restrictions put in place. BA’s website now says you can cancel bookings up to 31 May and receive a voucher good for one year, but it’s not clear how that works for tickets booked with avios, just says to file the form. Anyone know how that will work? Will I get a voucher for the amount of avios plus taxes? What if my rebooked itinerary ends up being less points or lower taxes? Right now I’m thinking I should wait longer and see if they cancel my flight, in which case I assume they’d refund both the avios and the taxes or let me change to later dates?