AJA_

Interesting viewpoint. While there will undoubtedly be people in that situation I suspect many more people have taken the eVoucher because BA cancelled their flights. I am sure many more would have preferred to receive a full cash refund that they were entitled to but did not because BA removed the ability to request a cash refund online through MMB and because they were unaware of the javascript hack. I also suspect that the cash fares will be much higher in the short term once/if flying returns simply to recover BA's rapidly dwindling cash balance. Any future bookings using eVouchers will not generate cash in the future for BA unless they inflate prices and force everyone to pay extra cash (under the guise of fare difference) in addition. People will be rather hacked off once they discover the new reality.

I also suspect that many corporates will be less likely to allow flying in First and Club having discovered that their employees have been able to cope with being grounded and using Miscrosoft Teams, Skype video calling and WhatsApp to maintain contact, I also suspect that many offices which are temporarily shut will be downsized as employees will press for the ability to continue remote working. Many organisations have resisted remote working because they thought it unsuitable but may revisit the idea especially if it reduces their rent overheads.

I am no airline analyst but I suspect that the above is the reason fares are so high for 12 months from now. Whether that works to BA's advantage remains to be seen.

My advice to the OP is to simply hold off from booking their Antigua trip for at least the next 3 months.

Misco60

I would imagine that BA has rather more to deal with right now than tweaking fares to maximise revenue for flights that might not even operate.

T8191

It’s an interesting thread, which resonates personally.

We have 4 holidays (1 s/h and 3 l/h) in MMB, none of which are likely to happen due to destination Border controls. At various points in the 2020 calendar, we will be recovering over £12k of forward spend from BA and Insurance. So what do we do next? Booking for something in 2021 would, IMO, be totally speculative until we know where we can go! Yes, we have an Antigua in MMB, as does the OP, but what will the situation be with either BA or the Antigua Government or, indeed, our intended hotel?

However, when things start to unravel (as they will, eventually) we will hopefully be in a position to apply our 2020 travel budget [unused] to augment the 2021 budget. Fly F instead of J? Book the best suite? BUT, we’re certainly not going to take a punt at this stage of C-19 until International Borders start to re-open, and that our usual destination hotels have survived the storm and are actually still in business*!

* As a previous guest at a St. Lucia hotel, I received a ‘crowdfunding’ email this morning ... they’re looking for £85,000 to support their staff while they’re closed down. Will they still be there in 2021?

UKtravelbear

I took the voucher because the BA flight I was booked was still operating and it was the best option available at the time for me that preserved the value of the tiket.

I know I would have prefered the cash but that wasn't an option. The voucher was better than the minimal APD and airport fees refund I would have otherwise got.

For me this some thing BA got right. Still waiting for my voucher though!

Bear96

With the number of flights operating and the number of pilots needed to be current right now?

LondonElite

Maybe. Although how often have we heard that before?

tuonopepper

In essence with a over 1k in vouchers it does become a bit of Russian roulette.... It also depends on what BA do in terms of me retaining gold.

I could use them on some TP runs to try and get the requal, I could just use them on weekenders or leisure flights, knowing the value of them and the original route associated I'm unlikely to want to get less than the original value for them in terms where they can take me... If allowed I may use them for any POUG that come up.

T8191

We have a friend is the USA, a reasonably high-level Government employee (GS15 = lt col equivalent?). She’s been a partial WFH-er for several years. When in her house in Arizona, she might have a physical meeting once a week, and one in D.C. every month. She’s now WFH in her D.C. apartment, and the wheels continue to turn ... as they do for her husband, who is a similar level Govt official.

tuonopepper

I can see both sides here... If BA priced low now they have chance of pulling in up front revenue, however realistically how many peoples first thought right now is must book a holiday.

With that in mind by going cheap now they may see less revenue in the end, by keeping prices inline with what they believe they can see them at, expecting a surge of business say Q4, they may well make more money that way. Of course to do that you have to get to Q4 in one piece.

Often1

All of these comments are well-taken. Some will come to pass and others will not. But, what they really show is that it would be folly for BA or any carrier to sell deeply-discounted tickets for future travel until the market becomes clear.

LondonElite

Sure, there a a good number of people like that. But every recession we hear that there will be far less business travel, that's it's costly and ineffective, that people will eventually get used to videoconferencing, etc. It just doesn't work very well. I've tried all the recent hypes, including Zoom, Slack, Teams. I'm not sure any of them are any different from each other or Skype, FaceTime. In may jobs, having luck together, or sitting occasionally in an office with the people you need to talk to, or shaking someone's hand, is just important to the outcome. Not all jobs are like that, though, and I say that as someone who is in a formal office setting perhaps no more than two days a week.

HFHFFlyer

This thread should be renamed “I want a ridiculous bargain and I want one now”.

SurreyTig

Interesting thread.
We have just had a San Francisco holiday (flight plus car) cancelled with full refund from BA.
Prompted by this thread, I went online to look at the cost of booking the approximate equivalent next year.
The total was cost was within £50 for the two of us.
So there may be local issues and I would suggest more data points are needed before accusing BA of profiteering or price spitting

sombrachinesca

To me, this is the issue. If airlines were willing to allow cancelled flights to be rebooked without charging a fare difference, then I'd have no problem with them setting future prices wherever they want.
But, for them to insist (as for certain Iberia are doing) that any voucher is subject to collection of fare differential -- even for an itinerary cancelled by the airline -- is simply unfair.
OT - to add insult to injury, Iberia are refusing to even discuss refunds.

AJA_

I do see that for some situations physical proximity is still a good idea but I wonder if we do go into a worldwide recession how many companies will continue to pay first class? I am sure that eventually travel will return but I do not see it being anywhere near back to "normal" levels before this hit in the short term (the next 12 months). And there will be those who will do less travel in the short term. If there are fewer people travelling then the airlines will do their best to maximise revenue. So it could either be discounted fares to encourage people to return but with so many trying to redeem vouchers I can't see BA doing this or more likely high pricing to maximise revenue from fewer passengers who will pay to travel come what may.