higham44

Two of us are booked with BA Holidays to go to Malta (6-13 June 2020). To date I have paid just the deposit (2 x £150) with the balance of £1320 due by 2 May. I assume that BA will not decide if the flight and hotel are viable until closer to the departure date. However, if I don't settle the balance by 2 May, I also assume that BA will cancel the holiday and keep the £300. Should I pay the balance and then wait to see what BA do and if it is cancelled look for a refund?

I am sure that I am not alone in this position as there are many people out there with BA holidays booked and have had similar decisions to make. Comments and advice most welcome.
Thanks

cameramaker

Wait until 2nd May to pay off the balance. The flights might get cancelled by then.

corporate-wage-slave

I don't know whether this applies to June departures bur as mentioned in the main threads, BA Holidays have pushed the date for final payment to 3 weeks before departure.

It would be worth calling BAH (specifically) in 3 weeks or so to see what the options are for you. Because BAH bookings - assuming it's an inclusive package - have better protection from a legislation perspective, I wouldn't be unduly concerned about this, though it may be also worth contacting your travel insurance company as well, again nearer to departure.

southlondonphil

Or they might not. Problem the OP has is s/he is expected to fork over an additional ~£1300 to BA for a holiday that might not happen, and then potentially struggle to get anything other than a voucher for some amount that may or may not equate to the total cost of the holiday* in recompense if BA cancel the flight after the money's been paid. Or, pro-actively cancel now and lose the £300 deposit entirely. That's not a choice easily made in an an information vacuum - I have a similar dilemma in the same time window albeit with less money at stake overall.

To the OP - anecdotally the deadline for paying the holiday balance is being shifted to 3 weeks before departure instead of 5 which at least allows more time for the likely travel environment in June to become clearer, but it would be wise to phone BA Holidays before 2nd May to check whether they are in fact being flexible about payment deadlines.


*- dependent on the underlying terms of any hotel/car/attraction element within the booking

whitespace

So the topic of balances being due later doesn’t appear to be true for my booking. Like the OP, I have a small (£400) deposit for a £3k balance that was due on 9 April and is still due on 9 April. The departing flight is on 14 May.

There are reminders in my calendar to call BA Holidays to discuss with them at the last possible minute. I don’t want to waste the £400 deposit, but I also don’t want to throw good money after bad.

The situation won’t be resolved by the departure date, neither here nor in Greece. I would really love to be on holiday but have come to appreciate that this simply isn’t going to be possible...

crazyarmadillo

If you have insurance and in addition if it's a 'holiday' extra legal stuff protection, I wouldn't be concerned.

My insurance for just such a thing has already confirmed coverage for us, booked before this virus.

If it gets cancelled and then you get your cash back, im assuming. I just got three refunds from ba for flights only. You don't need to get a voucher if they cancel, but cash.

Edit. Key here if you want cash vs voucher, wait till it gets cancelled. I have 3 refunds from ba, albeit flight only , then also 2 with aa. Got cash back with all five by just waiting till they cancelled or changed the itinerary off the scale.

corporate-wage-slave

Is that what BA Holidays have told you in the last few weeks? Or are you referring to what you are seeing in the booking online? If it is the latter, then those calling up have been told they can leave it until 3 weeks to departure. More details in the main thread.

plunet

Pay any balance as late as possible with a reputable credit (not debit) card preferably the same one that you paid the deposit with.

The law is very very clear, if the holiday cannot be fulfilled as booked BA have to fully refund you. You also have the backstop of your credit card and insurance to also assist.

HuwieHex

British Airways Holidays are ATOL protected. Which surely means that if a holiday is cancelled by the Operator for whatever reason then a full refund would be made. But this will only apply if payments are made as specified in the booking conditions. So pay now and (probably) get a refund later.

rockflyertalk

I sense we need some sort main ‘ahh what do I do about my holiday booking thread?’

Theres the Covid-19 refund, cancel help etc thread for anyone who hasn’t seen it.

Covid-19 BA Rebooking/Cancellation/Refund HELP & ADVICE *No Speculation etc*

whitespace

Thank you. I will report back once I speak to BA Holidays this week...

higham44

Likewise. Thanks to all for the responses so far.

lcylocal

My experience of this was that I didn’t do anything and didn’t pay the balance. With about four weeks to go the holiday came into the scope of the book with confidence policy and I applied for a voucher. About a week later I got the voucher for the deposit amount and a few days after that the booking disappeared from my BA account.

This was for a flights+Avis car hire booking and was only £50 deposit, so there was no way I was going to pay the balance to try and get the deposit back.

vintagepilot

I was told directly by a BA agent that they are pushing the balance due date back to T-3 weeks - but then got a balance due remainder for another trip at the 5 week point. We applied for a voucher (as I knew the hotel was refundable) and got a voucher for the amount we had paid within a couple of days.

The vouchers are only for travel up to 31 May at the mo, so I would wait at least until the 5-week point and see what the Covid refund/voucher situation is then and/or whether flights are on - ideally they will be cancelled before you pay the balance. I'm guessing that the 31 May voucher cut off will get extended and you should then be able to apply for a voucher. You still might not get any of the £300 back if the hotel is non-refundable - and none of the BA Holiday confirmations give you that information.

andyinflitwick

I had a BA Holiday booked to Orlando on 3rd May including Flights, Hotel and Disney Tickets. BAH pushed out the payment date to 3rd April. Regardless of the fact UK Citizens have no entry, six weeks before they were unable to offer a voucher because Disney was still stating they were open. I would have lost the Disney ticket money (£400) if I had not waited longer.

Despite BA shutting down LGW operations and it being highly unlikely that my flights would operate, my options were to either accept a voucher for my £700 which included £400 deposit and £300 extra that I'd paid or to pay the full amount (nearly £4k) and hope BA cancelled the flights. I wasn't happy with the second option so have begrudgingly taken the voucher.

I'm now left with basically an email that they are calling a voucher which is really unclear what I'm supposed to do. It mentions booking as new itinerary and then emailing them with the PNR. They would then credit the money on the voucher to the booking. I appreciate that BA are in a tight spot, but it doesn't feel that they are being very open/fair with customers when it comes down to cancellations/rebooking.