Newly Wed

Just had flights to the US cancelled for a multi-centre holiday including hotels and car rental.

Holiday booked February 2020 for travel in July 2020.

I spoke to BA Holidays (through in minutes via GGL Line) and was offered all the expected options of refund, voucher, date change. I asked whether it would be possible to move the trip to August 2021 by doing nothing for now and waiting until September to call and make the date change and I was told that this is possible. I questioned this several times pointing out that the ticket is only valid until February 2021 and was told that provided that the date change is made before February 2021 then the ticket will remain valid. I also specifically asked whether it was possible to move the date more than 12 months beyond our original travel date i.e. August 2021 rather than July 2021 and told that this was fine. The CS agent sounded sure that this was all fine but I am worried about losing the value of an £8.5k holiday by leaving it to chance.

Can anyone advise on whether I was advised correctly. I feel sure the advice is wrong but, that said, a member of our HHA had honeymoon flights booked in June 2019 for travel in May 2020 re-booked without charge for December 2020. I thought this was maybe an error or the exercise of discretion as a benefit of being in a GGL HHA but now I am wondering whether this is re-routing at a later date at the passenger’s convenience as required under EU261. If it falls under EU261 then can I expect re-routing at no additional cost?

I'm going to have to call back because I managed not to discuss my hotel or car hire arrangements during the call. I am more relaxed about cancelling and re-booking those later but I got a particularly good price on 4 x J flights to the West coast that I am keen to lock the price in if I can.

corporate-wage-slave

It looks OK the me, and on the main Rebooking thread there is a recent example of someone who left their cancelled reservation untouched until they tripped over 355 days and then were able to rebook their flights (and make a few changes too). Admittedly this was a flight only, non BAH booking, but the principle remains that a ticket is considered for 1 year from issue. If the other components are in the same PNR then you can assume they will all be portable, but if they are in another PNR then you indeed would need to call again.

One important factor is that this is all based on BA's current policies and unusually generous (by BA standards) rebooking guidelines. I don't know of any change in this space but we can assume that at some point BA will revert to form.

Anonba

The voucher validity is till April 2022 so this would be over a year for everyones ticket now. So what you have been told is correct.

KARFA

By going via a FTV the OP is liable for any fare difference though.

I think the OP looking to move the flights under update 3 of the rebooking provision for cancelled flights where fare difference isn’t payable and any selling class availability in the same cabin is sufficient.

Anonba

Ahhhhhh right under current guidelines for cancelled flights you can still only be rebooked within normal ticket validity so you must travel within a year of ticket purchase.

Anonba

Ahhhhhh right under current guidelines for cancelled flights you can still only be rebooked within normal ticket validity so you must travel within a year of ticket purchase.

Newly Wed

Thanks all.

Which are the current guidelines you are referring to? I'm thinking that Article 8(c) of EU261 may save the day. Also is it re-booking within normal ticket validity on travel within normal ticket validity?

Anonba

Im referring to the guidelines ba use for rebooking cancelled flights currently during covid 19. To clarify you must travel within normal ticket validity.

KARFA

it's ba's own guidelines for rebooking allowance where flights are cancelled, and in particular update 3 which came our about 2 weeks ago.

Previously for a cancelled flight you could move -3/+14 days and didn't need same selling class, but if you wanted to move beyond that range you paid any fare difference if the same selling class was not available.

Now with update 3 they have removed the -3/+14 day restriction, so if your flight is cancelled you can change to the same route for any date up to a year from when you ticket was originally booked and you just need any space in the same cabin, you do not need same selling class availability. So if you do want to change any cancelled ones to later this year you should be able to do so without any fare difference.

Hawk777

It seems from other posts some people are getting lucky and getting tickets issued after the ticket validity date but wouldn't go thinking this is the norm, it will be the odd one out of a lot people

s1362083

So if I've understood correctly, there is no requirement to rebook a cancelled flight before the original departure date to make use of the current rebooking policy? That is really useful because I'm about to push back a cancelled flight to a speculative date in November but I have no idea if I can travel then. Lets say I know by October, can I just quote the PNR and ask to be rebooked for a November date irrespective of Avios availablity? Alternatively, if I run out of ticket validity period before being able to travel, the option for full refund is still open until then? Perhaps a call now to get notes added couldn't hurt in case all recollection/record of current guideline has disappeared by then.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, your ticket stays alive for a year after it was initially issued, so if your first sector is cancelled you can call up with the details later on and rebook. However it is important to retain the eticket email so that the booking can be found, Amadeus archives off PNRs very quickly. Also if the cancellation is for (say) the second flight in the sector and the first flight operates, you need to contact before departure to at least get yourself offloaded from the original flight since you may be deemed a "no show". The key thing is that the ticket still needs to be in the 1 year validity.

It's important not to make mistakes in this area, so anyone else reading this should feel free to query their own circumstances if they are unsure about what to do.

brunos

I think that this point should not be neglected.

s1362083

True, but I would think a cancellation is ruled by the guidelines at time of cancellation, not any future iteration. But I can see how it can lead to confusion, hence my point above that I would call up to have notes added to PNR.

But I'm open to being told otherwise..

Hawk777

worth noting though if doing this and waiting you also run the risk of the same policy not being in place, so then you would need avios availability when you come to rebook, the current policy is not a normal one so obviously could be withdrawn