Jan 1, 2021, 8:29 am
Last edit by: corporate-wage-slave
01 - 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 2023 (now extended from April 2022 including existing FTVs), 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. If you us,ed an FTV to pay for this now cancelled service then you can have a refund back to the FTV's original booking.
Online forms: manual process which may take many weeks
link to webform to claim a refund (UK) or link to webform to claim a refund (US)
Paid Seating Refund:
link to webform to claim a refund (UK)
02 - If your flight is not cancelled but you no longer wish to travel
Commercial booking: If you are eligible for Buy with Confidence, you can have an FTV valid until 31 August 2022 (this has been extended several times). Rebooking may lead to a fare recalculation but no change fee. Travel must be fully completed by this date.
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 30 April 2022, 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: https://ba.com/confidence
Bookings made using Lloyds Upgrade Voucher
You should expect to receive:
A full refund of Avios and money paid plus 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
03 - How to find out the status of your voucher and the amount it contains
Use the Qantas website and look back to your original PNR. Step by step guide by corporate-wage-slave
04 - Future Travel Vouchers versus eVouchers
FTVs cannot be used online (and are not really vouchers), whereas eVouchers, issued for simple bookings, can be used online.
BA are now issuing eVouchers directly in simple cases, and also proactively replacing existing FTVs with new eVouchers. These are usable online. Complex cases still get FTVs, which require a phone call to book. In both cases, you need to apply online through the Cancellation Options in MMB, and both will generate an email typically within a few minutes. This is how to tell the difference
1) eVouchers will get an email entitled "Your British Airways eVoucher"
This will then have a line like this and the online ability is mentioned in the email text:
Your eVoucher details
125-1234567890 / GBP48.87 / WAGE-SLAVE /
2) FTVs will get an email entitled "Your British Airways Future Travel Voucher"
The relevant line then shows:
Voucher code(s)
125-1234567890
It doesn't take much, by FT standards, to turn a booking too complicated for the automated eVoucher. POUGs, flight changes, TCP, seat payment, pay payment with Avios, UuA. 48 and 72 hour Hold bookings all stop it. But if you made a simple single or return booking, point to point, on BA.com and didn't change it, then you should get an eVoucher.
If you obtain an FTV, deploy it on a new booking which BA then cancels, then you can get a refund of the cash from the first booking that led to the FTV. Or an Avios refund without redeposit fees if it was a redemption.
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 2023 (now extended from April 2022 including existing FTVs), 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. If you us,ed an FTV to pay for this now cancelled service then you can have a refund back to the FTV's original booking.
Online forms: manual process which may take many weeks
link to webform to claim a refund (UK) or link to webform to claim a refund (US)
Paid Seating Refund:
link to webform to claim a refund (UK)
02 - If your flight is not cancelled but you no longer wish to travel
Commercial booking: If you are eligible for Buy with Confidence, you can have an FTV valid until 31 August 2022 (this has been extended several times). Rebooking may lead to a fare recalculation but no change fee. Travel must be fully completed by this date.
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 30 April 2022, 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: https://ba.com/confidence
Bookings made using Lloyds Upgrade Voucher
You should expect to receive:
A full refund of Avios and money paid plus 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.
03 - How to find out the status of your voucher and the amount it contains
Use the Qantas website and look back to your original PNR. Step by step guide by corporate-wage-slave
04 - Future Travel Vouchers versus eVouchers
FTVs cannot be used online (and are not really vouchers), whereas eVouchers, issued for simple bookings, can be used online.
BA are now issuing eVouchers directly in simple cases, and also proactively replacing existing FTVs with new eVouchers. These are usable online. Complex cases still get FTVs, which require a phone call to book. In both cases, you need to apply online through the Cancellation Options in MMB, and both will generate an email typically within a few minutes. This is how to tell the difference
1) eVouchers will get an email entitled "Your British Airways eVoucher"
This will then have a line like this and the online ability is mentioned in the email text:
Your eVoucher details
125-1234567890 / GBP48.87 / WAGE-SLAVE /
2) FTVs will get an email entitled "Your British Airways Future Travel Voucher"
The relevant line then shows:
Voucher code(s)
125-1234567890
It doesn't take much, by FT standards, to turn a booking too complicated for the automated eVoucher. POUGs, flight changes, TCP, seat payment, pay payment with Avios, UuA. 48 and 72 hour Hold bookings all stop it. But if you made a simple single or return booking, point to point, on BA.com and didn't change it, then you should get an eVoucher.
If you obtain an FTV, deploy it on a new booking which BA then cancels, then you can get a refund of the cash from the first booking that led to the FTV. Or an Avios refund without redeposit fees if it was a redemption.
BA Covid-19 Flight cancellations, rebooking, and refunds | Help and advice thread
Sep 9, 2021, 4:28 pm
#2446
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 11,774
I think the OP means that the return flight was operated (not that the OP actually used the return segment(s)).
Anyway, as the outbound was cancelled I doubt you will face any issues when calling BA to rebook the entire ticket.
Anyway, as the outbound was cancelled I doubt you will face any issues when calling BA to rebook the entire ticket.
Sep 9, 2021, 4:49 pm
#2447
Join Date: May 2018
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 320
I have a BA Holiday (flights and hotel). My Newark to London inbound flight in October has been cancelled and I’ve been rebooked on a JFK to London flight (provisionally, I am yet to accept it in MMB).
I presume I am eligible for a cash refund of my deposit now. If I don’t accept the new flight and leave it hanging, does my holiday remain fully refundable up until the outbound departure date, and if I pay the balance 3 weeks ahead, but still don’t accept the new flight - does it still remain a refundable booking?
I guess what I am hoping for is to be able to have flexibility after the balance is due at 3 weeks before travel, as we are still waiting to hear if USA will allow UK citizens to travel!
I presume I am eligible for a cash refund of my deposit now. If I don’t accept the new flight and leave it hanging, does my holiday remain fully refundable up until the outbound departure date, and if I pay the balance 3 weeks ahead, but still don’t accept the new flight - does it still remain a refundable booking?
I guess what I am hoping for is to be able to have flexibility after the balance is due at 3 weeks before travel, as we are still waiting to hear if USA will allow UK citizens to travel!
Sep 9, 2021, 4:56 pm
#2448
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 93
Whats the best way to get an avios flight which they have cancelled rebooked to a different date? Is there a phone number which either actually gets answered or that at least goes in a queue that doesnt hang up right away?
I have tried about 5 different phone numbers, all but one says they wont be able to take the call and then hangs up while the other went to a south african call center who then say they cant deal with it as its avios and then redirect the call, which then sits in a queue for about an hour before automatically hangs up, I cant change it via the website as it says theres no availability (there is both cash and avios availability on the date I want to move to) and Ive been waiting 3 days for a response from their twitter acct.
I have tried about 5 different phone numbers, all but one says they wont be able to take the call and then hangs up while the other went to a south african call center who then say they cant deal with it as its avios and then redirect the call, which then sits in a queue for about an hour before automatically hangs up, I cant change it via the website as it says theres no availability (there is both cash and avios availability on the date I want to move to) and Ive been waiting 3 days for a response from their twitter acct.
Sep 9, 2021, 10:42 pm
#2449
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 211
Whats the best way to get an avios flight which they have cancelled rebooked to a different date? Is there a phone number which either actually gets answered or that at least goes in a queue that doesnt hang up right away?
I have tried about 5 different phone numbers, all but one says they wont be able to take the call and then hangs up while the other went to a south african call center who then say they cant deal with it as its avios and then redirect the call, which then sits in a queue for about an hour before automatically hangs up, I cant change it via the website as it says theres no availability (there is both cash and avios availability on the date I want to move to) and Ive been waiting 3 days for a response from their twitter acct.
I have tried about 5 different phone numbers, all but one says they wont be able to take the call and then hangs up while the other went to a south african call center who then say they cant deal with it as its avios and then redirect the call, which then sits in a queue for about an hour before automatically hangs up, I cant change it via the website as it says theres no availability (there is both cash and avios availability on the date I want to move to) and Ive been waiting 3 days for a response from their twitter acct.
Sep 10, 2021, 1:28 am
#2450
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 193
After a long wait and a redirect I managed to get through to an agent and cancel an upcoming reward flight to JNB. Very simple process with both the Avios and Reward voucher appearing in my account within 24 hours. However I used 137,500 avoid for the booking but have only had a redeposit of 130,679. Can anyone explain why this is?
Sep 10, 2021, 1:31 am
#2451
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: living near Malaga
Programs: BA Gold , Mucci recipient. Coffee Drinker, Blue Sky Thinker
Posts: 2,108
After a long wait and a redirect I managed to get through to an agent and cancel an upcoming reward flight to JNB. Very simple process with both the Avios and Reward voucher appearing in my account within 24 hours. However I used 137,500 avoid for the booking but have only had a redeposit of 130,679. Can anyone explain why this is?
Sep 10, 2021, 2:12 am
#2453
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver, ZSL Silver
Posts: 2,549
Has anyone done T5-3 INT-DOM at ORD recently? Needing to rework my BNA booking again following more cancellations. Travelling on a Friday in October in CW, BA295 arrives at 15:05 and my connection options are 17:30 or 19:20. There will be 5 of us (4 US citizesn - me not, 2 adults with 3 2 yo).
Pre-covid as a couple it would have been a no brainer for me, I'd take the earlier one but I think it could be difficult to find 5 seats on the day on a Friday night in either J or Y if we miss it. Then again the longer layover doesn't sound like much fun either!
Pre-covid as a couple it would have been a no brainer for me, I'd take the earlier one but I think it could be difficult to find 5 seats on the day on a Friday night in either J or Y if we miss it. Then again the longer layover doesn't sound like much fun either!
Sep 10, 2021, 2:22 pm
#2455
Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: York, UK
Programs: BAEC, VAFC, Asia Miles,
Posts: 4
Newbie here, looking for advice. In March, 21 I booked multi carrier reward booking with BA, out 14 Jan, 22, back 22 Feb, 22. MAN-HKG (CX X class) HKG-AKL (CX U) AKL-SYD (QF U) SYD-HKG (CX U) HKG-LHR (BA Z) LHR-MAN (BA U). Last leg cancelled by BA & I’d like to keep same itinerary but move it forward 12 months. You First confirmed BA current ‘Ticket Validity’ definition is now ‘outbound travel must commence within 12 months of current scheduled departure date, return within 12 months of new departure date’ & that the BA flights can be rebooked, subject to ‘commercial availability’. However, I was told the CX & QF flights would need to show Avios availability! Is this correct? Can I insist on ‘commercial availability’ on CX & QF flights? Will I have to wait until T-355 for Avios availability on inbound flights? Cheers,
Sep 10, 2021, 2:46 pm
#2456
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: 63,716
Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum Numti. I hope that we will see more of you here.
I'm afraid I think you have been correctly advised. BA has good options for its own flights and redemptions, the deal with other airline redemptions has essentially been "redemption space for redemption tickets". There is a technical reason behind this, in terms of how redemption ticketing works. BA can over-ride this for their own metal but can't impose that technical solution on other airlines. Moreover I would suspect that trying to manage a booking of that sort, with those airlines, to these destinations would call to mind a certain Norwegian painting. You presumably booked this knowing the implausibility of these arrangements, and in the case of New Zealand not much has changed. So unfortunately I suspect you will need to replan, and probably more than once too on current trends. The good news is that at some point trips of this sort should become possible, it is just going to require a certain amount of patience.
I'm afraid I think you have been correctly advised. BA has good options for its own flights and redemptions, the deal with other airline redemptions has essentially been "redemption space for redemption tickets". There is a technical reason behind this, in terms of how redemption ticketing works. BA can over-ride this for their own metal but can't impose that technical solution on other airlines. Moreover I would suspect that trying to manage a booking of that sort, with those airlines, to these destinations would call to mind a certain Norwegian painting. You presumably booked this knowing the implausibility of these arrangements, and in the case of New Zealand not much has changed. So unfortunately I suspect you will need to replan, and probably more than once too on current trends. The good news is that at some point trips of this sort should become possible, it is just going to require a certain amount of patience.
Sep 10, 2021, 2:57 pm
#2457
Join Date: Aug 2021
Programs: BA, AA, UA, VS, DL, EI, Hilton, Marriot
Posts: 67
I don't know for sure but I'd be arguing that if BA codeshare then I'd be asking for revenue seats on those sectors. That may leave you a problem on MAN-HKG and SYD-HKG that I don't think they codeshare on. Check CX forums to see what is said there maybe. Also check when CX release redemption seats, it may not be t-355. When did you talk to You First and get told the ticket validity definition. It changed to that on 8July but there have been recent rumblings it's changed/about to change again so would be good to know. Sorry can't be more help but good luck. Please let us know how you get on.
Sep 10, 2021, 3:08 pm
#2458
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver, ZSL Silver
Posts: 2,549
I agree, but consequences of us not getting on the later one if we miss the earlier flight mean that we’ll probably suck it up and do the long layover. I don’t want to end up having to stay in a hotel and not be able to source 3 travel cots and fit them in a room etc.
Sep 10, 2021, 3:17 pm
#2460
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,878
