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
May 6, 2022, 5:45 am
#3631
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: ESH
Programs: BAEC Silver, Lidl Plus
Posts: 325
Yes, BA will accept a trade rebooking from other London airport, it won't even register as an issue for them. If your travel agent is any good they will know this - it's not that unusual - and will rapidly sort it out for you. There is no extra costs for them.
I am a bit surprised to see LGW featuring in a number of posts in the last day or so - I was rather hoping that this was LHR specific. LCY doesn't appear to have had problems in this space, so far.
I am a bit surprised to see LGW featuring in a number of posts in the last day or so - I was rather hoping that this was LHR specific. LCY doesn't appear to have had problems in this space, so far.
I was slightly surprised too about the LGW cancellation, I had thought like you that these were less likely to be affected. What seems even odder is that the flight that was cancelled was scheduled to be operated by I2. Fingers crossed for a smooth transfer to an LCY alternative flight!
May 6, 2022, 5:56 am
#3632
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 57
You can have a full refund if BA have cancelled your flights, if there are alternatives elsewhere. However as you are going to NYC, there are going to be alternative services and hopefully the switch to another service will be communicated to you in the next day or two. I wouldn't spend time on it until they get in touch.
May 6, 2022, 6:22 am
#3633
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Munich / London
Programs: BAEC Gold, M&M Frequent Flyer
Posts: 156
I have an ex AMS to SFO via JFK booked for August, it's an AA booking but flying on BA metal for the AMS-LHR-JFK and JFK-LHR-AMS legs. All in C and all on one ticket. When I checked the booking today (following the horror stories about AMS), I noticed that the leg from JFK to LHR has disappeared from the booking altogether. I haven't received any notifications yet. The original flight from JFK to LHR was on the last BA flight (I only have the code share flight number) at 23.00. The flight before that is AA104, which departs JFK at 22.30, so 30 minutes earlier.
I have two questions:
1) I am connecting from SFO on AA16, which arrives at JFK at 20.05. Given I won't have to make the dash from T8 to T7, 2.5 hours should be enough time to connect to AA104, right?
2) Should I proactively contact AA to get re-booked onto AA104 or should I just sit back and wait given it's still 3.5 months out? I am concerned that I won't get my window in C but will be downgraded to a middle seat in Y if I wait.
I know that I should probably ask this over on the AA forum but I'm just at home on the BA forum and hopefully someone will take pity on me.
Thanks very much!
I have two questions:
1) I am connecting from SFO on AA16, which arrives at JFK at 20.05. Given I won't have to make the dash from T8 to T7, 2.5 hours should be enough time to connect to AA104, right?
2) Should I proactively contact AA to get re-booked onto AA104 or should I just sit back and wait given it's still 3.5 months out? I am concerned that I won't get my window in C but will be downgraded to a middle seat in Y if I wait.
I know that I should probably ask this over on the AA forum but I'm just at home on the BA forum and hopefully someone will take pity on me.
Thanks very much!
May 6, 2022, 6:42 am
#3634
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 11,848
I suggest to take a deep breath and relax! AA will notify you at some stage; then you take it from there.
There is should be more than enough time to connect to AA104. No problem.
There is should be more than enough time to connect to AA104. No problem.
May 6, 2022, 8:03 am
#3635
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: London
Programs: KLM, BA Silver, Etihad
Posts: 918
May 6, 2022, 3:29 pm
#3636
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
I have an ex AMS to SFO via JFK booked for August, it's an AA booking but flying on BA metal for the AMS-LHR-JFK and JFK-LHR-AMS legs. All in C and all on one ticket. When I checked the booking today (following the horror stories about AMS), I noticed that the leg from JFK to LHR has disappeared from the booking altogether. I haven't received any notifications yet. The original flight from JFK to LHR was on the last BA flight (I only have the code share flight number) at 23.00. The flight before that is AA104, which departs JFK at 22.30, so 30 minutes earlier.
I have two questions:
1) I am connecting from SFO on AA16, which arrives at JFK at 20.05. Given I won't have to make the dash from T8 to T7, 2.5 hours should be enough time to connect to AA104, right?
2) Should I proactively contact AA to get re-booked onto AA104 or should I just sit back and wait given it's still 3.5 months out? I am concerned that I won't get my window in C but will be downgraded to a middle seat in Y if I wait.
I have two questions:
1) I am connecting from SFO on AA16, which arrives at JFK at 20.05. Given I won't have to make the dash from T8 to T7, 2.5 hours should be enough time to connect to AA104, right?
2) Should I proactively contact AA to get re-booked onto AA104 or should I just sit back and wait given it's still 3.5 months out? I am concerned that I won't get my window in C but will be downgraded to a middle seat in Y if I wait.
May 6, 2022, 9:02 pm
#3637
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Helvetia
Programs: AS; BA Silver; UA; HH Gold; Sprüngli Connaisseur
Posts: 2,912
In my long experience, AA is one of the few carriers that rarely notify me of flight cancellations or schedule changes. My suggestion is to first figure out what alternative flight(s) you would most prefer to take. If you are on a paid ticket, you can choose pretty much any alternate flights/route you want. (If it was me, I'd want SFO-LAX-LHR-AMS, since LAX-LHR is a nice long flight so there's time to sleep.) As long as your preferred flights have space in your ticketed cabin, you can get put on them. If you have an award ticket, it becomes a bit more difficult, as your preferred flights need to either be AA prime flights or have award inventory. Once you have your preferred replacement flights picked and you've verified there is space, send a Twitter DM to AA listing the AA PNR and saying that a BA flight was cancelled and to fix it please put you on the following alternate flight(s) and list them. The Twitter team is generally excellent with this situation and should rebook you, reissue the ticket, and respond to that effect, typically within a few hours. It'll save agony on the phone, where you might get pushback at changing route or flights (phone agents are very hit or miss).
May 7, 2022, 6:01 am
#3638
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BA Exec Club, Flying Blue
Posts: 639
LHR-HAM zeroed out 29 May
Looks like I may find myself amongst the unfortunate many...
Been watching my flight from Heathrow to Hamburg on 29th May. Its disappeared from sale on ba.com (the website now says they don't operate to that destination on that day!!!) .
Signed up to experflyer - I can see now why people recommend it so highly !! - and both flights that day , BA962 at 10:30 and BA974 at 13:50 are zeroed out in all classes.
My interpretation from reading on this forum is that this is done by BA in preparation for cancelling the flights.
Am I supposing right? I would hope that BA would keep at least one flight to HAM per day (normally there are 3 or 4 I think).
Thanks in advance for any insight/re-assurance, or guesses as to when BA might choose to actually cancel?
Camdentown
Been watching my flight from Heathrow to Hamburg on 29th May. Its disappeared from sale on ba.com (the website now says they don't operate to that destination on that day!!!) .
Signed up to experflyer - I can see now why people recommend it so highly !! - and both flights that day , BA962 at 10:30 and BA974 at 13:50 are zeroed out in all classes.
My interpretation from reading on this forum is that this is done by BA in preparation for cancelling the flights.
Am I supposing right? I would hope that BA would keep at least one flight to HAM per day (normally there are 3 or 4 I think).
Thanks in advance for any insight/re-assurance, or guesses as to when BA might choose to actually cancel?
Camdentown
May 7, 2022, 6:10 am
#3639
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: 63,809
Been watching my flight from Heathrow to Hamburg on 29th May. Its disappeared from sale on ba.com (the website now says they don't operate to that destination on that day!!!) .
Signed up to experflyer - I can see now why people recommend it so highly !! - and both flights that day , BA962 at 10:30 and BA974 at 13:50 are zeroed out in all classes.
My interpretation from reading on this forum is that this is done by BA in preparation for cancelling the flights.
Am I supposing right? I would hope that BA would keep at least one flight to HAM per day (normally there are 3 or 4 I think).
Signed up to experflyer - I can see now why people recommend it so highly !! - and both flights that day , BA962 at 10:30 and BA974 at 13:50 are zeroed out in all classes.
My interpretation from reading on this forum is that this is done by BA in preparation for cancelling the flights.
Am I supposing right? I would hope that BA would keep at least one flight to HAM per day (normally there are 3 or 4 I think).
May 7, 2022, 6:41 am
#3640
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BA Exec Club, Flying Blue
Posts: 639
It can be the harbinger of a cancellation, however what I suspect here is that one or both of these flights are temporarily full with passengers being reallocated from the cancelled service. It may be there there is another service they want to take out and the last thing that they would want is people booking on to services which are about to be cancelled. I would therefore wait for a few days, keep an eye on the situation, maybe set up a flight alert (but don't depend upon it). I would expect one or both of these services to open up again. The alternative is that BA does have a rebooking allowance with Lufthansa, so if you don't mind a transfer at FRA or MUC you could rebook yourself via the Contact Centre. Unfortunately Eurowings isn't part of the arrangement so the direct flights aren't in scope.
I was also hoping along the lines you suggest that maybe two fights are being consolidated into one.
The Lufthansa option is good if they do cancel entirely - and good to know that Eurowings is not part of that. As I'm based in Bristol, might they perhaps allow re-booking on LH flights from BRS rather than LHR I wonder.
I'll sit tight and watch for a few days and see what happens ...
May 7, 2022, 6:43 am
#3641
Join Date: Aug 2019
Programs: BA Exec Gold
Posts: 371
Looks like I may find myself amongst the unfortunate many...
Been watching my flight from Heathrow to Hamburg on 29th May. Its disappeared from sale on ba.com (the website now says they don't operate to that destination on that day!!!) .
Signed up to experflyer - I can see now why people recommend it so highly !! - and both flights that day , BA962 at 10:30 and BA974 at 13:50 are zeroed out in all classes.
My interpretation from reading on this forum is that this is done by BA in preparation for cancelling the flights.
Am I supposing right? I would hope that BA would keep at least one flight to HAM per day (normally there are 3 or 4 I think).
Thanks in advance for any insight/re-assurance, or guesses as to when BA might choose to actually cancel?
Camdentown
Been watching my flight from Heathrow to Hamburg on 29th May. Its disappeared from sale on ba.com (the website now says they don't operate to that destination on that day!!!) .
Signed up to experflyer - I can see now why people recommend it so highly !! - and both flights that day , BA962 at 10:30 and BA974 at 13:50 are zeroed out in all classes.
My interpretation from reading on this forum is that this is done by BA in preparation for cancelling the flights.
Am I supposing right? I would hope that BA would keep at least one flight to HAM per day (normally there are 3 or 4 I think).
Thanks in advance for any insight/re-assurance, or guesses as to when BA might choose to actually cancel?
Camdentown
May 7, 2022, 8:02 am
#3642
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: 63,809
Thanks CWS. Very helpful.
I was also hoping along the lines you suggest that maybe two fights are being consolidated into one.
The Lufthansa option is good if they do cancel entirely - and good to know that Eurowings is not part of that. As I'm based in Bristol, might they perhaps allow re-booking on LH flights from BRS rather than LHR I wonder.
I'll sit tight and watch for a few days and see what happens ...
I was also hoping along the lines you suggest that maybe two fights are being consolidated into one.
The Lufthansa option is good if they do cancel entirely - and good to know that Eurowings is not part of that. As I'm based in Bristol, might they perhaps allow re-booking on LH flights from BRS rather than LHR I wonder.
I'll sit tight and watch for a few days and see what happens ...
May 7, 2022, 8:03 am
#3643
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
I've currently a change I've asked to be done, but the Twitter team put me in ET instead of CE on the flight, and then promptly went AWOL. The ticket is not fixed, not re-issued, so I still have the cancellation. The Twitter team used to be great, but they seem to be non-existent now.
May 7, 2022, 8:53 am
#3644
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BA Exec Club, Flying Blue
Posts: 639
No, unfortunately BA won't allow a rebooking from BRS, since it's not LON and the gate of gateway policy is purely for BA operated services. That said, you can also look at other BA routes in Germany to see whether a train service can sense or not. The train fare is something that BA can be made to pay.
May 9, 2022, 5:59 am
#3645
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Munich / London
Programs: BAEC Gold, M&M Frequent Flyer
Posts: 156
In my long experience, AA is one of the few carriers that rarely notify me of flight cancellations or schedule changes. My suggestion is to first figure out what alternative flight(s) you would most prefer to take. If you are on a paid ticket, you can choose pretty much any alternate flights/route you want. (If it was me, I'd want SFO-LAX-LHR-AMS, since LAX-LHR is a nice long flight so there's time to sleep.) As long as your preferred flights have space in your ticketed cabin, you can get put on them. If you have an award ticket, it becomes a bit more difficult, as your preferred flights need to either be AA prime flights or have award inventory. Once you have your preferred replacement flights picked and you've verified there is space, send a Twitter DM to AA listing the AA PNR and saying that a BA flight was cancelled and to fix it please put you on the following alternate flight(s) and list them. The Twitter team is generally excellent with this situation and should rebook you, reissue the ticket, and respond to that effect, typically within a few hours. It'll save agony on the phone, where you might get pushback at changing route or flights (phone agents are very hit or miss).