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
#1051
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: London
Posts: 670
The one thing it could be is (a) if the other portions of the travel are on the Red List or (b) the agent was confused about the restrictions in Spain. These were changed recently, and didn't inhibit transfer passengers anyway, but did and continue to inhibit travel from UK to Spain. But without the details it's a bit difficult to comment really.
#1052
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: 63,837
Thanks, so just to try and get my head around this, you are trying to do LHR-ACE then ACE-LHR? In which case I can't see any BA codeshares but you should be allowed to rebook into an IB flight number under the standard guidelines, so long as it is not a redemption. So I would ring again tomorrow and see if you get a different answer. If this is a regular trip for you and you got a decent fare, you could push out the flight later for another trip and either buy a Iberia set of flights or Ryanair / Jet2 direct service, in order to preserve the ticket's value.
#1053
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: 63,837
The MAN return connection has been cancelled and the new flight differs by 3.5 hours but they haven't notified me yet. The MAN outbound connection has been cancelled and I have been booked later and have been notified but haven't accepted anything.
I should have held out but at the time in December (I think) May seemed like a decent option. AA have so far moved the flight by 5 minutes.
I should have held out but at the time in December (I think) May seemed like a decent option. AA have so far moved the flight by 5 minutes.
#1054
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: London
Posts: 670
Thanks, so just to try and get my head around this, you are trying to do LHR-ACE then ACE-LHR? In which case I can't see any BA codeshares but you should be allowed to rebook into an IB flight number under the standard guidelines, so long as it is not a redemption. So I would ring again tomorrow and see if you get a different answer. If this is a regular trip for you and you got a decent fare, you could push out the flight later for another trip and either buy a Iberia set of flights or Ryanair / Jet2 direct service, in order to preserve the ticket's value.
#1055
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: GLA
Programs: Chevalier de la Gallentrie - Knight of the Platinum Hair Brush, BA Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,389
#1056
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Glasgow
Programs: BAEC Gold, LH, EK, QR
Posts: 355
I have a BRU-LHR-GLA ticket booked (return home from an ex-Eu HNL trip) where the BRU-LHR flight was retimed 5 hours earlier, and it offers a Full refund option, great.
however I have another booking, GLA-LHR-LUX to start the trip, the flights have both been completely canceled by BA, but there is no refund option on this booking, only a “cancel your booking” button. Just wondered if anybody knows if clicking this will take me to a further screen to sort a refund, or it’s going to make it look like I’ve “accepted” the cancellation and then need to take a voucher.
A one click cancellation/voucher happened to me with AA so don’t want to take the chance!
however I have another booking, GLA-LHR-LUX to start the trip, the flights have both been completely canceled by BA, but there is no refund option on this booking, only a “cancel your booking” button. Just wondered if anybody knows if clicking this will take me to a further screen to sort a refund, or it’s going to make it look like I’ve “accepted” the cancellation and then need to take a voucher.
A one click cancellation/voucher happened to me with AA so don’t want to take the chance!
#1057
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: 63,837
however I have another booking, GLA-LHR-LUX to start the trip, the flights have both been completely canceled by BA, but there is no refund option on this booking, only a “cancel your booking” button. Just wondered if anybody knows if clicking this will take me to a further screen to sort a refund, or it’s going to make it look like I’ve “accepted” the cancellation and then need to take a voucher.
#1058
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Glasgow
Programs: BAEC Gold, LH, EK, QR
Posts: 355
Having a refund option available on some bookings is a start at least.
#1059
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: near Heathrow
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL (OWE), SA LifePlat (*G), BD Gold to the end, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,912
I have a BRU-LHR-GLA ticket booked (return home from an ex-Eu HNL trip) where the BRU-LHR flight was retimed 5 hours earlier, and it offers a Full refund option, great.
however I have another booking, GLA-LHR-LUX to start the trip, the flights have both been completely canceled by BA, but there is no refund option on this booking, only a “cancel your booking” button. Just wondered if anybody knows if clicking this will take me to a further screen to sort a refund, or it’s going to make it look like I’ve “accepted” the cancellation and then need to take a voucher.
A one click cancellation/voucher happened to me with AA so don’t want to take the chance!
however I have another booking, GLA-LHR-LUX to start the trip, the flights have both been completely canceled by BA, but there is no refund option on this booking, only a “cancel your booking” button. Just wondered if anybody knows if clicking this will take me to a further screen to sort a refund, or it’s going to make it look like I’ve “accepted” the cancellation and then need to take a voucher.
A one click cancellation/voucher happened to me with AA so don’t want to take the chance!
#1061
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 268
Thanks for the heads up, we were heading to VRN too, a few days earlier. No doubt we'll be getting an email from BAH in the next few days. Seems our 2021/2 collection year has started with another cancellation!
#1062
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,197
Hypothetically, if I changed my flight after a cancellation (I'm probably going to have to drive from Milan Linate), what would be the odds I could get them to change me back if they put the original flights back on?
I appreciate it's unlikely they will at this stage, but given the hassle this switch is going to put me through, I'd definitely like the option if it comes back.
Edit - Actually, thinking about it I might just be best off booking my alternative flight separately and then leaving the original open. Given I can just cancel my alternative if required.
I appreciate it's unlikely they will at this stage, but given the hassle this switch is going to put me through, I'd definitely like the option if it comes back.
Edit - Actually, thinking about it I might just be best off booking my alternative flight separately and then leaving the original open. Given I can just cancel my alternative if required.
Last edited by RG1X; Mar 27, 2021 at 10:16 am
#1063
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,197
Does anyone have any experience of getting an error when trying to use an eVoucher? I tried to use it a couple of months back and figured that it was just a temporary error, but have just got it again today.
The error code is completely useless: "Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again."
The error code is completely useless: "Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again."
#1064
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,983
Does anyone have any experience of getting an error when trying to use an eVoucher? I tried to use it a couple of months back and figured that it was just a temporary error, but have just got it again today.
The error code is completely useless: "Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again."
The error code is completely useless: "Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again."
#1065
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,983
Hypothetically, if I changed my flight after a cancellation (I'm probably going to have to drive from Milan Linate), what would be the odds I could get them to change me back if they put the original flights back on?
I appreciate it's unlikely they will at this stage, but given the hassle this switch is going to put me through, I'd definitely like the option if it comes back.
Edit - Actually, thinking about it I might just be best off booking my alternative flight separately and then leaving the original open. Given I can just cancel my alternative if required.
I appreciate it's unlikely they will at this stage, but given the hassle this switch is going to put me through, I'd definitely like the option if it comes back.
Edit - Actually, thinking about it I might just be best off booking my alternative flight separately and then leaving the original open. Given I can just cancel my alternative if required.