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 11, 2021, 8:42 am
#1366
Join Date: Jan 2021
Posts: 19
Hi. I would hope this would avoid UK altogether - as the QR itinerary would be DEL-DOH-BOS. Flight was originally scheduled for next week on BA that has been cancelled.
May 11, 2021, 8:48 am
#1367
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 47
I'm (hopefully) returning from Male on 31/08/21. My flight arrives into Heathrow at 19:05. I was due to fly onwards to Manchester at 20:35 however this flight has now been cancelled and I've been moved onto the 17:45 to Manchester. Obviously that's not going to happen because I still won't be at Heathrow by that point. It's the last Manchester flight of the day and I need to be home the following morning for work.
It's an award booking and there's no more award availability for any dates in August. But as BA have cancelled my Manchester leg, does anyone know if they'd move me to the Male flight returning on 30/08/21 without award availability? Thanks
It's an award booking and there's no more award availability for any dates in August. But as BA have cancelled my Manchester leg, does anyone know if they'd move me to the Male flight returning on 30/08/21 without award availability? Thanks
May 11, 2021, 8:53 am
#1368
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,958
I'm (hopefully) returning from Male on 31/08/21. My flight arrives into Heathrow at 19:05. I was due to fly onwards to Manchester at 20:35 however this flight has now been cancelled and I've been moved onto the 17:45 to Manchester. Obviously that's not going to happen because I still won't be at Heathrow by that point. It's the last Manchester flight of the day and I need to be home the following morning for work.
It's an award booking and there's no more award availability for any dates in August. But as BA have cancelled my Manchester leg, does anyone know if they'd move me to the Male flight returning on 30/08/21 without award availability? Thanks
It's an award booking and there's no more award availability for any dates in August. But as BA have cancelled my Manchester leg, does anyone know if they'd move me to the Male flight returning on 30/08/21 without award availability? Thanks
May 11, 2021, 9:07 am
#1369
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 11,846
Apologies for adding to the pile but i just want to confirm my rights before calling BA as i've heard they aren't the best at complying with their legal obligations.
We booked flights in the 50% avios sale Oct 2020, using a 241 voucher. My flight is 8th June '21 LHR-JFK. They have just cancelled my outbound flight with the new flight being a different flight number on the same day(5hrs later).
As i understand it because BA cancelled on me, i can now re-book for any date of my choosing with or without reward space. I would ideally like to book for either November 2021 or March 2022. I understand BA are not allowing people to book past 12months from the original booking date. Even though EU261 clearly states you can re-book for any date of your choosing.
What would be the best way to go about this? Especially as the dates in march '22 have now been released by BA. Do i call and insist they re-book me for my dates on BA or another airline. Or would i need to book a cash fare and then claim again BA in MCOL/CEDR ?
We booked flights in the 50% avios sale Oct 2020, using a 241 voucher. My flight is 8th June '21 LHR-JFK. They have just cancelled my outbound flight with the new flight being a different flight number on the same day(5hrs later).
As i understand it because BA cancelled on me, i can now re-book for any date of my choosing with or without reward space. I would ideally like to book for either November 2021 or March 2022. I understand BA are not allowing people to book past 12months from the original booking date. Even though EU261 clearly states you can re-book for any date of your choosing.
What would be the best way to go about this? Especially as the dates in march '22 have now been released by BA. Do i call and insist they re-book me for my dates on BA or another airline. Or would i need to book a cash fare and then claim again BA in MCOL/CEDR ?
Buying a revenue ticket for travel dates beyond Oct 2021 and expecting BA to reimburse the fare is risky and very optimistic IMO. I can almost guarantee you that BA will refuse to reimburse the costs of the new itinerary. In my opinion BA would have a strong point arguing that your ticket expires 12 months after ticket issue and that EU Reg. 261/04 doesn't provide a right to be rebooked beyond the ticket expiry date. If it was me I wouldn't do it/take the risk.
May 11, 2021, 9:16 am
#1370
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,958
That's a tricky one. QR is certainly allowed for routes between DEL and the UK - there is a rebooking allowance for QR. But I am not sure whether it would be allowed for a DEL-DOH-BOS. I think it is definitely worth asking for it.
May 11, 2021, 2:22 pm
#1371
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,061
Before you do this, call BA one more time, asking for a rerouting - on any airline - to get you to your destination. Don’t demand (or mention) any specific airline, leave them to find one. If they still say no, ask them to put a note in your PNR saying that they are unable to reroute you. Hopefully this goes without saying, but throughout this conversation be polite, ask but don’t demand anything, and don’t threaten lawyers or court action, it can be a perfectly civil discussion. The aim here is to create an evidence chain that you can later use (if necessary) to show you were being reasonable and asking for them to rebook, which they refused, and which in turn you can submit to a court along with your claim (if it comes to that) - cases with such evidence are typically far more likely to succeed. Usually what happens of course is that asking for this suddenly reveals a flight they’re able to use for you.
May 11, 2021, 2:37 pm
#1372
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 973
Before you do this, call BA one more time, asking for a rerouting - on any airline - to get you to your destination. Don’t demand (or mention) any specific airline, leave them to find one. If they still say no, ask them to put a note in your PNR saying that they are unable to reroute you. Hopefully this goes without saying, but throughout this conversation be polite, ask but don’t demand anything, and don’t threaten lawyers or court action, it can be a perfectly civil discussion. The aim here is to create an evidence chain that you can later use (if necessary) to show you were being reasonable and asking for them to rebook, which they refused, and which in turn you can submit to a court along with your claim (if it comes to that) - cases with such evidence are typically far more likely to succeed. Usually what happens of course is that asking for this suddenly reveals a flight they’re able to use for you.
May 12, 2021, 9:03 am
#1373
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 52
I know there have been various mentions of extending 241s with an FTV - eg by booking a LON-MAN within the BWC terms, cancelling and requesting an FTV. I've noticed the last FAQ in the BA vouchers section (below) which on the face of it prevents the FTV being used where more Avios are required (as would be usual).
Is there some other BA guidance which counters this, or ideally real world examples of the FTV being used for rebooking 241s which require more fees/Avios?
"Can you combine your voucher with Avios towards a new flight, hotel, car or holiday booking?
No. Vouchers cannot be combined with Avios, they can only be used either to redeem against fully paid flight bookings or towards a deposit/full payment of a holiday package."
Is there some other BA guidance which counters this, or ideally real world examples of the FTV being used for rebooking 241s which require more fees/Avios?
"Can you combine your voucher with Avios towards a new flight, hotel, car or holiday booking?
No. Vouchers cannot be combined with Avios, they can only be used either to redeem against fully paid flight bookings or towards a deposit/full payment of a holiday package."
May 12, 2021, 9:45 am
#1374
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
I know there have been various mentions of extending 241s with an FTV - eg by booking a LON-MAN within the BWC terms, cancelling and requesting an FTV. I've noticed the last FAQ in the BA vouchers section (below) which on the face of it prevents the FTV being used where more Avios are required (as would be usual).
Is there some other BA guidance which counters this, or ideally real world examples of the FTV being used for rebooking 241s which require more fees/Avios?
"Can you combine your voucher with Avios towards a new flight, hotel, car or holiday booking?
No. Vouchers cannot be combined with Avios, they can only be used either to redeem against fully paid flight bookings or towards a deposit/full payment of a holiday package."
Is there some other BA guidance which counters this, or ideally real world examples of the FTV being used for rebooking 241s which require more fees/Avios?
"Can you combine your voucher with Avios towards a new flight, hotel, car or holiday booking?
No. Vouchers cannot be combined with Avios, they can only be used either to redeem against fully paid flight bookings or towards a deposit/full payment of a holiday package."
I haven't yet used an FTV that has a 2-4-1 on it. But I have used an FTV for 17,000 Avios + £25.00 for a new booking at 23,500 Avios + £0.50, and an FTV for 8,500 Avios + £17.50 for a new booking at 137,500 Avios + £580.92. I doubt that 2-4-1 would make any difference to this.
May 12, 2021, 11:18 am
#1375
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: PNW
Programs: AS 100K
Posts: 1,551
So I have an AS award booking on BA for late june, SEA-LHR-KEF in Business.
Originally, I booked:
June 28-29 with a short LHR connection. BA dropped the June 28th SEA-LHR flight and placed me on the 27th flight, requiring an LHR overnight. Flying on the 27th for me does not work, I asked AS if they can ask BA if they can place me on the following:
June 25 SEA LHR
June 27 LHR KEF.
So AS sent that request to BA and BA just declined it. AS did not say why and that BA said only the June 27th option is possible. Why would BA decline the change? I feel it's a reasonable request, especially when BA is already making me spend a night in LHR.
Should I contact BA and ask? I know it's an AS award and any changes have to be done through them. But I'm just stumped on why BA would deny such request and I'd like to find out more.
Originally, I booked:
June 28-29 with a short LHR connection. BA dropped the June 28th SEA-LHR flight and placed me on the 27th flight, requiring an LHR overnight. Flying on the 27th for me does not work, I asked AS if they can ask BA if they can place me on the following:
June 25 SEA LHR
June 27 LHR KEF.
So AS sent that request to BA and BA just declined it. AS did not say why and that BA said only the June 27th option is possible. Why would BA decline the change? I feel it's a reasonable request, especially when BA is already making me spend a night in LHR.
Should I contact BA and ask? I know it's an AS award and any changes have to be done through them. But I'm just stumped on why BA would deny such request and I'd like to find out more.
May 12, 2021, 1:25 pm
#1376
Join Date: Feb 2021
Programs: BA Silver, IHG Gold
Posts: 14
After a little advice please.
I have 4 x reward seats to MLE in May half term which I am pretty sure will get cancelled. Once I get the email, I was planning on calling the call centre and asking them to move these to October half term (I believe I am able to do that as its a reward booking and assuming BA cancel my flight).
However I have a BA holiday booked at the sametime to PUN for October for which I've paid the deposit. This was booked in Nov 2020 so I believe is covered under the Book with Confidence policy. If I cancel the holiday, am I eligible to get the deposit back in the form of an FTV? Or will they say deposits are non refundable?
Otherwise it will be a shame to miss on the MLE holiday considering I somehow managed to bag not 1 but 4 reward seats!
I have 4 x reward seats to MLE in May half term which I am pretty sure will get cancelled. Once I get the email, I was planning on calling the call centre and asking them to move these to October half term (I believe I am able to do that as its a reward booking and assuming BA cancel my flight).
However I have a BA holiday booked at the sametime to PUN for October for which I've paid the deposit. This was booked in Nov 2020 so I believe is covered under the Book with Confidence policy. If I cancel the holiday, am I eligible to get the deposit back in the form of an FTV? Or will they say deposits are non refundable?
Otherwise it will be a shame to miss on the MLE holiday considering I somehow managed to bag not 1 but 4 reward seats!
May 12, 2021, 1:35 pm
#1377
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: 63,803
However I have a BA holiday booked at the sametime to PUN for October for which I've paid the deposit. This was booked in Nov 2020 so I believe is covered under the Book with Confidence policy. If I cancel the holiday, am I eligible to get the deposit back in the form of an FTV? Or will they say deposits are non refundable?
May 12, 2021, 1:40 pm
#1378
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: 63,803
I doubt this would be a fruitful encounter. Had this been booked directly on BA's own reward system you may have had slightly more luck, but I can imagine they just weren't going to accommmodate what is effectively a double move. Occasionally I've tried to find out why decisions are made in a particular way, but probably the best we can say is "revenue protection". BA will probably say they offered a near alternative. It may of course happen that BA redemption flights will at some point come up along the lines you wanted, but that's a dynamic field and you would have to check daily to see what happens.
May 12, 2021, 1:45 pm
#1379
Join Date: Feb 2021
Programs: BA Silver, IHG Gold
Posts: 14
The BAH deposit is potentially refundable as a FTV, which is restricted to a new BAH booking. The complexity is (a) is the hotel non-cancellable - you would need to have noted that when booking; and potentially could come off the deposit (b) some infexible hotel bookings are in fact cancellable at the moment and (c) if PUN is non-viable for holiday travel in October you would get the refund quibble free anyway. So unless you are certain that the hotel is flexible you probably need to call. On the whole you should get the FTV. This would be unrelated to the MLE trip. And as ever, be wary of "maybe" bookings. Note that bookings can only moved such that flight 1 is within 1 year of booking the initial flight, see copious examples upthread.
May 12, 2021, 3:29 pm
#1380
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,061
I doubt this would be a fruitful encounter. Had this been booked directly on BA's own reward system you may have had slightly more luck, but I can imagine they just weren't going to accommmodate what is effectively a double move. Occasionally I've tried to find out why decisions are made in a particular way, but probably the best we can say is "revenue protection". BA will probably say they offered a near alternative. It may of course happen that BA redemption flights will at some point come up along the lines you wanted, but that's a dynamic field and you would have to check daily to see what happens.