Avios & Money rules
Dec 28, 2021, 7:06 am
#1
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Avios & Money rules
Can one of the experts please help me with how A&M bookings work now? In the old days an Avios only booking was slightly more flexible in terms of changes. Avios redemptions now start at £1 but the best value remains (at least for RFS bookings) at the old £17.50 level. Are the rules the same for all Avios bookings, regardless of how much cash is contributed, or is the £1 booking now considered the Avios only one? Or does it not make any difference as a GGL anyway?
I would normally phone BA to ask but the wait time is close to an hour at the moment and there are much more pressing issues for them resolve for other travellers.
I would normally phone BA to ask but the wait time is close to an hour at the moment and there are much more pressing issues for them resolve for other travellers.
Dec 28, 2021, 9:54 am
#2
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Can one of the experts please help me with how A&M bookings work now? In the old days an Avios only booking was slightly more flexible in terms of changes. Avios redemptions now start at £1 but the best value remains (at least for RFS bookings) at the old £17.50 level. Are the rules the same for all Avios bookings, regardless of how much cash is contributed, or is the £1 booking now considered the Avios only one? Or does it not make any difference as a GGL anyway?
I would normally phone BA to ask but the wait time is close to an hour at the moment and there are much more pressing issues for them resolve for other travellers.
I would normally phone BA to ask but the wait time is close to an hour at the moment and there are much more pressing issues for them resolve for other travellers.
Dec 29, 2021, 6:21 am
#3
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Thank you Karfa. I realise that until August it's irrelevant since everything is flexible until then but I wanted to check I would be OK for bookings September and beyond - I got caught once in the past.
Dec 29, 2021, 6:27 am
#4
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However, in terms of flexibility as a GGL you wouldn't pay fees anyway, and all reward bookings still remain changeable up to 24 hours before the flight, so that part hasn't changed and isn't part of BWC. These apply regardless of whether you pick the £1 option or the £17.50 one. I suppose the only thing you lose without BWC is that you can't cancel with less than 24 hours of your flight, whereas with BWC you can still get a FTV right up to when check in closes.
Jan 1, 2022, 10:33 am
#6
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If you wanted a full refund at the outset, you would have had to call to cancel for a refund.
Jan 1, 2022, 8:16 pm
#7
Join Date: Jun 2012
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If you cancelled online, then all you will get is a Future Travel Voucher, but it will hold everything that you paid. You will have to call to make a new booking using it for the same passenger(s) as on the original booking, but there is no cancellation fee involved if you do that. You can also call to refund the FTV, whereupon the Avios will be refunded to your account and any cash returned to you after the deduction of the cancellation fee. As the FTV is an IOU from BA in the same way that Avios in your account are an IOU from BA, you may want to think carefully about whether you really need a full refund.
If you wanted a full refund at the outset, you would have had to call to cancel for a refund.
If you wanted a full refund at the outset, you would have had to call to cancel for a refund.
Jan 1, 2022, 8:22 pm
#8
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if you need less I think they will refund any remainder to your account.
for the offline FTV you have it is only possible to make a new booking for the same passengers as on the original one.
Jan 2, 2022, 6:29 am
#9
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Destination change for the same passengers is fine, you just pay extra or receive "change" depending on whether the new itinerary costs more or less, as KARFA says.
If you want to change passengers, then you will have to refund the FTV.
If you only want to change one out of (say) two passengers, then I think that in theory you can split the FTV and only refund the half for the passenger who will no longer be travelling. But if you rebook for the remaining (non-refunded) passenger and a new passenger, you will then have two separate bookings with all of the potential hassle involved in that.
If you want to change passengers, then you will have to refund the FTV.
If you only want to change one out of (say) two passengers, then I think that in theory you can split the FTV and only refund the half for the passenger who will no longer be travelling. But if you rebook for the remaining (non-refunded) passenger and a new passenger, you will then have two separate bookings with all of the potential hassle involved in that.