Passmethesickbag

A friend who's been hospitalised has asked me to look into cancelling his flight to Canada next week (booking class I), as he won't have recovered sufficiently in time for the flight. The "Cancellations options" link is pretty cruel — instead of actually showing the options, it says "You are requesting cancellation of a restricted ticket(s) and in accordance with the fare rules you will only receive a refund of taxes paid.". Given that it's quite a lot of money, and not my money, I'm reluctant to press Continue. I also suspect I won't get very far with them if I phone in. Any good suggestions for this situation? I note that, right now, they offer free changes for travel up to 25 July. This booking is for a bit later than that — might it be prudent to hold off a bit in the hope that that period will be extended?

KARFA

When did they book it? If they booked it no later than 7 June 2022 and all the travel in the booking is completed by end of September 2022, and no voluntary changes have been done from 8 June 2022 onwards, it should be in scope for BWC. So getting a FTV would likely be the best option.

https://www.britishairways.com/trave...wfpId=covidn#/

mikeyfly

Sounds likely that the booking was made before Book With Confidence ended in which case it can be converted for a Voucher for travel to Sept 2023

Find out when it was booked, and get a voucher through BA.com on their behalf

Passmethesickbag

Thanks, unfortunately, the booking was made in late June.

sammyg901

The unofficial policy I believe will allow the ticket to be left open and then used later (within 1 year of issue) with payment of fare difference - may need to send in evidence

However if there is travel insurance in place it will be better to claim on that (they'd want you to get the taxes refunded and they'll pay the rest)

You need to be added to their exec account to be able to discuss the booking on their behalf by phone or you could try live chat

orbitmic

Reinforcing the last point made: unfortunately, unless ba know you as an authorised to deal with either this specific booking or all of your friend’s bookings, they are not allowed to discuss this with you.

Passmethesickbag

Thanks, all! I've suggested to him to think about whether he'd be interested in rebooking for another date, and if he wants to cancel, even with insurance he might as well wait until closer to the departure in the hope that BA ends up cancelling one of the legs first.

Frequentflyer99

[QUOTE=sammyg901;34439266
You need to be added to their exec account to be able to discuss the booking on their behalf by phone or you could try live chat[/QUOTE]

Adding someone as an authorised rep on a BAEC account is v easy. If they are up to it, they could do it themself (if they have a BAEC account). If they were happy to trust you with their BAEC log in details you could very easily add yourself as a person authorised to discuss their bookings. They may be sent an email verification link (I cant remember), so that may be an issue.

Pilot37

If your friend is in hospital and can't fly (with Doctor note to back-up), I know BA have in the past been very flexible to leave the ticket open for a year from booking date and they can reschedule once fit to fly again, but as others have noted, your friend would need to call unless your a 3rd party nominee on their account.

Pilot37

mikeyfly

Seems odd to get a booking in "I" for next week only booked late June - are you sure this timeframe is correct ?

babyg_wc

You can currently move flights that depart before july 25th for free.. this can be done via manage my booking...there is also the option to request an FTV too i belive

JFX1764

Can book I's today for flights next week?

Tafflyer

With the heatwave as well as disruption caused by it set to continue, I suspect the July 25 deadline for travel applying to this waiver will be extended. Many passengers may have only pushed their travel forward a few days and need to reorganise it. It’s not just the disruption in the UK but many other European airports are currently suffering problems due to heat and fires.

vintagepilot

Has anyone been successful in getting an FTV at the moment? I have been assured on the GGL line that a trip I have in September, booked in May, cannot now be FTVd 'in accordance with the new policy'. I said I thought that was only for trips booked after 8 June but they weren't budging.

Also, I used the online form to request an FTV for another trip which I was due to take last week, booked back in Dec 21, and it was immediately refunded when I would actually have liked a voucher.

KARFA

Definitely wrong https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...exible-booking

A booking made on or before 7 June and for travel completed by end of September remains covered by BWC/FTV. If you have made a voluntary change on or after 8 June then it will no longer be covered.