ehallison

I booked 2 tickets on AA between the US & Mexico, using 16500 Avios and $56 in taxes & fees for each ticket. I now need to cancel the ticket. The online process tells me I'll get a voucher for both the Avios and cash portion,. Will they really withhold the Mexican taxes from a refund? And how will they value the Avios in the voucher?

I've read the FAQs on their website but the process seems intentionally opaque.

ScienceTeacher

When did you book and what are the travel dates?

If you booked before June 8th, regardless of travel date; the voucher will sit there for a while as an 'FTV'. In six to eight weeks someone will sit down and refund the Avios back to the original account and the cash to the original form of payment (no withholding of avios or taxes).

If booked June 8th or hence with travel before October 1st, the same above applies.

If booked June 8th or hence, with travel October 1st onwards, you are not eligible for a voucher (and thus refund via. a voucher). You will need to call and pay the cancellation fee of $55 to get the Avios and remaining taxes back.

ehallison

Ah, I meant to include those details in my post.
Travel booked after June 8, with the travel date in September.

The process you detailed happened with a different flight i had to cancel late last year. It was a small amount ($5.60 in taxes and 10k or less in Avios IIRC) so i didn't follow up and figured the voucher would be in my account when needed. Then I got a surprise refund of both around the 1st of June. Are they still doing that? (esp if i booked after 6/8?)

TWCLAM

Avios bookings are cancellable up to 25 hours before departure ( 24hrs being the cut off). All avios and taxes will be refunded without charge in your case as the travel is before 1st October otherwise it would be everything minus Ł35/$55 canx fee. If the taxes etc were less than that amount you would be required to pay more to achieve that figure.

It's a lottery when it get processed so ScienceTeacher timeframe will at least save you worrying it's been forgotten. If it turns up sooner then all the better

BertieBadger

I don't believe that is correct, a view shared by a number of BAFT luminaries:

Avios Used to Lower Taxes on Award - Are All Refunded on Cancellation?

TWCLAM

100% a typo on my part there. Should've read "wouldn't".

BertieBadger my thanks for pointing that one out as it's a pretty important difference

Frequentflyer99

I don't believe that is correct for bookings made from 8 June. For bookings UP TO that date the normal cancellation charge DID NOT apply. For bookings ON OR AFTER 8 Jun, the usual cancellation charges DO apply.

ScienceTeacher

Be careful with using the term 'up to'. "Count up to ten and tell me the events leading up to 20th century, for example, do not necessary include what you're counting up to... ". I found this out the hard way with the voucher policy last year!

But yes, to answer your question OP. My second option, voucher and full refund to follow looks to work best.

I have been waiting seven weeks now for an FTV to come back, for Avios came back yesterday - waiting for cash, but also received one FTV in 4 days last week. If there were a rhyme or reason I'd share but it is BA...

ehallison

Thanks for the feedback. I got an email last night letting me know that I'd get a full refund of the Avios and $, but that I should allow them 4 weeks for processing. (the email says I'll "automatically" get it back, but i don't think that word means what they think it means).

VG31

I am also trying to cancel an Avios booking and am confused about whether I have to pay the cancellation fee or not. I have two bookings, both for dates in October and booked in April. I can change one of them without a fee online but the other cannot be changed online.
When I try to cancel the second bookig I am take to the FTV application page and it says: You can only apply for a voucher if you are due to travel up to 30 September 2022 (travel completed by).

What should I do here? Can I still apply for a voucher or do I have to call BA?

bppcomplete

Oh wow this is confusing. I am trying to refund a ticket booked 20 May 2022 for travel on 8 August 2022 for domestic US travel. My understanding is that if I call, I'll get the Avios back in my account less the $5.60 of taxes and fees. It used to be that I could also do that online, but following that flow I now get the confusing FAQ, which states "You’ll receive an eVoucher that equates to the full value of the original booking, cash and Avios combined, that you can redeem against future bookings. Please bear in mind you will not be refunded any Avios related to the original booking." It is unclear how to use a voucher on an Avios purchase flow, but I'm gambling that it won't be too bad (ha ha).

But the form itself says "Before submitting this form, you’re confirming that you have the consent of all individuals in your booking to act on their behalf. Please note that for Avios Reward Flight Saver, Reward Flight, Companion or Gold Upgrade Voucher bookings, you are accepting an automatic refund."

So what am I going to get? Also I've filled out the form now and it doesn't even seem like my itinerary is cancelled? I've got a few extra hours but I'm often in the situation where I need to be cancelling close to the T-24 deadline; I guess this wouldn't work at all if I was worried about that?

edit: Cancellation seems to have taken effect online now (~10-15 minutes later). Now the reservation reads

and I haven't received an email yet. This FAQ makes things even more confusing.

edit2: I found this other thread which seems to indicate that when this does show up in my inbox it won't be a FTV. I'll keep everyone posted.

KARFA

as noted in post , if you booked prior to 8 June and your booking is therefore covered by BWC, you can submit the FTV form and after a few weeks your avios and all cash will be refunded,

southsquare

How late can I cancel a Reward flights (one is BOS/LHR/LCY/BHD, the second is BOS/LHR and the third is LCY/BHD) and still receive a full refund of Avios and taxes? All three were booked in the last few days, for travel in the next few days. Must it be 25 hours before, or can it be, for example, four hours before, and can I simply apply for a FTV for each? (I appreciate that the FTV will then be refunded on some unknown future date)

KARFA

via a FTV if covered by BWC it is anytime up to when check in closes - so 1 hour to scheduled departure although I wouldn’t leave it quite that late. You won’t actually get a FTV tough, instead everything is refunded.

if not covered by BWC, it is no later than 24 hours before scheduled departure and this would incur the normal cancellation fee. You will need to call to do a voluntary cancellation like this.

pokee

I just canceled a BA award flight - a one way domestic on Alaska in December. They are no longer "instant" - the cancelation process now says this:

"Dear Customer,

Thank you for your application for a refund of the following booking

British Airways booking reference: XXXXX
We have received your information and are currently processing your refund.

We will refund any money owed to the card used to make thebooking and we will send you a confirmation email when it's been done. "

Why is a cancelation now called an "Application for refund"? It sounds like they need to review it and manually approve it. Why? And how long does it take?