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British Airways will refund ALL flights to 31st May for a voucher – but should you say no?

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Finally ….. British Airways has seen the light and is now allowing you to cancel ALL flights up to 31st May, in return for a travel voucher.

However …. I am not convinced you should accept.

Let me explain.

Here is the British Airways ‘Book With Confidence’ website.

British Airways BA 777X 777 9X

These are the new rules:

If you are travelling between 14th March and 31st May, you can refund your flight for a British Airways e-voucher irrespective of when you booked.  No refunds are on offer for flights beyond 31st May.

If you are travelling between 1st June and 31st December 2020, you can refund your flight for a British Airways e-voucher if you booked between 3rd March and 31st May

The voucher is valid for 12 months from the date of your original flight

The voucher can be used on any route, not necessarily the one you originally booked

This applies to both British Airways marketed flights and BA Holidays bookings, although Comair and SUN-AIR are exempt

You cannot claim if you have already started your journey

Flight cancellations can be made until the close of check-in, whilst BA Holidays bookings must be cancelled within 48 hours of departure

Anyone who has already cancelled their booking and lost money cannot retrospectively request a voucher

You can also change your flight dates without any change fees, although you have to pay the fare difference.

The small print on how the voucher works is on the ‘Book With Confidence’ website.

British Airways Book With Confidence

But …. but …. but …. perhaps you should wait?

I know this sounds contrarian.  Many of you have been on tenterhooks waiting for a decision like this to allow you to cancel your trip.

And yet ….

The EU has agreed the terms of a deal to allow airlines to cancel flights without losing their slots.

Next week, British Airways is likely cut anything from 25% to 100% of its scheduled flights – probably around 50% given what Lufthansa is doing.   If your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a full refund IN CASH.  No messing around with e-vouchers.

By taking the refund now, you are also giving up your right to potential EC261 compensation if you were due to travel within 14 days of the cancellation being made.

Unless you are travelling in the next 4-5 days, you might want to think about waiting in case you end up missing out on a full cash refund.

Of course, there is also a risk that British Airways withdraws this offer and you can no longer refund your ticket at all.

It’s up to you.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (857)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Lashious says:
    15 Mar15 March 16:48

    Also, thanks for jumping down my throat and passively aggressively having a go at me last night Anna. I’m a single mum, just had a life changing spinal cord injury and been saving for 5 years for this trip with avios and money. It was meant to be a once in a life time treat for my daughter and myself, remenbet not everyone plays hfp for fun and knows the ins and outs of all the offers.

    • Anna says:
      15 Mar15 March 17:01

      I apologise if it felt like that Lashious, it’s just that it’s so much more important for people to check the terms of their own booking rather than relying on any advice given here. If you didn’t get a definitive answer yesterday and want to re-post the question I’ll happily look for a link to the relevant BA page and post it below.

      • Anna says:
        15 Mar15 March 17:04

        Also happy to check future availability for you as I’ve sometimes done before for readers short on time or unfamiliar with Reward Flight Finder etc.

      • Lashious says:
        15 Mar15 March 18:12

        Anna, thank you, apology accepted. My question is really:- I bought the flights with less avios than usual, when they did that sale on redemptions, was about Nov last year, so I paid less 50 % avios for the flights in world traveller plus, and got something off avios for the business class redemption. If I rebook then will the amount of avios be different and it will also be peak fares. I’m pretty sure BA haven’t thrashed out the complex permutations of everyone’s avios booking etc yet..Lhr to MIA april 13. MIA to LHR April 29th. Then theres all kinds of bits on the middle like aa to MIA Cancun and interjet back to mia

        • Anna says:
          15 Mar15 March 18:51

          Yes it’s complicated, I also have multiple elements which will need cancelling! Is your AA booking cash or Avios? I have found you have to call BA to cancel award bookings on AA booked via BA, I think AA now have a change policy for cash bookings but will check.
          If you cancel the LHR to MIA booking now I would anticipate that the system would automatically re-deposit the amount of Avios you originally paid back into your account. Because of the discount and pricing it would cost you a lot more Avios to make a new booking. I think you are going to have to speak to BA and ask them to move your booking if you have other dates when you can travel. You can obviously call them whenever you want but you might have more success nearer your travel date. Another option, which I did last year, was to go to the airport and ask a BA desk agent to re-ticket you then and there. It’s a bit unorthodox but they CAN do it and you won’t be spending hours on the phone. I appreciate you may have mobility difficulties but BA tend to only deal with the person who has made the booking.

          • Anna says:
            15 Mar15 March 18:55

            By way of example last August we got a text message at 4 am on date of travel saying our flight was cancelled and to call BA to sort it out. Fortunately we were staying overnight at MAN so we just went over to the terminal and found out our MAN-LHR connection had been cancelled and because of that BA had cancelled our onward leg also! The ground staff managed to re-ticket us from LHR and then put us in a taxi for a 3 hour nail-biting ride to LHR so we could catch the connection by the skin of our teeth! So they can do it.

          • Anna says:
            15 Mar15 March 19:19

            One last thing and this is something I need to double check, ordinarily if BA cancelled your flight they would still have an obligation to re-route you in the same class of travel, regardless of how much cash or Avios you paid originally. I can’t see that they could successfully argue that you need to pay more Avios for a replacement flight but someone else might want to expand on this given the current situation!

          • Lashious says:
            15 Mar15 March 20:25

            Thank you, that was extremely kind of you. Lots of very useful info and experience there. I’m going to have a pause and digest that, esp the bit about the re route in same class. Weather will have changed quite a lot by end of May for Carribean. Have a lovely evening 🙂

          • Anna says:
            15 Mar15 March 21:09

            Hope you manage to sort it out – and don’t worry about the weather, whenever I’ve been to the Caribbean in May or June the weather has been glorious, better than the winter months which are high season but can also be cloudy and windy.

          • Anna says:
            15 Mar15 March 21:12

            Just remembered, someone posted earlier that BA are now waiving the £35 cancellation fee for changes to Avios bookings so if you can get them on the phone make sure they honour this. Also you shouldn’t be charged a telephone change/booking fee as you can’t change your Avios booking online, only cancel it. Good luck!

          • Lady London says:
            16 Mar16 March 11:01

            You must be very specific you want to reroute=replacement ticket, not a refund.

            Airlines will want to assume they can just refund or voucher you because it gets them off the hook for additional time and potential expense. So be very clear about what you want and make sure you fit any bits together before you call. No good getting a reroute then going back saying you can’t get an interjet for dates or whatever. Refund or reroute is one time only unless something goes wrong again on their side not yours

        • Lady London says:
          16 Mar16 March 10:26

          With respect, this is when you should not take a voucher and not take a refund if you can avoid it. Saying you want same thing as you booked but on a further, even much further, ahead date (and you will only ask for this “reroute” and not duty of care unless problems are extended further) is the way to go if you want preserve “same price”. You do have the right under EU261 to request this and it’s your choice nor the airlines to request reroute not refund. No matter how far ahead they cancelled.

          I’d be frank with them and explain why you prefer this and push politely to get what I have decided are my own best options before the call.

          • Anna says:
            16 Mar16 March 10:48

            That’s would be my preferred option also LL under the same circumstances, I was just wary of seeming to be pushing a course of action rather than giving impartial information. I have got a message on my BA saying saying my flight to MIA is still operating so presumably they are telling me that they are not planning to cancel it at this time, therefore no right to re-routing.

          • Anna says:
            16 Mar16 March 10:53

            Also I don’t think Lashious’ flight has actually been cancelled either, so presumably also no re-routing right under EU261 at this time. It’s possible BA may keep some of these services running for cargo and to re-patriots US citizens I suppose.

  • Terry says:
    15 Mar15 March 16:58

    I have booked BA flights using Avios, going out on May 31st returning June 16th. Does anyone know what is the best way to deal with this situation? I paid using a credit card for the taxes.

    • Anna says:
      15 Mar15 March 17:07

      You’ve always got the option to cancel for £35 pp charge on the Avios booking but June is over 2 months away so you’ve plenty of time to wait and see what unfolds. You can cancel up to 24 hours before travel.

    • Andy says:
      15 Mar15 March 17:08

      You can still receive a voucher for the entire booking because you’re flying on May 31st (assuming you booked with BA?)

      Best waiting a few weeks to see if your flight gets cancelled anyway though.

      • Andy says:
        15 Mar15 March 17:09

        Apologies… Didn’t see avios part – follow Anna’s advice!

        • Terry says:
          15 Mar15 March 17:23

          Will I receive the taxes back as well as the avoid points? Thank you for he comments/advice so far regarding the suggestion that I wait to see what unfolds in the next two months.

          • Anna says:
            15 Mar15 March 17:37

            Yes all the cash apart from the £35 pp fee as well as the Avios. I’m assuming you haven’t done a cancellation before but it’s actually quite straightforward, just don’t do it till you’re sure! It’s one of the good things about Avios bookings, can be done entirely on line and no need to try and get through on the phone.

          • Anna says:
            15 Mar15 March 17:38

            Where are you going? It might have an impact on re-booking options.

          • AJA says:
            15 Mar15 March 17:57

            You will also now apparently get the £35 fee back as a voucher if you cancel an Avios reward booking plus, on request, an extension of the expiry of a 2-4-1 voucher if it is close to expiry.

          • Polly says:
            16 Mar16 March 00:19

            Must phone in tho to get the 241 extension

          • Lady London says:
            16 Mar16 March 10:32

            and anecdotally so far you need to have used it for a flight. I think the need to have booked won’t stay but that’s what some have found – a refusal when they hadn’t.

  • lee says:
    15 Mar15 March 17:59

    Will missing the last leg of a flight cause me any issues with Delta ?
    Its flying away from the uk so dont want to take it.
    Im guessing I may lose any Mileage for my whole booking anyone have any knowledge
    Of this .
    Thanks

    • TGLoyalty says:
      15 Mar15 March 23:31

      No and I’m guessing it’s cash ticket as you mention lost mileage you will earn on any flights actually flown but nothing for the one missed.

      • Lady London says:
        16 Mar16 March 10:34

        Provided there are no further parts to your ticket – such as a return leg. Everything following your no show is automatically flushed.

  • SGreen says:
    15 Mar15 March 18:52

    Greetings,
    Does anyone know if it is possible to use the value of any voucher received due to a cancelled flight to, either:
    a) purchase Avios (currently 50% bonus available)?
    b) purchase a reward flight?
    Thanks in advance,
    Simon

  • MattB says:
    15 Mar15 March 19:00

    BA have just emailed me to say my holiday booking over Easter to Boston/NY can’t be fulfilled so they are refunding me in full in 7 days.

    Bit of a relief although this was the holiday were they never took the avios for our F upgrade!!

    Just got a £600 hotel we will need to claim on insurance.

  • Joel says:
    15 Mar15 March 21:40

    Sorry if someone has asked already (too many comments to go through!)… Have BA / Are they likely to extend 2 for 1 vouchers? I was due to use mine before June but unlikely to happen now so wondered if they might extend it!

    • Anna says:
      15 Mar15 March 23:00

      So far it only seems to be granted when the voucher has been used via phone negotiation with BA – I guess you could book something with it then if the situation is still as bad by June you could then cancel and ask to have the date extended. Worth a try if you’d otherwise lose it.

    • Aston100 says:
      15 Mar15 March 23:56

      Yes, email them.
      6 month extension regardless of expiry date.

      • Terry says:
        16 Mar16 March 00:56

        What’s their email address? Other ppl have suggested an online form. But I can’t find either and don’t want to call and put on hold. Thx

        • Dave says:
          16 Mar16 March 06:54

          Yep would be great if you can provide email address as I can’t find it either

          • MattB says:
            16 Mar16 March 09:22

            Unless your voucher expires in weeks please don’t be selfish and clog the system with unimportant query’s.

    • Lady London says:
      16 Mar16 March 10:50

      They would have taken them.
      Or on here, they would of.

      So no loss there

  • Terry says:
    16 Mar16 March 00:18

    I am flying into Calgary and out of Vancouver.

  • Chris Mulcock says:
    16 Mar16 March 03:23

    India has closed its border. We cannot use our Business Class Flights. We don’t want the voucher. Where do we stand?

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