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

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• Charlie T. says:

  14 Mar14 March 07:34

  I know that we’re all here to “play the game” to varying extents, and I can certainly see why you’d wait for a cash refund rather than a voucher, but anyone whose motivation to not cancel is holding on for EU261 is acting in terrible faith. If there wasn’t rather more at stake a bit of me might wish that the airline go bust just so any such people wouldn’t see their windfalls arrive.

  • Anna says:

    14 Mar14 March 07:38

    A lot of people won’t be able to use a voucher, it’s perfectly acceptable to want a cash refund. My OH will not be able to re-schedule his leave for at least 12 months so a voucher would be useless to us.

    • Shoestring says:

      14 Mar14 March 07:46

      and pretty much useless for us because of the 12 month rule, since we’ve already booked all thius year & next’s flights

      ie depends on Easter dates, I suppose – sooner or later than this year? but if it’s still just 50p to cancel an Avios booking online, that’s an easy option

      • Anna says:

        14 Mar14 March 07:56

        Easter weekend is around April 4th 2021.

        • Shoestring says:

          14 Mar14 March 08:33

          ie earlier, might work out with vouchers but I guess I wouldn’t have that choice, or would I get full refund of Avios + fees paid in the form of a voucher if I wait for the cancellation notice?

          I suppose I can wait as late as 24hrs before flight before deciding

      • David says:

        14 Mar14 March 08:16

        I suspect the 12 month voucher limit will be extended if this goes on longer. Airlines need preserve cash (as well as consumers) rather than refunding to ensure there survival in some cases.

      • HAM76 says:

        14 Mar14 March 14:06

        For us it depends on school holidays and those are one week later next year for us. 12 months is useless for us or at least significantly less useful. 12 months and one week would work just great.

  • meta says:

    14 Mar14 March 07:45

    The article is not about EU compo. It’s about accepting an inflexible voucher vs cash because voucher might be useless in the long run.

    • Lady London says:

      14 Mar14 March 14:36

      +1, it’s clear people who understand the terminology know this is not about compo however thank heavens for eu261 duty of care which should still apply as some people may be stuck and need help.

      In past few days some less knowledgeable posters may have used the word compo but really they are looking at covering financial losses that it looks like they are facing.

  • BozzaABZ says:

    14 Mar14 March 08:31

    I agree 100%. Charlie T. Waiting out purely for EC compensation for financial gain is In the same moral category of those selling hand sanitiser on eBay for inflated prices. Wouldn’t surprise me if EU suspend EC261 in any case. Making a few quid out of this crisis is just morally corrupt. We play the game re points etc and benefits from the system. Once Coronavirus has passed normal rules apply. This should be our moment we come out of the trenches and play footy with the enemy. Anyone here who is seriously considering waiting out for EC261 have to have a hard look at themselves and their moral compass.. I’m due to fly to Paris next month on air miles I expect to lose. Losing a few quid and air miles is nothing compared to those suffering and losing their lives. And jobs.

• Derek Scott says:

  14 Mar14 March 07:36

  Everyone has dilemmas with their decisions. Mine is slightly different.. I’m due to fly to San Diego early June, and have internal flights with Delta, including cross-border into Canada. My main concern is if the US/Canadian Border is closed whilst in U S. Ideally the Cancellation option with BA could mean I could switch my Calgary-To-UK flight to a US option to get home.

  But what if BA does indeed end up with a full cancellation of US flights plan?
  At least I have time to wait and see how the situation plays out, but I do have sympathy for those who have to make more immediate decisions, as well as for Airline crew who could end up losing their jobs or income for a while

  • Anna says:

    14 Mar14 March 07:40

    Theoretically you could book a “fallback” flight home from the US with Avios, however BA are still charging horrific levels of fees for one way flights to and from the US which makes it a more difficult decision!

    • Polly says:

      15 Mar15 March 07:44

      Yes, but you still only lose 35 pp if don’t need to use it. So it’s a very handy back up, esp if you have a 241.

• BJ says:

  14 Mar14 March 07:41

  OT: Can we pay Creation IHG card with amex?

  • Anna says:

    14 Mar14 March 07:45

    No, however they do seem to accept other MCs and Visa, and you don’t even have to use Curve or Revolut…

    • BJ says:

      14 Mar14 March 08:13

      Thanks Anna, I thought that might be the case but just wanted to confirm.

      • AlexT says:

        14 Mar14 March 08:31

        When you call Creation, they do have an automated message on stating you shouldn’t pay Creation with a credit card, as that may uncur fees. Pretty sure they are well aware of what people are doing and may be working to change that, but their payment system is antiquated enough not to allow for it quite yet.

• Graham says:

  14 Mar14 March 07:51

  We have a flight to Bucharest next Saturday booked through BA holidays. It’s particularly galling that you’re just stuffed if you wanted to accept the voucher but you lose the hotel etc. Really poor on BA’s part. I would have been inclined to accept a voucher but not with those terms.

  I’m gutted as I’m sitting on 1100 TP and this trip along with a trip booked in May would get me Gold. Both trips are booked direct with BA. I’m wondering if they would step me up or allow an extension to allow me to complete it. I completely understand there are bigger problems but this was going to be my first time hitting it and I was excited!

  • Lady London says:

    14 Mar14 March 14:40

    See other replies about ATOL if you booked asa BA Holiday.

  • AJA says:

    14 Mar14 March 14:55

    Graham I’d be inclined to wait to see if BA cancel the flight. You’re covered for cancellation under clause 8 of your booking with BA Holidays:

    8. Changes or cancellation by us
    8.3. We are only liable to you for cancellations or significant changes to your booking by us. A significant change is one that we make to your booking before your departure that affects an essential term of your contract. Examples of a significant change includes changes by us to:
    • your departure times or accommodation occupancy periods by more than 12 hours.

    I’d say your departure time is going to change by more than 12 hours if BA cancels your flight and doesn’t get you on another one which is likely if all flights are cancelled.

    Your options are as follows:
    8.6. If we make a significant change to your booking then, whether compensation is payable or not, you have a choice. You may:
    8.6.1. accept the significant change; or
    8.6.2. accept substitute arrangements of equivalent or superior quality if we are able to offer this to you; or
    8.6.3. accept substitute arrangements of lower quality if we are able to offer this to you together with a refund of the difference in price between the original and the substitute arrangements; or
    8.6.4. cancel your booking altogether, in which case we will process a refund in full of all money you have paid us for the booking within 7 days of your request.
    8.7. You must tell us which one of the above choices (under Clause 8.6) you make within 7 days of being informed of the significant change we are making, or as soon as reasonably practicable if your departure is less than 7 days from the date you receive notification. If we do not receive notification from you about your choice you are deemed to have accepted the option in Clause 8.6.4 above.

    If your flight doesn’t get cancelled then you must make the decision whether to fly or cancel, get a voucher against future flights but lose the cost of hotels. You can do so up to 48 hours before the flight. As for the TP and Gold status I think you’re stuffed as are many people who are in a similar situation.

    • Graham says:

      14 Mar14 March 17:29

      Yep just one of those things. Thanks for the 48 hours notice heads up I actually thought it was 24.

      Another mileage run when things get back to normal!

• Nigel says:

  14 Mar14 March 07:52

  Charlie T has hit the nail on the head and I am very disappointed that HFP have even mentioned it – anyone expecting EC261 compensation because of their flight being cancelled should be ashamed! The airlines don’t want to cancel flights but are doing it because they have to as there is a pandemic out there. It’s not their fault at all and if people wanted to profit from this then it could cause significant airline failures – and where would you all use you stacks of Avios and other “loyalty” points.

  My flight to Rome was cancelled just as I was seeking a no-fly voucher so I could claim on my insurance. The fact that it was cancelled and I will get a full refund is saving me a £50 excess deduction from my insurance – and no thought of unnecessary compensation.

  In these difficult times, for everyone and every company, we must all be fair and be reasonable. Let’s just get through it.

  • Anna says:

    14 Mar14 March 07:59

    As meta just pointed out, this is about people getting money back which they have paid (without the interest that BA has been earning on it also!), not about compensation. I think people will generally be happy to get some money back, even if they end up having to pay cancellation charges, as in the case of award flights.

  • Rob D says:

    14 Mar14 March 08:06

    I agree with you 100%.

    • Rob D says:

      14 Mar14 March 08:09

      Not sure how to amend my previous comment but to clarify I agree with you Nigel 100%!

      • ColinC says:

        14 Mar14 March 08:18

        Totally agree… BA voucher based on current situation is very acceptable. Ok those with plans in the future may want to wait for cash refund based on changing situation. ( at risk the voucher offer may be withdrawn in meantime ) . Extra compo is OTT especially If offered a seat on merged flights .

      • Alex Sm says:

        14 Mar14 March 08:26

        Unfortunately it’s not possible to edit or delete your own comments here, and Rob refuses to add this functionally for some made-up reason… though it would help a lot if it was available

        • Peter K says:

          14 Mar14 March 08:33

          I’m glad we can’t edit our comments. It means no one can write something then edit or delete it and pretend they put something else.

        • Alex Sm says:

          15 Mar15 March 00:02

          @Peter K this is not the point. The point is to have an ability to delete or edit your own comments (could be time limited, eg. until someone else replies or 5-10 mins whichever is sooner), but it will give you an opportunity to remove or correct things such as mistakes, typos, duplicate comments etc

  • Lady London says:

    14 Mar14 March 14:43

    Enough of the virtue signalling.

    EU261 where applicable has 2 parts
    – compo – forget it
    – duty of care – still fully justified as some people may really need help.

• NotYou says:

  14 Mar14 March 07:52

  I’m wondering what the definition of a “Journey” is:

  “You cannot claim if you have already started your journey”

  So you’ve already flown the outbound? One leg of your return? You’re currently sat on the plane? You’re on the train to the airport? 😉

  • Rob says:

    14 Mar14 March 08:26

    Flown first leg, or part of it (eg Edinburgh to London and waiting to connect to Bangkok).

• Braiden Woodward says:

  14 Mar14 March 08:20

  What about BA bookings made through an OTA?

  • Graham says:

    14 Mar14 March 08:24

    You’ll need to contact the OTA to understand if/how it applies to your booking.

• pauldb says:

  14 Mar14 March 08:22

  If anyone is including EU261 in their calculations (rightly or wrongly) bear in mind compensation is not payable if you get 7-14 days notice and an offer of rerouting no more than two hours early (dek) and four hours late (arr). If the stronger airlines have any sense and coordination they will consolidate frequencies together to work to these restraints, and to call the bluff of the system-gamers.

  • insider says:

    14 Mar14 March 08:54

    it’s ridiculous that airlines in these circumstances will have to pay EU261. I suspect they just won’t pay from now and claim exceptional circumstances (which they are…)

    • Catalan says:

      14 Mar14 March 09:41

      Agreed! And it’s ridiculous that people get on here attempting to scheme ways of getting EU261 compensation from an industry that will potentially be on its knees in weeks to come. Shame on you!

      • Lady London says:

        14 Mar14 March 12:35

        Of course compo is not even worth thinking about. Even though we know a lot of the early cancellations were in fact commercial, and this will be the case for many of the later cancellations as this eventually begins to settle. However proving reason was commercial will be difficult.

        Many people and possibly regulators are therefore going to forget about compo.

        Duty if care, however, will still apply, and should, as some people will really need help if they can’t fly. Which IMV is why we have such regulation.

        My sympathy is with the airlines right now. But I do not forget the gouging and other unfair treatment of passengers in the past which they gleefully indulged in as a way of doing business without punishment. The airlines will return to such practices as soon as they can and we will observe this in the later stages of this thing and once recovery has gathered speed. Thank heavens for EU261 duty of care for those who need it.

        Meanwhile I’m with those posters who are saying don’t even have the poor taste to even think about compo right now.

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