Workaround found. How to trigger an online British Airways flight refund using Google Chrome

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• Sid says:

  25 Mar25 March 21:15

  This is an amazing hack to get around BA’s attempt to hold on to customer’s money. I had a Avios booking and received the cancellation email today. I followed the instructions and have now received the cancellation request confirmation email. I’ll let everyone here know once I’ve received the avios in my account and cash (for taxes et all) on my card back.

  More power to #HeadForPoints!

  • Sid says:

    4 Apr4 April 13:21

    Update for my case – As above, I had used the workaround on this page to request refund for an Avios booking where the outbound had been cancelled. After the initial email saying my refund request has been received, the trip continued to be displayed in MMB with a status saying “a refund has been requested”. After a week had passed since 25 March when I requested the cancellation and no Avios or taxes had been refunded, I started calling their customer service on 01 April. Kept trying and ignored prompts for refund, avios booking etc and chose to select the option to speak to an operator for a cash booking. After may tries. got through to a lovely customer service agent who apologised for the inconvenience (wasn’t her fault) and acknowledged that the booking does have a note to issue full refund but that the refund team based abroad is also under lockdown so a new team in the UK is handling that but is snowed under such refund requests. She chose to immediately refund the Avios to my EC account. She tried to get in touch with the refund team while I was on hold for about 10 mins… came back to say she couldn’t get through to them but will keep trying throughout the day. I chose to leave it with her. Late yesterday on 3 Apr, the taxes refund have come up under pending transactions on my Amex…. It’s slow but you’ll get there in the end. You may have to chase them on the phone like I did… It’s not ideal but these are extraordinary circumstances for everyone. People will get their money back eventually though this is of no solace to those who need it back immediately for newer bookings or other use. Ciao

• errythroidd says:

  25 Mar25 March 23:15

  Thank you so much for this. I was able to cancel my reservation.

• Sonny Krag says:

  26 Mar26 March 00:43

  Brilliant! It worked….or at least I got a request send.
  I don’t know if I get anythingv yet!?
  Find it to be a really strange policy to agree to the term:*
  “We will calculate your total after you have submitted the form, when we process your claim. The refund amount will be based on our terms and conditions and is final and non-negotiable.”
  In other words I agree, before I know the amount they’ll refund, that I accept whatever amount they refund!!!?
  I’m glad I have a travel-insurance, so my claim is essentially for may insurance company to save money…
  Thank you very much for the Hack however…

  • Shoestring says:

    26 Mar26 March 02:21

    for Avios bookings, that’s not a problem

    – Avios/ cash bookings cancelled by BA – always full refund
    – cash bookings NOT cancelled by BA but cancelled by you – full refunds minus small fee eg £17.50 single RFS flight/ £35 return (or lower if you paid less than these amounts)

    as mentioned prominently: don’t under any circumstances cancel cash bookings NOT cancelled by BA

    • Shoestring says:

      26 Mar26 March 02:23

      ***– ***AVIOS*** bookings NOT cancelled by BA but cancelled by you – full refunds minus small fee eg £17.50 single RFS flight/ £35 return (or lower if you paid less than these amounts)

    • HouB says:

      27 Mar27 March 18:15

      That’s really useful to know, do you know if you get back the money you spent to book your seat in advance too?

      Thanks

• Peter says:

  26 Mar26 March 06:36

  Seems to have worked for me – got the cancellation email confirmation. The writer is a star!

• Nick says:

  26 Mar26 March 07:04

  Once we followed the intructions properly this worked, but before we pushed the button we phoned BA just in case as we prefer to speak to someone if possible. Took about 15 minutes to get through and the chap said we need to call back when our flight is 72 hours or less away.

  We then asked about the car hire. He tried to put us through to BA holidays and we lost the call. He then phoned us back – what a result! put us through and they have agreed to refund the car hire and when I was on the phone with him, he said he would refund the flights no questions asked.

  We haven’t had confirmation yet, but the Avios and 2 4 1 voucher are back on the account.

  Given the current situation, we think they deserve a pat on the back!

• Chalky10 says:

  26 Mar26 March 07:30

  Logged in and then entered the flight-only booking details, I am sent to a “simplified” page which shows minimal details and only has buttons for “cancel booking” and “change booking”. No amount of javascript fiddling stops that cancel button from going through to the voucher request page. Tried in chrome and firefox so far.

  Is best action to wait and try later, or to use the link posted above which gives you a manual form to fill out with your life story to manually request a refund?

  (Thanks from a very long time lurker who has never ventured into posting comments before)

  • Matt says:

    26 Mar26 March 09:21

    Outward flight cancelled two days ago and inbound flight cancelled yesterday by BA, online they are only offering the voucher, helpline just cuts my call off.
    I’ve tried the hack given above two days ago, but then aborted as I thought I’ll wait until the inbound flight gets cancelled as well. Tried this morning again and had same experience as Chalky, BA have blocked this hack by creating a new jump off page for the refund. Definitely different to two days ago. Shame on you BA: you cancelled on me, so just give me money back via the online portal. We are all struggling with cash flow, extremely shameful they use their customers cash

• Mark says:

  26 Mar26 March 08:47

  Same story as Chalky10 this morning – BA clearly working hard to prevent any workaround rather than fix the ‘error’ – can’t imagine why….

  Filled out the long form and got the green confirmation screen that my request has been sent. Promised e-mail has not arrived and MMB unchanged. My flight is not until mid-April so I will call 3 days before then.

• Jonathan G says:

  26 Mar26 March 08:50

  Are Avios refunded to each household member based on their original contribution?

  Can I ask a general question about the refund of Avios points when the original booking was made using a household account. For example, a household account has two members. One member has 200,000 points. The other 50,000 points. When the booking is made the points are taken from each member based on the ratio of points each member has. So for a 100,00 point redemption, the first member might be deducted 80,000 points and the second member 20,000 points. But what happens if that Avios reward flight is then cancelled. Are Avios refunded to each household member based on their original contribution?

  • Dave Barron says:

    26 Mar26 March 13:31

    Yes they are returned to each individual Household member exactly as they were split when the tickets were booked.

    My Avios tickets were cancelled 7 days ago. I rang BA immediately and unlike the experience of others my Avios were returned across Household members immediately. One of my 241 vouchers was also returned within 24 hours (and subsequently extended by 6 months until November 2020), the cash refund for fees/charges will apparently be refunded to my Amex within 10 (working?) days but no sign of it yet. Similarly my other 241 voucher used on this booking has yet to be returned – on BA.com states used but still extended to September 2021. Fingers crossed I get my money and voucher back very soon!

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