BA Holidays guarantees you can cancel new bookings for a voucher …. no questions asked

If you are keen to book a holiday at the moment but are worried about what would happen if you voluntarily changed your mind about going, BA Holidays has got your back.

BA Holidays has just updated its ‘Customer Promise’ to offer increased flexibility if you book between now and the end of August, for travel into 2021.

You can see the new guidelines on the BA Holidays site here.

Here are the key takeaways:

We’ll let you change your plans
If you book a holiday before 31 August 2020 for travel up to 30 April 2021, we’ll let you amend your booking for free (just pay the difference in price) or cancel it and get a voucher for travel up until 30 April 2022.

We’ll let you manage your payments flexibly
Secure your booking with a deposit from as little as £75pp, pay off the balance in instalments, and your final payment is not due until three weeks before your holiday starts.

We’re here for you when you need us
We have a 24-hour holiday helpline for any issues whilst you’re away, and if your plans change or the unexpected happens, we will prioritise getting you home as soon as possible.

We’ll act responsibly and without delay
In the event that we cannot fulfil your holiday package, in keeping with our obligations under the Package Travel Regulations, you will receive a full refund within 14 days.

One of the key benefits of a BA Holidays booking is that you only pay a deposit at the time of booking, with the balance normally paid five weeks prior to departure. This has been reduced to three weeks in recent months and it looks like this will continue under the new ‘Customer Promise’, as British Airways hasn’t given an end date.

The deposit you need to pay on booking is:

• Flight + hotel and flight + car holidays between £300-£999:  from £150 deposit per booking
• Flight + hotel and flight + car holidays between £1,000-£2,999:  from £300 deposit per booking
• Flight + hotel and flight + car holidays between £3,000-£3,499:  from £400 deposit per booking

A package holiday may be the safest option right now

If you are thinking of booking a holiday but don’t want to deal with the hassle of refunds or vouchers in the event of a cancellation, a holiday package is one of your best options.

In the event that your flights are cancelled or your hotel is closed, BA Holidays MUST process a full refund within 14 days.

The laws governing package holdays are SUBSTANTIALLY stronger than the laws governing flight-only or hotel-only bookings.  Unlike flight bookings, we have seen BA Holidays refunds being made automatically, which saves you the hassle of having to call British Airways.

An added benefit is that your flight and hotel or flight and car rental booking is wrapped up in one, so you don’t need to chase separate companies whose refund requirements may be very different than those required in UK law.

A ‘package’ holiday with BA Holidays isn’t a ‘traditional’ package holiday

The phrase ‘package’ holiday still throws up visions of two-star hotels in Benidorm for many people.  This is NOT the case with BA Holidays.

You can create your own ‘package’ on ba.com by booking a flight and adding either a hotel or a car hire to it.  This may actually be cheaper than booking a flight on its own, weirdly, because British Airways often quietly offloads flights via BA Holidays at a discount where you can’t see the underlying price of each element.

Not only may you save money compared to booking each element separately, you get improved refund protection AND you don’t need to pay the bulk of the cost until three weeks before departure.  The only downside is that you won’t earn any points or status benefits from the hotel as it will be treated as a third party booking.

Earn bonus Avios with BA Holidays

There is also a permanent Avios incentive for booking with BA Holidays.  You earn a bonus 1 Avios per £1 you spend when booking with BA Holidays.  You can find out more on ba.com here.

This bonus is on top of the Avios and tier points you will earn from the flights which are the same as you would get for booking a ‘flight only’, and whatever miles you will earn from your credit card spend.

You should also remember that that BA Holidays spending earns you double Avios (3 per £1) if you charge it to a British Airways Premium Plus American Express card.

You can see the full ‘Customer Promise’ including the T&Cs on the BA Holidays website here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.