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

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• Joan says:

  2 Jul2 July 08:15

  OT but I had a result the other day with two single flights I had booked to Malaga and back for September for a wedding that’s now been cancelled . I paid 50p and 10k avios each way .
  I rang to see what my options were – I thought they’d charge me £35 for each separate booking if I cancelled. But I got a funny old bloke who seemed like a newbie and was huffing and puffing and checking his manual – anyway I got to cancel with only having to lose my £1 and of course got my avios back .
  In the spirit of optimism I have now booked flights for my Christmas visit to family in Switzerland 🇨🇭

• James says:

  2 Jul2 July 08:45

  BA burned a lot of goodwill earlier this year with the fiasco around disabling JavaScript to receive a (proper, cash) refund on my redemption tickets. You could have a member of staff personally appear in front of me, spend an hour building rapport and explaining the cast iron legal guarantees in place for BA Holiday, shake my hand with a smile, and I would still be wondering what trick corporate would try to play to get out of commitments if there was a second flare up. Sadly I think that for the foreseeable future, I won’t be risking any of my own money at BA. By contrast both Hyatt and Hilton were very reasonable in March and I can’t wait to make bookings once international travel is back open again.

• Dawn says:

  2 Jul2 July 08:45

  I’ve got flights to Miami this November, returning December on a 2-4-1 which I booked last Nov/Dec. I was going to add a car through BA, would this mean I am covered if I find I can’t fly in November?

  • Dawn says:

    2 Jul2 July 08:48

    ** sorry that wasn’t very clear – would I get a voucher for the cost of the car if I can’t travel?

    • Rob says:

      2 Jul2 July 09:18

      I don’t think so, because you haven’t booked the two elements at the same time and therefore I don’t think it counts as a package.

      If this worked, everyone would be adding cars months after their original booking in order to ensure that BA had to refund them promptly!

  • Anna says:

    2 Jul2 July 09:55

    You could book a car plus one night in a hotel and it would count as a package, unless BA has changed this recently. However, it’s not certain that the US will be accepting UK visitors by then!

  • Charlieface says:

    2 Jul2 July 21:17

    I thought you have 24hrs to book the extra element on the same site. Could be wrong

• B says:

  2 Jul2 July 09:12

  Does this mean that if I postpone the trip for a voucher, I only pay for the voucher 3 weeks before I actually travel with said voucher? It seems a little unclear, but if so this is really quite good.

  Or do I have to pay for the voucher first and then the voucher runs to 30 April 2020?

  Thanks!

  • Rob says:

    2 Jul2 July 09:16

    I assume that the voucher only covers what you have paid so far, and when you rebook the value of the voucher would be taken immediately towards the new holiday (and there is no point not doing this, as you can’t access the money on the voucher for any other purpose anyway).

    • jc says:

      2 Jul2 July 12:47

      You assume right. If you’ve only paid a portion you get a voucher for the amount paid, to redeem against future flights or holidays.

• Peter says:

  2 Jul2 July 09:17

  I simply do not trust BA.

  If you do, after reading all these horror stories about denied refunds, never ending queues to get a call answered, passengers having to take legal action against BA to get their refunds, limited usability vouchers etc etc – then go ahead and book.

  • Steve says:

    2 Jul2 July 09:24

    I don’t understand the issues with getting through, I’ve never waited more than 10 minutes and yesterday it was answered before it even rang. Either I’ve been very lucky or others are just very unlucky. And trust me when I say, I am never lucky!

  • Paul says:

    2 Jul2 July 09:26

    Perhaps you’d like to share which airline you do trust? Or are you never going to book a flight again?

    • Rhys says:

      2 Jul2 July 09:30

      All things considered, BA were one of the better airlines with regards to refunds. Air France and KLM outright refused until mid-May as I recall, and I don’t think Lufthansa were much better. German, Dutch and French governments were all lobbying Brussels to suspect refund rights!

      • Lady London says:

        2 Jul2 July 11:23

        Lufthansa did it by saying “The Refunds Department is closed”. Which is kind of quite German (almost Russian?) way of doing it?

        But I was very surprised LH, as a major German flag-bearing company, actually flatly refused when the law was against them.

    • Matthew says:

      2 Jul2 July 15:35

      I had refunds from BA after a letter to legal department outlining they were out of order, and with the threat of legal action. LH have been terrible. I would never use them again. had to do charge back on credit card. I also read somewhere ( Loyalty Lobby) if they go bust and you did charge back, then under German law you have to refund the charge back, and then become a creditor, so no hope of seeing your money.So much for EU wanting a level playing field, as long as they can break the rules.
      At least with BA you would fight them in a UK court. I would book BA again.

  • Ian says:

    2 Jul2 July 10:39

    I’ve had to call BA a few times over the last month or two. With the exception of being put through to the call centre in India, who were absolutely useless, one time I found they were superb. The phone was answered almost immediately and a friendly, helpful assistant resolved my issue straight away. Credit where it’s due – well done BA.

    • Lady London says:

      2 Jul2 July 11:28

      That BA Call Centre in India has cost BA at least £2 million in refunds passengers have probably got off BA that they didnt know they could get.
      Helpfully advised by me after repeated bad experiences with them when they were incompetent, unhelpful and obdurate and finally had me in tears.

      • paul says:

        2 Jul2 July 11:38

        That’s the BA way

  • ChrisC says:

    2 Jul2 July 11:02

    I agree with you to a point but that point ended ages ago. The situation is a lot,lot better than it was.

    Like all sorts of other companies BA had to react very quickly to a massive change in their operations with in essence with very few staff able to work in call centres to answer calls and process refunds so of course there were long wait times.

    Since this all started I’ve had to call twice for refunds and whilst there were waits to get through (30 and 20 mins respectivly) in my eperience they weren’t excessive

    I called on Monday to get a refund for a flight they cancelled on Monday. All done and dusted in 21 minutes of which 18 were in the queue. The refund was back onmy card late last night. There was no pressure to take a voucher.

    And whilst vouhers may not be ideal they are better than people just cancelling flights and losing basically everything

    I cancelled flights in March (positoning flights to an ex EU departure), In normal circustances I would have got around £50 back (APD and airport fees) of a £250 fare. Becuause of the voucher scheme I essentially got it all back.

    Have BA dealth with this perfectly? Of course not but a lot of the criticism against it is unwarrented.

  • Lady London says:

    2 Jul2 July 11:02

    Peter I’m with you on BA’s selfishness in taking specific actions to block customers from receiving refunds. Actions were taken by BA that are easily provable and I hope the regulator levies a meaningful fine on BA for this in due course.

    However what has been consistently reported by posters on HfP for months now, is that everyone that booked as a BA holiday got all their money back from BA Holidays within 1-2 weeks of any element of their holiday being cancelled by the provider *without* needing to chase or call BA.

    This is why booking as a BA Holiday is well worth considering even if you just want the flight. You can add the smallest possible car, hotel to qualify it as a holiday going through BA Holidays. Technically you wouldnt have to use car or hotel if you dont want to.

    My annoyance with this is that as a solo traveller BA Holidays is not worth considering price-wise. Reading Rhys’s article I’d have already booked my next 2 trips this morning before posting this if all my previous checks hadn’t told me BA Holidays is a waste of time for a single person.

    For those whobtravel in pairs, as Rob has said, even if you just want a flight, always check pricing on BA Holidays as it can work out very well.

    Meanwhile, as a single person, grrr.

    • PJJ says:

      2 Jul2 July 12:54

      +1
      We solo travellers also get clobbered for booking hotel with breakfast as it covers 2
      And as much as I try I can’t eat 2 breakfasts !

    • Anna says:

      2 Jul2 July 13:22

      I don’t find that, LL. We often book 2 of us on a 241 and the third person (which will be either me or my OH depending on who’s using their 241), on a BA holiday and always save money on the price of separate bookings, with the benefit of having much longer to pay the balance.

    • Matthew says:

      2 Jul2 July 15:38

      I booked a single night in DUS with hotel before Christmas with BA Holidays. It was booked 3-4 days before travel for a meeting. The Flight and hotel were less expensive in total than the flight, by some way. Also my return flight was cancelled due to late arrival, and missing night time curfew, so BA paid for a hotel, dinner and EU compensation to boot. it cost BA for me to take the trip. All refunded very quickly so no complaints there.

  • Harry T says:

    2 Jul2 July 14:02

    I’ve had multiple BA flights cancelled. Securing refunds has been easy. I initially used IT work arounds with some chasing up from the refund helper on flyertalk. I’ve never been on hold for longer than 30 mins when ringing.

• FionaW says:

  2 Jul2 July 09:25

  We have a BA holiday booked to Faro. Our flights were GLA-LGW-FAO. The first leg has been cancelled and we now have a new LHR-FAO flight within 30 mins of the original time. Not got a new GLA-LHR flight yet…. Heathrow’s not exactly next door to us!

  • Anna says:

    2 Jul2 July 09:47

    Hi Fiona – I would do some digging about whether there be actually GLA-LHR flight running
    which be feasible for you. If there isn’t (as in the case of all the LBA flights being cancelled), you can ask BA for a re-route on another direct service.

    • FionaW says:

      2 Jul2 July 11:01

      Hi

      I did put it into Google yesterday and there were flights available. It just seems a bit surprising that, given it was all booked as one package, they have only rescheduled the LHR-FAO flight and cancelled the first leg with no substitute. I’ll give it a couple of days before contacting them.

      • Lady London says:

        2 Jul2 July 11:15

        It’s best to look up flights you would find acceptable instead before you call them.

        However I think in this case this is just a change of the Faro flight from LGW to LHR, which I would view as a positive if it’s just a connecting airport for me. I am sure BA would get aroubd to booking you GLA-LHR by about two weeks before your flight. EDI adds a useful backup option but I am certain you will be ok.

        However if you would prefer INV or ABZ now is your chance to find a flight that suits you from o e of those to LHR – if there is one. Bear in mi d ABZ and INV flights more likely to disappear si take a squizz at GLA and EDI flightd you could live with as a backup so you can be prepared for any surprises when you call them.

        Good luck but I think you will be OK.

  • Andrew says:

    2 Jul2 July 10:08

    If flights are operating, are you able to get to EDI from Paisley instead?

    • FionaW says:

      2 Jul2 July 10:58

      I can do GLA EDI INV or ABZ! The latter 2 I can get free parking! I am nr Perth so in the centre of all Scottish flight operations!

      • Andrew says:

        2 Jul2 July 11:19

        Oh, Perth. that’s far more sophistiated than Paisley. I’m a Perthshire man myself.

        I’d always choose EDI over GLA.

      • Lady London says:

        2 Jul2 July 15:41

        this is your excuse to change your departure to INV or ABZ if you can find a flight. Go for it.

• mark says:

  2 Jul2 July 10:37

  Hi Rob, we booked our first package holiday last November and it will be the last. Our normal route is to book everything on our own. So far the hotel money is back in my bank, the car hire money is back, car parking as well….in fact the only thing we are waiting for is the Virgin Reward flights.

  With respect to the package holiday……not a penny back, no info or communication from the holiday company at all.

  think before you jump.

  • Lady London says:

    2 Jul2 July 12:08

    that was Virgin Holidays who under ATOL should have refunded you within two weeks or they’re at risk of losing their licence to sell holidays and it’s strictly enforced. However Virgin Holidays is very integrated within Virgin and they may have been a bit distracted at the time as Virgin was going bust so losing their licence might have been less of an issue.

    I suggest you contact them now quoting their ATOL number and demand the completion of the return of all monies still due to you within 14 days as required by the package holiday regulations otherwise you will report them to the regulator and will take other action as necessary.

    We dont know if the reconstitution of Virgin will still leave you a party to sue so I would make a Section 75 claim on your credit card for the parts you are still owed.

    • jc says:

      2 Jul2 July 12:50

      Are you guessing that it was Virgin Holidays, or do you know mark’s situation?

      • Lady London says:

        2 Jul2 July 15:50

        Virgin Reward flights were referred to and so was booking a Holiday so I assumed there was some sort of price mitigation by miles on a Virgin Holidays booking, which I remember reading about 2/3 years ago.

        if OP “composed’ their own holiday and did not book as a Virgin Holiday thus gaining package holiday regs protection then they would be in the same position as anybody else with a flight-only booking.

        But other than sending them notice to abide by the package hol regs/ATOL then the courses of action available would be similar.

        • jc says:

          2 Jul2 July 15:59

          If I’m reading right, paragraph 1 was about how they usually do things – buying everything separately, including the Virgin Reward flight, and easily getting money back. Paragraph 2 was about when they tried as a package, and doesn’t make any mention of Virgin Holidays – I assumed a smaller/local company, given it’s referred to as “the holiday company”.

• Sunguy says:

  2 Jul2 July 11:02

  There is one major downside to a package holiday booking…..and that is (at least the way I understand BA operate) and that is you don’t have 24hrs cooling off/cancellation – once its booked, its booked…..

  Also, if I recall correctly, (I could be wrong with this) – you cant lower the price with avios and you cant upgrade with avios either…..

  • ChrisC says:

    2 Jul2 July 11:09

    It’s the same with on line holiday bookings whoever you book with not just BA

    It’s the law that permits no refunds within 24 hours. It’s a specific exemption from online shopping regulations.

    Book by phone and you do get the ability to cancel within 24 hours. Again because that’s the law.

  • ChrisC says:

    2 Jul2 July 11:11

    but you are correct you can’t use avios to reduce the price but you can use them to upgrade your flights (assuming you are in the correct fare bucket and there is availability).

  • Lady London says:

    2 Jul2 July 11:20

    @sunguy between booking BA Hols by phone and online one of those gets 24hrs cooling off one doesnt but I forget which is which. Could be worth Rhys adding the answer to the article if someone knows

    • Genghis says:

      2 Jul2 July 11:23

      The phone gets cooking off.

      • Genghis says:

        2 Jul2 July 11:25

        Cooling off. Chris C noted before i read thread properly.

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