Avios booking cancellation costs when lowest cash component selected?

[ScruttonStreet]

Hi all, I feel I should know this but I don’t.

I need to book a flight for two of us from Milan to London next summer. There is a relatively high chance though that I will need to cancel it. Usually when making a reward booking I pick the option that costs me £50, as this seems to work out the cheapest overall. In that instance, I believe if I cancel, I get the Avios back, but not the £50.

What happens though if I book the option that costs me more Avios, but only £1 in cash? Will they still take £50 from me? Or just the £1? If my ‘loss’ is restricted to £1, then it feels like a no brainer to me yo book that one, given the high possibility I will need to cancel it.

[NorthernLass]

The cancellation fee is £35 pp, not £50, however BA’s IT still seems to be just retaining whatever you paid below that, if applicable, unless anyone has more recent experience than me. So AFAIK you’ll still only lose £1 if that’s the cash amount you pay.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

I had an avios booking with a 50p surcharge booked on contingency basis (rail strike) and when I cancelled it I got all the avios but they kept the 50p and charged nothing else.

[sm]

I did this recently with £1 ‘taxes’ each and got full Avios and no money back but no extra refund fee was taken. So I only lost £1 per person

[Sandj]

Same here, I’ve only list the £1 booking charge.