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Hello, I recently booked a flight which I had to unfortunately cancel. I used 57k avios points as part payment. I recieved the tax money back and lost all my points which took me years to aquire. When I contacted BA, they said the tickets were non refundable and therfore I will not get my points back. Is this correct?
A)Was this done under book with avios.
B) 0r was this done as a cash booking with avios used to reduce price.
I think the rules are different for A vs B
Sadly that would appear to be correct.
You used “Part Pay With Avios”, so effectively you sold your Avios for a cash value which then helped to part pay for your flight.
If your fare was non-refundable then the airline are correct to keep everything except the government taxes. Just the same as if you had elected to pay it all in cash from the outset.See: https://www.headforpoints.com/2024/04/17/part-pay-with-avios/
Rob explains there why it’s usually a very bad idea to use large sums of Avios in that way as the cash equivalent given is not good.If you needed to cancel for a reason covered by your travel insurance (e.g. medical issue) then you might be able to recover some of the cost that way. But not if you just changed your mind about going.
Most flights that you pay cash for are non-refundable and you’d need to claim on your travel insurance if the cancellation was for a reason such as illness. Using part pay with avios (a poor option which is often highlighted here), doesn’t change the type of ticket you bought.
Did you check the conditions of your ticket before you paid for it? Or did you think you were booking an award seat, which is a type you CAN cancel for £35 up to 24 hours before departure?
It’s very unfortunate that you spent years collecting avios but weren’t aware of the conditions attached to using them.
Yes this is correct on the basis that it is a part pay with avios fare.
If there is something major outside of your control requiring you to cancel BA can be incredibly accommodating in allowing a rebooking to a future date and even using the amount paid towards a ticket in a different route.
If the flight was way off in the future you can also wait to see if BA cancelled the flight (or there was a significant schedule change) in which case you can get a full refund.
IF OP has now cancelled their ticket as they say, it won’t make any difference if BA subsequently cancels it.
Was this part pay with avios though, I agree it’s not clear from the OP? I never paid any attention to part pay with avios but perceived the amounts as being less and/or more rounded. 57k sounds to me more like one of the cash and avios options for a simple redemption. If so, I’m wondering if OP has come up against a poor agent on the phone and they’ve processed this wrong? Outside chance, still more likely part pay abd processed correctly.
Thanks all for your comments. It was part pay with Avios providing a discount I.e. cash reduction. So, looks like BA were correct. Anyway, I have learnt for the future.
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