Refund of FTV – Avios refunded for flight only. No refund for seat booking?
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Just had a refund from BA of a FTV which included a reward flight, a 2-4-1 voucher and seat bookings with Avios.
I have got the Avios back for the flight and also got the 2-4-1 voucher back BUT I haven’t had the refund of the 60,000 Avios I used to book the seats in business class.
I thought everything was included in the FTV? Therefore everything should have been included in the refund?
Anyone else had this issue?- This topic was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
Hmmmm ….
If you cancel a booking with paid seat reservations, you lose the seat reservation money.
In the FTV, your seat reservation fee was ring fenced and could only be used for future seat reservations.
You don’t say if you voluntarily cancelled your flight or if BA cancelled it. If you voluntarily cancelled it then, technically, you have forfeited the seat reservation cost. However, you could argue that you took the FTV in good faith (rather than cancel cleanly, which was your choice as it was an Avios booking) in order to retain the seat money.
If BA cancelled your flight then you are absolutely due it back.
60k Avios to book seats in business class? This is just crazy.
That was my thought, that’s another CW flight at peak period (one way). But the OP might be very, very avios rich?
There may be more than one passenger or flight in the booking though hence the 68k avios cost.
It was a 241, so at least 2 people. But the overall figure is still high, unless they have a massive avios balance.
Are you sure the FTV included the paid for seat fees? That is one of the issues of the FTV, all you get is an email giving your ticket numbers, there’s nothing to confirm what it contained.
I would assume it did include the seat fees so I’d be chasing BA.
60k Avios is equivalent to £600 at a valuation of 1p per Avios which means £300 each for seat reservations which is on the high side but nor unheard of.
Ordinarily seat fees are not refundable but inside a FTV I’d say they should be.
Inside the FTV seat cost fees could only be put towards new seat costs in a new booking, but once refunded they are lost, so you are reliant on some goodwill from BA. The terms state
« For the avoidance of doubt, paid seating will not be refunded if you:
cancel your flight;
are involuntarily upgraded;
are considered unsuitable to sit in the seat type you have selected;
accept a voucher towards a future booking that includes paid seating (see further the relevant voucher Terms and Conditions); or
have booked a British Airways operated flight marketed by another carrier and choose to move to a different flight. »Later in the terms they specify that the terms for cash seats allocation fees also apply to Avios.
Also if this is an FTV BA has off its own bat decided to refund you then you definitely should get the seat reservation avios or cash back – as if it was still in the FTV you’d have the benefit of it.
- This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
Well this gets even stranger. I’ve just has the cash element of the FTV refunded to my BA AMEX and it included the cash element of the seat bookings.
So BA have refunded the cash element of the seat booking but not the Avios element.
That makes no sense. Surely they would refund both, or neither?
Has anyone else experienced this?p.s. Apologies for not replying sooner. Was away in Portugal for a few days.
Rang BA Exec Club today. After a 45 minute wait I got through to a really helpful lady.
She checked the booking reference and there was a note on the booking asking Exec Club to refund the 60,000 Avios for the seat booking. However, she said that they (Exec Club) couldn’t actually do that. So after a quick check with her supervisor, she then sent a message to another department who are able to make a manual refund of Avios to my account. She said it could be up to a week before they hit my account. She also said that if I hadn’t called it would have been unlikely that the points would have been refunded as the message on the booking would not have been actioned.
Not great. But hopefully sorted now.- This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
Recently had exactly the same scenario (ba cancelled an FTV, flight avios/£ refunded but only the £ refunded for the seat reservations, not the avios component).
I called ba 11 days ago and was also told there was a note on the account to refund the avios and that ‘this should be done within a week’.. Not happened yet, so will call again in a few days. No doubt a huge exercise refunding all these complex ticket arrangements, so happy to let this one go a little while longer.
Still nothing after 15 days, so have called Exec club, who have put me through to the Avios team to help resolve it.
It has been ringing for 20mins now.. And fully expect to have to explain it all again *if* I get through ..
Frustrating, as I now need these avios for a redemption.Call dropped after being on the phone for 1hr 17 mins.. I knew I shouldn’t have let them put me through.
Have you tried Twitter? They are slow to respond but they can do this stuff and it’s better than being on hold for hours.
Just had my cash and Avios refund through for a flight to Bangkok that BA cancelled. My 241 was redeposited on 31st March with an Expiry date of 4th of April 2022, ie a life of just 5 days. BAEC just said tough luck when I complained. A lesson here to insist on rebooking within the 12 month window
Thanks NorthernLass, might give that a go. Although still awaiting a response to a query I asked them on Twitter in Jan, so not massively hopeful!
Rang BA Exec Club today. After a 45 minute wait I got through to a really helpful lady.
She checked the booking reference and there was a note on the booking asking Exec Club to refund the 60,000 Avios for the seat booking. However, she said that they (Exec Club) couldn’t actually do that. So after a quick check with her supervisor, she then sent a message to another department who are able to make a manual refund of Avios to my account. She said it could be up to a week before they hit my account. She also said that if I hadn’t called it would have been unlikely that the points would have been refunded as the message on the booking would not have been actioned.
Not great. But hopefully sorted now.After another long call to BA early last week, I am very happy to say that earlier today I received the full refund of the 65300 Avios for the seat bookings on an FTV which had already been refunded. This was eventually processed as a manual adjustment. Not sure I would have received this refund had I not rang them multiple times over the last month, and yes I have spent well over 2 hours waiting and talking to BA on the phone, but for 65300 Avios I wasn’t going to just let it drop.
Good stuff, I also got mine last week via a manual adjustment. Unclear what (if anything) helped push it through, as phone calls and twitter didn’t seem to motivate anything. Annoyed to lose 2-3 hrs too, but expectations have been managed recently..
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