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British Airways will refund ALL flights to 31st May for a voucher – but should you say no?

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Finally ….. British Airways has seen the light and is now allowing you to cancel ALL flights up to 31st May, in return for a travel voucher.

However …. I am not convinced you should accept.

Let me explain.

Here is the British Airways ‘Book With Confidence’ website.

British Airways BA 777X 777 9X

These are the new rules:

If you are travelling between 14th March and 31st May, you can refund your flight for a British Airways e-voucher irrespective of when you booked.  No refunds are on offer for flights beyond 31st May.

If you are travelling between 1st June and 31st December 2020, you can refund your flight for a British Airways e-voucher if you booked between 3rd March and 31st May

The voucher is valid for 12 months from the date of your original flight

The voucher can be used on any route, not necessarily the one you originally booked

This applies to both British Airways marketed flights and BA Holidays bookings, although Comair and SUN-AIR are exempt

You cannot claim if you have already started your journey

Flight cancellations can be made until the close of check-in, whilst BA Holidays bookings must be cancelled within 48 hours of departure

Anyone who has already cancelled their booking and lost money cannot retrospectively request a voucher

You can also change your flight dates without any change fees, although you have to pay the fare difference.

The small print on how the voucher works is on the ‘Book With Confidence’ website.

British Airways Book With Confidence

But …. but …. but …. perhaps you should wait?

I know this sounds contrarian.  Many of you have been on tenterhooks waiting for a decision like this to allow you to cancel your trip.

And yet ….

The EU has agreed the terms of a deal to allow airlines to cancel flights without losing their slots.

Next week, British Airways is likely cut anything from 25% to 100% of its scheduled flights – probably around 50% given what Lufthansa is doing.   If your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a full refund IN CASH.  No messing around with e-vouchers.

By taking the refund now, you are also giving up your right to potential EC261 compensation if you were due to travel within 14 days of the cancellation being made.

Unless you are travelling in the next 4-5 days, you might want to think about waiting in case you end up missing out on a full cash refund.

Of course, there is also a risk that British Airways withdraws this offer and you can no longer refund your ticket at all.

It’s up to you.

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

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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.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (857)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Sam says:
    13 Mar13 March 22:14

    On having an Avios redemption cancelled: I assume we would get the ‘taxes’ back BA took from us when booking?

    • JAXBA says:
      14 Mar14 March 04:43

      Just as you would normally. If BA cancels, then the redeposit fees are waived.

  • Hanif says:
    13 Mar13 March 22:40

    Thanks Rob For The Info

    Anyone Have A Number I Can Reach BA Now, Relating To The Cancellation Voucher.

    Many Thanks

    • Barry cutters says:
      13 Mar13 March 22:49

      Follow the online instructions and fill out the form – or be prepared to be on hold for 1-2h And that’s on the gold line !

  • Novice says:
    13 Mar13 March 22:57

    What Is Etihad policy atm? I’m confused as all sorts of details come up when you google?

    This is a nightmare. I’ll be depressed if I don’t get to go on my holiday which seems likely by the day. It was on the bucket list.

    I keep thinking what would happen that you fly all the way to Maldives and seaplanes are not flying then I miss out on that too x 2.

    Why did this have to happen now. Ppl could have asked me how to wash hands decades ago.

  • Voltron says:
    13 Mar13 March 22:58

    What’s the likelihood of BA going under? Would the government need to step in given its size?

    • Will says:
      13 Mar13 March 23:09

      Well it’s IAG has got about £4bn in reserve and it’s aircraft lease and depreciation costs are about £2bn a year so if it sacked everyone and just made the payments on the aircraft it could go for quite sone time. I think payrol is about £4bn a year all numbers rounded by a few hundred million.

      • Rob says:
        13 Mar13 March 23:11

        It has bigger debts (compared to profits) than easyJet or Ryanair, which are literally unsinkable. Those years of special dividends and not clearing the debt may come back to haunt it still.

    • ChrisC says:
      14 Mar14 March 02:27

      Why would the UK government step into save a Spanish owned company???

  • Flytes says:
    13 Mar13 March 22:59

    We had a BA flight to Copenhagen booked for 11am tomorrow, have requested the voucher given we won’t be allowed in (lands after midday border shutdown cut-off) and only have the refund option until check-in closes. Flight was booked on Avios, does anyone know whether the voucher will be for the Avios, or for some kind of cash equivalent?

  • Will says:
    13 Mar13 March 23:12

    Here’s an interesting thought, airlines hedge their fuel costs.
    So you sell a ticket and you hedge against oil going up. If it goes up you lose on the fuel but win on the hedge, if it goes down you buy cheaper fuel but lose on the hedge.

    If you don’t buy the cheaper fuel you still have to pay the loss on the hedge.

    Could be absolutely huge given the oil price drop.

  • Robert says:
    13 Mar13 March 23:24

    The losses that are to follow for BA will be on a scale that it’s likely we’ll see Avios collapse or worse. Since most of this readership have a fair chunk of Avios, it would be great to see an article recommending what we can do to protect them.

    • Dubious says:
      14 Mar14 March 04:35

      As one of the key issues for BA appears to be cash flow, surely it is counter-productive to be encouraging people to seek refunds in cash rather than opting for e-vouchers?

      All that said, I am surprised air fares haven’t come down – at least in my part of the world (S.E. Asia) there does not appear to be incentivisation to travel to offset the downside risk of 14-day Stay at Home Notices.

  • C says:
    13 Mar13 March 23:48

    Very sensible advice, we just need intelligence to deal with companies like British Airways. Nostalgic, stubborn, and this is one of the kind that try to maximise their benefits at the expense of their customers.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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