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BA now charging £35 (or the taxes you paid if lower) to cancel short haul redemptions

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The first fruits of the new British Airways IT system are now here!

For the first time in a long time (since 2019 actually) you will be charged the contractual £35 fee for cancelling a short haul Avios redemption.

There is a way around this, but it comes at a different sort of price.

British Airways Avios cancellation fee

First, some background.

The contractual cancellation fee for an Avios redemption has been £35 per person for a l-o-n-g time.

It originally matched the £35 taxes and charges figure on short haul Euro Traveller redemptions. It made online cancellations very easy, because the amount you were due to be refunded matched what you had paid, so no refund was due.

However, in 2019 British Airways introduced ‘virtually no cash’ redemptions. You had the choice of using more Avios but less cash. (It would have been no cash, except that BA’s IT system couldn’t cope with a £0 fare – and it later realised that making you pay a nominal sum was also good for fraud prevention.)

It was now possible to book an Avios redemption and pay as little as 50p each way.

What do you do about refunds when people are only paying 50p?

BA had four options when it came to refunds:

  • force all refunds where the cash element was less than £35 to be done over the phone, with the phone agent manually taking the £35 cancellation fee (this is what Lufthansa does)
  • change the IT so that the cancellation fee was calculated as the lower of £35 or the cash element paid
  • change the IT so that ba.com charged the £35 cancellation fee separately before fully refunding the original booking
  • cut the cancellation fee on short haul redemptions to 50p each way, because this is the lowest amount that someone could pay and so all refunds could be processed using the existing IT

Luckily for you, BA went with the final option. Whether this was by choice or due to IT limitations is a different question.

This is now over

Here is an example screenshot. For this flight, I deliberately chose to pay MORE cash and use FEWER Avios because I felt it was a better deal, so the cash element was £47.50:

British Airways Avios cancellation fee

Since 2019, cancelling the booking above would have resulted in a 50p charge, resulting in £47 coming back to me.

As you can see, I am only getting £12.50 back. The full £35 cancellation fee has been charged.

Can’t you avoid this by picking the ’50p cash’ option when booking?

Yes. If you pay less than £35 per person in cash, your cancellation fee is still capped at the amount you paid.

However, there’s a snag.

On short haul flights, the option which only requires 50p each-way of cash is almost always the worst deal. Take a look at our ‘1p method’ which is how I decide which cash and Avios combination is best.

For example, if you look at this typical one-way Euro Traveller Avios redemption:

…. the best deal is 5,250 Avios + £17.50, if you value an Avios at 1p. However, you would now be on the hook for a £17.50 cancellation fee. Choose the poor value 9,750 Avios + 50p option and your cancellation fee will be 50p.

This means that you now need to make a decision each time you book:

  • If you are 99% certain to be taking the flight, you are likely to be better off choosing one of the ‘more cash, fewer Avios’ options and not the 50p option
  • If you think that there is a good chance of cancelling the flight, you may wish to book the 50p option (or any option requiring less than £35 to be paid) to reduce your cancellation fee

Think carefully before booking 2 x one-way tickets

For many years I booked all of my short haul redemptions as 2 x one-way tickets.

Frankly, with cancellation fees at just 50p, it made total sense. If I wanted to amend one leg of the booking, I could cancel it and rebook without touching the other leg or getting the call centre involved.

This could now become expensive, because it increases your cancellation fee to £70 per person for a return flight if you pay at least £70 in cash. Booking each flight as a return would cap your cancellation fee at £35 per person.

Conclusion

The era of minimal cancellation fees for short haul Avios redemptions is now over.

You will now pay the lower of the cash element you paid or £35 per person, whichever is lower.

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Comments (105)

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

  • Niall says:
    16 Dec16 December 06:05

    Good news! While I have benefited from the low cancellation cost in the past, there were too many people making bookings for flights they were unlikely to take or for a selection of possible dates as they knew cancellation costs would be minimal when they cancelled last minute. Hopefully this will lead to better availability.

    • Ben says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:01

      I suppose these spoilsports will just use the lowest cash option and carry on in the same way as before. At worst they will pay a few more Avios for the flight they do take.

      • RobH says:
        16 Dec16 December 07:06

        Agreed, but most likely for only a short while – if BA has spent time on their IT system to claw back the extra £34.50 for people doing the more expensive cash options, then there is a reasonable chance that a team is looking at the whole cancellation charges section of the code (this was most likely the easiest win for a first update). So hopefully a more consistant behaviour coming soon(ish).

        But this is just my opinion (no BA insider knowledge)

    • Thywillbedone says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:03

      Inclined to agree. Surprised me recently to discover how many people book multiple destinations for their summer holidays before deciding at the last minute which one to choose. Am I the only one who picks a destination first and then finds where I want to stay and be done with it??

      • RobH says:
        16 Dec16 December 07:08

        You are not alone 🙂 We just book what we intend to take as a family on the dates we plan (book flight first then the hotel etc follow later) – only time anything was cancelled was during Covid.

      • John says:
        16 Dec16 December 07:19

        No different to ordering several sizes/designs of clothes and returning the ones you don’t want…

        The only reason I don’t book multiple destinations is that there’s often only one date where I can find availability… and then I need to make sure it fits with my work and my wife’s work schedule. Far too complicated to book several just in case options

        • Thywillbedone says:
          16 Dec16 December 07:23

          The retail analogy may very well fit here …and we all know this doesn’t come cost free to the retailer(!) – thus today’s news.

          • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
            16 Dec16 December 07:40

            Not sure it does.

            If you buy half a dozen dresses or suits online people will send the unwanted ones back PDQ so are then available to other very quickly. Most retailers will have a very limited time frame for free return policy.

            If you’re holding onto an avios booking(s) for months on a just in case you want to go on those dates and not others then that really does restrict other people from being able to book it.

        • JDB says:
          16 Dec16 December 07:48

          @John – it’s not the same as you must must pay in full for each item of clothing in each size, the retailer is likely still to have plenty of stock to supply other customers and you must return the stock within a certain time to be refunded. Hogging Avios seats to the detriment of others is totally different.

      • Rob says:
        16 Dec16 December 08:58

        Not really any different to booking multiple restaurants and deciding on the day which one to turn up at, which is VERY common practice and why many restaurants now demand a deposit or at the least a credit card.

        • George says:
          16 Dec16 December 09:33

          There’s nothing wrong with playing the system with any of these things but people seem to get the knickers in a twist when loopholes get closed.

          • The Savage Squirrel says:
            16 Dec16 December 13:48

            When we’re talking about independent restaurants that people have thrown their life savings to open, yet are killed off by this sort of customer behaviour then … yes there’s a lot wrong with playing the system.
            Those who live in a community will understand this instinctively. Those in a more dog-eat-dog environment (aka London 😉 ) will disagree.

          • HampshireHog says:
            17 Dec17 December 11:20

            It’s wrong as it’s very selfish

        • Alan says:
          16 Dec16 December 22:44

          Lol not sure I know anyone that does that for restaurants TBH, we’re clearly not the bothered about which one we go to!

    • r* says:
      16 Dec16 December 11:33

      I bet Niall will be beside himself with joy when BA ups the fee to £75 per cancelled leg.

      I guess I’ll never understand what goes thru ppls heads when they celebrate being charged more.

      • Rhys says:
        16 Dec16 December 11:35

        You don’t think there’s a happy medium between ultimate flexibility and preventing people from hogging seats? £35, say?

      • Niall says:
        16 Dec16 December 15:02

        Isn’t it reasonably well explained in my own comment and those of others?

        When there is no or low cost to speculatively booking multiple award flights the result is that people will do so. It follows that award availability reduces as a result. It further follows that when there is limited award availability there is less of an ability for myself or others to book award flights.

        I fly domestic and short haul on avios bookings regularly. My hope is that increased availability of avios bookings will save me from booking more expensive cash fares. Therefore I hope/expect that the rare saving I made before with cancelling award bookings will be more than offset by the savings of being able to make more award bookings in the future vs cash bookings.

  • John says:
    16 Dec16 December 06:29

    Why doesn’t the regulator question why these fees are so high. Clearly has no correlation with real world administrative costs. I forgot the regulator is beyond useless

    • babyg_wc says:
      16 Dec16 December 06:54

      the cost of many people filling up seats with “just in case” bookings and then cancelling last minute probably costs the airline more the £35 fee…..

    • RobH says:
      16 Dec16 December 06:55

      Interesting view. Has it really cost a minimal amount to BA? How much has BA spent on software development etc to implement the cancellation feature. Fees can be set to also recoup “setup costs” (a good example is Pharma companies, to manufacture the medicine for certain illnesses is very small – but to research and develope that cost millions – so the amount they charge will include the dev costs)

      Then there is the fact will it “cost them” because that seat has not been available for X days where someone had it booked so it wasn’t available for others to book in advance.

      I’m no BA fan, but it doesn’t seem too unreasonable (unlike some of the other charges – but at least BA can say Virgin are worse!)

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:03

      What regulator would be responsible for this?

      regulators can only regulate within the legislative framework that set them up.

      If a regulator tried to take on such issues without the the specific power to do so then courts would quickly over rule them as acting ultra vires.

    • Novice says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:12

      £35 is not too much. Some sites charge over £75 for cancellation. I recently got charged £109 cancelling a Trip.com flight.

    • John says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:20

      It doesn’t need to reflect administrative costs

      • John says:
        16 Dec16 December 07:23

        You can’t start using software development as the cost driver. The regulatory framework is screwed here. It will be the US or EU that could drive the change. Next your going to tell me that LHR decision to charge for drop off was the construction of T5

        • Ken says:
          16 Dec16 December 07:45

          The vast majority of cash flights are non refundable.
          I’m surprised anyone thinks £35 is unreasonable.

          I’m even more surprised that anyone thinks this is an appropriate area for government/ regulators to start dabbling in.

    • JDB says:
      16 Dec16 December 08:05

      @John – this simply isn’t a regulatory issue. They can charge whatever cancellation fee they wish and some cash fares (and hotel bookings) have a zero refund policy which is also acceptable if that’s what you agree when making a booking.

    • George says:
      16 Dec16 December 08:41

      £35 isn’t high

    • Rhys says:
      16 Dec16 December 09:12

      You can’t cancel cash tickets for free either!

  • Barrel for Scraping says:
    16 Dec16 December 06:47

    Cancellations still free for GGL, just more costly for the part timers

  • VinZ says:
    16 Dec16 December 06:56

    I still book with max Avios and min cash, so this won’t really affect me.

  • Ben says:
    16 Dec16 December 07:18

    I have a booking (genuine not might-take) in February that I need to cancel and now will cost £35. So I’ve decided I’m going to cancel it at the last opportunity so BA have less chance to resell the seat.

    • babyg_wc says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:20

      and this is why we cant have nice things….

    • John says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:21

      That will just cause other seats to go up in price more quickly than they otherwise would have.

    • RobH says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:23

      Hahaha – you have to love a good internet troll 🙂

    • Thywillbedone says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:24

      The sheer misery seeping from this post …

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:43

      Then I hope yiu forget or get the timings wrong and you don’t get the refund

    • Andy says:
      16 Dec16 December 08:29

      Nice attitude

    • George says:
      16 Dec16 December 08:42

      Grow up

    • Jonathan says:
      16 Dec16 December 09:49

      To all the naysayers – why would anyone do any different? If BA end up subsequently moving the flight times you’d be able to cancel for free – so where’s the incentive for cancelling early now?

      • Rob says:
        16 Dec16 December 10:35

        Correct. Unless you need the Avios / voucher back, it is logical (aside from lost bank interest on the cash element) to hold off cancellation in case the flight is pulled. Not many people have the Avios to do this on long haul though.

    • VinZ says:
      16 Dec16 December 11:19

      Always wait in case they change schedule or cancel the flight so they give you everything back including the money.

  • Terry Butcher says:
    16 Dec16 December 07:32

    As others have said, I’m no longer going to cancel until at the very last minute. Why don’t BA introduce a system whereby the further out you cancel, the more money you get back? I suppose they’re system just couldn’t cope with such complexity?

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:48

      It can cope with it for BA Hols so perhaps thats on the agenda for BA/IAGL to do now this easy fix has been made.

      I’ve suggested it before in similar articles / forum posts.

    • JDB says:
      16 Dec16 December 08:01

      If BA introduced scaled cancellation charges for Avios flights, the £35 would need to be increased!

    • Rob says:
      16 Dec16 December 08:57

      As I said a few weeks ago, I was told that changes are coming to the Avios cancellation policy and I suspect it will be as you suggest with no refund 7-14 days before departure and a tiered structure beyond that.

  • Occasional Ranter says:
    16 Dec16 December 07:37

    This increase in cancellation fees is a good thing. People who want to book multiple alternative flights, including me, should pay something meaningful for the privilege. £35 is about 20-25% of what I value a typical one way CE redemption at, which feels about right as a “regulator” of this sort of behaviour.

    • Occasional Ranter says:
      16 Dec16 December 07:40

      It’s not ba I’m feeling sympathy for here, but other Avios collectors. BA makes several £bn a year too much profit on the back of crappy service to deserve any sympathy…

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
        16 Dec16 December 07:49

        Other airlines are available …

        • Charlie says:
          16 Dec16 December 09:11

          Whilst on one hand you are right, if you are based in the regions it’s pretty much BA versus KLM/AF. There’s much less competition than your post makes out. Factor in many of the joint ventures and you’re looking at a monopoly, not competition.

          • CJD says:
            16 Dec16 December 09:31

            Not quite – Glasgow and Edinburgh are both well served by Lufthansa and KLM, both have a daily Emirates flight and Edinburgh has multiple Air France flights daily, as well as daily flights on the likes of Aegean, Turkish etc. Within oneworld Edinburgh is also served by flights on Qatar, Finnair and Iberia in the summer.

          • George says:
            16 Dec16 December 09:37

            People on here always say that BA only flies from London though?

      • TGLoyalty says:
        16 Dec16 December 11:58

        And it’s other travellers that will benefit because it should put off seat sitters.

  • Not Long Now... says:
    16 Dec16 December 08:09

    It would, to me, be an interesting study to see what percentage of flights booked, speculatively or otherwise, are subject to a change/cancellation resulting in a free cancellation anyway. I have a BA Holiday booking for March which we fully intended to take, but circumstances have now changed, but I will simply let it be cancelled if the flights haven’t been tinkered with in the mean time. Slightly different I know as it has less chance than a flight only change, having to be paid a month in advance rather than hoping for a free cancellation right up to the date of travel.
    We once had a full refund of an American flight when they changed timings massively delaying our expected arrival time by exactly 1 minute. Convenient as we’d changed routing to save several hundred even before the cancellation.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      16 Dec16 December 08:24

      You only lose the deposit f you cancel a BA Hols is 7 weeks for Long haul and 4 weeks for short before the flight. so BA Hols and BA do have more time to try and resell the flights – including as avios.

      Cancel after that then the refund is scaled depending on how much notice you give.

      If you don’t pay the balance they will cancel the trip PDQ.

      At least this gives them time to get another sale which is unlikely if you cancel the day before (and with BA Hols you don’t get a refund that close in)

      Perhaps that’s something they are looking at and there will be an increase in the “cancel by” date?

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