British Airways will now offer refunds via a voucher

Last week, British Airways launched its ‘Book with Confidence’ guarantee in an attempt to drive bookings.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough.  I even gave it a hard time during my BBC World TV interview last week.

British Airways has now made it better AND extended it to cover bookings made to the end of March.

For clarity though …. anyone who booked before 3rd March is still stuffed.  On the majority of routes, they must travel if their flight is still operating or lose their money.

Full details of ‘Book with Confidence’ are on this page of ba.com.

This is how ‘Book with Confidence’ now works:

For NEW bookings, and ONLY new bookings, made from Tuesday 3rd March to Tuesday 31st March for travel up to 31st December 2020, you will be able to:

change your flight to any future date without paying any change fees, or

request a full refund in the form of a British Airways voucher, valid for 12 months from the date of the first flight in your booking

This applies to all cabins on all routes.   You can trigger the change or voucher right up until the close of check-in of your originally booked flight.

Here is some small print:

It is only valid for British Airways marketed services, excluding Comair and SUN-AIR

If the flight you book with the voucher is cheaper than the value of the flight you cancelled, the extra can be carried over to another booking – you do not lose it

Multiple changes are allowed to the same booking – you can change the date and then decide to cancel the whole thing if you wish

If you change your flight, you must pay the fare difference if you want to move your flight to a date which is more expensive than the price you paid

Note the any money you pay for extra baggage or seat selection will NOT be refunded as part of the travel voucher.  However, your additional baggage and seating will be carried over to whatever flight you eventually book with the voucher.

The voucher is not transferable

You can find out more on ba.com here.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

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

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)