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

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

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.

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.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

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 BA Amex American Express card

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 BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

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.)

Category

British Airways and Avios

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Linda says:

16 Mar16 March 20:59

Hi everyone,

I am in the same situation as most posting on here, I cannot use a voucher within the year. Rob said we should get a refund it was booked with companion voucher and Avios.
I am leaving ringing till 72 hours before, we were due to fly to Vegas like Dansky on Sunday, have I got any rights to refuse a voucher as it would be of no use to me plus over £600 of seat reservations. I have rung my insurance company but they said as it was government decision we are not covered by the cancellation. Managed to get our Heathrow parking back online at the touch of a button, why cannot everyone be that efficient.
- Lady London says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 22:54
  
  Can BA still fly you to Vegas on that flight number on the date and time that you booked?
  
  Not according to the Americans. Because Las Vegas is not on the authorised list of airports you could fly into from London since the Americans imposed restrictions.
  
  On that basis your flight has been cancelled and you are due a full refund of whatever cash and avios you paid for it. No you do not have to take a voucher.
  
  You are not due any compensation amount though as the cancellation is beyond BAs control.
  
  So call them and insist on receiving a full refund.
  - Lady London says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 22:57
    
    *naturally the amount you receive back must also include any extra you paid such as seat reservations. If you cancelled and the flight was still running, you would not be entitled to receive these back. But in this case the BA flight is not running so you get everything back.
KINGB says:

16 Mar16 March 21:17

I feel bad for many of you with holidays book and hope that it all gets sorted soon and the outcome you want is achieved.

I’ve a domestic EDI-LHR-EDI booking that got cancelled by BA for work at the end of the month. I should have taken the refund but my work had not cancelled my schedules at the time so I re-booked my travel EDI-LCY-EDI. Noticed that there was a reduction in avios and tier points but not fussed about it.

Now today work have cleared all my schedules and meetings due to this virus and now im regretting not cancelling the booking and I don’t want the voucher. I paid cash so I may just wait it out and if there isnt any option in getting my money back i’ll just get the voucher
janie says:

16 Mar16 March 22:12

Due to fly to Canada end of May , holding out for a refund for now rather than collecting the voucher but I booked through Expedia, paying on BA Amex. Will I still get a full refund through Expedia if that’s BA’s direct policy? Flights cost £1900 each so am keen to get the cash rather than a voucher.
- Lady London says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 22:59
  
  You have to deal with Expedia as that’s where you bought your ticket.
Aman says:

16 Mar16 March 22:16

BA have cancelled my LHR>OSL flight, and seems to be only visible on the app. When I visit their site and select cancel my booking, it automatically redirects me to a future voucher landing page and doesn’t give me the option for a refund.

Anyone in the same boat?
- Shoestring says:
  
  16 Mar16 March 22:18
  
  loads!
  - Shoestring says:
    
    16 Mar16 March 22:20
    
    what I’d like to know is, in the cancelled flight scenario, what happens if you take no action, ie do not select voucher or alternative flight?
    
    BA can’t keep your money/ points
    - Aman says:
      
      16 Mar16 March 22:23
      
      It seems they’re now flaunting 261… especially for a flight they have cancelled.
      
      It was a reward redemption – 25500 avios + 51 so interested to know what the voucher would reflect
      - Lady London says:
        
        17 Mar17 March 22:19
        
        or even “flouting” 🙂
Enrique says:

16 Mar16 March 22:26

Hi!

I requested my voucher 2 days ago and I am still waiting for it. Does anybody know how long it normally takes?

Thanks!
- Spursdebs says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 04:16
  
  Trouble is it’s not normal times! Mine took few days some people’s are instant. I had to phone up
  But that was several weeks ago before the shut down.
Elizabeth Harris says:

16 Mar16 March 22:29

We have two issues. 1. On 21st Feb British Airways cancelled our April 13th flight to Beijing. We completed a refund request form and received an email on 3rd March saying that the refund request was being processed. that message is still on our frequent flyer page. We sent a follow up request for information about this and today received an email asking for more information as they could not find us on the system.
2. We have flights booked for Salzburg on 28th March. FCO say that no flights will happen after today, BA have today said that our flight will take place and offered vouchers. I think this is a scam to get us to accept vouchers today so that they do not have to refund. I agree with your advice to others to wait a few more days. However the above experience does not inspire confidence in the airline at all.
- Shoestring says:
  
  16 Mar16 March 22:38
  
  ‘Your flight to Salzburg on 28 March 2020 is currently due to depart as planned, however due to the fast changing situation, we wanted to let you know that if you’d like to change the date or destination of your trip – you can apply for a voucher online here. This can be redeemed against future travel, for flights taken within 12 months of your original date of departure.’
  
  yep – sneaky wording
  
  just wait for the cancellation email in a few days
  - Elizabeth Harris says:
    
    16 Mar16 March 22:51
    
    Thanks for that Shoestring. I see flights are scheduled for tomorrow even though FCO say that Austria will not allow entry. We wait and see.
    - Novice says:
      
      16 Mar16 March 23:29
      
      I keep thinking Trailfinders have been good because according to an email from them this morning, they are calling everyone up themselves based on priority as in order of departure date and refunded/cancelling everyone’s holiday in March/April.
      
      So they are taking the hassle out of it. I always believe the measure of a company’s service is when things go wrong.
      
      I’m happy that I don’t have to do anything. Already it’s going to be first year in a decade where I don’t get to holiday twice a year.
      - Spursdebs says:
        
        17 Mar17 March 04:23
        
        I agree, Trailfinders have been really good. My first cruise around Japan was cancelled, I then rebooked for Norway they used the money I had already paid on cancelled cruise for new cruise before I had received actual refund, they also used the 25% discount cruise credit before it was officially issued.
        They called me Friday to update me, bizarrely my May cruise to Norway is still going ahead at the moment, but won’t be surprised if it’s cancelled or if we decide to postpone.
        I’m not worrying about that yet, I can cancel up to 48 hrs before departure.
  - Lady London says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 22:31
    
    very weasel worded.
    
    Can we book with confidence in an airline that is being so sleazy as to communicate with customers in this way?
    
    I thought we should cut BA a bit of slack right now. But it seems they are being actively dishonest and trying to deceive customers about their rights.
    
    – The FCO says “nothing’s flying”. So then British Airways emails all the passengers on flights they know are cancelled implying that the customer cannot exercise their right to a full cash refund? sleazy, sleazy.
    
    – And from working perfectly and refunding all cash and avios from a booking using avios at the touch of a button, BA’s system has been now been changed so there is no button to click that will give the customer a refund? That took effort.
    
    Can we book with confidence with British Airways when they treat their customers so sneakily?
KINGB says:

17 Mar17 March 00:25

I wonder what would happen to domestic flying! Any cancellations?
Matt says:

17 Mar17 March 06:46

Requested my voucher on Friday evening, still haven’t received it, due to fly at the weekend! Please advise?