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.

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.

Chris says:

17 Mar17 March 07:56

Hi, after some advice and not able to find it on a feed yet. With regard to the BA offer of a voucher. If I accept this what will I receive given that the booking was made using Avios and a companion voucher. Will I get the equivalent value in a voucher or something else?

Am keen to understand as I cannot rebook the flight to a later date as will not let me go beyond the companion voucher expiry which is April.
- Alan says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 08:18
  
  Chris, I believe companion vouchers have been extended for six months.
  - Chris says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 10:57
    
    Thanks Alan. Unfortunately this does not appear to be the case if looking to change a flight through manage my flight which I was hoping would be a nice simple way of doing this. Only recognised the original expiry date.
- Jon says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 09:49
  
  I had the exact same scenario, I called yesterday at 6am. Waited 90 minutes and then cancelled myself paying 80 quid fee for two people.
  
  They have refunded the remaining tax and fees as cash and the avios and companion voucher are back in my account. I didn’t want to risk the voucher refund option.
  
  My 241 expires at the end of April, waiting to see if the 6 month extension becomes an official policy.
  - Chris says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 10:59
    
    Jon, sounds like what I need to do. I assume I can cancel through the app or is there some advantage of calling them? Is this how you got the 6 month extension?
    
    Still don’t know what the voucher option would offer me.
    - Jon says:
      
      17 Mar17 March 13:28
      
      I had to call them because they took away the option to do it online or in the app and we were due to travel tomorrow. They were pushing me towards voucher. I suspect voucher would have worked out better for them.
      
      I haven’t had a 6 month extension to the companion voucher yet, will try to get that nearer the expiry date once things have hopefully calmed down a bit.
Billy says:

17 Mar17 March 08:46

Given the flight lock down it may be of little use, and I don’t know if it is targeted but TripIt offering free upgrades to TripItPro for six months.
vince says:

17 Mar17 March 09:25

Supposed to fly to India on Sunday. remarkably BA still flying with empty planes due to cancelled visas.
Applied for travel voucher 5 days ago and heard nothing from BA. Not even an email to acknowledge application.
You would think they could get their systems to at least send automated replies.
- Jill ( Kinkell) says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 12:31
  
  When I completed the details for voucher , an automatic BA response acknowledged it which said 5 working days. Screen shot it!
- Lady London says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 22:40
  
  Screenshot any attempt to reach BA, e.g. if you use Skype it gives you a nice shot of how long you’ve been trying to get through if you wouldn’t have a phone statement as proof.
  
  Screenshot any form or contact you have with them if you are looking to cancel flights or apply for vouchers.
  
  I would honestly be worried if I didn’t receive some form of automated acknowledgement and would do it again in that case to make sure and with screenshots
Lynne says:

17 Mar17 March 09:30

Will the BA voucher be protected under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Card Act?
- Rob says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 11:03
  
  No
James says:

17 Mar17 March 09:57

I booked a flight using Avios + a Companion Voucher + cash. The companion voucher was due to expire in April, would I get a new companion voucher with new dates?
Smid says:

17 Mar17 March 10:02

So if you paid a premium for a flight, say on Good Friday, and want to either move or (voucher and use later), what happens to the spare 100 odd quid you paid because it was good friday?
- Rhys says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 10:09
  
  The voucher is based on what you originally paid.
- Rob says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 11:00
  
  If you book a cheaper replacement flight the excess is kept in voucher form for you to use later.
xcalx says:

17 Mar17 March 10:27

I have a cash Iberia flight booked for April, when I go in to MMB its showing a time change (of only 15 mins) but is asking me to accept changes or decline. If I decline does that cancel the ticket and issue a refund. Thanks.
- Lady London says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 22:02
  
  IIRC when I got that I think the screen then told me to call their call centre.
  - xcalx says:
    
    18 Mar18 March 07:25
    
    THanks
Anna says:

17 Mar17 March 11:31

Not being allowed to cancel either of my Avios bookings now. BA are holding about £3k and 400k Avios if mine in contravention of their own Ts & Cs. I am mindful of the pressure on call centres but I am starting to wonder if I will see any of it again! Voucher no use to us as OH can’t book more leave for 12 months.
- Anna says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 11:51
  
  This also now applies to bookings for the summer 😡