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.

AndyB says:

17 Mar17 March 11:38

Does anyone know if the voucher can be used to pay down the balance on a holiday booking? Hopefully things better by December! Thanks.
- roberto says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 11:40
  
  yes it can
  - AndyB says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 11:43
    
    Thanks you for the speedy response.
  - Jonathan says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 15:05
    
    I was told this morning that it could not!
Gareth says:

17 Mar17 March 11:53

I’ve just had an email from BA about our holiday to Australia which was supposed to start this weekend. They are now automatically processing a full refund. I had already filled in the voucher claim form but the email says the refund supersedes this. Good news and good customer service, no doubt hoping to keep future loyalty.
- Nige67 says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 12:39
  
  Good news
Shaya Ball says:

17 Mar17 March 12:25

Have an Avios booking from Lon-Tlv for the 19th. Im not interested in going with the way things are. Just not sure if I should cancel or go for the voucher. Anyone know how the voucher works for avios bookings?
- S says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 14:59
  
  Avios bookings are fully flexible. Just cancel for a full refund, less £35pp cancelation charge.
Anna says:

17 Mar17 March 12:44

Just miraculously got through to You First, CSA said they were having a quiet moment! She was not aware of the removal of the online cancellation facility and agreed it will cause them a lot more work! She tried to cancel my Easter flight to MIA but said that the system was stopping her from doing so and that she would have to send it to another department for a manual refund, so we’ll see what happens with that. Looks as though we’ll have to pay the £35 pp fee but frankly that’s preferable to being stuck with a voucher.
Now I’ll have to wait and see whether the refund can actually be actioned manually and they don’t bounce a voucher back to me…
Nige67 says:

17 Mar17 March 12:47

BBC breaking news: “British nationals should avoid all non-essential foreign travel to tackle the spread of coronavirus, the Foreign Office has advised.“

So… that’s everywhere now.
G says:

17 Mar17 March 13:36

Can I use the voucher multiple times for multiple bookings or is it one time only? I have paid £556 for my upcoming BA flights next week. Can I use that 556 to say fund multiple trips to Europe when the coronavirus has passed?
- Rob says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 13:36
  
  Multiple is fine, as per the published rules.
  - G says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 13:44
    
    Thanks very much Rob. All the best.
    
    Lots of city breaks next Spring for me then!
    - Anna says:
      
      17 Mar17 March 13:51
      
      Don’t forget to check how long the voucher is valid for.
      - G says:
        
        17 Mar17 March 14:24
        
        12 months from original date of travel. So I’m covered until March next year.
Andy Morgan says:

17 Mar17 March 14:01

First class flights to Japan with BA booked for April… cost £1500 plus 200K Avios. Last week I considered cancelling and would’ve received full refund including Avios. Just looked now and that doesn’t seem possible and being offered voucher instead… would love to hear any other stories of whether Avios are being refunded as well.
- Andy Morgan says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 14:22
  
  Sorry, should also have included 2-4-1 companion voucher above… will I see that again?
- Rob says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 14:34
  
  Ring and they will let you cancel for cash, as you are entitled to.
  - Andy Morgan says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 14:38
    
    Thanks Rob, and you can see no reason why my Avios & 2-4-1 should also be refunded?
  - Anna says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 14:40
    
    The CSA at You First tried to do this for me earlier and said she couldn’t and would have to send it somewhere to be done manually. She said it would take about 10 days for everything to come back, we still have to pay the £35 pp cancellation fee and we’ll have to contact BAEC at a later date to get the voucher extended.
    - Lady London says:
      
      17 Mar17 March 22:16
      
      I know you won’t forget to chase @Anna! Let’s face it there are several factors right now that could mean refunds due could be delayed.
- Lady London says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 22:15
  
  You’ll have to call them. Can you blame them for changing their systems to make it harder for you to do anything other than get a voucher right now?
  
  Avios bookings, under BA’s own ts and cs, can be cancelled and refunded until 24hrs before the flight and you get all cash minus £35 per person back plus all the avios.
  
  So BA can’t refuse to refund you. They’re just making it harder. If they do change their rs and C’s in the future then those that had already booked would have their ts and c’s as booked.
  - Dollywops says:
    
    18 Mar18 March 07:33
    
    I’ve got 2 return flights to TFS 21/03/20 to 28/03/20. Used Avios and only paid £2 tax. Paid £150 approx for seats. When BA cancel, as they will, presumably I’ll get all my Avios back and what I paid to select my seats?
Ash says:

17 Mar17 March 14:41

For those who have received a voucher from BA, how many days did it take after filling the online form?
- Matt says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 16:01
  
  I’ve been waiting since Friday evening, no response to emails, tweets or via the phone as of yet!