Workaround found. How to trigger an online British Airways flight refund using Google Chrome

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Our main article today is about BA’s unwillingness to let you claim an online cash refund for an Avios flight.

We have now found a way of triggering a cash refund – as opposed to a voucher – without calling British Airways (and waiting hours in the queue …..)

This next chunk of text is for getting a refund of your taxes on Avios bookings which have not yet been cancelled by BA.

For a refund on a CASH or Avios BA flight booking which has been cancelled, scroll down this page and read the PS. at the bottom.

If you have a CASH BA flight booking which is NOT showing as cancelled, do NOT follow any of the advice on this page. You are not yet able to get a cash refund. You either need to accept the British Airways travel voucher offered or wait until your flight is cancelled and then follow the steps above.

To be clear:

Got an Avios booking which is not yet cancelled? Read on

Got an Avios booking which is cancelled? Go to the PS at the bottom

Got a cash booking which is cancelled? Go to the PS at the bottom

Got a cash booking which is not yet cancelled? Sorry, there is no way of getting a cash refund. You need to accept the BA voucher or wait for your flight to be cancelled.

How can you stop British Airways forcing a flight voucher on you?

In summary ….. if you turn off JavaScript in Google Chrome then ba.com will take you to the full cancellation page.

Here’s proof it works:

This is how to do it, using the Google Chrome broswer.

Go into ‘Manage My Booking’ on ba.com and select ‘Cancellation options for this booking’. You must be logged in and using the BA account of the person who booked, ie the person who is named on the confirmation email.

You are taken to the ‘consent’ screen:

Do NOT continue the process, as you will only be taken to the ‘Future Travel Voucher’ page which you don’t want. In order to cancel, you need to first disable JavaScript in Chrome. (If you are not using Chrome, you need to find out how your browser handles JavaScript.)

This is how you do it:

Click the ‘three dots’ in the top right corner of Chrome

Scroll down to ‘Settings’ and click – this opens a new ‘Settings’ page

Click ‘Privacy & Security’ in the left menu – this brings the ‘Privacy & Security’ section to the top

Click ‘Site Settings’ in the ‘Privacy & Security’ section

Scroll down to the ‘Permissions’ section and click ‘JavaScript’

Turn off JavaScript by toggling the ‘Allowed’ button

Do NOT close the window as you need to turn it back on later. Switch back to the window where you have the ba.com ‘Consent’ page open. Tick the ‘Please tick here’ box and click ‘Continue’.

You will now be on the standard cash cancellation screen.

Turn JavaScript back on.

You can cancel your booking for a full cash refund of your taxes, and with your Avios returned.

But don’t forget …..

You will be still be paying the £35 per person cancellation fee on a long-haul booking. If you want to avoid this, you need to wait until BA cancels your flight automatically, assuming it does not operate.

If you paid for seat selection, you LOSE this money if you cancel. You may prefer to take the travel voucher as I believe the seat selection value is retained, either as part of the voucher or as a credit for free seat selection when you rebook.

PS. How to get a refund for a CASH British Airways booking

If you are looking to refund a CASH booking which has already been cancelled, this is an alternative set of steps:

1) Go into Manage My Booking on ba.com and select the flight shown as cancelled

2) Go into your browser’s settings and disable JavaScript – for Chrome, follow the instructions I outlined earlier in this article for cancelling an Avios booking

3) Go back to ‘Manage My Booking’ and click on the ‘Cancel and Refund’ button which is just under the cancellation notice

4) Confirm that you now see the correct cash refund form and not the voucher refund form

5) Turn JavaScript back on in your browser settings

6) Click on the “Yes” radio button to select that you are a person in the booking

7) When nothing happens press “Enter” on your keyboard. (this works in Firefox and Chrome). The page refreshes and shows an error at the top of the page “email address invalid”

8) Click on the “Yes” radio button again

9) Complete and submit the form

You will see this screen:

For absolute clarity, do NOT cancel a CASH flight if you have not received an email from British Airways saying that your flight is cancelled. If your flight is still showing as operating, cancelling means you lose EVERYTHING except a nominal amount in taxes.

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.

AJA says:

28 Mar28 March 08:11

Is it just me but clicking on the new link in the article takes me to a page where BA is just offering vouchers? It doesnt have anywhere to ask for a cash refund other than specifically saying to contqct BA if you do.

I am glad I don’t have any cash bookings but I do still have an Avios booking outside the window for cancellation. If the flight doesn’t happen and I expect it won’t I want my Avios back and the cash I paid for taxes and fees. I do not want a voucher for future travel as that still requires future Avios reward availability so there’s no advantage to take the voucher.
- Travel Yoda says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 10:30
  
  From my experience you need to login to your ba account then open a new window and click the link to access
  - Michael says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 11:57
    
    BA account login is unavailable!! Wonder why?
    - Travel Yoda says:
      
      28 Mar28 March 12:09
      
      I’ve logged in and out of both my and other family members to cancel & refund this morning. No issue
- Lady London says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 13:24
  
  AJA you can also use the reroute on later date that suits you option. It’s your choice. No price uplift payable. They’ll either rebook you on your chosen date making an avoid seat available to do this or you might even discover they’ve had to put you into a revenue earning class in order to meet your date. This gives you protection against price changes as you are not required to pay any difference or switching costs. If you want to do same itinerary anytime within, I think, 11.5months of your purchase date go for it. You don’t have to take a refund and you do NOT have to take a voucher. All under EC/EU261
  - AJA says:
    
    29 Mar29 March 17:46
    
    Thanks for the advice LadyLondon but I thought the rebook option was only for a flight in the period of -3 days or +14 days from original departure. I don’t think that will work. Right now I am just waiting for BA to cancel my flight before I do anything.
GW says:

28 Mar28 March 08:23

I made a cash booking to NYC in WTP for July (all done via the BA website as a return booking) where my outbound flight is on American Airlines and my return flight is on BA. I then upgraded my return flight to CW using Avios (plus the extra fees/taxes in cash).

Am I right in assuming that if American cancel my outbound flight or BA cancel the return flight, then that will trigger the cancellation of the entire booking and all monies paid plus all Avios points used will be refunded ?

Thanks,
Gavin.
- GW says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 08:28
  
  Ignore this….I’ve just posted it in the new chat article which seems the more accurate place to post it.
- Lady London says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 13:26
  
  It doesn’t trigger by itself. You have to ask as soon as they make the change in their side.
PC says:

28 Mar28 March 10:28

I followed the above instructions today (28 March 2020) and am always directed to the voucher form. The flight I’m trying to cancel was booked with Avios and a partner pass that was cancelled and offering to change to flights from LCY to LHR.

Is the trick in this article still working for anyone?
- Joe Smith says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 10:59
  
  I can’t get it to work (Sat 28th 10am gmt). Looks like BA have altered the pages, no consent screen appears.
- Michael says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 11:50
  
  Well, BA has shown again its true colours; expect they worked through the night to close this loophole. Cynical bastards. We will remember, when they need the business and we have paid their staff wages and their executive salaries from our taxes.
  - Travel Yoda says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 12:02
    
    I managed this morning 28th. Had to login to account open new window and then click link.
    - Michael says:
      
      28 Mar28 March 12:23
      
      There seems to be some pressure on BA building in the Press to change the website. Unfortunately, I have seen no past or present evidence that BA gives a proverbial about its reputation or adverse publicity, but maybe, just maybe, its bosses will get the message. Perhaps Senor Cruz would like to appear on UK TV and explain? Unlike many, we are not looking at big refunds – £135 for two flights – but we would probably have flown BA from London to Pittsburgh and back later this year (if BA still flies that route and if it exists and if the situation allows it) as BA is the only carrier to fly direct. We have close family there, working in US healthcare. So we’d have been ok with a voucher. But now, I will look for a flight with a transfer and another carrier whose bosses practise what they preach.
      - Lady London says:
        
        28 Mar28 March 13:30
        
        I really hope
        – BA gets no aid and only any business or tax concessions that are open to everyone
        – Virgin gets serious help due to it being in the public interest to ensure there is competition to the dominant player BA in light of BA abuses
        – 12 slots taken off BA at Heathrow without compensation and awarded to 3 competitors favouring Virgin
        
        Not much hope I know
Cat R says:

28 Mar28 March 11:08

Same here, they’ve obviously closed the loophole. Last weekend I got the consent screen but it’s now gone.
Stephen Power says:

28 Mar28 March 11:21

Does not work anymore !!
Anthony says:

28 Mar28 March 12:26

So what’s the refund situation when the carrier cancels my flight and simply rebooks me on a flight three months later, as Iberia has done to me for a journey from London to Lima via Madrid next month?

Can I demand a refund under EU261, or do I need to cancel the rebooking first?
- Lady London says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 13:31
  
  You need to inform them in a form you keep a record of that you invoke your right to a full refund due to their change.
Big Dave says:

28 Mar28 March 13:35

damn my flight in two days time which I no longer need as the business event is long cancelled, still seems to be flying….. work have said to leave it and lose the money but I feel bad not going for a voucher which we could use in the future if BA have a future that is….
Adrian says:

28 Mar28 March 14:37

I would like to leave a brief feedback of my experience for anyone interested. My mother’s flight to Switzerland in April that I paid for (cash not Avios) was cancelled by BA a few days ago.

I had tried the Manage My Booking option and got the online voucher form. The Google Chrome/Java Script trick did not work for me, it still went to the voucher form.

So I decided to call 0203 250 0145, despite travel not being within 72 hours. The first time I called, I took the Refund option by pressing 1. You are taken to a recorded message about the time it takes for refunds to be be processed and the call ends. No chance to speak to an agent.

I call again, and ignored the Refund option 1. You are given the usual options (Avios or Cash booking? Does booking incl. Car Hire etc?), after that I was immediately connected to an agent.

Details were given, situation was confirmed, refund was ordered, agent was thanked and call was finished.

Entire call length was 3 minutes.

My advice is don’t mess around with online forms if your flight has been cancelled. Just call them.

For reference, I called at 2.15 pm on 28 March.