If anyone has/had a flight booked with BA which is cancelled, the cancellation options on the BA website will only allow you to get a refund voucher, valid for a year and with some restrictions which is crap.
If you want cash you're directed to call BA, which of course you can't.
However, there is a workaround. The new voucher only page is some sort of overlay which a bit of JavaScript directs you to, but the old page is behind it. So, if you log in as normal then before going to the refund page, then switch off JavaScript, you get to the cash refund page.
I did this and got cash refunded to my card where previously I could only get a voucher.
Credit to turningleftforless.com for publishing this
Good post Berin - I considered starting this thread on Friday but wasn’t how many people it would help.
I’ve requested refunds using this method for about half a dozen return flights. BA are being sneaky b*rstards if you ask me.
For anyone that needs it check out post 666 (unfortunate number!) of this thread on FlyerTalk for a step by step guide:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ation-etc.html
In defence of BA, their very survival is at stake. But they are sneaky so and so anyway.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Had a flight cancelled two weeks ago with BA and thankfully got the cash back into my account
I don’t disagree but, as ever with BA, they are never upfront about these situations. As someone who flies regularly with them I would genuinely consider taking some of my refunds as vouchers as it is very much to in my interest that they survive. However what they have done is essentially make it impossible for most people with a flight more than 3 days ahead to claim a cash refund to which you are fully entitled. That’s downright unacceptable in my book.Originally Posted by Saint-Just
I truly hope they make it out the other side. But I’m not willing to gamble my £10k+ Of flights on that, especially when they are so underhand
You may very well be right, and I never suggested you shouldn't do all you can to be refunded, especially if they placed restrictions on the vouchers (that is unacceptable to me). But they are in a similar position as a travel agent, and probably very short on cash. So if enough people opt for the voucher, they are in a slightly better place. They may be bigger than most travel agents but I don't believe they are too big to fail.
They may be regretting taking the stance they did against pilots during the strike a couple of years ago. I am sure they could do with the extra cash.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
IAG is many things, but short of cash it ain’t. And yes the vouchers are restricted - 12 month validity. I presume this will be altered as this drags on, but no clarity currently. SOP for BA
Peck, how long did it take for your refund to arrive on your card?
It hasn’t yet. It will take a good while (probably over a week I would guess).
It certainly wasn't; But with BA, Iberia and the rest, and even Qatar considering where it flies, I would bet that money is sifting faster than dry sand through their fingers.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
i have had refunds from BA in the past and just checking the last one was a couple of days (cancelled 28 Feb, refunded 1st March).
I wanted a refund.
They cancelled my flight and directed me to an 0345 number.
However, I found reference to this freephone number - 0800 727 800 - and got through after about 10 minutes on Friday evening.
They arranged a refund and I've had confirmation from PayPal today that it's been received.
Cheers.
M
Last edited by snowman; 23rd March 2020 at 21:14.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Didn’t work for me. I clicked on the voucher link after turning off java and still got the voucher page
PM me if you want to speak and I will talk you through it
I was due to fly to Mexico tomorrow.
Last Tuesday around 2pm, the UK Foreign Office declared that all non essential travel was discouraged.
By 8pm we received an email saying that out money would be refunded without the need for an e-voucher.
The money dropped in to my debit account yesterday.
I was very surprised by the efficiency.
Was that booked directly with BA or through a travel agent?
There’s a specific order you need to follow; have a look at the Flyertalk link I posted above for a step by step guide
My refund appeared on my card today
That number is the new general consolidated number, when i called last week they were saying it was for those scheduled to travel in the next 72 hours only, but maybe as the flights drop off the staff have more availability
The holiday ( hotel + flight ) was booked through BA.
That’ll be why - BA holidays is a different entity and your money is protected differently. Glad you got it back without any hassle
Yes, it said that, but they didn't bat an eyelid when I gave them my reference (flight was supposed to be this Thursday) - I'd given up waiting on the 0345 number after 40 minutes...
The first time I tried it, after going through all the options, it said "Sorry, we cannot connect you at this time", so they obviously had been busy, but as I said, the second time it took about 10 minutes, so there wasn't much of a queue, obviously.
I called about 9PM.
M
Last edited by snowman; 24th March 2020 at 10:38.
Thanks, I think it’s because our flight is in May so no option of a voucher or refund on the manage my booking page. Perhaps this pops up nearer the time.
I tried turning java off when on the normal page without logging in and it just offers a voucher still.
Thanks for the offer
Andy
You can cancel at any time. If BA cancel the flight it’s voucher or refund. If they don’t but you need to them there’s a cancellation fee. Happy to talk you though it if you want.
I'm meant to be flying to Naples on the 30th May for a wedding, which has now been postponed. I've received the email from BA saying I can request a voucher but I'd much rather a full refund as we tend to only fly BA long haul using our Avios.
Tried turning off Java in Chrome and I'm still getting the form for a Future Travel Voucher Application.
Last edited by Alex L; 30th March 2020 at 13:44.
the cancel option will only appear if your flight has been cancelled. for the 30th may most likely its still scheduled?
Last edited by Xantiagib; 31st March 2020 at 09:33.
Thanks, I'll sit tight then. I see that all flights are currently suspended from Gatwick and can't see the situation improving any time soon.
As above, unless your flights are fully flex there's no cancellation for cash until BA cancel the flights. With the Java thing, log in first with Java on then switch it off before hitting the "continue to refund" button.
I wish there was an option other than calling the service centre for Lufthansa.
All my flights have been cancelled, and is impossible to talk to anybody.
In theory I can wait and rebook but I would want a refund - the trip was to a conference which was cancelled because of COVID 19 lockdown.
If they had run to modify the online service, their switchboards would also be less busy.
You can cancel any time but will have to pay cancellation charge unless BA cancel it.
The form to get a refund is still available and can be accessed by following the instructions to switch off JavaScript.
thread resurrection
we were all booked to go away this Easter - my 2 London based sons were flying out on BA
son 1 has just received the refund this morning - he used the method above and heard nothing, he then resorted to twitter and within 12 hours had an email saying refund was being processed
son 2 isn't on twatter (as he calls it) …… no refund
so perhaps use twitter to resolve.
Just to update, the java workaround has been fixed by BA.
I rang them and even though my flight wasn’t cancelled they offered a full refund and I received it in 5 working days.
I did the workaround for a few of my bookings and they all came through at wildly different times. Depends on the card provider too apparently - AMEX are very quick and some of the others... less so
I had mistakenly clicked to get a voucher before the flight was cancelled which it eventually was.
I called and spoke to BA who said as I had clicked that button, no refund and I must just use the voucher for another flight in future. Disappointing result I guess, cash would have been good right now!
Don't think there is anything else I can do? (Aside from a twitter rant!)
I would call them back and insist on a refund now the flight has been cancelled. You have a right to it
Their argument is that I accepted the voucher before the flight was cancelled.
Last edited by Boss13; 16th April 2020 at 19:54.
Apologies for the thread resurrection but sort of related. I was booked to go to Vegas on 7 May but purchased the flights and hotel as a package through Expedia and for three others as well. I recently received a message from Expedia that BA had cancelled the flights and to cancel the hotel booking myself trough their site. Expedia also sent a link to an online form which, if I complete and submit, appears to be me canceling the trip/flights and that they will refund in accordance with the airline's policies i.e. presumably a credit voucher which we don't want. BA's website advises that you have to call them for a refund or your travel agent if booked through a third party. I've tried calling Expedia but an automated message informs that the itinerary has been cancelled and that refunds can take up to 30 days but no idea if that's cash or credit. I don't suppose anyone has had experience of how cancelled BA flights are being handled by Expedia? Thanks.
As this has been booked as a holiday package with a TA you should receive a cash refund. However you do need to deal with Expedia there’s no point contacting BA - I suggest you persist with trying to speak to someone at Expedia to confirm
Thanks and makes me feel a bit better. The automated Expedia message also said you can only speak to an operator if within 10 days of travel so will wait to see if anything appears on my original payment card in the meantime before calling back closer to the time.
Perhaps call from a different phone number. There will be no booking linked and that may allow you to speak to a real person?
Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
Thanks but you have to enter an itinerary booking number from Expedia and the automated message even states that the call cannot be progressed without one.
Just to resurrect this thread a bit - we are currently trying to get a refund for our flights in may that have just been cancelled by BA. These were specifically for a relatives milestone birthday so a voucher is going to be pretty much useless as they are only 50 once. Trying to get hold of BA is a nightmare maze of automated phone systems that just hang up on you when you get to the end of a 'tree'. Their website doesn't have anything allowing you to request an actual refund, and the 'hack' from the start of this thread no longer works. Also the wording and push on their website is all towards vouchers which is a tad disingenuous.
Even going though our insurance seems like a non starter as they have said that any insurance taken out, suspiciously, from the date we took ours out is no longer valid for CV19 related cancellations. What is more worrying is that going through their website, they are refusing to even acknowledge our policy.
Insurance was booked on a credit card, flights on a debit card (stupid me)
So a couple of questions.
1) Any inside track on getting a refund out of BA? Is there such an animal as a debit card charge back? Any insider numbers someone would be willing to PM me?
2) What is our standing with the insurance we have paid for? Is there legislation regarding getting a refund for this seeing as they are adding caveats after the fact and we are not, in fact, getting the cover that we paid for. (in my opinion anyway).
I understand and sympathize with businesses caught short and would happily take a voucher if we traveled abroad more often or if it had no expiry date, there is the possibility of the celebration being done next year. The voucher however has a 12 month expiry date so again this is not acceptable.
At present we are trying the numbers on the web every few hours 'just in case' and apparently you can get a refund up to 12 months after a cancelled flight so as long as BA survive then we should be OK.
In the end, this is how capitalism works, you take my money, you provide a service or product, or, you refund.
Hi Julian. It’s frustrating but don’t panic. BA will refund your money but you do need to speak to them to do this. Once you’re through it will take you a few minutes and (depending on who your credit card provider is) the money will be back in your account in 2-3 weeks. I have had about a dozen flights cancelled and refunded over the last week or so.
0800 727800 is the number you need to try. Call first thing in the morning (7ish) or towards the end of the day to get into the queue.
You will get your cash back but you need to persist. Annoying I know!
Ps whatever you do at this stage DO NOT start a credit chargeback. That’s generally for a dispute and will complicate matters greatly
Peck, many thanks for the reassurance, I'm not confrontational by nature so a charge-back would absolutely be my final move, it's just frustrating that I don;t have that extra layer of protection on the largest transaction. We'll keep trying the number(s) and do so early and later on as suggested.
As long as the flights have been cancelled by BA you’ll get a full refund.
I’m not sure where you stand with the insurance to be honest. Might be worth trying to trying to get your money back as you’ll no longer be travelling. But I guess they’ll reject that if more than 14 days has passed since you paid.
How long has it taken to get through to BA on the phone? I have some flights to get refunded and I am dreading a long call waiting to speak to someone.
I was getting the run around from BA for 2 refunds ….. reverted to Twitter and within a day they were in touch. Refund emails then appeared and cash on to credit card
Contrast Brussels Airlines - they've effectively closed all lines of communication - as a last resort I've claimed through MBNA - try and avoid that. As others have said the Credit Card companies are not helpful. They insist you see process through with the airline and then send complex claim form..... and then reserve themselves 30 days to revert. I've mentally written off that £1,500 so it will seem like a windfall when it eventually turns up in....
Just to update this thread and a thanks again to 'Peck', the wife managed to get through to someone at BA by calling as early as possible, they were very understanding on the phone and instituted a refund which we received yesterday.
It's a real shame we couldn't accept a voucher but we don't travel abroad that often (preferring to support UK businesses on holidays) and this travel was for a 'big birthday'.
To get through do not select any menu options.
When you get through you will need to hand passport, credit card used the booking reference, etc.
If you changed any details since the original booking they can’t do it on the phone and must wait for their back office to process.
If it was booked direct, they cancelled the trip and the cards in your name. They can refund on the phone.
Just another thread resurrection from me to advise that Expedia have refunded the hotel element of the package but not the BA flights. I contacted BA via Twitter and they confirm that Expedia have to request the refund from them via "Tradeteam" and clearly they're not doing this. There's loads of complaints about Expedia on Twitter too so clearly I'm far from the only one. I've been left with no choice but to start a Section 75 chargeback via my AMEX card. Needless to say will never be using Expedia again!
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