BA answering call in 3 mins

[Fluffypenguin]

Originally Posted by Scaramouche

BA isn’t a company I’ve ever used - obviously we use them for work, but I’ve not been in work for nearly a year now so I’m not up to date with BA at all.

I’ve got family looking at Vegas for later this year (back end), have BA dealt with this crisis well? Is their money likely to be safe/returned to them if by November we still can’t get into the US? I’d normally speak to work but it’s not a route we’re doing anymore so they can’t book through them.

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The tricky bit is, if their flights aren’t cancelled by the airline, then they won’t be eligible for a refund (unless they book full flex tickets, but these are very pricey).

Even if uk tourists aren’t allowed into the USA, if the flight is still going ahead, then your family wouldn’t be eligible for a refund if they cancelled. They could however, opt to take a voucher, which would hold their balance for them until the time came to rebook.

[Scaramouche]

Originally Posted by Fluffypenguin

The tricky bit is, if their flights aren’t cancelled by the airline, then they won’t be eligible for a refund (unless they book full flex tickets, but these are very pricey).

Even if uk tourists aren’t allowed into the USA, if the flight is still going ahead, then your family wouldn’t be eligible for a refund if they cancelled. They could however, opt to take a voucher, which would hold their balance for them until the time came to rebook.

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Thank you - yeah that's fine, that's not changed from normal They wouldn't cancel, I'm more thinking government don't allow us in, it's a package not a flight only (much cheaper in this instance), and BA website states only loss of deposit up to 3 weeks before departure if cancelled by client - which is really good and I'm quite impressed by that.

I just wondered if they had been good this year in refunding people who weren't allowed to travel? VS had huge delays, easyjet were a nightmare in the first instance but did get better We never had anything big booked though, so I only had to deal with EZY.

[Beth_Disney]

Originally Posted by Scaramouche

I just wondered if they had been good this year in refunding people who weren't allowed to travel? VS had huge delays, easyjet were a nightmare in the first instance but did get better We never had anything big booked though, so I only had to deal with EZY.

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I've had 2 BA holidays cancelled by BA and I've cancelled 2 myself and taken the vouchers. My experience has been very positive and refunds have been back in my account within days.

I phoned BA mid-November and enquired about our December holiday and was told that if the boarders weren't open at the time that the balance was due (3 weeks before travel), the holiday would be cancelled and refunded. They actually cancelled it about 5 weeks before the holiday (2 weeks before balance due) and I was refunded straight away.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by Fluffypenguin

The tricky bit is, if their flights aren’t cancelled by the airline, then they won’t be eligible for a refund (unless they book full flex tickets, but these are very pricey).

Even if uk tourists aren’t allowed into the USA, if the flight is still going ahead, then your family wouldn’t be eligible for a refund if they cancelled. They could however, opt to take a voucher, which would hold their balance for them until the time came to rebook.

See more...

Starting with Packages, (just flight and hire) if you can’t go, you are protected by the package Travel, Package Tours and Linked Travel Arrangements.

Next there is frustration of contract and consumer law issues.

The CMA are actively investigating now companies who have been attempting to say what you say above, with a view to enforcement where refunds not given.

You are totally correct though in terms of what they may currently offer you, rather than what you are entitled to legally.

[Scaramouche]

Originally Posted by Beth_Disney

I've had 2 BA holidays cancelled by BA and I've cancelled 2 myself and taken the vouchers. My experience has been very positive and refunds have been back in my account within days.

I phoned BA mid-November and enquired about our December holiday and was told that if the boarders weren't open at the time that the balance was due (3 weeks before travel), the holiday would be cancelled and refunded. They actually cancelled it about 5 weeks before the holiday (2 weeks before balance due) and I was refunded straight away.

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Thank you that’s really good to hear!

Did they offer a refund for the deposit, or is it voucher only (or voucher first and eventually they agree to a refund)?

It’s so frustrating not being at work, and work are so busy my colleagues haven’t got time bless them. Which is great - means peaks is going well at least!

[Fluffypenguin]

Originally Posted by Scaramouche

Thank you - yeah that's fine, that's not changed from normal They wouldn't cancel, I'm more thinking government don't allow us in, it's a package not a flight only (much cheaper in this instance), and BA website states only loss of deposit up to 3 weeks before departure if cancelled by client - which is really good and I'm quite impressed by that.

I just wondered if they had been good this year in refunding people who weren't allowed to travel? VS had huge delays, easyjet were a nightmare in the first instance but did get better We never had anything big booked though, so I only had to deal with EZY.

See more...

Ah yeah it’s not too bad with a package! With flights only, if your family cancelled because the USA won’t let them in, then they wouldn’t get anything back or they’d have to take a voucher. Whereas if BA cancels the flight then BA refunds everything. So with the package, as long as they know what they can do by three weeks before, they’ll be fine, which is good! There were so many people who didn’t realise that BA will only refund if BA cancel the flight and not if the customer can’t travel, it caused so much aggro, but it’s perfectly reasonable! 😂

BA were really good at refunding people. Majority of bookings were refunded in under five days. Some bookings were taking weeks or months, but this was usually only when the flight had to be refunded manually. Usually a button can be pressed and the refund is pushed through by the system. In some instances, this wasn’t possible, (say for example, customer had made previous changes to the flight or their card had expired) which meant that these people found their refunds were taking some time to go through. On a straightforward booking though, it was taking a few days.

Saying that though, I cancelled my avios booking that I’d had with them and this only took five weeks which I was happy with (I’d made changes to the booking hence I knew there would be a delay).

[Fluffypenguin]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

Starting with Packages, (just flight and hire) if you can’t go, you are protected by the package Travel, Package Tours and Linked Travel Arrangements.

Next there is frustration of contract and consumer law issues.

The CMA are actively investigating now companies who have been attempting to say what you say above, with a view to enforcement where refunds not given.

You are totally correct though in terms of what they may currently offer you, rather than what you are entitled to legally.

See more...

I don’t really know with packages, as it isn’t something I have ever dealt with.

However I do know that it is correct (with stand alone flights) that if a customer cannot legally enter a country, if that flight is still going ahead, then the customer is not entitled to a refund through the airline. The airline is still offering what they originally offered, it’s the country or countries restrictions that are restricting the customer from travelling, which isn’t the airlines responsibility. With stand alone fights, you will only receive a refund in full if either your Tcs state this at the time of booking or if the airline is the one who has cancelled the flight.

[Beth_Disney]

Originally Posted by Scaramouche

Thank you that’s really good to hear!

Did they offer a refund for the deposit, or is it voucher only (or voucher first and eventually they agree to a refund)?

It’s so frustrating not being at work, and work are so busy my colleagues haven’t got time bless them. Which is great - means peaks is going well at least!

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Any sign of them bringing you back anytime soon? I can see why you'd be frustrated if they're busy but you're not there.

I was given a refund for the two that BA cancelled, April 2020 was automatically generated as that was very early on in the pandemic. I received an email cancelling December 2020 and had to phone to tell them whether I wanted a voucher or refund. There was no pressure to take the voucher.

The other two are for holidays this year - Feb 21 and May 21 and I chose to cancel those. I expect if I'd had waited a couple of weeks then Feb 21 would have been cancelled by BA and eligible for a refund but I wanted to use what I'd paid towards the December 2021 deposit.

[Scaramouche]

Originally Posted by Fluffypenguin

Ah yeah it’s not too bad with a package! With flights only, if your family cancelled because the USA won’t let them in, then they wouldn’t get anything back or they’d have to take a voucher. Whereas if BA cancels the flight then BA refunds everything. So with the package, as long as they know what they can do by three weeks before, they’ll be fine, which is good! There were so many people who didn’t realise that BA will only refund if BA cancel the flight and not if the customer can’t travel, it caused so much aggro, but it’s perfectly reasonable! 😂

BA were really good at refunding people. Majority of bookings were refunded in under five days. Some bookings were taking weeks or months, but this was usually only when the flight had to be refunded manually. Usually a button can be pressed and the refund is pushed through by the system. In some instances, this wasn’t possible, (say for example, customer had made previous changes to the flight or their card had expired) which meant that these people found their refunds were taking some time to go through. On a straightforward booking though, it was taking a few days.

Saying that though, I cancelled my avios booking that I’d had with them and this only took five weeks which I was happy with (I’d made changes to the booking hence I knew there would be a delay).

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I work for a tour operator so know how that all works I just have never personally dealt with BA directly for a booking for myself, and I was made redundant, furloughed and then put on sabbatical so I haven't worked since march so had no idea how they were doing through this - the majority of my clients prefer VS anyway so I tend to not have a lot to do with BA

Thanks for your help

[Scaramouche]

Originally Posted by Beth_Disney

Any sign of them bringing you back anytime soon? I can see why you'd be frustrated if they're busy but you're not there.

I was given a refund for the two that BA cancelled, April 2020 was automatically generated as that was very early on in the pandemic. I received an email cancelling December 2020 and had to phone to tell them whether I wanted a voucher or refund. There was no pressure to take the voucher.

The other two are for holidays this year - Feb 21 and May 21 and I chose to cancel those. I expect if I'd had waited a couple of weeks then Feb 21 would have been cancelled by BA and eligible for a refund but I wanted to use what I'd paid towards the December 2021 deposit.

See more...

It is frustrating, but I understand why - peaks tends to last 6 weeks, after that they won't be sure of how much work will be there. I'm expecting Easter, but they've got until June so just have to watch how it all unfolds really!

That's great - thanks so much! reassuring that they would be alright if they booked and then couldn't travel due to borders! Now she's just got to see if she can get the leave