Stories are whirling around online about people being asked to take vouchers instead of cash refunds from airlines. Happily the British Airways refund experience is a beacon of light in these dark times.
The British Airways web site mentions vouchers a lot. If you stick with it, towards the bottom of the web page it mentions refunds and instructs you to telephone them to “discuss your refund options”.
You Booked Flights?! Are You Mad?
As an optimistic person, I happily booked flights on 29 March for travel in the middle of May and end of May. Yes, I consciously gave over €500 to an airline. In late March!
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- It was a happy booking experience, until it was cancelled!
Airlines such as BA are offering free changes and vouchers for travel booked through to the end of May, so I went into it knowing my money was pretty much safe. The only possible downside is the fact that I could perhaps not be travelling.
The Refund Experience
A little over a week after booking, boom! The mid-May flights were cancelled. I called British Airways on 9 April around 8:30am, waited for just 20 minutes and spoke to a lovely agent who processed the refund for me. It arrived back to my card on 14 April.
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- Credit card lines with green cash amounts are always welcome!
Today my flights for the end of May were cancelled. This time I called around 3:40pm and again waited just 20 minutes. The agent was bubbly, fun, and great to chat to. Once again, the refund was processed with no quibbles and I was specifically advised the refund should be back in “three to five working days as per usual”.
Overall Thoughts
The whole refund experience with British Airways is seamless. I know this is probably different to many people’s experience in March when the shit was hitting the fan, but it appears things have settled down now.
If you are expecting long hold times, surly agents and push back on your choice of cash over a voucher, you’re just not going to find that at BA. I was pleasantly surprised and am happy to write about it. Of course, had it been the other way, I also would have written about it!
What has your refund experience been with the airlines so far? Has it been a generally good experience or utter hell? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Nicky Boogaard from Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Netherlands via Wikimedia Commons.
