Flight refunds

Yep BA refunded my air fares to Finland within 24 hours of cancellation, no questions asked!

There is an excellent site used by some BA staff which is public domain but very low key. It indicates the date on which your flight was scheduled and when it was cancelled. It’s how many people have discovered that they were sold tickets for flights which appear to have been cancelled prior to purchase. It’s quite an eye opener.

My sibling has worked for BA for a long time. It is hard to describe the madness which has descended but their description of recent safety compromises and related experiences have seen them suggest to my parents and I for the first time ever that we cease to take advantage of the family discount ticket and never fly with them again. Having heard the explanations as to why I am only too happy to go along with the request.

Rightly, or wrongly, the problem here is that if the airline goes broke, no one gets a refund.

Well indeed but few people are feeling especially concerned about that in the larger scheme of things right now.

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Well I certainly agree with you here. Still, many businesses indulge in sharp practices when they are profitable, never mind when they are threatened with an extremely high possibility of bankruptcy. On top of that, anyone who has bought a ticket on a flight that might never take off is complicit in what is almost certainly the major route for transmission of Coronavirus around the world, so I’m struggling to find any sympathy for them given the deaths that undoubtedly result from such transmissions.

I have the same issue with El Al for a non-stop from Newark NJ to Tel Aviv. I believe American Express will refund your ticket for a fee of about 10% or more of face value. We have not done that yet but may go that route.

The banks had their chance to rape the public purse in the last economic downturn. As far as I’m concerned, I think I’d rather let the airlines keep 10% than let a financial interloper get their greasy paws on it.

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You may be right. But if you wait on the airlines, you may not get anything. AmEx is taking a risk cutting me a check. They may be our only recourse.

An update.

The cancellation email gave the impression that I was only entitled to a voucher since my tickets were non refundable. On the ‘manage your booking page’ it offered me a voucher and a link to booking options, there was also a mention of ‘discussing options’ including a refund; there was no ‘click for a refund’ button.

I called them, after just over 2 hours on hold I got to speak to someone and asked for a refund. I was told it would take 8-10 weeks to process and that I would get an email when it was ‘in the system’. Dreadful line (freephone in UK and I think routed to Australia for the agent).

Waiting for the email now.

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