British Airways offers Avios points, cash or voucher refunds for cancelled flights
BRITISH Airways has started offering Avios points as well as cash and voucher refunds for cancelled flights.
The scheme is available to holidaymakers who've booked flights directly with the airline and are members of BA Executive Club.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
British Airways customers can get a cash refund by calling its customer service, but due to high demand it may be difficult to get through.
Alternatively, you can claim a voucher to use for a flight booking before the end of April 2022 by filling in an online form.
Last month, Which? said British Airways was among the travel firms breaking the law by not issuing cash refunds within the set time-frame.
Many airlines are instead trying to push customers to accept vouchers equivalent to the cost of their booking.
But with the future of the travel industry uncertain, you may prefer to get the money back instead.
Customers who want either a cash or Avios refund for cancelled flights need to phone British Airways.
Is the Avios points refund a good deal?
British Airways introduced the Avios points refund option last week, it told The Sun.
You have to be a member of the BA Executive Club to receive it, as the air mile points have to go in to an account.
The number of Avios points you get is based on the cost of your booking, but British Airways hasn't confirmed exact numbers.
Although, it said the actual rate of Avios that you get for the price of your flight is roughly double what you would normally get if you bought Avios using cash.
The points you get are the same as any other Avios points, meaning they don't come with an expiry date.
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS - STAY IN THE KNOW
Don't miss the latest news and figures - and essential advice for you and your family.
To receive The Sun’s Coronavirus newsletter in your inbox every tea time, sign up here.
To follow us on Facebook, simply ‘Like’ our Coronavirus page.
Get Britain’s best-selling newspaper delivered to your smartphone or tablet each day – find out more.
Buying 10,000 Avios points would normally cost you £175 - the equivalent of 1.75p per point.
But if you get double the points under the refund, 10,000 points would be yours for £87.50, or 88p per point.
In comparison, frequent flyer advice site Head for Points said the most generous rate it had ever seen offered by British Airways was around 92p per point.
It added: "If you don't need the money urgently, this is an excellent opportunity to pick up a lot of Avios very cheaply indeed."
But if you're worried about the future of BA, you might feel a lot safer with the cash in the bank.
Also, keep in mind that the availability of reward flights bought using Avios points, rather than cash or vouchers, is usually more restricted.
Plus, you're not guaranteed to get a seat on a flight to the same destination as you were planning on going to.
But Head for Points editor Rob Burgess said he believes that it might actually be easier to find reward flights, with fewer travellers meaning more empty seats.
He said: "Planes are very inflexible. If you have 70 business class seats, then you can't easily swap them for more economy seats.
'You are stuck with flying a big business class cabin around.
"If you can only sell 20 of those 70 business class seats per flight, then you are looking at a lot of spare capacity which could be opened up for reward flights."
A spokesperson for British Airways told The Sun: “We want to give our customers as much choice as possible, so if their flight is cancelled they can now choose from a voucher, a refund, or a generous amount of Avios based on the price of their booking.”
Most read in Money
British Airways is pressing ahead with cutting 12,000 jobs despite an extension to the furlough scheme to October.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Meanwhile, senior cabin crew face 55 per cent pay cuts with salaries slashed to £24,000.
Plus, BA passengers were recently seen "within inches" of each other on a 70 per cent full flight to Heathrow and crew "without masks or gloves".