Help please - where to look up BA fare rules?

[jsoprano]

Hello everyone!

I am booked to go to Europe at the end of the month, MEL-SYD-SIN-LHR-CDG, and return LHR-HKG-MEL. Ticketed by BA, all on BA flight numbers incl codeshares, with the longhaul sectors in PE. Fare bucket on the BA longhauls is T. I will need to cancel this trip now due to a change in corporate travel policy (coronavirus-related, obviously).

Is there any way how I can look up the specific fare rules for this booking, especially penalties for cancellation or changes? I have asked the corporate travel agent and they insist it's non-refundable and can't be changed. But i looked up T fares on Experflyer, and it states the cancellation penalty is $250 and changes are $150.

Is there a way to look up the specific conditions for my booking?

Thank you in advance.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hello everyone!

I am booked to go to Europe at the end of the month, MEL-SYD-SIN-LHR-CDG, and return LHR-HKG-MEL. Ticketed by BA, all on BA flight numbers incl codeshares, with the longhaul sectors in PE. Fare bucket on the BA longhauls is T. I will need to cancel this trip now due to a change in corporate travel policy (coronavirus-related, obviously).

Is there any way how I can look up the specific fare rules for this booking, especially penalties for cancellation or changes? I have asked the corporate travel agent and they insist it's non-refundable and can't be changed. But i looked up T fares on Experflyer, and it states the cancellation penalty is $250 and changes are $150.

Is there a way to look up the specific conditions for my booking?

Thank you in advance.

Maybe call the airline? They may have travel waivers in place allowing cancellation for free.

 

[Spongbob]

I had a similar problem: still do not know the answer.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

What did the airline say?

 

[Spongbob]

I booked via AMEX Travel. BA said talk to your TA.

 

[serfty]

Is there a way to look up the specific conditions for my booking?

Can you get the fare basis code from your corporate TA. Also, who paid for the booking?

 

[jsoprano]

First of all thanks everyone and apologies for the late reply.

I called BA and they told me I need to speak to the TA as it was booked through them. Frustrating.

Anyway, I escalated it with the TA and they finally came back yesterday acknowledging that indeed the fare is refundable for a $250 penalty (as per fare bucket "T" conditions), and their own system which showed "non-refundable" was incorrect.

I do not want to allege intent here, but am curious what would happen with the refund had I not escalated this...

Also, very frustrating to not have easy access to the full rules and conditions after booking. Would I not have a current EF subscription I would probably not even questioned it.

 

[Franky]

First of all thanks everyone and apologies for the late reply.

I called BA and they told me I need to speak to the TA as it was booked through them. Frustrating.

Anyway, I escalated it with the TA and they finally came back yesterday acknowledging that indeed the fare is refundable for a $250 penalty (as per fare bucket "T" conditions), and their own system which showed "non-refundable" was incorrect.

I do not want to allege intent here, but am curious what would happen with the refund had I not escalated this...

Also, very frustrating to not have easy access to the full rules and conditions after booking. Would I not have a current EF subscription I would probably not even questioned it.

Well done by you - I have never had the need to use that facility in EF, but just had a quick look, and the detail available is quite amazing. You have probably covered your next subscription.

 

[camperdown9]

I'm not really surprised. For a time a well know online travel agent was selling all fares at near to net level. In other words their mark up was only £2 or £3 pounds. This meant that they sold lots and made next to nothing on each reservation. With regards to refunds they made all fares non- refundable but passengers could of course still get a refund on the tax. So when a passenger requested a refund they refunded the tax and keep what ever the real refund amount was. They only really made money on cancelled reservations.

I am not sure of this is still the case but lots of travel agents had access to contract/net/consolidated fares (the terminology varies depending on where you are). These were fares that were negotiated between the travel agent and the airline and sometimes via a third party ticket broker. The rules were on paper contracts and often the airline reservation staff didn't have access to them. This used to cause lots of issues and often the airline reservation staff would refuse to speak to the passenger and refer them back to the agent. Simply because they didn't know the rules of the ticket.