BA cancelled or changed your reward flightRebooking, refunds and protecting your Companion Voucher

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What we'd do first: don't cancel anything. Open Manage My Booking, see what BA has offered, take screenshots, and note the date and time.

First: who cancelled?

This matters more than anything else, because the documented rules are different.

• You cancel. The rules are clear. avios.com says reward flights "can be cancelled up to 24 hours before you travel. You will be charged a £35 per person cancellation fee and 100% of the Avios you spent will be returned to your account. If the total taxes, fees and charges you paid were more than £35, you'll get the remainder refunded to your original payment method" (avios.com: Flights help, checked 13 Nov 2026). Cancel later than that and you lose the Avios.
• BA cancels or significantly changes the flight. The £35 fee is for cancelling yourself. When BA cancels, go to BA's own disruption options instead: rebook, ask about another airline or transport, or request a refund (BA: Help with delays, cancellations and refunds, checked 13 Nov 2026, 21:24 Lima). BA's Conditions of Carriage and UK passenger rights apply, and that's the rest of this guide.

If BA has told you the flight is cancelled, don't cancel the booking yourself to get your Avios back. You'd be treated as the person cancelling and could pay the £35 per person fee.

What BA's Conditions of Carriage say

BA's General Conditions of Carriage (last updated 17 October 2024) apply to reward travel as well. If BA cancels a flight, you "can choose one of the three remedies" (clause 9b3):

1. Remedy 1: "We will carry you as soon as we can to the destination shown on your ticket on another of our scheduled services on which a seat is available in the class of service for which you have paid the fare." If BA can't, it "will arrange for carriage on the services of another carrier or on a comparable means of alternative transport", without charging extra.
2. Remedy 2: carriage "at a later date at your convenience and within the validity period of your ticket", again without charging extra.
3. Remedy 3: "We will give or obtain for you an involuntary fare refund."

It adds: "We will give you additional assistance, such as compensation, refreshments and other care and reimbursement, if required to do so by any law which may apply. We will have no further liability to you."

Schedule changes: if BA makes "a significant change to the scheduled departure time", you find it "unacceptable", and BA "cannot book you on another flight which you are prepared to accept", BA "will give you an involuntary fare refund" (clause 9a3). The conditions don't define "significant".

What an involuntary refund covers: on an unused ticket, "the refund will be equal to the fare and any carrier imposed charges and surcharges, and taxes, fees and charges you have paid" (clause 10b2), paid "in the same way and in the same currency that you used to pay" (clause 10f) (BA General Conditions of Carriage, checked 13 Nov 2026, 21:25 Lima).

What happens to your Avios and the cash? (partly undocumented)

Documented: the cash. The taxes, fees and charges you paid are part of an involuntary refund under clause 10b2, returned the way you paid. UK law sets a deadline for refunds after a cancellation: "within seven days… of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought" (UK Regulation 261/2004, Article 8, checked 13 Nov 2026, 21:25 Lima). How that applies to the Avios part of a reward ticket isn't spelled out. The CAA says that with a refund, "You can get your money back for all parts of the ticket you haven't used" (CAA: Cancellations, checked 13 Nov 2026, 21:25 Lima).

Not documented: the Avios. On a reward ticket, the "fare" is paid in Avios. We couldn't find any BA page or term that says, in so many words, that Avios are re-credited, and without the £35 fee, when BA cancels. The Club terms only cover cancellation "by the member" (clause 17.1). Ask BA to confirm in writing that the full Avios will go back to the account they came from, with no fee, before you accept a refund.

Your Companion Voucher (partly undocumented)

The voucher terms (for vouchers earned from 1 September 2021) cover these cases (BA Companion Voucher terms, checked 13 Nov 2026):

• You cancel more than 24 hours before departure: "the Companion Voucher will be re-issued to the Cardmember's British Airways Club account for the remainder of its original validity period" (clause 31). Cancel within 24 hours and it "will not be re-issued" (clause 30).
• Extensions: vouchers "may be extended", for "up to three months", in listed circumstances only. The first is "Where a flight is cancelled by the airline". Each request is "evaluated on a case by case basis", needs documentation, and is "decided at British Airways' sole discretion" (clause 27).
• Expiry: "Outbound travel must take place before the expiry date of the Companion Voucher", but the return can be after it if booked at the same time (clause 25).
• Changing airline: moving a voucher booking to a different airline (British Airways, Iberia or Aer Lingus) requires you "to cancel the original Reward Flight and re-book onto the new carrier" (clause 37).

Not documented: whether a voucher comes back automatically when BA cancels and you take a refund, and what its expiry date would be. Clause 31 talks about you cancelling, not BA. The clause 27 extension is discretionary and capped at three months. If your voucher has expired, or is close to expiring, that's the most important thing to confirm before you pick a refund. Keeping the booking and asking BA to rebook may keep the voucher in use, but get that confirmed too. BA's Reward Flights page also says changes to a booking made with a Companion Voucher need a phone call, so you'll probably need to speak to BA rather than use Manage My Booking.

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What BA offers, and your right to care

BA's help page lists three options when it cancels your flight (BA: Help with delays, cancellations and refunds, checked 13 Nov 2026, 21:24 Lima):

• "You can rebook to the next available British Airways flight free of charge. Visit Manage My Booking to review your options."
• "You can call us to discuss if we can book you onto any other airlines, or discuss alternative transport if we are not able to provide a suitable alternative within 24 hours."
• "You can request a refund."

avios.com adds that "You may have already been offered a new flight, which you will need to accept online."

Care: the CAA says that if your flight is cancelled, airlines "must provide you with care and assistance": food and drink, a means to communicate, accommodation if you're re-routed the next day, and transport to it, "no matter how long the delay lasts or what has caused it". If the airline can't arrange it, the CAA's view is that you can "organise reasonable care and assistance yourself, then claim the cost back later". Keep receipts.

Rerouting: the CAA says it's up to you whether to fly "as soon as possible after the cancelled flight, or at a later date that suits you", and that if another airline is flying "significantly sooner", you "may have the right" to be booked on it.

Compensation: the CAA says you may be able to claim compensation if you had less than 14 days' notice, depending on the cause and the timing of the new flight (for example £520 per person on a long-haul flight arriving four or more hours late). It's not due for "extraordinary circumstances". Reward tickets aren't excluded: the UK version of Regulation 261/2004 doesn't apply to passengers "travelling free of charge", but it "shall apply to passengers having tickets issued under a frequent flyer programme or other commercial programme by an air carrier" (UK Regulation 261/2004, Article 3, checked 13 Nov 2026, 21:25 Lima). Whether a particular claim succeeds still depends on the cause and the notice you were given (Article 5). If you think you're owed it, claim through BA's online form.

Before you choose: what to confirm

Ask BA (by chat, phone or online form) and get each answer in writing before you choose a refund or accept a new flight. The four that matter most on a reward booking:

• [ ] Avios re-credit: the full Avios go back to the account they came from, with no fee.
• [ ] Cash refund: the taxes, fees and charges are refunded to the card you paid with.
• [ ] Companion Voucher reissue: if you take a refund, the voucher is put back in the cardholder's British Airways Club account (or stays on the new booking if you rebook).
• [ ] The voucher's new expiry date: the exact date. If it's already expired or close to expiry, ask whether BA will extend it under clause 27.

Then check the rest:

1. Other rights. Does accepting the new flight affect any compensation or expense claim? BA's conditions say you choose "one of the three remedies"; compensation and care are separate legal rights. The conditions don't say that accepting a new flight waives compensation. Ask.
2. Seat and cabin. Is the new flight in the same cabin for everyone on the booking, with a Companion Voucher companion still on the same flight? BA says it does its "best to transfer seat choices", and if it can't offer "a suitable alternative for seating you paid for, you can apply for a refund".
3. Connections. If you connect, is the whole journey rebooked on one booking? BA says that on a single booking, if you miss a connection, "we will automatically rebook you". Separate tickets aren't covered.
4. Written confirmation. A new e-ticket or booking confirmation, plus the four answers above in an email or chat transcript you can save.

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Which option fits? A decision table

This is Credit Club guidance, not BA policy. It assumes BA cancelled or significantly changed the flight.

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If BA says no: complaints and ADR

1. Complain to BA first. BA's conditions say to contact Customer Relations (clause 19a). For compensation claims, BA asks you to "submit your claim for compensation directly to us and allow us 28 days" before using a third party (clause 18a1).
2. Go to ADR if it isn't resolved. BA's conditions say you can refer your complaint to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) "within 12 months after receiving our final response". The CAA lists British Airways under CEDR and says you can go to ADR if the airline hasn't responded "within eight weeks of your written complaint". It says ADR is "free to use" and usually decides "within three months" (CAA: Alternative Dispute Resolution, checked 13 Nov 2026, 21:25 Lima). If BA never sends a final response, the CAA says to go to ADR "within 12 months of your last written communication" with the airline, and that ADR covers incidents "within the last six years (or five years if you live in Scotland)".
3. Courts remain an option. The CAA says that if you're unhappy with an ADR decision, "you still have the option to take legal action". BA's conditions say that for compensation claims "in England & Wales the limitation period is 6 years" (clause 18b).

You don't need a claims company: the CAA notes that one may "deduct a significant proportion" of any award as its fee.

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Cancelled reward flights: FAQs