How to refund a British Airways Avios redemption online

After a frustrating two years, Avios redemptions can once again be canceled and refunded online.

This will be music to the ears of anyone who has spent hours on hold at the British Airways Executive Club call center over the past two years and – mostly – has been asked to call back later because of “unusually high call volume”.

The new feature has been added to the Manage My Booking section of the British Airways website. As first reported by Head For Points, it allows for easy online cancellations with all Avios and fees, taxes and surcharges (minus cancellation fees as detailed below).

That’s how it works.

How to cancel an Avios redemption online

First, navigate to the Manage My Booking section of any Avios redemption you wish to cancel, either by browsing your pending bookings in your Executive Club account or by entering your 6-digit PNR. Then click on the blue “Manage my booking” bar at the bottom of the page which will bring up the following options:

From here, click on the “Cancel Booking” option and you will be taken to a consent page. Here you need to confirm that you have the consent of all passengers to cancel and refund the booking online.

See also: Maximizing British Airways’ distance-based award table

You will then see your online cancellation options.

You can cancel your Avios redemption online for flights operated by British Airways or its partner airlines. In my case, a Finnair operated flight can be refunded with a cancellation fee of £35 (US$39.77) per person. So since I paid £116.74 ($132.66) in fees, taxes and surcharges, I would receive a cash refund of £46.74 ($53.11). I was charged a cancellation fee of £70 ($79.55) for two passengers.

The full 33,000 Avios redeemed for these flights will be credited to my Executive Club account.

The standard cancellation and refund fee is £35 ($39.77) per person. Note, however, that if the total fees, taxes and surcharges are less than £35 ($39.77) – for example a Reward Flight Saver – the cancellation fee will be the full amount of the fees, taxes and surcharges paid. This is especially useful for anyone who wants to pay as little as $0.57 per flight for a Reward Flight Saver since the cancellation fee is almost zero.

Remember that Avios redemptions for flights departing less than 24 hours in advance cannot be refunded online.

See also: The Ultimate Guide to British Airways Avios

bottom line

This is a long overdue and welcome upgrade to the Executive Club program. Although British Airways waiting times have improved compared to 12 months ago, being able to cancel and refund Avios redemptions online yourself is still far better than phoning someone to do it for you.