Coronavirus flight refunds: How to claim back your money for cancelled EasyJet, Ryanair and BA flights

1 April 2020, 13:57

Thousands of Brits have had flights cancelled or missed due to the coronavirus pandemic - here's how to get your money back.

The Foreign Office last month advised against all but essential travel outside of the UK amid growing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

The government said in a statement at the time: "Today the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has advised against all non-essential international travel, initially for a period of 30 days. This advice takes effect immediately.

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"This change in travel advice reflects the pace at which other countries are either closing their borders or implementing restrictive measures in response to the global coronavirus pandemic."

Since then, many airlines have dramatically scaled back or - in the case of airlines like EasyJet - completely stopped their flights.

Are you entitled to a full refund if your flight is cancelled?

If your flight is cancelled and you bought tickets directly to the airline, you are entitled to a full refund. You should contact the airline directly if you haven't received any information from them.

However, you are not entitled to a refund if the flight still goes ahead and you decide not to go - so you will need to contact the airline directly.

Here is a rundown of how each airline is dealing with coronavirus refunds, according to a report by the Telegraph.

British Airways

Many BA customers have claimed that they were redirected to a travel voucher application form and not offered a cash refund, but the airline has confirmed that customers with cancelled flights can fly at a new date, take a voucher or request a full refund.

Customers who want a full refund are asked to call up the airline directly.

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EasyJet

EasyJet have encouraged their customers to call their hotline - on 0330 365 5000 - to claim a cash refund, and are offering credit for future bookings or alternative flights online.

A spokesperson said: "We are experiencing higher than average wait times so we would thank customers for their patience and assure them that these entitlements will be available long after they were scheduled to fly.” 

Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic has told its customers that they may need to wait 90 days for action on refunds for their cancelled flights.

They are running a reduced service, but if your flight is still running but you can't travel because of the travel ban, you should be able to re-book your flights under the Conditions of Carriage rules.

If your flight has been cancelled and you had not started travelling, then a refund is available, according to their policy.

A spokesperson said: "Where a flight is cancelled, we encourage our customers to discuss their options with us, including booking on an alternative date. Our intention is to process refunds as soon as possible, however as we deal with unprecedented enquiry volumes in our contact centre, it may take up to a maximum of 90 days to process."

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Ryanair

Ryanair have dramatically scaled back their flights, and have told customers that if their flight is cancelled they can apply online for a full refund or free move onto an alternative flight.

They have also told customers that they can still postpone their flight if it's still running, but that you are not eligible for a refund if this is the case.