“By this time we had missed the window to see our son. Because of our old age, we would have found it difficult to travel to an airport farther away, so asked for a refund, but we have been ignored,” she added.
Michael Callaghan, 57, from Worcester, said he had yet to receive a £5,200 refund for an abandoned holiday to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, booked in January 2020. As a result, his family have been unable to go on holiday this year, even though there are no major travel restrictions for the first summer since the pandemic began.
“We were first offered vouchers to rebook for the following year, which we did, but we asked for a refund in July 2021, as the resort was celebrating Walt Disney World’s 25th anniversary and staying there was more expensive.
“But after close to 10 months – nothing. Trying to get someone to speak to has been like banging my head against a brick wall,” he added.
More than 4,000 BA customers have complained about the airline to the independent complaints mediator Resolver in the past year. Charges, fees and refunds were the main issues, according to the firm’s Martyn James.
“Our users are reporting long waits for refunds where it’s clear the existing cancellation and flight delay rules apply. Others have highlighted how hard it is to contact many businesses directly, or get refunds where they’ve been forced to fork out for travel to their destination in their own right,” he said.
Despite holiday destinations opening their doors following the pandemic, BA has cut a number of charters from its schedule this year. This is because it has struggled to replace cabin crew after many were made redundant or left their positions during the crisis.
Trimmed down flight schedules are expected to continue into next month, forcing holidaymakers to make new arrangements for their summer getaways.
A spokesman for BA apologised for the refund delays and said it had now “actioned” payments for Mrs Harper and Mr Callaghan following this newspaper’s intervention. Mr Welch’s complaints are still being investigated.
Read More: ‘British Airways is holding my £5,000 hostage – I can’t afford to take my family