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British Airways responds to my question on 2-4-1 downgrade compensation

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I ran another article last week about BA’s treatment of downgraded passengers who are travelling on an American Express 2-4-1 voucher and claim compensation under EU261.

When downgraded whilst travelling on an Avios ticket, under EU261 BA is obliged to refund you 75% of the Avios used for that leg of your flight.  This is not in dispute and British Airways has always been happy to pay this.

What is currently in dispute is what happens when someone travelling on a 2-4-1 companion voucher is downgraded.  In the original case we discussed, a reader was offered zero compensation because he was told his companion ticket had zero value.  His partner, the BA Amex cardholder, received the full compensation due.  When he launched a case for compensation, BA settled based on the cash cost of buying 75% of the Avios value of the ticket.

British Airways BA A380 flying

Over the next couple of weeks we will get a real-time example of how this works because my contributor will be filing a claim after being downgraded.  His wife, who was the 2-4-1 cardholder and so would qualify for compensation, was not downgraded.

British Airways has now issued a statement to me explaining how they believe EU261 should be applied to 2-4-1 tickets:

To quote “the value of the purchase [is] split across the two tickets”.  This is, of course, the same as saying that the companion ticket has zero value.

If one person is downgraded – irrespective of whether that person is the original ticket holder or the companion – “the person on the voucher would be entitled to 75% of the value of the ticket – which would be calculated on 50 per cent of the amount of Avios paid for the pair“.

I very much doubt whether this would stand up in arbitration:

BA uses the word “value” rather than the “cost” of the purchase.  I doubt it means this, because the value could be either monetary or expressed in Avios.  It is difficult to see how it could argue the value of the companion seat is nil.  The voucher actually has a value of 100,000 Avios – or whatever the relevant value for the ticket it was used for – and if the voucher is not returned for reuse then the holder should be compensated for its loss.

You can argue that BA has accepted the voucher as ‘consideration’ in contractual terms for the second seat.  This means that it has value.

It is clear from the T&C’s that the Amex 2-4-1 voucher does NOT get you two tickets at half price. You get one ticket at full Avios and the other ticket at zero Avios.  There is an argument to say the voucher effectively entitles you to two half-price seats rather than one free seat, but a parallel argument that the voucher has a value of the seat it entitles you to.

What BA states above is not what they offered in the case of the HFP reader who was downgraded and filed a compensation claim.  He was offered nothing until he filed his case, based on the grounds that the companion ticket cost zero Avios.

Anyway ….. we now know where BA stands on the matter.  I very much doubt that my contributor will accept an offer based on the guidelines above, and if it goes to arbitration then we will all be in a ringside seat to see how it pans out.  This should then be the end of the matter as the result will be in the public domain.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (239)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Nick says:
    3 Mar3 March 06:48

    Reading this, I’m glad I’ve cancelled my BAPP card and got a virgin black instead! The earning rate is much better and the annual fee is less.

    And to be honest when Norwegian are selling seats from MCO-CPH for £51 in August and Wizzair have previously sold seats from eastern Europe to Dubai for £25, I’m having more slumming it with budget carriers at the moment!

  • Tim Millea says:
    3 Mar3 March 06:54

    Simply refuse the downgrade point-blank, accept BA’s hospitality while waiting for the next available flight with the class originally booked and claim full EU monetary compensation for the delay.

    • Genghis says:
      3 Mar3 March 07:04

      I’m no expert but isn’t that a voluntary offload and not EC261 eligible?

      • Martin says:
        3 Mar3 March 07:19

        Assuming you are aiming that at the list above then no, you are not obliged to accept an involuntary downgrade therefore it’s not a voluntary offload

    • Anon says:
      3 Mar3 March 07:27

      Tim – would you really want to give up 2 days of a paid hotel in the Maldives for 2 nights extra in Gatwick?

    • Alan says:
      3 Mar3 March 07:48

      Agree on a high frequency route like JFK, not such an appealing option for cases such as Anon – especially when flights may be fully booked for days and you’ve got an expensive hotel and seaplane transfers waiting for you at the other end!

    • @mkcol says:
      3 Mar3 March 08:28

      How do you refuse the downgrade & still travel? Is it as simple as saying no, that’s not good enough, please put me on the next available flight in the original cabin booked?

    • Ronster says:
      3 Mar3 March 11:34

      If your F or J tickets were targeted for downgrading and you declined with BA only having that single flight that day….could you ask for them to put you on another airlines F or J if you could get to that flight?

      R

  • AH says:
    3 Mar3 March 07:04

    2-4-1 means that each item is worth 50%
    unless stated you must buy 2, you could argue that you can just buy 1 at 50% discount.
    but you are buying 2 for the price of 1
    This is different to BOGOF, where you are buying one & getting one free.
    BOGOF means you pay full price for the first & the 2nd is free – up to you if you want to take the freebie or leave it, but you would still pay 100%

    No idea if there has ever been a case law to determine the difference! but BA cant have 241 & say one ticket has zero value.

    • Andrew says:
      3 Mar3 March 09:04

      BA don’t actually refer to it as 2-4-1 though:

      The British Airways American Express Companion Voucher entitles you to receive a second seat for a companion on the same flight as you and in the same cabin when you make a Reward booking on a British Airways flight with a BA flight number. All you’ll have to pay is the Taxes, Fees and Charges for you and your companion’s tickets.

      Sounds more like BOGOF rather than 2-4-1

  • David says:
    3 Mar3 March 07:09

    You also both have to travel in the same class ! Plus you have paid surcharges for the second flight. If they do it to me, I will take them to the small claims court

    • Genghis says:
      3 Mar3 March 07:13

      Yes. IIRC, taxes and third party fees are excluded from EC261 but not carrier surcharges

  • Seb says:
    3 Mar3 March 07:16

    Surely at a minimum the 241 ticket needs to be reimbursed the tax? This can easily run to £500+.

    Personally I believe that as a minimum, BA should then give you another 241 voucher for later use, or alternatively one upgrade voucher. That and the tax would be the only ‘fair’ compensation.

    If they sell your seat to someone else at full value, then surely that is the value that should be compensated…

    It will be interesting to see how this case pans out – my wife and I are flying to San Jose, CA on a 241 in Club World in 2 weeks so they better not pull this trick…

  • Steve says:
    3 Mar3 March 07:22

    Is the end of the 241 in sight now possibly?

    BA prepared to fight over its value, and consumers stating its not worth having and downgrading to free card. Must be a breaking point here somewhere where it is just removed as a perk entirely.

  • Michael_S says:
    3 Mar3 March 07:25

    Rob – would you mind opening a permanent comment section or something like that on 241 downgrade experiences? Seems like a lot of people are going through this, it might be helpful to make those experiences public. I know this “david vs goliath” won’t make you popular with BA but you are already accused of being anti-BA anyway 😉

    • Nick Anon says:
      3 Mar3 March 07:41

      I would appreciate that also – just building up to my first 241 and would be good to have all my ducks in a row if/when faced with a downgrade

  • Harry says:
    3 Mar3 March 07:34

    I agree wholly with Robert. Of course there are legalities involved here and I do not know what the law is. However this is not a legal issue, it is a PR issue. Instead of getting a slew of negative PR, BA could turn it around and get praise by giving anyone downgraded on the “free” ticket a voucher for a one class systemwide upgrade valid for 12 months. The expression 2-4-1 is not that of either BA or AMEX. What is offered is a “companion voucher” free of the need to trade in extra AVIOS. The cardholder has to “pay” AVIOS to get his ticket so is entitled to a refund of AVIOS if he is downgraded but the companion has not “paid” anything for his ticket so why is he legally entitled to any refund? There is no 50-50 involved here. The main cardholder cannot tell BA he wants to trade in the voucher and only pay 50% of the AVIOS required. What happens to the additional APD cash paid if a voucher passenger is booked in Business or First and then downgraded? Presumably that is refunded. The problem with BA here is that they are letting their lawyers rather than common sense marketing take charge. Don’t entice people, hook them in then spit at them while they are left dangling. They will come back to bite you!

    • NFH says:
      3 Mar3 March 09:04

      Harry, carrier-imposed charges aside, the price paid for the second ticket is not zero because it is conditional upon paying Avios for the first ticket. The Companion Voucher has a value, and determining that value is the crucial point here. One could argue that the value of the spent Companion Voucher is the number of Avios that it saves, i.e. the same as the Avios paid for the first ticket.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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