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We were booked on ba 206 to lhr today in business tried to put us on ba 208 in economy.
We told them we want business class so are now on Ba 208 January 12th are we entitled to eu261 of £520 each.Yes as your flight was cancelled with less than 14 days notice and you will be arriving late to your destination. BA should also pay for your hotel at the airport.
Don’t let them reply you were given the option to go earlier and you didn’t take it and therefore the delay is on you.
The A380 G-XLEE went tech “..BA 207/206 TECY. Side stick failure in the flight deck, rather suboptimal for conducting controlled flight…” so put a claim in for compensation.
Yes as your flight was cancelled with less than 14 days notice and you will be arriving late to your destination. BA should also pay for your hotel at the airport.
Don’t let them reply you were given the option to go earlier and you didn’t take it and therefore the delay is on you.
It’s more complicated than that.
Because @Alexb declined the rerouting and downgrade in favour of a flight the next day in Business the duty of care element doesn’t automatically apply and nor does the compensation element.
@JDB would be the expert in this.@alexb – you have complicated any potential claim by your (voluntary) election to travel the next day rather than being rebooked albeit in a lower class which would have resulted in compensation, albeit that it is referred to as downgrade reimbursement. You should put in a claim, but you have given BA ample scope to avoid paying you any compensation.
The fact that the rerouted flight offered was itself going to be outside the rerouting time limits doesn’t count as you rejected it. Had you accepted it, you would potentially have been eligible for the downgrade reimbursement and cancellation compensation.
Yes as your flight was cancelled with less than 14 days notice and you will be arriving late to your destination. BA should also pay for your hotel at the airport.
Don’t let them reply you were given the option to go earlier and you didn’t take it and therefore the delay is on you.
Those are the facts. A downgrade does not give you the right to any rerouting or Article 9 ‘Right to Care’ costs. BA will sometimes pay the expenses but has no obligation so to do. While downgrade reimbursement carries that moniker, it is a form of punitive compensation as for long haul it usually represents a sum considerably greater than the difference between the classes so additionally compensates you for the other aspects of the downgrade.
The “arriving late to your destination” is irrelevant when the passengers explicitly elects to be rerouted later.
I thought that re routing should be under comparable conditions, and it appears that the first available BA flight offering this was the next day. A reroute in economy ( not even premium economy!) is not comparable . Given that it’s the next day then surely BA are on the hook for overnight accommodation and f&b?
I also thought that whilst airlines want to rebook folk onto their own metal, if they can’t then other airlines should be looked at that fly the same route at much the same time. So Did the agent bother to look at business class availability on AA DL United etc also flying to Heathrow today ?
However when @JDB responds, as I’m sure he will, take his advice . My understandings may well be unreliable. Safe travels@Jill Kinkell – it’s complicated. Yes, there is an under “comparable conditions” provision in EC261 but the Interpretative Guidelines suggest that this is effectively on a ‘best efforts’ basis but that if the conditions are not comparable (ie a downgrade) then you will receive downgrade reimbursement which is in effect (per the CJEU) both the cost difference and punitive compensation/damages. There is a regular poster here who disagrees with this position and cites wording that suggests it is mandatory. My view is that this runs counter to the thrust or intent of the legislation which is to get you rerouted as quickly as possible rather than requiring airlines to fund your lifestyle choice of a higher cabin. That is also my experience of how this is interpreted at arbitration and MCOL.
That said, BA is actually remarkably generous vs other airlines in this respect and seems to empower outstations both to rebook days ahead in the originally booked cabin (using revenue space) and authorise Right to Care expenses. This may be cheaper for BA than paying downgrade reimbursement, but BA never appears to analyse situations on that basis. Following cancellations, they will often prefer to pay for several nights of hotel/food rather than the cheaper option of rerouting on another airline. In this situation, a passenger can’t be certain of having their costs covered or receiving compensation.
Personally, when you ask to wait until the next day for Club and get your extra expenses paid, I feel it’s a bit rich to ask for compensation as well, but then there was a poster today on another thread relishing a delay for the compensation.
@JDB. I’m all for being rerouted as quickly as possible….. under the same comparable conditions as originally booked. So if it’s business, then other direct flights on same airline, then other direct flights on other airlines. Failing that, look at flights with indirect routes and a connection. If no joy , then what’s available next day. It seems to me that it could be all too easy for BA to downgrade without bothering to look for comparable seats, citing we’re getting you travelling as near to the original time as possible. I do accept that time pressures might force one to accept a downgrade if only to ensure no further disruption to future plans, and I’d be submitting compo for that!. If I was put on a flight the next day, then I’d hope the airline would cough up for duty of care, but I wouldn’t expect cancellation compo as well. As you say, that’s a bit rich.
I did ask if there was any availability today from Mia to abz which was my final destination.
They told me there was nothing at all available in business class while I was at check in desk they were already putting other passengers onto tomorrows flights
They were offering to put us up at Marriott Miami airport hotel and were giving vouchers for hotel food
Of $60 per person for economy passengers and $75 for business.
I am a big guy so would have a problem with an economy seat on a nine hour flight.
I always book business class
It was also a 241 ticketIf I was put on a flight the next day, then I’d hope the airline would cough up for duty of care, but I wouldn’t expect cancellation compo as well. As you say, that’s a bit rich.
Ah but the airline only being able to put you on a flight the next day and you choosing not to fly until the next day are different propositions.
In the former they would be liable for duty of care but it’s less clear in the latter. The former wasn’t your choice but the latter is.
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