Compensation for downgraded flights booked with Avios and companion ticket

[Hexel1952]

My wife and I (both in our 70s). were downgraded from business class to premium economy on a flight from LHR to Nassau on British Airways. I had paid Avoios and a companion voucher.BA offered me a £300 voucher each which, I think is too low considering the EC261 rules which are still applicable. However when I eventually said I would accept the total of £600 BA said either vouchers or £400 in cash. They have reduced the effective value of the compensation originally offered.

I wonder if someone else has had a similar reaction from BA to help me what to do. I would be grateful for help.

[Lady London]

I’d suggest you look at the extensive informatiom on this on downgrades in the forums here on Headforpoints. Essentially you’re due 75% of the cash value of the leg you were downgraded on, to be paid to you by BA. That’s less any real government or airport charges which in the case of a departure from Nassau would have been very low dollars. From London you have UK APD to deduct before you calculate the 75% BA must pay you (each).
So I’d guess with APD and airport charges you’d be taking off £250-£280 from the cost of that leg on ypur ticket, before you calculate the 75% that is due to you then same due for 2nd seat.

Btw out of interest wondering was there anything particular stated to you by the airline about you both being in your 70’s as I am wondering was there anything particularly relevant with regard to this.

You get 75% of the avios paid and 75% of the cash as above if it’s a reward booking, for each seat based on the cost of the first seat then same for second seat.

That 75% downgrade reimbursement compensation is alao due to be paid again for the “companion” seat even if you used a voucher that made the second seat “free”.

Try a google search worded “site: http://www.headforpoints.com/forums-recent-topics/ dpwngrade ” as a starter.

Sounds like BA is low-balling it here by quite a margin given what ypu would have paid – would have been more useful if you’d posted specifically what you paid in avios and cash. The confirmation you reveived should also.show the cash amounts.

[yonasl]

If you have not flown yet and have been told about the downgrade with enough time, try to ask to be moved to another flight instead. You don’t need Avios availability. BA does not need to offer this on the spot but if you have some days before your flight then it is worth a try.

[Scott]

I too am intrigued by the age comment. It feels like the OP is suggesting that a younger couple should have been downgraded instead.

[NorthernLass]

It sounds like this flight has in fact, taken place, although it’s not 100% clear. It would be helpful to know for definite (and if so, when was this), plus also has OP actually received anything from BA yet, and when.

Age comment might be relevant if there were mobility or other issues which meant they needed a flat bed. Plenty of other readers have cited similar circumstances in complaints to BA.

If OP knew EC/UK rules, as they suggest, I’m not sure why they didn’t just ask for what they were legally entitled to?

[JDB]

@Hexel1952 – further to the above comments and advice I wanted to clarify some of the issues and suggest a way forward in what has become something of a minefield. BA has become very hawkish in addressing these downgrades on CV bookings and will have good prospects of winning at CEDR or MCOL if not agreed with BA but that is eminently possible if carefully handled.

1. Your age is immaterial to the claim either way
2. I do not believe the offer of £400 cash or £600 in vouchers represents BA’s attempt to settle your downgrade, but is actually an ex gratia payment to say sorry and would be on top of your statutory claim. That is the standard pattern in these cases anyway although BA staff would usually clarify the point. I would note however, that if the case were litigated at CEDR/MCOL that ex gratia offer is commonly rolled up into the overall payment so you effectively lose it. BA won’t volunteer to settle any downgrade claim – you need to make the claim and await the response. Acceptance of that offer should be without prejudice to your claim.
3. There’s a reference above to calculating the downgrade after deduction of genuine disbursements. In the case of this trip ex LHR, the charges will exceed the RFS you have paid, so you should essentially disregard the cash element. The APD is the same for Club as PE, so there’s no difference to be refunded. This actually makes the claim a bit easier and I think BA is very unlikely to claw back the extra cash it has paid out.

You therefore need to make an online claim for 75% of 90k or 100k depending whether your flight was peak/off peak and as above, you are eligible for 67,500 or 75,000 Avios per person even though the second person was on a companion voucher. People lose these cases by accepting BA’s defence that the second seat was free so no downgrade compensation is owed and that argument has sometimes been swallowed by the courts and CEDR. It is therefore vital to make clear when claiming exactly what you are expecting. The second seat is not free but has been paid for by the voucher which matches the sum paid for the first seat so the voucher is valuable consideration. Essentially, if you look at the overall payment as (for example) being 100k Avios + £237.50 for seat 1 and the voucher + £237.50 for seat 2 this demonstrates the value of the voucher as does the fact that if you remove the voucher from that payment line, you owe BA 100k more Avios.

The fact that the voucher/earning the voucher also isn’t free is less important but nevertheless worth stating. You have to take out a credit card costing £300 pa and spend £15k on that card in order to earn a voucher, so it is in no way free.

Please let us know how you get on as this is an issue that crops up quite regularly. Do post, particularly if BA doesn’t offer to pay you 135k or 150k Avios to see if there are suggestions for best next steps. It’s enough Avios to be worth a fight, but if they see you mean business, they may just pay up.