How long for a refund for a forced BA downgrade?

[blueskiesahead]

Avios booking to Dubai was downgraded from First to Business both ways . On arrival home I competed the standard complaints form online .I am expecting 75% of avios plus some cash from what I have read.
It is now one month , and all I have is one email to say we are dealing with this. How long can I expect to wait? Many thanks

• This topic was modified 54 years, 11 months ago by .

[Lady London]

I suggest anyone make British Airways officially aware asap, for the avoidance of doubt, that following the flight you will also be claiming from them the 75% reimbursement of what you paid for First, that will he due to you for this involuntary downgrade. As soon as you see the downgrade.

It would have been better inform them of this upfront before accepting any form of refund even partial. That’s to avoid any tedious repartie from BA, that you had “settled” by accepting even this partial refund. However I’ve seen reports of MCOL judgments that have clearly stated the fact you accepted a partial refund did not remove your statutory right under EU261 and its UK equivalent to 75% reimbursement as well as flying the forced downgrade in Business. But not seen the detail of those cases so am a tiny bit wary (but only a tiny bit).

Send BA an email or call them and state you’ll be claiming to avoid all ambiguity, keep a note of the call and its date and time and who you spoke to, just to be safe.

Note the 75% you get back (and your companion on a 241 also gets back as well at the same value as the first seat on a 241) is calculated after removing ‘true’ taxes and airport charges, particularly APD, so taking about £200 off a longhaul seat, then the operating airline has to reimburse you 75% of the rest which you should request after you’ve flown it.

If you’ve flown and claimed and BA has been silent or not paid up after 8 weeks or 3 asks (say a complaint form or phone request(logged) or email plus 2 further reminders from you, then start the MCOL process by sending them a Letter Before Action giving them, say, 14 days to pay otherwise you will MCOL.

Search the HfP website for previous comments in the Daily chat threads in particular for comments from Jonathan (excellent on LBA) and meta as well as others. Use Google external search format site: headforpoints.com then your search string(s). It won’t return all previous posts, but you should get enough.

BA should settle before it gets to judgment date as this is an open and shut statutory right, you get the small fee back when you win which you will, by including it in your claim, and these days it’s almost always done all online.

[cabal of rabid baboons]

I believe that you can claim the value in pounds of 75% of the Avios at a rate of 1.6p per Avios point.

[Lady London]

PS if it goes to MCOL the accepted rate to claim 75% of any avios back at, is 1.6p per avios as that’s BA’s standard selling price. MCOL is for cash claims and this would generally be better than taking avios (whose value is restricted and can be reduced by the airline at any moment) from an airline that involuntarily downgraded you for its own commercial reasons.

[sambe]

Do you mean email/call from the desk/gate when informed of the downgrade, before accepting any offer they make there? Is there an email address for this type of thing? I wouldn’t have thought calling was much better than informing the customer service people you are already talking to (and a long wait…).

Would making a point of the claim you intend to make perhaps encourage them to withdraw the partial refund offer (when you very likely would have got both originally)?

[Lady London]

sambe wrote:

Do you mean email/call from the desk/gate when informed of the downgrade, before accepting any offer they make there? Is there an email address for this type of thing? I wouldn’t have thought calling was much better than informing the customer service people you are already talking to (and a long wait…).

Would making a point of the claim you intend to make perhaps encourage them to withdraw the partial refund offer (when you very likely would have got both originally)?

It’s to ensure it’s kept clear that the downgrade is involuntary as the reimbursement (some call it compensation but ChrisC has pointed out it’s actually called reimbursement in the statute) is for involuntary downgrade.

There’s a chance an operating airline could claim you settled just for a refund of avios and/or a cash difference if you accept or ask for this before flying and claiming. I see no problem with keeping things with the airline that they will be receiving your claim, it keeps things clear.

The airline will be perfectly aware of your right to this and their liability. They know the statute applies. As the professionals in the transaction the airline will have taken their EU261 compensation, duty of care and involuntary downgrade reimbursement responsibilities into account in any decision they make. Such as to remove First Class from a flight or cancel it.

It’s just that if there is an opportunity to reduce the takeup of those liabilities by passengers airlines will take it. This may include sailing close to the wind by not informing passengers of their rights. Even when they are supposed to, and failing to train agents correctly.

There is no shame in reminding them. Just keep a note of date and time, at the time, and ideally a note of who you spoke to.

[blueskiesahead]

Many thanks for the very complete replies. I thought this was a simple process of simply filling in a form !
I wonder what email address you suggest I use to contact BA? Currently bronze if that matters at all

Thanks