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My partner and I have just arrived home from Portugal. On one booking, we paid for 2xClub Avios seats. Going out we had no problems. At check-in today, back to Gatwick, we were told that due to a staff shortage, we had been moved to Economy. (On board, we noticed Club was full, complete with full service announcement. )
Obviously disappointed, but I guess these things happen.
However, having checked in 24 hrs earlier, I was surprised that we had been moved.
As non regular flyers, may I ask where we stand regarding any compensation and how to go about it ?
Thankyou for your assistance.
( ps 2xG&T’s.. £16 !)There is a wealth of info in the threads on here about downgrades, but you are covered by UK261 legislation for this. On short-haul you are entitled to 30% of what you paid for the downgraded leg, although BA will sometimes offer the fare difference (if greater) between cabins, plus some avios for the lack of F & B in the new cabin.
If you ask specifically and nicely they may refund your G&T costs. Always keep complaint emails as short and factual as possible.
@lftbeach – unfortunately, neither of the pieces of advice above is quite correct. You are entitled under to compensation (albeit it is referred to as reimbursement in the legislation) under UK261 Article 10 for the downgrade but the % would depend where in Portugal you travelled from and your destination. It’s not fixed at 30% for short haul as stated above. The 30% only applies to flights of 1500km or less, above that, for European flights it’s 50%. Oporto to London gives a different result vs Faro to London. You should ask for whichever is the greater of the 30/50% reimbursement or the difference between the classes that you paid; BA won’t balk at that choice. If it had been on departure from the UK, you would also have been entitled to the difference in APD between the classes, but I don’t think that applies from Portugal.
While there are references to getting some Avios back for “the lack of F & B in the new cabin” or a refund for your G & T costs, I wouldn’t get your hopes up as that would be an unusual response from BA – they are notoriously stingy on downgrade claims. It also runs contrary to the ECJ’s rulings on this subject that state the reimbursement is compensation for the fact the passenger “does not benefit, during that flight, from the comfort corresponding to the class indicated in that ticket.” Asking for the drinks to be paid is asking for double compensation. It’s not impossible, so you can send the receipt, but count it as a bonus if you get anything.
I did LIS-LHR this week (don’t mess with the LHR posse 🙂 ). It was a full flight. 8 rows of CE, so must have been popular (11 on the way out). You didn’t miss much (but the crew were superb!).
Take the miles and move on. You won’t get anything else. It happens.
You should ask for whichever is the greater of the 30/50% reimbursement or the difference between the classes that you paid; BA won’t balk at that choice.
No, you’re right, BA don’t balk, they just totally ignore you and give you the lower number
Recently was cancelled and downgraded on a 1450km route, from 1A to the very back of a full flight 2 hours later, and BA spent most of the response email explaining in minute detail why I wouldn’t get any compensation for the cancellation, which I wasn’t expecting, and completely ignored the downgrade question
Instead I got a paltry 30% of the fare, which was less than half the fare difference between basic economy and club, with no replies to my complaints. If I had KNOWN I would be downgraded, I would have booked economy in the first place… My travelling companion on a separate ticket still hasn’t got her compensation – from 3 months ago
Also had to fight for the Tier Points, as the Gold Line keep saying “but you were ticketed in Economy” – 3 phone calls to fix that – so, to the OP, keep chasing to ensure you get exactly the TPs you paid for
Given that BA is cancelling double the average number of flights this year (see https://www.ft.com/content/877851e3-1f12-4d85-8e54-7a5488541600), the whole cancel / downgrade compo thing needs to be automated, as Secretary Pete is proposing in the US: “Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them – without headaches or haggling”
Just to put the number into perspective the average number of cancellations based on the figures in the FT – 4023 per year – is an average of 11 flights a day.
And many flights are cancelled due to outside factors.
@kt74 – are you sure you are entitled to cancellation compensation when you were rerouted two hours later?
Re the number of flight cancellations affecting BA, it’s hardly surprising when BA’s hub is congested and has compulsorily limited opening hours.
Re suggesting an automated process, it’s the sort of thing politicians suggest until they talk to the civil servants who have to draft legislation to give effect to that wish. It’s simply not practical. You can also be sure that if it were ever implemented, the rates of compensation would inevitably be considerably lower than they are today. We are unlikely to introduce it unilaterally in the UK so as not to disadvantage our airlines vs their competitors.
One should be careful what one wishes for – the system actually works quite well (you only hear about the problems) you get huge compensation sums, out of pocket expenses paid and you have free recourse in this country to arbitration or MCOL something lacking in many other countries
@kt74 – re the downgrade, my comment that you quoted was in connection with an Avios booking where BA generally offers the difference between the Avios between classes which will generally give a worse result on longer flights where the reimbursement rate is 50% or 75% and sometimes also on only one ticket if using a voucher. BA has to be pressed to correct this. They do usually apply thd difference on sub 1500km flights so the pax actually gets a better result than the statutory entitlement.
In your case, for a cash ticket, 30% is the correct statutory reimbursement % for a flight under 1500km so I’m not sure what the issue is with BA correctly applying the law. People are usually complaining when they don’t!
@kt74 – are you sure you are entitled to cancellation compensation when you were rerouted two hours later?
Re the number of flight cancellations affecting BA, it’s hardly surprising when BA’s hub is congested and has compulsorily limited opening hours.
1. No, I wasn’t expecting cancellation compensation. I only want the fare difference for the involuntary downgrade between Club and Basic Economy, which is more than 30% of the fare difference
2. A plane going tech leading to the 2am cancellation when the outbound flight was departing LHR at 7am, where there are, presumably, a lot of BA planes sitting around at night, has (a) got nothing to do with congestion or limited opening hours, and (b) sounds like they picked a flight to cancel which would involve the smallest amount of compensation
@kt74 If only BAs operation made enough money to have spare aircraft lying around, it doesn’t. Also, from an operational perceptive, a rescheduling is done to minimise the knock on delays through the day. To suggest that BA will cancel the flight that would lead to the least amount of compensation is somewhat disingenuous. Furthermore, many aircraft spend the night away from Heathrow because of the lack of parking. I fully understand your frustration, I’d be frustrating too and I’d be pushing for a refund of the fare difference. Whether BA give it you or not is another thing, this is the difference between legislation and goodwill.
In your case, for a cash ticket, 30% is the correct statutory reimbursement % for a flight under 1500km so I’m not sure what the issue is with BA correctly applying the law. People are usually complaining when they don’t!
It’s an excellent money-spinning ruse for BA:
– Sell Club for £300
– Sell Economy for £120Downgrade everyone from Club, and give them £90 compo. Make £90 profit. GENIUS!
But if you booked CE, you’d have access to biz check-in, fast-track security, lounge and free priority checked luggage. All of which costs and has benefits. I’m sure if you’d explained to the Purser when boarding they would have brought you some free drinks from the CE bar.
Not nice to be downgraded, but for a short flight not a big issue.
But if you booked CE, you’d have access to biz check-in, fast-track security, lounge and free priority checked luggage. All of which costs and has benefits. I’m sure if you’d explained to the Purser when boarding they would have brought you some free drinks from the CE bar.
Not nice to be downgraded, but for a short flight not a big issue.
But many people will have those from their status anyway.
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