corporate-wage-slave

I think I have already made the point in several separate threads that I when I asked BA (at several management levels) whether 2-4-1s were more likely to be downgraded, they flatly denied it. I know this flies against the mood music put out here and in another place, but yes BA can and do downgrade full fare First ticket holders (even on middle ranking celebs, judging from a discreet bust-up I witnessed last week in the CCR T5) if they are the last to be checked in - even if there is someone else in the cabin on an Avios ticket.

What I was told was that though there are a few ifs and buts, essentially if someone has a seat and checks in at the first opportunity, they are less likely to get downgraded. If they don't get a seat at OLCI it's important to keep trying since it's often a dynamic situation, though that wouldn't so likely returning to London. Also it is less likely if they had a paid for seat (which doesn't arise in First, but it would be interesting to know if the downgraded-daughter had a paid for seat), ditto with special meals. Special meals also inhibit upgrades, for very similar reasons, since it's more difficult than it looks to move special meals between cabins. That's not a total block however.

Otherwise broadly speaking they downgrade the last person without a seat who hasn't checked in, which is appears to be what happened here and perhaps one should congratulate the OP for doing it that way around, on the basis that soneone, somewhere, had to be downgraded. It would also be interesting to know whether the OLCI was done on the dot of T-24 or a bit after, about a third of OLCI is done in the first 2 hours. Moreover whether there was an attempt to do OLCI a few hours later (e.g. if someone had offloaded themselves). Hotlines are indeed revenue tickets in this context (they aren't necessarily cheaper), but ID travel is potentially at risk of downgrading not least because they are often among the last to get a seat anyway.

The worst case I came across was on a JFK flight I had a few months ago. I was given an involuntary upgrade to First from an WTP (ex Jersey) revenue, with discount, and then UuA'd to CW - super cheap in other words. I wandered over to the CW kitchen to take a photo when I got chatting to someone there, and it turned out he was in CW but downgraded from First. He said his was a revenue ticket and I have no reason to dispute this. From what he said, and recalling what had happened in CCR when I got my Invol Upgrade, he checked in very late indeed, well after I had already been OpUp'd to First. At that point I was holding a seat in First, and he wasn't, simple as that. I presume someone in CW, even later to check in, was sulking in WTP.