gutt3d

Hi all,

I come here seeking advice and guidance. Hopefully I'm posting in the correct place, and hopefully I'm not going against any forum etiquette by outlining my issue.

The issue, in a nutshell, is that on May 7th my class of travel was downgraded from Premium to Standard Economy on a long-haul flight - and I'm frustrated with the dealings I've have with BA and BAEC. I've been through CEDR and to be honest I still feel that BA have in some way "gotten away with it" hence would value the opinion of users here.

The circumstances are as follows... While I'll know for next time to book direct, back then I booked with Expedia who sold me an Iberia ticket on a BA flight from Heathrow to Phoenix. The downgrade happened on outbound leg, which departed on a Sunday. I paid Expedia £2,598.57 (including taxes and credit card surcharge). I contacted BA in first instance, who said to contact Expedia, who suggested BA or Iberia etc. - after many weeks of going round the houses I ended up having to take BA to CEDR. I claimed for 75% of half the overall price I paid to Expedia - I claimed for a little under £1000 under EC 261/2004. BA defended by saying that the sector cost was £615, so BA only need to reimburse 75% of this £615.

This is first time I've had to make any sort of claim, so perhaps didn't prepare my CEDR case very well; but I feel that 75% of £615 (=£461.25) barely (if even) covers difference in fare between Economy & Premium even after taxes are taken out. I feel that BA have "gotten away with it" - and while the money is clearly important (this is a lot of money to me!) I also feel that I've not been treated fairly. And the bit about not being treated fairly is the bit that makes me want to dig my heels in and keep fighting this.

I'd appreciate FT user views on this: has BA acted reasonably, and/or should I just get over it and accept this? Or should I consider rejecting CEDR's decision and then taking BA to court over this?

Important point to note is that I have no hard evidence of how much each leg cost - remember that the flight was on May 7th, and I booked some weeks before that flight (and the Expedia receipt is not itemised to show outbound and inbound cost). All I can say is that I remember at time of booking being surprised (but accepting) that Premium cost was substantially more if in fact almost double the Economy ticket price. I don't know if it's possible to prove this in any way - if there is some way I can find out the actual price Expedia would have charged, that would be helpful. However without knowing how much my outbound cost vs. my inbound, all I have is the headline price I paid to Expedia (which shows taxes and credit card fee along with flights - but no other detail).

I flew out on a Sunday afternoon, and flew back on a Friday night. But even with this in mind, the outbound leg @ £615 (even after taking of some high number for taxes) seems surprisingly cheap, when overall ticket price (minus taxes) is considered. Even accounting for taxes (which CEDR say cannot be factored into the claim) then it still seems that BA have gotten off quite lightly out of this.

Ultimately I feel that BA have somehow gotten off the hook - it's felt like a fight since the start, and while it doesn't feel like I've lost the battle it certainly doesn't feel like much of a victory; I can't be sure, though it seems possible that if I accept £465.25 then I'd actually end up out of pocket and actually *paying* for the privilege of being downgraded. But - if the knowledge and experience of the userbase here says that I need to man up and put it behind me, then so be it. I'm wondering, however, whether I should take this to small claims (e.g. claim for 75% of half total price paid minus taxes and credit card fee - this would be 75% of half of £2,108 and would be £790.50, which is a far cry form the £461-odd that BA offered and that CEDR approved).

Again - the money certainly is important; but that is *NOT* my main motivation. After so long fighting this, the money is genuinely a secondary concern - my primary concern is that I feel that BA haven't played fair, and I've been screwed over.

Am I being unreasonable?

Opinions welcomed as to:
(a) whether it's possible to find out - after so long - how much the outbound leg cost and whether I'd actually be out of pocket if I accept the £416-odd;
and/or
(b) whether I should reject CEDR decision and take it to small claims but perhaps present my case more clearly (rather than just firing off the Expedia headline price and not considering taxes etc).

Sorry for such a long post. Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any advice.