corporate-wage-slave

Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum sergiomillenium. Thanks for sharing that experience, I'm sure it will help anyone else left in this unfortunate position. We also have a thread on EC261 in the Dashboard, where other experiences of CEDR have been shared, both positive and negative.

Downgrading is poorly handled in my view. Delays / cancellations cause fewer problems if they are clear cut, some people get their compensation within a week. The reason for the difficulty is partly due to BA having a long standing Involuntary Fare Refund process, which would apply in cases not eligible for EC261, and I get the impression that BA thinks that is good enough. In some cases it is, since it can exceed EC261's complex formula. However the people who issue that refund - under this particular system - is the ticketing agency, so a travel agent or in your case Iberia. And Iberia's customer relations aren't good in this area, if we take a charitable view. However EC261 is totally clear about this, such that it is the responsibility of the operating airline, it doesn't matter who issued the ticket.

What would be interesting is what BA said in their defence at CEDR? Why did they feel they were not responsible for the downgrade reimbursement?