Originally Posted by
paffendorf
I quite disagree. This is a grey-area about EU261. EU261 talks about downgrade referred to overbooking. This is different and it's quite complicate to understand exactly if downgrading you in advance because of a fare mapping issue is below the EU261 reg.....
I beg to differ. There is no mention of overbooking in the section of EU261 that covers downgrade. It applies, and has been applied to any downgrade situation, for any reason (and at any time before the flight, not just within 14 days like cancellations/delays). Here is the relevant article:
Article 10
Upgrading and downgrading
1. If an operating air carrier places a passenger in a class higher than that for which the ticket was purchased, it may not request any supplementary payment.
2. If an operating air carrier places a passenger in a class lower than that for which the ticket was purchased, it shall within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), reimburse
(a) 30 % of the price of the ticket for all flights of 1500 kilometres or less, or
(b) 50 % of the price of the ticket for all intra-Community flights of more than 1500 kilometres, except flights between the European territory of the Member States and the French overseas departments, and for all other flights between 1500 and 3500 kilometres, or
(c) 75 % of the price of the ticket for all flights not falling under (a) or (b), including flights between the European territory of the Member States and the French overseas departments.
I'd also mention that the fare mapping issue is irrelevant to the consumer: I searched for a business class ticket, booked a business class ticket, and got a ticket receipt from Alitalia with all flights in business class, with a class code (E) that is correctly a business class code for Alitalia.