Originally Posted by
cauchy
There is still the 75% refund of avios and fees that you'll be entitled to. Whether there are "Exceptional circumstances" does not matter when it comes to the 75% refund.
as noted there aren't any J seats unless the OP takes the last northbound flight - and those may well have gone too by now! If the OP takes the earlier flight to get home rather than wait is that an involuntary downgrade?