I was downgraded from Premium to Economy on an old 767 without any premium cabin, FCO to EWR on Sunday, Aug. 18th. I got to FCO ok but this was awful. Norwegian sent me a seat assignment for a window seat two rows from the back of the plane. 2-4-2 configuration. When I called, the woman told me that they would issue the 75% refund when they felt like it and that supervisors were for internal use only and were not there to talk to any customers. I actually paid for Premium Flex, so the 75% refund isn't much compensation. Then I got to to FCO to check in and was able to choose a bulkhead seat. Got on the plane and my seat didn't exist and the 22 year old FAs from "Euro Atlantic" told us, it was "open seating." Seat was smaller than any plane I've ever traveled on. When there were children getting separated from their parents, the FAs told us it wasn't their job. I have received no response to my tweet, my email to the head of "customer service" or on FB. I will never fly Norwegian again. It's not worth the difference in fare.
I don't see how this method could be profitable. They leased a much smaller plane without a premium section so have to refund 75% of the entire premium cabin's fares. Then they asked for volunteers to go on later flights so had to offer compensation for each of those people. How is this profitable? I was notified of the downgrade less than 48 hours before my flight so there was no way to get another flight for the fare I paid had I accepted a refund.