Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
If there was no realistic First option offered then yes, it has to be a downgrade. You are perhaps - and understandably - jumping to conclusions that it has to go to CEDR. Just go to the Mennens formula calculation (see wiki), round it up to the nearest £10 and ask BA to pay that amount "in line with the Mennens Formula set out by the CJEU for EC261 downgrades". They will probably say that it needs to go the back office for calculation, this may take a few weeks. At some point either BA will offer the downgrade calculation or not, as the case may be. At that point it's best to go to CEDR rather than have a webform pingpong battle. The calculation made by BA may not look anything like Mennens but it may be OK for you all things considered.
My understanding of e-vouchers is that they can be used by person X to book for passenger Y (not just X). So it would be a bit surprising if they really can't use the voucher. But if it is useless, then send it back, but BA are entitled to show goodwill by whatever mechanism they choose.
Thanks - the thing with the voucher is that there seems to be restrictions on what countries that it can be used to/from, most of the countries on that list are the ones the family travels to and from.
We sent in a request for the EU261 compensation for the downgrade, and this was rejected by BA. The reply is as follows;
You're entitled to a refund for the difference in fare and an additional goodwill gesture from ourselves if we notify you in advance of an aircraft change or flight cancellation. As you arrived at the airport on the day of travel with a new confirmed Club World ticket, this means you're not eligible for a 75% refund of the fare paid for that portion of your journey as you were rebooked into the new cabin.
To be eligible for this, you must have turned up on the day of travel with your new Club World confirmed ticket and then be told you were downgraded as this is considered as an involuntary downgrade. As you accepted the downgrade two days before travelling, we offered you the voucher which you have been given in my previous correspondence and refunded you the difference between First and Club World.
I can see how BA are trying to interpret the legislation, but I am 99% sure this is wrong. Is it?
As I've said before, we (the pax and I, helping them!) are ready to to go to CEDR, although I'd rather we didn't get that far.