Originally Posted by
PablitoCA
Firstly, will I get the original TP and Avios credits from my First ticket? This is particularly critical with TP as the gap from First to CW is the difference between ending the year with Gold or not. Also I booked in the double Avios promotion so would be loathe to drop a massively lucrative amount.
Secondly, would this classify as a downgrade under EU261? Am wary of clicking to accept the new flights in case it potentially invalidates any claim I may have here. If it does, is there a specific way I should proceed?
Finally, do BA typically honour things like First Wing and CCR access and additional baggage allowance in cases like this? Or can they be politely persuaded to?
For the first and last points, the system defaults to CW TPs, Avios and lounge access. You can ring YouFirst and try to negotiate these, and that was allowed when something similar happened on YYZ. However I've not seen anything about this for Austin so I wouldn't put your chances very high. So one option is re-route via DFW or somewhere similar, instead, on to a service with First, and YouFirst can assist with this. By all means research your options before calling so you can have your preferences lined up.
For EC261, I personally regard it as a downgrade if BA don't provide you with an alternative, but BA tends to regard the downgrade provisions as only applying for last minute downgrades. There is no wording in the Regulation that supports this, but that's the way it goes. BA's own recalculation for the downgrade may - or may not - be fairly similar, and they may award some Avios for the inconvenience. But look at the main EC261 thread in the Dashboard and do your own calculation of the Mennens formula (see wiki).
Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA board
PablitoCA.