Originally Posted by
Prospero
Thanks. Yes, I see that the Mennens versus Emirates judgement added clarity in terms of the reimbursement calculation. However, in terms of qualification item 27 would indicate that the Mennens formula applies where the passenger ends up in a cabin class lower than ticketed. So the situation with retickets is as murky today as it was when EC261 was introduced, because an airline can argue that it is obligated to provide carriage in the class of travel to which the passenger is ticketed at the time of check in.
I don't see it in those terms. Anyone downgraded would have held, at some point, a ticket in the higher cabin. You have to be reticketed to be downgraded before the point of travel, and at least for BA that typically happens at check-in, though it could happen at the gate. So the difference in potential scenarios here is purely a question of the amount of time involved. In your scenario the ticket is held in the downgraded cabin for potentially a long time, in other scenarios you only discover the over-sale or equiment change at the airport, hence a short period of time. It surely makes no difference if you are given 20 minutes notice of the downgrade or 20 weeks notice - particularly if the airline isn't offering a refund. Airlines have separately tried to argue that this provision only applies to over-sales but CJEU has said that the Regulation applies more generally, so long as it the airline that "places" the passenger in the lower cabin. I'm reasonably confident that CEDR works on this basis too.