Hi folks,

Sorry to bump this thread but I just had my LHR-SFO return in March/April downgraded from a F to a J cabin and I was pondering my options. It was a very cheap F flight but I don't think the difference is worth the 75% reimbursement you seem to be eligible for, so I'd prefer to not reroute to destinations with an F cabin available and not to reschedule to a flight with F available, and accept the new flight offering given to me and claim the 75% reimbursement after my flight. My questions are:

1) The flights I am on, BA284/285, seem to be cancelled or zeroed out, given that they're no longer bookable on ba.com, the only flights available to book on the dates I'm flying are BA286/287. However, I am still offered a J seat on B284/285 on MMB on the downgrade screen. Am I likely to be punted onto the BA286/287 flights eventually, or is this a blip and the original flights might be reinstated later when they're done fiddling with the scheduling?
2) If I want to be sure to not be put back on a F flight later, to ensure I'm eligible for the 75% reimbursement, it would seem prudent to accept the downgrade. Just to be clear, this won't cause an issue when claiming under EC261 later because I "accepted" it months in advance?
3) On the booking downgrade screen there's a banner claiming "Simply contact us, tell us your booking reference and we’ll refund the fare difference from your original cabin." — this sounds to me like they're just going to refund me the cash difference between booking CW and F, which I think at the time was something like £2-300 as it was during a sale. Is this worth doing at all or is it better to leave it until claiming under EC261 later? I assume I can't double-dip and claim both BA's fare difference as well as the EC261 reimbursement. Or am I wrong, and is this somehow BA being up-front and honest and refunding you what you're owed under EC261?
4) Am I right in thinking that actual taxes won't be eligible for the 75% of the refund but the ludicrous "carrier-imposed surcharges" will be? My flight was £1882.12, of which £266.12 were actual taxes and £400 were BA charges. So the reimbursement should be (1882.12 - 266.12)*0.75 = £1212?
5) Have people had luck with retaining their lounge allowance lately despite a downgrade? I've yet to see the CCR and it would be neat to do so, especially since Galleries is a bit naff.

Many thanks for any help!