Originally Posted by
Jakehine
Thanks, I’ve had a long look through the main thread and it’s still confusing me, mostly due to the various components of the changes.
- additional layover (probably not relevant)
- greater than 1 hour earlier departure
- less than 3 hour arrival ‘delay’
- part downgrade on short layover leg (2500km)
- it was paid in avios / 241 companion voucher
one thing mentioned in email is that it’s operational cancellation which is a positive (for a case).
my assumption would be €600pp + refund of downgrade of an assumed avios cost of ORD->SFO (maybe at 50% due to companion voucher being used).
I’ve had multiple flights cancelled / delayed recently and decisions seem to vary, none being as complicated at this.
The additional change won't be relevant.
Having to leave more than an hour earlier means you're due full compensation of £520pp, regardless of how late (or otherwise) you arrived. However, if your rebooked ORD-SFO was scheduled to arrive less than 2 hours late then BA will likely short-change you in ignorance of the CJEU decision in
Azurair. You'll need to take the case to CEDR to get what you're owed if so.
Being downgraded gives you an entitlement to downgrade reimbursement, which is calculated according to the
Mennens formula. In brief, you are entitled to 50% of the fare paid for the leg downgraded, which in turn is determined pro-rata based on the distance of the affected leg vs the overall mileage.
As in many downgrade reimbursement cases, using Avios and having a 241 voucher complicates matters somewhat. If you travelled with a companion, BA may try and argue that your companion travelled "for free" and thus there isn't any downgrade reimbursement due for them. If you travelled on your own, BA may claim the 50% Avios effectively paid for by the voucher count for nothing.
BA may also claim that some of the cash you paid constitutes taxes & fees, even though in all classes except F there is now Reward Flight Saver, which means liability for TFCs is transferred to BA in exchange for a fixed sum that in reality constitutes a fare since it fulfils the
Mennens criteria of varying by class - and in any event you are never provided with a breakdown of TFCs, either when booking or afterwards.
You'll want to submit one claim for the cancellation compensation and any related "duty of care" expenses (e.g. food or drink during the journey), and a separate claim for downgrade reimbursement. Try to keep the freetext section of the claim form as brief as possible - 1 or 2 sentences max - as this may mean your case is put in the "quick and easy" pile and thus processed quicker.
If you haven't received a response after 8 weeks, or you're unhappy with what BA confirm as their final response, you can and should go straight to CEDR.