Originally Posted by
ajg1002
I’m wondering if anyone else has run into a similar issue with Air Canada regarding involuntary downgrades and EU261 compensation.
My wife and I were both downgraded from Business Class to Premium Economy on AC flight 815 from Nice (NCE) to Montreal (YUL). Our tickets were booked with Aeroplan points, and based on EU261 (Article 10), we should have received a refund of 75% of the ticket price for that segment.
Here’s the situation:
• I paid 87,200 points per ticket.
• Air Canada refunded me 37,968 points per ticket.
If this refund is in accordance with EU261, I’m trying to understand the breakdown. It seems that they are implying the NCE to YUL leg was valued at 50,624 points (since 37,968 is 75% of 50,624), and that the YUL to PHL leg was valued at 36,576 points.
This doesnt seem right. Has anyone else had similar issues with point-based refunds for downgrades under EU261? How was your refund calculated? Any advice or experiences would be appreciated!
NCE-YUL 3,818 miles
NCE-YUL=PHL 4,212 miles
Aeroplan reward chart shows level 1 is under 4,000 miles
Leverl 2 is over 4,000 miles
That added segment pushes you over 4,000 so it's worth a fair bit.
But worth 42% seems like a stretch, unless NCE-YUL was booking into low fare bracket and YUL-PHL was high, thus driving up fare value YUL-PHL.
Maybe ask AC to confirm that you were refunded 75% of NCE-YUL coupon value and not refunded a partial ticket fare difference refund?
Also, did you pay tax in cash? Or all points? There are more tax YUL-PHL than NCE-YUL so if all on points this will drive up the value of YUL-PHL and lower coupon value of NCE-YUL as the 75% is for the fare and fee, not just fare.