Originally Posted by
smckay
Hi all,
I just want to check my understanding of what, if anything, I am entitled to following my recent flight disruption.
We have 2 x CW seats from LHR to MIA returned booked using an AMEX 241. Outbound was flown without issue.
The inbound was cancelled on March 29th and the prior flight went tech at LHR. I asked to get moved onto AA flights from MIA to JFK and then JFK to LHR.
We arrived only an hour after we were due to land if the MIA flight had run as scheduled. We did have to fly the MIA to JFK sector in economy as no Biz seats were available.
I believe the only compensation on offer would be for the MIA to JFK sector due to the downgrade in cabin; 30% of miles?
Unless you had to leave MIA more than an hour earlier, you are correct that you would not get cancellation compensation. However you are certainly due downgrade reimbursement.
Be prepared for BA to undercalculate your reimbursement. Firstly, they may try to only give you 50% of the pro-rata cost, arguing that since the affected flight falls into the mid-haul band (1501-3500km) the mid-haul reimbursement rate of 50% should apply.
However I would contest this, as you were never booked to be on a mid-haul flight and this was a replacement for what should have been a long-haul flight. The reduction in comfort is therefore greater than if you had been booked in a short-haul recliner for example, and it is thus entirely reasonable to get the long-haul 75% rate.
The CJEU jurisprudence is very clear that journeys with connections are viewed as a single indivisible "unit of transport", which isn't exactly compatible with looking at the leg in isolation and ignoring the wider journey.
Secondly, BA may also try to ignore the value of the 241 - however, I would argue you're entitled to reimbursement on the Avios it saved you (i.e. doubling the reimbursement from what it would be from the 'nominal' value of the Avios actually used). This is since reimbursement is supposed to be based on a proportion of the "fare paid". The voucher surely has to be counted as part of the "fare", as it's an indispensable part of the consideration you exchanged to get the flights - BA would not have issued the ticket for that amount of Avios otherwise.
There have been successes at CEDR and MCOL level for the latter element, although I will be the first to concede that not all cases have succeeded.
Originally Posted by
ScottishOdyssey
I suspect you are correct, but someone else will hopefully answer with more certainty. I was also meant to be on this flight. I'd allowed an extra day in my schedule, so I took the rebook for the following day MIA-CDG-EDI on Air France. So I'm hoping for a bit more compensation of course. The initial offer suggested the new ticket would be in F, but when it was ticketed seat selection was for business. Only 4 x F on that plane, so maybe someone got in ahead of me. Would have been nice to fly F on AF. I did however have an unexpected bike ride along ocean drive during the extra day...
If the best offer was next-day rebooking then yes, you would be entitled to cancellation compensation.
Similarly you are also entitled to downgrade reimbursement. However it may be a little trickier to get 75% for the CDG-EDI portion, since you would presumably also have been booked in J for LHR-EDI, which is only a slightly longer distance. If you got 75% based on MIA-CDG then I would probably call it quits, unless your fare was particularly expensive.