Just now - two months after submitting my claim - I finally received a response from Finnair.

To give some background: three months ago, my Finnair flight (return leg, AGP-HEL-OSL) in Business Class was cancelled. I was rebooked the same day on a direct SAS flight (AGP-OSL) in SAS Plus. The departure time difference was minimal (only about 40 minutes), but the arrival time of the new flight was more than 5 hours earlier than originally scheduled. This caused major inconvenience, as I had to sit at Oslo airport for hours waiting for a previously arranged and prepaid transfer.

I understand that, under EC261, I likely cannot claim compensation for the such early arrival alone given the rebooking conditions - and that's fine.

However, what truly surprised me was Finnair's rejection of my downgrade compensation claim. They argued that I had been rebooked into the "same cabin," which is simply not true. SAS Plus is not equivalent to Finnair Business Class.

- I was denied lounge access in Málaga (AGP); I was told there was no agreement between SAS and the lounge there.
- I was assigned seat 4B - a middle seat - far from the standards of Business Class.
- The onboard service was extremely poor: the only available meal option was a cold prawn salad, which I had to refuse due to my shellfish allergy. No alternative meals were offered.

As a result, I ended up spending the entire day without food. My original plan, when booking Finnair Business, was to skip breakfast at the hotel, have breakfast in the lounge at AGP, and enjoy a proper meal onboard. Instead, I had no breakfast, no lounge access, and no meal on the plane.

Has anyone had experience claiming EC261 compensation for a downgrade from Finnair Business to SAS Plus? How should I proceed in disputing their refusal?