Booking Class in case of rebooking
 

I have an upcoming flight WAW-CPH-NRT in booking class L on SAS where I was counting on 100% miles for my requalification. Now with the potential strike of the SAS pilots it is possible I'd get rebooked on another airline.
I was wondering in which booking classes those rebookings would book in. I suppose the lowest available but return fares or one-way fares?
For example for a rebooking on LOT the lowest available return fare would be W which would only earn 25%. The lowest one-way is E which would earn 75%.
And could I demand to get rebooked on another airline like ANA, if I'm not happy with the result?

I would recommend being proactive, i.e., if the strike goes ahead, then call SAS yourself instead of waiting for them to contact you, and also do our research ahead of time (as you seem to have done), to be able to provide SAS with alternative options. I don't know how much leeway the agents have with respect to airlines and routes, but I assume they can only put you in the cheapest available booking class. And unless you have a return coming up very soon after the outbound, SAS would probably just rebook the outbound first.

If the end result is not to your liking, you can always go ahead and request original routing credit (ORC) from A3 based on what you booked. This is usually easiest if the airline you originally booked with, and the frequent flyer program you are crediting to, is one and the same (in your case EuroBonus), but it should be possible with SK and A3 M+B also (it might just take more effort).

Good luck!

The cheapest booking classes are usually sold out when rebookings are made at a last minute's notice, so the chances are that you won't end up in one of those cheap classes. But you can ask when you make the reservation.

Thanks for all your answers. I didn't know about ORC but the combination SK A3 seems to be complicated to get credited. As I understand I'd have to contact SK to credit the original routing to A3.

What I was wondering when you get rebooked on another airline would they book me in a return fare booking class or a one-way on the new airline. Usually the one-way fare classes are the higher ones as they are more expensive. The SK booking is a return fare but would they adjust the booking with a new outbound flight on another airline or create a new booking with a one-way flight.

With Irrops the airline that performs the flight will receive the coupon value of your original ticket. That's likely half of the price that you paid for the round-trip.

It will definitely be on the same/existing booking, on a round-trip basis.

My SAS flight was cancelled due to the pilot strike and I was rebooked on Emirates. I called Aegean customer service and I was told that their policy is that you get the miles of the flights you have actually flown, so no ORC. I then contacted SAS via Messenger and I was told to try to file a claim of retroactive mileage credit with Aegean and see what happens. So, I will wait for 7 days to pass and then try to file a claim. Is there anything else I can do?

The funny think is that the SAS website states that they offer ORC for their own program (EuroBonus).

I should also mention that the Emirates flight appears to be booked on Y class of service.

Nothing funny about that, *A rules are followed which state that miles are only awarded if flown on a *A partner airline and A3 (and M+B) is not in any way involved in the new booking and subsequent ticketting with Emirates. The fact that SAS/Eurobonus credits its own miles to its own FF members even if they didn't actually fly with them is to be considered a "compensation".

I was in a similar situation, London to Beijing earlier this week. Rerouted on to Air China direct, on a fairly quiet flight (easily less than 100 pax on an A330). Miles have been credited in CA Y class, which is 100%. It is a few less miles than going via Copenhagen, but these miles have requalified me for Gold for another year so I'm not minded to ask for ORC. I did however have the same fear that I'd be rerouted on a non-Star carrier, on on a Star carrier in a low fare bucket and thus need to push for ORC. By the way I can't praise enough how the Heathrow agents from Swissport handled it.

My only other reference points have been claiming ORC in Mileage Plus (UA scheme) when both Lufthansa and United have moved me to non-Star carriers, which United did. Maybe not getting ORC is the [worthwhile?] we pay for an otherwise good FFP with Aegean.....