Downgraded from Premium Rouge
 

nvm. Was rouge, still rouge without J. See others.

Looking at the July schedule, they have subbed in the all Y Rouge 321 for 3 daily flights to YQT, which seems like a lot of capacity for that route, does it not? I honestly would have thought it would be Q400 service for sure.

I think you will be entitled to some sort of compensation, so I would phone in for sure. Heck, I got a 20% promo code last week for having a YWG-YYC mainline flight swapped to Rouge, they gave one to every passenger. I think you are due at least that much. But there are no other routing options available, so I think you have to just ensure you get compensated.

They're running an A321 YYZ-YQT? Seriously?

Even replacing 3 flights a day, I can't see that being a full plane. I know they're tight on fins with the Max issues, but wow (so to speak!).

deleted

I see what you did there :)

They replaced 5 or 6 (depending on day of the week) daily Q400 with these. So you go from 74 x (5/6)=370 or 444 with 200 x 3 = 600... yeah weird choice. I thought this route would stay as rouge A319, with 136 x 3 = 408 being much closer to the old capacity. Presumably it will go back to this when the MAX issues subside?

For OP: Best you can probaly hope for is a good will coupon / compensation... At least it's only 1h20m-ish of you journey.

My July AC flight YYZ-NAS was initially booked in business, then a while back the all Y plane was subbed in. Today I got an e-mail the plane has been changed again to a plane with business class and our business seats were reinstated. I guess we know now what route they moved the all Y plane.

Downgraded from Premium Rouge?

Is that even possible?

This route was operated by Q400s until April 30, so swapping in the all-Y A321 won't be a big disappointment to most of us as we weren't used to having a J cabin anyway. From what I've heard, a lot of the people up front right now are e-upgrades or op-ups rather than paid J fares.

As for the capacity increase, it's probably a combination of things:

1. High load factors to begin with (the Q400s were often packed).
2. Seasonal bump due to tourist/fishing traffic to northern Ontario.
3. Decreased demand for the sun destinations Rouge would operate with these planes other times of year.
4. Shift in booking patterns due to shorter flight times (YYZ-YQT was one of the longest Q400 routes, so the change to a jet has decreased flight times by roughly 25%. This is probably driving some people to book Air Canada instead of WestJet or Porter, especially since these flights will now display ahead of the longer Q400 options on sites like Expedia when the prices are the same.)

The EC261/2004 mandated 75% downgrade refund has to be paid regardless of when the passenger was informed about the downgrade.
The 14 day period of notice only applies to EC261/2004 article 7 compensation.
But you are seeking a refund - hence no 14 day period of notice.

Who has issued the ticket? SK or AC?

There is no precedential authority for the proposition that a downgrade of a segment on a ticket departing the EU, but where the downgraded segment is on a non-EU carrier between two points outside the EU, generates a refund under EC 261/2004. It is unlikely that AC will acquiesce in an interpretation to downgrades which has only been addressed in the context of cancellations & downgrades.

In any event, the refund would be 75% of the base segment fare. On this routing, that is likely calculated based on a percentage of the distance YYZ-YQT of the distance HEL-YQT. Take out the taxes and it won't likely be much given that tickets on the micro-hop sell for under CAD 100. You might do a lot better if AC is willing to issue a 20% discount for later use.

AC also knows that you won't likely litigate as an EC 261/2004 claim would need to be filed in either Finland or Denmark.