rrgg

I also got 2x$500 vouchers for a similar situation. 2 J TATL and platinum. I was told they go by fare paid and award is considered $0 I guess.

kb9522

It's a very minor inconvenience.

bse118

It's minor change in the scheme of air travel. How much of an inconvenience it is, only the person(s) affected can define - that's entirely subjective.

Dave Noble

EU protection would not have made any difference here

Where covered :

If the passenger actually travelled in the lower cabin, then indeed EC261 would have provided for a 75% refund of that sector. The downgraded leg was 86% of the journey and the mileage cost is 57500 , so would have been entitled to 37,000 miles refund - which at current purchase cost is a value of $886.24

Changing to another flight to avoid the downgrade would have provided for compensation of zero however

Getting $500 voucher for changing flights and staying in business class versus $886 worth of miles for a downgrade, I don't see that EC protection would be that amazing here

JDiver

You may have been displaced by a pilot, but imo it's not as likely (they block a seat for the PNF / Pilot Not Flying) in Business class (often front right) for safety (the PNF must both have speedy cockpit access and really be able to rest), but I suspect you were displaced by a Federal Air Marshal. However, they are prohibited from telling you that so they have to come up with some other moderately credible excuse. And if a FAM or two want seats, they're going to get them.

But look at it this way. You're both going on award miles, and in Business. You have to change some plans, but that could have also occurred due to other issues as well. $1,000 in future flight credit for your trouble is not only more than sufficient, it's considerably more than we often see around here. Life happens while we plan (we've taken two eight plus hour mechanical delays and an airport stoppage of several hours just this year, ironically none of them on AA), and you've been well served. Enjoy the Flagship Lounge, and though there will undoubtedly be some challenges in Barna ("Barça" is the Football Club, Barna is the city's nickname) due to the current political issues, you'll enjoy. (Most accommodations will happily store your baggage the day of arrival or departure.)

We will merge this into the business bump thread soon.

/Moderator

dll

Rearranging your travel arrangements is a pain and I feel for you.

In a way, AA might have done you a big favor here: connecting passengers in MAD have been experiencing epic-length waits at passport control for onward flights. I saw reports in August of 2-3 hour waits at MAD. And IB is not exactly known for its stellar services on the ground.

So, you'll have that going for you on the "glass half full" side of the equation. Enjoy your trip regardless, check out the Flagship Lounge in JFK (it's nice!) and raise a toast that this was worked out ahead of travel day +$1000.

It might have been otherwise.

justhere

I'd be more upset about the shorter TATL flight with less time in international J, especially going east, and possibly different type of a/c. Not sure which one flies which route so not sure if it's the same type of seat. If the JFK has a better hard product then I would be fine with the change and $1k to spend on future flights just to go a little earlier and 90 minutes less in J.

rjw242

If you want to play semantic games, then the level of "inconvenience" it poses relative to the magnitude of the "change" is entirely on the traveler, not the airline.

justforfun

$1000 for having to contact an airport pickup to adjust the time. Sounds horrific.

Kudos to AA for handling this perfectly.

bse118

Thanks for restating my point....

susiesan

We were on newly refurbished 787 out of Dallas. AA 66 is on a 777, status of hard product unknown. I hope it's not the crappy old style flat seats. I'll really be pissed if we don't get the new lie flat seats.

dll

Assume you mean the old 2-3-2 NGBC 777, which are no longer flying (the seats, I mean; the 777 have all be reconfigured). Your flight currently shows the Zodiac-equipped 777 which is the forward/rear alternating seats, lie-flat (same as the 787 you were scheduled on). Always a chance your plane could be swapped for the other lie-flat option, the B/E Super Diamond, which are all forward-facing.

Some people love the rear-facing seats. It'll be a nice flight regardless and you might have dodged a bullet in Madrid with the transfer!

JDiver

There are no "refurbished 787s" (either -8 or -9), as they're new to the fleet.

No 772 is flying with the old "NGBC" seats; every one on service has the fore-and-aft Zodiac "Concept D" Business Suite or the reverse herringbone B/E Aerospace Super Diamond Solos (in the 787-8 and -9 respectively, as it turns out).

All of this is extremely well documented in this forum.

chuck1

And you can use the voucher to buy a ticket just shy of their expiration to get another year out of them - but please verify this. If you don't know what you want, just by a refundable ticket ticket somewhere so you don't pay a change fee when you exchange them for where and when you really want to go.

fedechat

OP if you don't want to use it, I will take your 2x$500 anytime.
Another option could be, get the AA miles difference, request to fly in Premium Economy (DFW-MAD) and still get the $500 voucher...