Business award downgraded BCN-ORD segment, AA fails to refund equitably
Nov 2, 2018, 9:34 pm
#16
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the flight was BCN-ORD-DTW. Paid 260,000 miles for 2 business class seats . (AAnytime Business fare). Downgraded to coach for BCN-ORD portion. BCN-ORD =7100 km. ORD-DTW = 380km. EC 261/2004 states I am entitled to 75% refund of cost or downgraded portion. BCN-ORD is 91% of total flight. Therefore I am entitled to a refund of 75% of 91% of 260,000 miles right??? That should be a refund of 177,450 miles. So far AA has only refunded 132,930 miles. I have tried reaching out to AA customer service to no avail. Multiple representatives have stated that “they have never heard of EC261/2004 and that I have been refunded all the miles I am going to get”. Please tell me how to pursue this matter further as I am getting the corporate run around.
the flight was BCN-ORD-DTW. Paid 260,000 miles for 2 business class seats . (AAnytime Business fare). Downgraded to coach for BCN-ORD portion. BCN-ORD =7100 km. ORD-DTW = 380km. EC 261/2004 states I am entitled to 75% refund of cost or downgraded portion. BCN-ORD is 91% of total flight. Therefore I am entitled to a refund of 75% of 91% of 260,000 miles right??? That should be a refund of 177,450 miles. So far AA has only refunded 132,930 miles. I have tried reaching out to AA customer service to no avail. Multiple representatives have stated that “they have never heard of EC261/2004 and that I have been refunded all the miles I am going to get”. Please tell me how to pursue this matter further as I am getting the corporate run around.
Please refer to AA thread-->GUIDE: EC261 / EC 261/2004 “EU” complaints, compensation and AA
OP's other thread on this flight--->Downgrade from Business to Economy on a Mileage Award ticket
Last edited by Mwenenzi; Nov 2, 2018 at 11:46 pm Reason: Added link to OP's other thread
Nov 3, 2018, 4:55 am
#18
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Nov 3, 2018, 5:38 am
#20
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The downgrade was for 95% of the journey, If you paid 260,000 miles, then ask for
.95 *.75 * 260000 = 185,250 miles back in reimbursement for the downgrade
Nov 3, 2018, 9:05 am
#23
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Sorry, but why were you downgraded?
as @DIS25 says contact AA on the link that is posted
(IMHO, only the lawyers win in class action cases)
as @DIS25 says contact AA on the link that is posted
(IMHO, only the lawyers win in class action cases)
The plane AA sent from ORD the night before was a smaller plane with less business class seats.
Nov 3, 2018, 9:06 am
#24
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Sorry, but why were you downgraded?
as @DIS25 says contact AA on the link that is posted
(IMHO, only the lawyers win in class action cases)
as @DIS25 says contact AA on the link that is posted
(IMHO, only the lawyers win in class action cases)
Nov 3, 2018, 10:03 am
#25
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That’s a huge amount of miles for a one way award ticket from BCN-ORD-DTW. I would be very upset as you are. This post leaves me wondering how often AA downgrades their award passengers on long haul ticketed business class flights. Does anyone know how AA determines which passengers get downgraded in such situations?
Nov 3, 2018, 10:18 am
#26
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According to the OP, I sense they were still seated in F for the short journey from ORD-DTW. If that was the case, the mileage refund should only be applied to the BCN-ORD journey and not the entire trip. While mileage totals are for the entire journey, miles booked are still segmented (ie bcn-ord could equal 110,000 and ord-dtw could equal 20,000 per person) just like a regular cash fare. So the roughly 133,000 miles returned would be roughly accurate for the 75% refund for that segment alone.
That being said, having glanced at EU261, it's not entirely clear if it means the entire length of the journey or if it's just by segment. Chances are since one of the flights completed happened outside of the EU, you are only entitled to the flight that departed the EU and not the entire route of flight.
That being said, having glanced at EU261, it's not entirely clear if it means the entire length of the journey or if it's just by segment. Chances are since one of the flights completed happened outside of the EU, you are only entitled to the flight that departed the EU and not the entire route of flight.
Nov 3, 2018, 10:25 am
#27
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if you had just posted something like “I was downgraded on X flight have AA calculated the miles refund right?’” instead of an inaccurate rant about class action law suits you would have got very different answers.
My advice to you is to contact AA again to ask them to explain how they calculated the refund of miles and how that calculation complies with EU261/2004 regulation.
Last edited by UKtravelbear; Nov 3, 2018 at 10:40 am
Nov 3, 2018, 10:33 am
#28
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According to the OP, I sense they were still seated in F for the short journey from ORD-DTW. If that was the case, the mileage refund should only be applied to the BCN-ORD journey and not the entire trip. While mileage totals are for the entire journey, miles booked are still segmented (ie bcn-ord could equal 110,000 and ord-dtw could equal 20,000 per person) just like a regular cash fare. So the roughly 133,000 miles returned would be roughly accurate for the 75% refund for that segment alone.
That being said, having glanced at EU261, it's not entirely clear if it means the entire length of the journey or if it's just by segment. Chances are since one of the flights completed happened outside of the EU, you are only entitled to the flight that departed the EU and not the entire route of flight.
That being said, having glanced at EU261, it's not entirely clear if it means the entire length of the journey or if it's just by segment. Chances are since one of the flights completed happened outside of the EU, you are only entitled to the flight that departed the EU and not the entire route of flight.
A relatively recent EU court ruling clarified that it is the cost of the downgraded segment not the entire trip that is reimbursed.
Nov 3, 2018, 10:49 am
#29
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Nov 3, 2018, 11:12 am
#30
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Yes I think you may have hit on the solution. I am not totally au fait with how AA calculates the miles needed for a trip but your idea is a rational explanation. Which is why I just suggested the OP asks AA for details of how they calculated this refund.
A relatively recent EU court ruling clarified that it is the cost of the downgraded segment not the entire trip that is reimbursed.