Bumped from First to Business
 

Our friends were travelling LHR to JFK on a 241 Amex companion voucher.

One of the two were bumped down from First to Business.

Only told at check in. Reason stated was that there were higher status flyers they had to give priority to and they are blue.

They were offered 500 pounds and told that they would get the avios difference between first and business.

Is this the correct compensation or should they go for a higher figure.

Thanks for any assistance.

if they want they can refuse and go on a later flight?

personally id take the $500 and spend it in NYC

You should take a look at the EC261 thread dealing with downgrades. I thought it was a pretty clear rule that you got 75% back in a situation like this.

Of course, the question is 75% of what? The total fare, or just the cost of that leg? And what about the companion voucher - how is that valued? And the cash element - I think there was a recent case which means they won't get any refund of the cash element of the fare.

As I say, EC261 thread is worth a read. I hope it works out for them. Personally I'd be OK with having 75% of my avios back to fly in CW on an overnight from JFK to LHR- if they play it right they might end up with more avios than they started with!

It does seem like ba is targetting pax using amex vouchers 👎

F to J probably attracts the same taxes and airport fees, so no cash due on that portion, but I don't think that the BA imposed fees can be treated as a tax. But that's maybe £300-400 return, so 75% of one way isn't much. If the difference in Avios is being provided I'd agree it's probably best to take the cash and Avios difference.

500 GBP seems to be the standard opening offer of late for F->J downgrade. IME it's just that though, an opening offer....

i wonder if they asked for volunteers? I often wonder if you are offered a good package in this sort of situation, lower teir Avios or cheap tickets might think about taking it, just in case they get selected.

There was a recent MCOL judgment (so not binding) that ruled that it was 75% of the segment cost and not the entire ticket and that the taxes (so APD / departure taxes and airport fees)were NOT included in the calculation and it appears that this includes the surcharge (which of course is not a tax but I bet the lawyers for the airline kept quiet about that distinction)

Curious if this has ever happened to folks using AA miles for reward tickets in F on BA (say from DFW to LHR or from LHR to IAD)......

Thanks for responses. My friends really appreciate the
comments. We do not think there was a request made for
voluntary downgrades. We think that a big client wanted to pay the £6,600
price and thus is the reason for the bump to business.

How should they now respond to BA? Can someone please advise
what the correct compensation should be.

It's a 241 reward one person from F to Business. LHR toJFK


Thank you all

There is also recent non-binding EU guidance to the effect that the downgrade on the voucher would not be subject to any compensation under EC 261/2004. Thus, presuming that the guidance stands up in the UK, and it is well-reasoned, the GBP 500 is a tidy customer service gesture.

There is a lot of speculation as to how one would calculate 75% of a piece of free paper, but this EU guidance may well put all of that to rest.

I can't say I've seen many instances of such a thing being aired on here.

Never nice being downgraded especially from F I imagine. I've only ever had it happen to me from J to Y and that was on a GRU-EZE sector with TAM. In this case I would most likely have refused just to see what happened next.

I guess people aren't making a big deal about this because it is BA and a short flight.

Nonsense.



What do you think would be reasonable compensation in this case?

Has anyone actually succeeded in getting a sensible comp offer from BA for an F to J downgrade while traveling on an award ticket?