Help - 2 4 1 Club bumped to WT+ at check in
Sep 27, 2017, 4:15 am
#106
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, TK Elite, HHonors Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 7,691
If the sole reason for travelling is to experience a particular cabin then you have an option to wait for a flight with available seats in the desired cabin. You do not have to accept the downgrade.
Sep 27, 2017, 5:29 am
#107
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,528
In your scenario of F to J maybe but a J to W maybe not. My only reason for travelling would to be experience a long haul J of F and other commitment such as pre-paid hotels would mean I would need to go or loss lots of money in the lower class but the sole purpose of my trip would have been to experience the higher flight cabin using the voucher. I do not think it is unreasonable to want the ability to have this experience represented to me just like it is not unreasonable for BA to give free upgrades when they overbook cabins. I would still be out of pocket as I would need to pay hotels taxis etc when I retried the trip to have the experience in the correct class.
I'm sure a few years ago a lot of people would have said it was unreasonable to expect 600 euros for a flight arriving 4 hours late but now it is often pointed out as a right. This to me seems more unreasonable and it is actually a legal right so reasonable can easily be redefined. I may be in the minority but I feel loss of a hard earned voucher and insufficent avios to allow a repeat attempt is unreasonable. Maybe the answer is somewhere inbetween maybe not.
I'm sure a few years ago a lot of people would have said it was unreasonable to expect 600 euros for a flight arriving 4 hours late but now it is often pointed out as a right. This to me seems more unreasonable and it is actually a legal right so reasonable can easily be redefined. I may be in the minority but I feel loss of a hard earned voucher and insufficent avios to allow a repeat attempt is unreasonable. Maybe the answer is somewhere inbetween maybe not.
there is also an issue of proportionality here. If you effectively consider that downgrading is much the same as cancelling, in practice, you'd encourage airlines who have overbooked a flight to just offload passengers altogether rather than downgrading them, and whilst you might think that it is no worse, I doubt many people will agree.
Sep 27, 2017, 3:00 pm
#108
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: HUY & PIK
Programs: baec, HHonours
Posts: 175
i think you would actually have a very hard time to convince either BA or a judge that it is a reasonable claim that the primary purpose of a trip from A to B in class X is to experience class X rather than go from A to B so that the downgrade from class X entirely voids the value of the service that you purchased. It might very well be your sole motivation, but I do not think either BA or a judge would likely agree this was a reasonable interpretation.
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Sep 29, 2017, 6:29 pm
#109
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Bangkok / London
Programs: BA Silver, AmEx Platinum, AVIS Presidents Club, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 1,106
I would worry about being bumped off altogether if I just refused to travel in W in this example and do as I was told, especially if say the downgrade was at the gate (or, as in the infamous case of United, once on board).
Sep 30, 2017, 12:17 am
#110
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: JAX
Programs: Ex-BA/AA/CP/LY staff, BA Executive Club Blue, IHG Diamond, Marriott Silver, Chick-fil-A Red
Posts: 3,587
Well, yes, if you're in no particular hurry to travel and would rather keep the cabin you were expecting/looking forward to, you can ask when the next available flight is. If the delay is acceptable you can request to be rebooked instead of downgraded. This of course works best on routes with multiple daily frequencies.
In an invol situation, the more flexible with timings you are, the more options you may have. Try and avoid insisting/demanding on a specific solution and ask for alternative options such as an hour/day later.
In an invol situation, the more flexible with timings you are, the more options you may have. Try and avoid insisting/demanding on a specific solution and ask for alternative options such as an hour/day later.