How long should I wait to chase a downgrade refund?
Hi all, I have been caught up in the downgrades caused by 787-9 substitution on the Toronto route. I have received the avios service recovery straight away (following a quick call). I haven’t heard anything about the 75% refund element and it has been over a week. Should I chase? I am not expecting a huge sum as my fare class was A and I have no idea the cost of the business bucket I will now be booked in. Will BA let me know either way? I.e. no refund due, sorry or here is your refund of £x. thanks for any help. YF |
Originally Posted by youngfogey
(Post 29860782)
Hi all, I have been caught up in the downgrades caused by 787-9 substitution on the Toronto route. I have received the avios service recovery straight away (following a quick call). I haven’t heard anything about the 75% refund element and it has been over a week. Should I chase? I am not expecting a huge sum as my fare class was A and I have no idea the cost of the business bucket I will now be booked in. Will BA let me know either way? I.e. no refund due, sorry or here is your refund of £x. thanks for any help. YF |
Hi Dave, the avios were a separate service recovery and the lady I spoke to on the phone volunteered the information of a 75% refund. It is only one leg that has been downgraded so far. It sounds like I will need to push BA and at this stage ask for the refund. Now please don’t get cross but should I divide the cost of the ticket by two and ask for 75% of that or should I be cheeky and ask for 75% of the whole cost of ticket paid? |
Originally Posted by youngfogey
(Post 29860974)
Hi Dave, the avios were a separate service recovery and the lady I spoke to on the phone volunteered the information of a 75% refund. It is only one leg that has been downgraded so far. It sounds like I will need to push BA and at this stage ask for the refund. Now please don’t get cross but should I divide the cost of the ticket by two and ask for 75% of that or should I be cheeky and ask for 75% of the whole cost of ticket paid? |
Originally Posted by Dave Noble
(Post 29860986)
if it is a simple r/t ticket , take off taxes, divide by 2 and then take 75%
For the refund process this normally takes several weeks because it goes to a specialist team for manual calculation and they always seem to have a backlog of cases. |
Originally Posted by drakepassage
(Post 29859517)
Firstly, does comparable transport conditions at least extend to the cabin booked? E.g. BA have cancelled a given LHR-DOH flight, a F (redemption) passenger is entitled to re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity Does that therefore mean they are entitled to be re-routed in First? |
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
(Post 29861085)
Yes, there is a broad entitlement is to be routed in First, but there isn't a clear requirement for this to be with another airline. So BA can say "yes, the next First cabin is in six months time" and you cannot require BA to fly you via QR. Moreover there is a reimbursement process for downgrades, so clearly airlines do have the ability to offer that, there isn't an absolute right to fly First. After all, there may simply be no First cabin on other airlines. DOH is a bit of an oddity, but for the Sanctions in place there would usually be options via DXB (etc) and that can't happen at the moment.
I agree there is a reimbursement process for downgrades, but the reg doesn’t say ‘refund or rerouting or downgrade with reimbursement’ so I don’t see how that comes into the equation? IANAL, what’s the meaning of ‘entitled’ - if I am entitled to being rerouted at the earliest opportunity that does that mean I’m entitled to receive it? Thanks for your input thus far - I feel there’s a big gulf between the advice here and an interpretation of the actual words in the regs and what they mean. |
Originally Posted by drakepassage
(Post 29861129)
Thanks for your input thus far - I feel there’s a big gulf between the advice here and an interpretation of the actual words in the regs and what they mean. |
Originally Posted by drakepassage
(Post 29861129)
But “in 6 months” wouldn’t satisfy the “at the earliest opportunity” piece.
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
(Post 29861146)
with one important exception: when the airline stops flying the route altogether. If that happens then BA has to arrange an alternative airline(s)
Is that an exception just because you’d consider a 6 month wait reasonable or is there a different definition of cancellations in the regs of permenant route cancellations vs seasonal route cancellations vs individual route cancellations. I’d be prepared to take a punt on a 6 month cancellation (YYC) being treated the same as stopping flying the route altogether, I can’t see a court accepting ‘yeah hang around in the airport for 6 months for the next available flight’ as reasonable behaviour rerouting. |
Originally Posted by drakepassage
(Post 29861275)
I’d be prepared to take a punt on a 6 month cancellation (YYC) being treated the same as stopping flying the route altogether, I can’t see a court accepting ‘yeah hang around in the airport for 6 months for the next available flight’ as reasonable behaviour rerouting. Up to now, everyone has settled for the downgrade compensation given the financial difference is probably relatively small against the risk of failure in going to court. If I found myself in that position, I would almost certainly do the same. The judge will balance an airline's reasonable commercial decision against your argument. It is not, I suspect, as clear cut as perhaps we'd all hope. |
Originally Posted by drakepassage
(Post 29861275)
Do you have a link to that case/example?
For your general point about reasonableness, that's a judgement call, and you should certainly consider taking it further if you believe it will get you somewhere - almost all the CJEU casework that we have is because someone, somewhere, felt the airline's position was unreasonable, and more often than not, the courts have agreed. In the case of Calgary, we're awaiting more arrangements but First wasn't offered on that route, and Club World / WTP / WT has been offered via alternative routings and indeed alternative airlines. |
A question about compensation for cancellations...
So, in researching the area regarding cancellations, I see that the passenger has three options:1. earlier flights; 2. later flights; and 3. refund and carrier must return the passenger to point of origin. Is this in addition to the tiered compensation, for example, a BA PE ticket costing US$688 round trip, OSL-LHR-LAX-LHR-OSL with a cancelled LAX-LHR and offered a later LAX-LHR apx 4.5 hours later which the passenger does not accept, but instead takes as the return to point of origin. Would the passenger have the option to demand a refund of the "unused" LAX-LHR-OSL portion (apx US$344,) and get passage back to OSL. Also, would the 600 Euro compensation be payable as well.
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It doesn't state what you are claiming it states
Originally Posted by EC261
(a) — reimbursement within seven days, by the means
provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant, — a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity |
That's part of the question: how is this sentence construction to be interpreted: "of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel
plan, " First, refund of all only if the travel plan is in vain and refund of unused part otherwise, i.e. passenger is inconvenienced and doesn't agree with the flight changes offered. The "and" is confusing, especially when the conditional, "if" clause comes after it, as that the trip in vain part and the first part details a refund less the segments flown to that point.. The second part of the question is whether this remedy is cumulative with the tiered compensation, i.e. the 600 Euro for a >3500km flight delayed more than 4 hours. |
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