But I think that in pointing out that most people's time is hard to value at EUR150 / hour you suggested that yourself as well.

It's great that you work for a company that offers generous / perhaps excessive compensation. I hope they treat employees equally well - it's a rare thing these days. If they do that just because they're altruistic even better. If they do it as a way of balancing costs against retaining valuable customers then that's what BA do as well, and all indications are they don't value the type of customer that expects c.£200 compensation for a missed meal. As you point out re your prior IFE experience it sets expectations, and they will probably fall apart on one or both sides at some point. You are ahead at the moment, and have perhaps learned something about BA from everyone pointing that out. You almost seem to have had your cake and eaten it, although it wasn't the special cake you hoped for :D.

@Can I help you and other BA folk: Is there no discretion to use vegetarian items (assuming they're there :confused:) from the BoB stock similar to when xUP passengers are too late to have a CE meal loaded?

It may be our interpretations of "slap up", but I'm trying to work through the "calorie banking" involved here. If one misses X regular breakfasts should the compensation meal be even more slapped up to balance things out :confused: :eek: :p.

Well that could have saved about 7 pages of OP having their substitute meal flame grilled :D.

I don’t think anything would satisfy the OP.

Well, the comp I previously received for an IFE malfunction was above what I'd expect (and I did not even request any comp), so I don't think the issue here is of generally excessive expectations (not to mention "greed").

My point is that it makes no sense to consider what BA "normally" gives as the reference point for what is fair. It should be the other way around.

Think about it this way: before 2005 anyone could say that expecting comp for a 4 hour delay is unreasonable, or that more than Eur50 is "greedy" because BA normally gives at most 2,000 avios as comp for such delay, etc. Yet once EC261 came into effect, Eur600 became the standard for what is fair. Since nothing changed in how such delays actually impact people, this means that Eur600 should be seen as fair also for the time prior to the regulation.

In the same way, consider that it's only due to competing priorities and/or pressure to minimize new regulation and/or relatively low frequency of missed-meal issues, that there is (as of yet) no EU regulation for compensation amounts of such incidents. This does NOT mean that whatever BA normally gives is remotely close to what otherwise would have been ruled as fair and enforced.

The arguments some make here about "you ate something so why should you get any comp" are just ridiculous. If you bought a J ticket but was then downgraded to Y, would it make sense for you to hear "hey, they got you from point A to point B on time, and they arranged for you an alternate seat which you tolerated, so just be content with an apology and be grateful if they gave you a few measly avios" ?

I despise vegetarianism, but that is besides the point :)
My point is that there are serious conditions eg severe nut/gluten allergy, and choice things vegetarianism/kosher/muslim/lacto-ovo

BA have reduced the number of Avios they give in compensation. There was a time when simply flying an older version of their F cabin would net you 50,000 Avios. For better or worse, the days of generous compensation appear over, although there have been some reports of a loosening of the belts in that regard.

I believe you are wrong, as it serves as a benchmark of what is reasonable vs unreasonable

I still think comparisons between EC261 and your situation are misguided. EC261 was not implemented (IMHO) solely to reward travellers who face disruption - that is an effect of the legislation, but I do not believe it was the primary intent. It was done to discourage airlines from unilaterally causing delays, cancellations etc for commercial reasons because the passenger was left with little recourse. It is Consumer Protection legislation which was an attempt to focus minds at airlines and put a cost on them delaying passengers for their own commercial convenience (especially when you consider events totally outwith the airlines control like the recent snow storms in the UK are specifically excluded from being covered by EC261).

An even with EC261 - fairness is in the eye of the beholder. A WT passenger who experiences a 4 hour delay on a long-haul flight gets 600EUR - which can often mean a total refund (or more) of the return trip (I have been in exactly that situation). Whereas an F passenger with a delay a good deal longer still only receives 600EUR which could be a mere fraction of what they paid.

If you bought a J ticket and were downgraded to Y, under EC261 (assuming it applies and you were flying from/to the EU on a community carrier), you receive 75% refund of the ticket price.

Not saying you deserve NO comp, just that you did take a replacement meal therefore it's not as if you were forced to starve due to ethical, religious or health reasons. Therefore comp due is not really as high as you are claiming. I had a flight from CAI-LHR where the tray table was broken which forced me to eat with my leg constantly holding up the table, or not eat at all. I complained and received about 5000 points comp. I didn't really expect any more and in the end, it's not as if I suffered greatly - I was merely inconvenienced although my leg was uncomfortable throughout the meal time.

IFE out? That would piss me off a lot more than the wrong meal. Especially on a long flight. Honestly, you are milking it for all it's worth and are really sounding a little 'spoilt'. Sorry, but I have said it.

BA doesn’t guarantee delivery of special meals.

You received a meal.

Everyone thinks you’ve been more than adequately compensated.

That is not what we are doing.

We are looking at you getting something of the order of $100 compensation for not getting your special meal, although still being able to eat (without even having to fall back on the next line of defence which was to ask the cabin crew to cobble together something from what they could find in all the cabins on the aircraft).

That is well in excess of what is fair compensation for the relatively small inconvenience which you suffered.

The €600 is not really compensation for loss. It's intended as a disincentive for BA not to disadvantage passengers. You're comparing apples and oranges. You actually didn't lose out on anything. You got a meal. Not the meal you were expecting but you got fed. Would you expect a free meal in a restaurant on the next visit if they had run out of what you wanted? If you go to a michelin star restaurant and they run out of something but give you something else of equivalent quality, they aren't going to refund you at the same time as feeding you. That's not a reasonable expectation.

More than 100 posts ago, the OP asked a simple question:

"Now I'm wondering - what is the chance of getting a significant additional compensation?"

Having received an overwhelming response, the OP doesn't like the answer. Just like OP's response to the substitute meal, he/she will never be satisfied. You can't always get what you want. (See Rolling Stones)

​​​​​​​Don't ask ask a question if you will only accept one answer.