@RollAnotherFatOne : thanks for coming back on this, and your expanded thoughts are very interesting.

I’m with you on the potential dangers that can develop from a ‘compensation culture’. But I certainly do not concur with the notion that “businesses will never pay more than they have to”

I can think of several personal examples, over the years, of businesses who have undoubtedly paid me “more than they have to”. It has happened on a good number of occasions within the travel / hospitality sector ; but a particularly memorable one is not travel-related, and actually concerns John Lewis : I once purchased a sofa, at a hefty discount from the full price, during their sale period, and in the week or so immediately following purchase, I couldn’t help thinking that one of the base cushions appeared to be a (slightly) different shade from another - but with the difference only being noticeable in a particular light, depending on time of day.

Eventually I called their Customer Services team, who wanted me to discuss the situation directly with the departmental manager, and connected me to her. She listened carefully to my thoughts and asked what outcome I was looking for. I said that I was aware it was a ‘sale item’ and that as such I couldn’t necessarily expect it to be perfect and perhaps the fallback option was a full refund and I could look for another sofa in my own time. “But I’d like you to be totally happy with us as a retailer” she said. “What if I ordered a brand new sofa from our suppliers, of the exact same style & colour, and then exchanged it for the existing one, but at no additional cost to you ?” Naturally, I accepted promptly ; and have continued to be a John Lewis fan ever since.

There was no significant PR in this for John Lewis (apart from me telling friends & family, that is) and there was certainly no legal obligation on their part.

Sometimes it’s about doing the decent thing ; which might, on occasion, involve more than just looking at your profits.

@Flexible Preferences : ‘decent’ to me means a lot more than a paltry sum of 5,000 Avios, as in this case. In fact, I struggle to think of any significant failure where 5,000 Avios is appropriate, when a First Class fare has been paid, in the reasonable expectation of a very high standard of service and facilities throughout a flight.

As for a more acceptable figure : clearly, open to debate, but I would probably go with PETER 01 upthread, where he suggests something in the order of 25-30,000.

All that said, there is a much wider picture ; and it revolves around the fact that - when reacting to legitimate (and often quite serious) grievances, many, many organisations are far more customer-focussed than is BA. Few people would claim that it is the airline’s strong point.

I think PETER01 is in a better position to value this compensation figure than I am. I note there were other service failures too, and it was a long night flight. I am still mindful however of the very many elements that make up the F experience, on top of the transportation element. The flat bed was still supplied, as was the 'real estate' square footage.