When are you ‘safe’ from being downgraded or bumped from an oversold flight?
 

I have only once at terminal 5 seen BA staff calling people to the gate desk and bumping them off, this was a long time ago on a flight to Boston.
So i guess it can happen.

Equipment change Is another.

A friend of mine a couple weeks ago got bumped, along with 40 other people until the next day because the original aircraft went tech and the new aircraft was smaller.

You're never safe!

+1

Once you're in your seat you'd be pretty unlucky to be re-seated. :)

Sometimes after that if the seat is defective.

Few things in aviation are guaranteed, but having checked in with a seat allocated against your name is a very good start, particularly if you have status, but even more so if you are on carriage (have a connection) and more so still if you are not on a 125 or Joint Business ticket - BA are reluctant to muck up other airlines' tickets.

Statistically you are far, far more likely to be upgraded.

I do not know how BA does it but with SQ it depends a lot on the type of passenger and his membership and also the connections. The connections play a major role. If you are connecting they try to keep you. If you are Elite and it was Solitaire then you fly no matter what. Gold they will not bump off. So it is the poor guy going on holiday with the lowest fare and no Frequent flyer is the first choice to get bumped. He is the one who may be mostly accepting the compensation and the opportunity to fly in a better class,

Unless you're flying United :D

Guys, let us be realistic and not cause unnecessary concerns for the OP.

As the OP has BP already he/she is almost guaranteed to fly as booked. The likelihood of equipm. change, seats broken/unuseable causing the OP to be bumped or downgraded is close to zero. Yes, it happens but is still very very seldom.

I think this is what they do to passengers that undo their seatbelts after landing before the sign has gone off.

I've been downgraded at the cabin door. Walked to the cabin door in J, was reseated in Y. :)

Was not BA, and was a completely free flight, and couldn't therefore whinge though.

*edit - of course I could whinge, and did, and still do

BUT, I was upgraded once from WT+ to upped deck om a 747 - just before take off when a family with 2 screaming children sat next to me at the bulkhead. Better than getting downgraded or bumped - and I was not even Silver yet ;)

I was watching exactly the same thing couple of weeks ago on Heathrow TV series, where a flight was downgraded from A380 to 777 due to technical issues.This left 40 odd people stranded for a day.Very unpleasant.