lost_in_translation

Except that it's not that you were promised 'the finest wines in the sky', it's that you were promised there would be wine full stop which is now not being provided. That is far easier to prove than that the promised standard of wine was not provided. Similarly priority boarding, lounge access, etc. This is far less clear cut than you are making it out to be, even if you'd like to pretend you are BA's outsourced legal provider.

LondonElite

I completely understand your disappointment and dissatisfaction. BA should probably have some banner warning that service levels are highly reduced, etc, and/or they should be offering some form of compensation, I agree completely.

As to their website, we've had the debate on here many many times that it is a lot of waffle and should be re-written. For example, it is rare to be able to receive a massage or facial treatment unless this has been booked ages ago (not worth it in my opinion). The fine dining is often debatable, and dine when you want is, in my experience, somewhat hit and miss depending on the crew of the day.

But that should not take away from your original argument, which I believe has merit, albeit perhaps not in the way you see it.

plunet

I doubt a full refund is going to be on the cards unless the flight is cancelled, but a partial refund might be, but as others observe determining a value for the services and amenities against the space and transport is always going to be difficult. First option will be to negotiate with BA and see what remedy they are prepared to offer; more likely to be a bunch of avois rather than cold hard cash.

The other thing to factor in is that BA may observe that they are having to curtail parts of their service due to government or regulator recommendations, and as such they have no choice in the matter. Whether it's true that all aspects of the reduced service are due to those government or regulator imposed conditions is one thing, whether that makes them liable for a partial remedy is another.
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LondonElite

OP should note that he only has five posts today, so use them wisely! Or edit previous posts.

Steve_ZA

BA's approximate stance historically has been that everything bar the seat and actually arriving at your destination is complementary and can be withdrawn or changed without giving you a right to cancel.

PxC

If BA were threatened with court would they refund just to avoid setting losing and setting a precedent?

From a moral and non legal view, it seems very fair to be able to demand a refund for anything above WTP, especially when airlines such as QR keep things as normal for the most part. This isn’t just a small adjustment, they have taken a wrecking ball to the everything they boat of providing.

PUCCI GALORE

Indeed yes - that is exactly what I meant. I would love to see this challenged in Court except that it would probably be considered too frivolous in the UK?
As to why you think that I would require a stout rubber band is another story.

BearX220

I wrote gossamer. Damn autocorrect.

PUCCI GALORE

Darling Autocorrect is the curse of modern times. For your gallantry, you just became a MUCCI. Don't forget to update your profile. Were you closer I would treat you to a G&T or ten and I assure you that BA never fixed one so good. Ever - even before this nonsense.

Saltire74

And just remember, it’s NEVER ducking!

SxMan

if the point of the whole trip was to indulge in a top-rate flight experience, then perhaps this was the wrong airline to choose in the first place?

SW7London

Good point, in the planet that BA is on this is probably a realistic take

OP - if you're not going to get the experience you've paid for, seek a refund. If BA refuse, use a charge back and/or take to small claims.

ratechaser

Not a bad stab at what BAs defence will be to the claim

Malli1

I personally am devastated. We have our first and only F ever lined up that we have saved up for to HND in early September for our 10 year couples anniversary. All my optimism has dried up as we cannot see any chance service will be back to ‘as we booked it’ service by then. We paid £7k for our flights, which is a lot for a couple of us in our 20s.

I am really disappointed in BA, who have offered us no flexibility thus far even though their ridiculous online change fee calculator says we could change without penalty. It’s not that we don’t want to go, but we want the full service and for that we can wait until next year. I don’t need a refund, I will always want to go to Japan. I feel awfully penalised for booking flights in advance as a loyal BA customer, and will fight them on this if it’s not back to normal and we have no other options even though it seems pointless. We luckily paid on Amex (which we immediately paid off) so we have some backing, but we have realistically spent a lot of money on something I doubt we will have. My only outpost is the FCO advice, but by then I imagine BA will still be shafting customers but their advice will comprise of an ‘air bridge’ with Japan who have largely got it under control. Sad, as the 14 hour flight is a huge part of our holiday for an aviation fanatic and a scared flier.

KARFA

I think no one knows exactly what the situation globally and in terms of service on BA will be in September - it is difficult enough to work it out for the next few weeks tbh rather than 3 months away.

Certainly if BA cancel or significantly retime your flights you would be able to get a full refund, or rebook for a date in the future for no charge. Or even if the flights are not cancelled it could well be that the future travel vouchers are extended to September so you can cancel and preserve the value on a voucher for use to rebook anytime up to April 2022.

I guess what I am trying to say is the situation is not as bleak as you seem to think. I appreciate it may be hard to do, but tbh I wouldn't worry about it now - perhaps with a view to re-assessing in July and August.