Its a definite no to rebooking on Virgin unless flight cancelled on day of travel.

There are no policies that allow using them if flight is cancelled in advance.

We are booked in first, hence the question if we have grounds to stand firm and ask for them to keep us here or find a first class flight at our earliest convenience?

I think the issue here is that F is only on the A380 on QR

pre-covid, but we were stuck in Barbados at the time of the BA strike (Autumn 2019). BA routed is via Miami and Madrid on AA and IB; VS were flying direct but we were refused that option.

?? Better to fly via MIA and MAD :confused:
Sometimes I really don't understand why BA agree to rebook to such multistop itineraries when there are direct flight available and even offered to you.

EDIT: Thanks for the heads-up. sorry I misunderstood. It was the opposite situation described. Pls disregard.

Read the post again carefully...

Which are grounded indefinitely.

If it’s any consolation, you will almost certainly have a much better experience in QR J (especially Q Suites) than BA at present. Take the downgrade compensation and enjoy in my view.

Under the legislation, airlines can downgrade people, that's provided for, so long as the appropriate reimbursement is paid. If a flight is cancelled then you can ask to be re-routed under comparable transport conditions, but my reading would be that you can't then expect the airline to pick up the hotel bill (this is an interpretation, as a caveat). Logically you could wait if the cost of the hotel is less than the cost of the downgrade reimbursement, which if we are talking a day or two may be valid. But if it's a longer period, pragmatically it seems to me reasonable for the airline to offer a reroute in Business class with reimbursement on the day of travel. So It think the options are
- insist on First, wait until BA or QR offer it, accommodation for own expense
- accept rebooking on Qatar in Business and then pursue reimbursement under the Mennens formula (details in the EC261 thread).
- Accept the involuntary refund on the return half and sort out your own arrangement on another airline(s).
Note that when BA and/or Qatar resume more flights, we can't assume a sensible First product would be available.

I'd happily take QR Business vs BA First in normal times. In the current circumstances, given QR is operating a near normal Business Class whilst BA is operating a vastly reduced F service, I'd accept QR J in a heartbeat. In addition, as CWS notes above, you would also receive reimbursement for the 'downgrade' which is probably actually a substantial upgrade in the circumstances.

You have to realize that there is a severe crisis.
There is little chance that BA or QR will fly F in the coming months (zero for QR). Insisting on F might get you stuck in Maldives for a long time and QR J is better than BA F.
You are on an award ticket and are not a priority for BA. You would get the some reimbursement if downgraded on QR.
Note that there is always the risk that the situation could worsen rather than improve. BA flight resumption cold be postponed to a later date. The covid situation in Maldives could worsen significantly. I am sure that you have heard of horror stories about holidaying pax in some nice countries. I had some friends booked in a hotel that got closed because of some covid cases there. Then an odyssey started.
I don't wish to scare you, but I believe that now is not the time to be flight picky.

Again referring my ‘Icelandic volcano’ trip, we were offered seats on a charter out of Male after 4 or 5 days which I rejected because we were in Club. I half expected them to say fine, but we’re not paying for you to stay there, but they just said OK, wait for our first flight out with club. Which we did a couple of days later.

annihilation

Other than EY and EK, there is no First Class options being offered from Male to London. ( plus EY does not offer F on the MLE-AUH leg )
You would be most likely refused to be rebooked on EY & EK.

I would be definitely happy with QR J. It's definitely better than BA F at that moment.
In addition, you could ask for a downgrade compensation ( EC 261/2004 ) after you fly so you could get a part of your money back.

If you want to fly First without any exception get a refund from BA and purchase a GBP6000 o/w ticket from Emirates.

I’m over in the Maldives at the moment and also had my return in F cancelled for the 16th. We flew out using a 2 for 1. I called You First who initially offered Qatar back in economy. When I questioned this he moved us to business via Doha on the same date we were originally planning to return. Seems that it all depends who you’re connected to when you call...

It always frankly astonishes me when they offer a ticketed first class passenger an alternative in economy class when there is a higher class available. I want to say it defies logic and I'll never understand it, but I imagine it's to save the airline costs - some people would probably just accept the economy re-route. Well. Some must.
.

Theres nothing sinister going on here, its human error.