To me, this is the key question, and certainly what I would have done in this situation. I am a ridiculous stickler for getting what I pay for and if I had paid for a full fare BF ticket I would not be returning to the states until they could accomodate me with just that. If I was told to wait until the next day, so be it. I just can't imagine accepting that downgrade without a serious, but civil fight.

:rolleyes: Clearly you have never read CO's Contract of Carriage.

And yes, I would expect CO to offer the difference between full fare coach and the business class fare paid as a starting point. The original poster's husband (OPH) will most likely have to make a big stink and claim that he would have purchased the cheapest coach fare available if business was not available, and so the refund should be calculated based on that. CO should have access to historical fares. This argument becomes more difficult if the OPH purchased a full fare, refundable business class ticket when there was a less expensive, restricted fare available. I don't know the exact situation.

Check out what CX does for downgrade: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=743694

$7846 for one way downgrade from J to Y. The J RT ticket normally costs 6 - 7K.

Wow. Not only are they getting upwards of $5k for taking downgrades on CX, but in reading that thread I learned about global monetary policy. It's mazing what FT is capable of.