Compensation for rerouting with downgrade?
 

My husband just returned from a round trip flight from Houston to Nice, France. The full-fare, refundable, business class ticket was booked through Continental, with the first leg of the flight being flown on Continental (Houston to Amsterdam) and the second leg of the flight being flown on KLM (Amsterdam to Nice). The flight over went fine, but on the return flight the first leg (on KLM) was delayed several hours, then finally cancelled. I’m not sure, but it may have been mechanical -- definitely not weather related.

There’s no Continental service in Nice, so all arrangements were handled through KLM & Air France. He was rerouted from Nice to Paris, then Paris into Houston all on Air France. The flights he was re-routed on didn’t have seats available in business class, and he ended up sitting in coach in the last row of the plane. Although he got home on the same day as originally scheduled, he was 5 hours late and had to fly coach. Questions:

1. What sort of compensation is due to him for flying coach when he paid for business class? Refund? Vouchers? Miles?
2. Any compensation for the delay?
3. Who should I contact for the compensation? He’s Silver Elite – do I just call OnePass customer service? Continental wasn't really involved in the delay or re-routing.
4. Will he automatically get the miles for the return trip even though he ended up on a different carrier or is this something I have to pursue?

Thanks for any insight you can give me. I'd like to know what to expect before I make the phone call.

First off, welcome to Flyertalk.

Second off, beware the "compensation" word on this board. A bit of a sensitive topic and since you are a newbie you have no idea what I am talking about so just ignore any of the derogatory chatter that follows your post.

Thirdly, was the return trip in business class supposed to be all Air France/KLM or Air France/KLM connecting to Continental?

Lastly, I would first contact Continental directly and see if you can get the difference in fare paid to coach for the return segment since you purchased a business fare and were re-accomodated in coach.

Thanks for the welcome. This is a very informative site.

You're right -- I have no idea what's negative about the word "compensation". I guess I'm about to find out. Maybe I should have just said "refund"? It just seems that something should come back after paying $6000 for a business ticket and ending up in coach. I said "compensation" because I wasn't sure whether to expect a cash refund, vouchers or miles...

To answer your question, the return trip was supposed to be KLM from Nice to Amsterdam, then Continental on to Houston.

I'd at least expect the difference in fare reimbursed from J, and possibly some goodwill compensation. The KL cancellation was ultimately outside of CO's immediate control, but travel was arranged and ticketed by CO on SkyTeam partners.

Regarding the "comments to come," this forum is intended for all areas of the customer experience in relation to the frequent flyer community. However, some are quick to point out new members with few, if any posts, that are requesting advice on compensation or similar topics. Just kind words of advice for going forward.

This is gonna be a tough one. Technically you're entitled to the difference between business and coach for the return. What that would have cost at the time of booking vs. Full Y can be radically different. Plus getting CO to refund it to you when the ticket has been essentially "used" is going to be another challenge.

In these situations, best bet is to push real hard with the agent who is downgrading you. I know it's tough, especially with the language barrier, but at the end of the day, KLM will want to put you on KL/AF metal as much as possible, but it's possible that BA or DL or someone had space in business. With a bit of pushing, you may not have had to suffer the downgrade.

Also, if the CDG-IAH flight on AF was the problem, was there another way to go CDG-IAH (e.g., CDG-JFK/BOS/IAD/ORD/etc.-IAH on AF/CO?).

Call CO Elite line and quiz them. You are entitled to the difference in fare but you won't like the amount, therefore ask for lots of miles to be added to your husband's account. Remember it is always easy for the airlines to give you something that does not cost them "real" money. Be nice but be firm in your request.

why full Y? if the original poster (OP) couldn't get business class, perhaps they would have purchased a discounted coach ticket.

spilled milk. the OP isn't asking for advice for the next time, the OP is asking for advice on the flight that already happened.

husband's account or both accounts? didn't both passengers sit in coach? :confused:

There was only one passenger - the husband.

sorry. misread the original post (OP). i thought they were both flying. good catch. ^

Full Y is likely what CO is going to quote him.

true, but that isn't necessarily the correct calculation.

if i wanted to fly business but it was full, i would want the cheapest coach fare (if i didn't want to play the upgrade game).

Tell me about it. But that's what CO is going to likely offer. It's difficult to figure out what fares were out there on that day, and if so, which buckets were available at time of booking.

That's why one should try never to get downgraded if at all possible on a revenue ticket. There might have been another way, and it saves a lot of headache down the road.

I believe because he accepted the downgrade he is not entitled to any compensation. Under the EU-regulations, only involuntarily downgrades are compensated with the fare difference. He could be entitled compensation for delay to arrival but I believe that lies around the 5-hour mark for l/h.

What CO/OnePass will throw his way is a different tale which is worth pursuing. Better to be persistent but be aware that you may not meet much understanding as he opted for a re-route. Why did he not just cancel and rebook?