Some would class that as an upgrade!

I am not really bothered about the downgrade for the flight, since it is only DXB-DOH. It is still listed as giving me the miles for F. I would still like access to the F lounge.

On my downgrade I only get credit for business class miles.

I still have no resolution, EK is still within their 30-days to respond period.

Just got a response from EK on my "involuntary downgrade":

"Dear Mr. Whimike,

Thank you for your email of 15 March.

I regret the inconvenience you experienced due to being downgraded from First class to Business class on flight EK651 from Colombo to Dubai.

As advised in our email of 14 Marchm the downgrade was due to operational requirements.

Regrettably, I am unable to offer you any form of service recovery for this downgrade.

As a valued Gold Skywards member, we look forward to welcoming you on board our flights again.

Yours sincerely,

Customer Affairs"

So, basically, if you pay for a First Class ticket, and they involuntarily downgrade you to Business Class, you are owed nothing, and to top it off you are given fewer miles.

You will be entitled to a reduction in fare to business class if you travel in business class the whole way or should be able to cancel without penalty I would expect

As far as fares go, that is ungenerous but correct in that with a 1st class fare, if the flight is scheduled to operate with no 1st class, you get booked into the highest available cabin at the same price

That is outrageous! What sort of response is that!?

I am surprised that they are not even mentioning that they'll refund the fare difference or offer some other form of relief

I understand this if it is scheduled as a 2-class airplane when I booked my original flights. But, the schedule on this flight is always a 3-class with suites. They had a substitution on the particular day I flew and it appears EK often substitutes this flight, so they should really re-think marketing it and selling it as a 3-class flight with suites if they are changing it so often.

EK has 3 flights a day from CMB->DXB. Only 1 of them is 3-class and I specifically chose that flight for having F suites. Due to this I incurred the cost of a transit hotel stay in CMB which I otherwise wouldn't have had to.

At minimum they could have blocked the seat next to me so that I don't have to climb over people to get to the bathroom.

To offer absolutely zero compensation, especially when I have received fewer tier and skywards miles, is ridiculous.

If thisi is a journey with a transit and onwards in 1st class , then the mileage earning should still be 1st class , shouldn't it given that EK does not credit on a per sector basis, but on a one-way journey basis?

Alternatively, If the whole one way journey is now in business class, you should get refunded back to business class I would have thought

Mileage Accelerator was higher in F than in J on the CMB-DXB leg. They have also only credited me with SAVER miles even though this was a FLEX ticket, but that is another matter altogether.

Ignoring the mileage accelerator

Did the airline credit you for tier miles as for 1st class for the whole oneway journey or for business class for the whole one way journey

I was credit as Saver first class, if I ignore the mileage accelerator. But, the milage accelerator is material, and overall I have fewer miles than had I flown in F on the first leg, as I paid to do.

The credit as saver , if purchased a flex would seem to just be a mistake that should be easily rectified rather than , as implied by the previous post where you stated that you have received fewer tier miles due to this

I don't think this is a flex/saver issue... the ticket was presumably a First Saver and First Saver tier miles have been issued. However, the CMB-DXB leg probably carried an F accelerator bonus that was larger than the J accelerator bonus - I suspect this is where one has been short-changed.

The lack of service recovery is a poor show.

Well, the OP did state that he had received fewer tier miles than was due

As far as any 1st bonuses for travelling 1st on a specific flight, then the lack of earning would be expected