Downgraded
 

Dear all,

I booked an Iberia Flight a few weeks ago. Today I saw it was possible to change the flight date for a quite low fare, so I did. After the date change was made, I saw that I was downgraded. Has anyone experienced the same? The customer service is useless, the guy on the phone told me he can't do anything about it. Thanks for your help :)

What were the exact details of your original ticket and of the new ticket? Fare and fare basis matter a lot. Origins, destinations matter too.

Is there any chance that the reason the fare was lower is that it was for a lower class of service?

I´d guess that´s the case.

I used to work for an airline, so I am aware of those various subclasses and restrictions - and if a passenger changed the ticket we never downgraded. I specifically checked the rules of my ticket and it stated that I am eligible to change a ticket for a particular fare, it never stated that I will get downgraded if I do so.

So you booked a PE fare, tried to change the date and ended up with a cheap Y fare?

I'm not saying that it's not possible, but it's really not common experience to book a non-refundable fare, and then be able to reduce the price later. (except with an airline or OTA that guarantees that the fare won't drop, which AFAIK isn't the case with IB)

As far as helping you, I don't think anybody on FT has access to a magic e-mail address or phone number that receives better customer service.

yes. this is exactly what happened. I am just very confused, that this was not pointed at.

I was just wondering if somebody else has encountered the same issue and what they did. This was not clear to me at all that changing a date will put you a class down. Thanks.

If we’re talking PE is it possible the date change moved you to an aircraft with no PE cabin? I didn’t realise it was possible to inadvertently downgrade yourself in that situation (most airlines don’t seem to allow it) but is it possible that’s what’s happened?

as often says, we really need more detail to be able to help

Or an aircraft with no PE availability. That might have caused PE not to display and thus the cheaper Economy fare which resulted in an apparent refund and self-requested downgrade.

Your original post was unclear, so it's not surprising that the agent might have misunderstood you.

As I now understand it, you wanted to change dates because paying the change fee would have been worthwhile for you. As you explain in your original post about a "quite low fare", it's logical for an agent - especially with English as a second language - to believe that you wanted a lower fare and understood that this would be in a different cabin.