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More evidence of British Airways prioritising Avios bookings for downgrades?

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A month ago I ran this article speculating that BA has begun to target Avios ticket holders for downgrades.

This would be economically rational.  Under EU regulations, a downgraded passenger is automatically due a 75% refund on that leg of their ticket.  For a cash passenger, that is expensive.

For an Avios passenger, it is not expensive to downgrade.  All the airline has to do is refund a few points.

British Airways BA 777X 777 9X

For an Avios passenger travelling on a 2-4-1 voucher, the downgrade is free to BA.  It has been telling some passengers that as their ticket cost zero Avios, the refund is 75% of zero which is, erm, zero.

After my original article there was some debate about whether this is actually happening.  Some BA staff told me that it isn’t easy to tell whether a passenger is on a 2-4-1 ticket or not, although it is easy to spot those on redemptions on the manifest.  Some agents have implied that it is functionality in FLY, the new check-in and passenger management system, which now allows this policy to be implemented.

It is worth noting that the person involved in my original article issued a Small Claims Court against British Airways after being refused any compensation.  As per this page of Flyertalk, it appears that BA chose not to fight the case and settled for the unspecified amount the passenger demanded.

In the last couple of weeks, two more readers have contacted me with linked stories.

The key one came yesterday from a reader.  I always weigh up news I receive by email from readers to see how truthful and verifiable it seems, but this is one I trust implicitly – the person involved is a regular commentator and has even written a guest article for the site in the past.

If you read the comments on HfP yesterday, you would have seen his regular updates as the situation developed.

This is what he said to me by email:

“At Edinburgh to start our trip to Gatwick and then what was meant to be Club World BAPP 241 reward seats to Male.  At checking in for EDI-LGW we have been told we have been downgraded, either both to World Traveller Plus or just me with my wife staying in CW.  We have been told that BA has oversold the flight and it’s because we are on reward tickets that we have been selected to be downgraded.”

Here is another email I received two weeks ago:

“I have read your article re 2-4-1 downgrades and it almost exactly mirrors our experience.  The Duty Manager was adamant her instructions were to target Redemption ticket holders first.  Given that our seats were showing as still allocated to us that morning (albeit not available to be printed due to “system error” at the hotel), it appears BA have chosen to sell more CW seats on the day . . . knowing they had a supply of 2-4-1 pax ready to be downgraded

It is a largely win-win situation for BA . . .  if there are any no-shows, no skin off their noses, but hey, why not sell an equivalent number of CW seats to exactly match the number of 2-4-1 holders on every flight!  Cheap trick but as I learned in over twenty years with them, the internal “bar” is set at the greediest money-earning opportunity.”

The reader above is not one I have met but I have no reason doubt the accuracy of what he sent me.  He had even paid to reserve specific Club World seats but even that did not protect him from being downgraded.

To clarify, there is no specific proof that this is going on.  No BA employee has yet sent me a copy of the relevant memo or email.

Do let me know if you are also impacted by this and have been told that the staff that you have been downgraded specifically because you are on an Avios ticket.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (353)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Kathy H says:
    25 Feb25 February 09:45

    I will watch this article with interest – I only hope that on the affected flights there were no staff members travelling on their “Confirmed” tickets who were not downgraded first.

    • Phil G says:
      25 Feb25 February 09:53

      We lost our quiet seats in long haul Club to BA staff and got moved next to the galley, where we got no sleep due to the noise.

  • Phil G says:
    25 Feb25 February 09:51

    I have just sent this email to alex.cruz@ba.com (the chief exec).

    Good Morning

    We have been a loyal BA customers since 2010 when Virgin service standards started to drop. Exec account number xxxxx
    We both collect Avios through BA and Oneworld flights, and through the BA Amex Premier card.
    Recently we have been hearing stories of Avios flights redemptions in premium cabins (and those using the 2-4-1 vouchers) being targeted first for downgrades when you over sell the cabin.
    If this is true then can you please provide me with your policy on who is targeted, and in which order when this happens.

    Kind Regards

  • Jon says:
    25 Feb25 February 09:52

    Making me a bit nervous as I’m about to use half of a 2-4-1 to book a leg of our honeymoon flights in F!

    However, just a thought here – since their logic is to prioritise redemptions for downgrade first, isn’t it more likely that 2-4-1’s would be the victims of this since there’s two pax on the same PNR both on a redemption booking? (allowing BA to accomplish their downgrade goal with only impacting one set of pax)

    I’d be curious to hear DPs of someone booking two pax together, without the 2-4-1, and hearing if they’ve been downgraded.

  • Nigel says:
    25 Feb25 February 09:57

    It’s particularly galling for them to imply that avios redemptions have lower value when BA offer to sell you Avios for cash at pretty high price/point (which often only sometimes makes marginal sense if you were able to use them with a 241)…

  • Phil G says:
    25 Feb25 February 10:04

    I have just sent this via internal email on the Amex website. I hope others will also do the same.

    We collect avios to use for flight redemptions and use the 2-4-1 voucher when we earn them, as you and BA advertise.

    We have recently heard stories of British Airways targeting passengers who booked this way in premium cabins, being targeted first for downgrades, when they oversell the cabin. With compensation based on the avios and not the actual cash price of the seat.(the second person’s avios is zero when using the 2-4-1 voucher)
    This practice is making us and many other people who do the same, re-consider the value of using your cards to collect avios for flights, and earn the 2-4-1 voucher by hitting a spending target.
    If this is the case then can you please provide me with American Express’s thoughts on this and wether the card’s benefits would provide proper compensation i.e not receiving the service I purchased using the card.

    • mark2 says:
      25 Feb25 February 10:22

      Remember that that will go to a call centre in India who will not have a clue what you are talking about. It might get passed on to someone in Brighton.
      I have a case open about non payment of triple MR points for an Amex Travel booking which has come up on the statement as someone else (presumably an intermediary). I have sent all of the documentation with American Express Travel all over it and they tell me it will take 7-10 days for someone to consider it.
      I am going to write to Brighton about that and I will include a separate letter on this matter. I think a mention of the ASA (not a threat) never goes amiss

      • Mister T says:
        25 Feb25 February 11:18

        Thinking about this from a personal perspective, but I only really got into the whole AVIOS points collection on the recommendation of a frequent BA traveller and the attractive offer of free upgrades and the free 2-4-1 voucher (which isn’t actually free).

        Now, I guess my c/c provider is the entity that lured me into spending thousands of £s to get a voucher, so would it be feasible to put pressure on c/c AMEX providers to compensate customers who are affected by these awful downgrades? For example, if a downgrade was forced on passengers, then the c/c companies could offer to credit people’s airmiles accounts with the equivalent cost value in AVIOS points. This would make up for the disappointment on the day of travel, but would be a better outcome overall compared to the current situation.

        Again, I’m a novice at this so please don’t be too harsh on me if my contributions are poorly informed.

  • Anon says:
    25 Feb25 February 10:06

    Thanks for the moral support folks, glad to report the hassle created by BA is melting away, like Genghis says Ill focus my time on enjoying being here, hopefully our missing bag will get here tomorrow and BA will realise its important for us all to give a positive resolution.

    Meanwhile the staff here at the Conrad have been superb, even the Director of Operations and Director of Guest Rooms came to meet us in person, welcomed us back and even carried our bags off the seaplane for us, total respect for them mucking in with the rest of the staff and giving us such fantastic treatment.

    Already been snorkelling on the house reef, Titan Triggerfish and huge Stingray spotted in first 15mins at the drop off, this reminds me why I wanted to comeback after being here just 2 years ago. Heading off for the complimentary afternoon tea and happy hour shortly. 🙂

    • Anna says:
      25 Feb25 February 10:54

      Fantastic. It’s 8 degrees here and I’m just off to work! Enjoy, I have fond memories of standing in the shallows with baby reef sharks swimming past!

  • Pol says:
    25 Feb25 February 10:09

    This makes me very nervous for my upcoming CW flight to jnb. Booked 5 redemption seats, including using 2×241. Not sure I could face 11 hours without a bed.

  • Mohammed says:
    25 Feb25 February 10:17

    OT

    I booked couple of days in Jakarta Thamrin holiday inn for 5k points under the IHG promotion. I wanted to change the dates of the booking but it seems the points needed has gone back to the usual 15k. Why is that? Other destinations from the current list are still showing the 5k points but not this one

    • Rob says:
      25 Feb25 February 10:31

      Each hotel has a fixed number of nights available at 5k. When that number is booked it reverts to the usual price.

      • Mohammed says:
        25 Feb25 February 13:19

        So can I change the date by a day earlier? Will I get the same rate or will it be the standard rate?

        Thanks

        • John says:
          25 Feb25 February 16:57

          Once all the 5000 point rooms have gone for a particular date you won’t be able to change to that date. It looks like all dates are gone for your hotel.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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