BA512 to Palma Majorca Cancelled 17th September

[Garibaldy]

Received a flight cancellation email just 15 minutes before our taxi was due to take us to Heathrow. The email said we had been rebooked onto BA2878 from Gatwick but they had to change our cabin from Club Europe to Euro Traveller.

I called BA to check availability in Club, on any flight on the 17th and 18th but there wasn’t any seats left, so we decided to take the BA2878 in the downgraded cabin.

I do not know why BA512 was cancelled, i was only told “for operational reasons”. We’ve not been in this position before. What compensation are we entitled to?

[AJA]

I think you are entitled to EC261 compensation for the cancelled flight. The fact that the flight was cancelled “for operational reasons” suggests that BA had a technical issue.

You should also be entitled to downgrade reimbursement for flying in the ET seats but it might be better to request Avios rather than getting cash back.

Remember that both passengers are entitled to compensation.

[SamG]

Expertflyer code was OPEY – operational issues. Which I believe translates to a lack of staff in some part of the LHR machine. The Y signifies they’re accepting it’s eligible for EU261 compo + a downgrade refund

[Garibaldy]

Thank you AJA and SamG.

I think we are entitled to €250 each for the cancellation as the alternative flight arrived in Palma approximately 3.5hrs later than the original flight was scheduled to land. Have I understood that part of EU261 correctly given we were notified of the cancellation only 5 hrs before flying.

Also what level of compensation are we due for the downgrade in cabin? Is this an amount of avios or cash based on ticket price or other arbitrary decision.

Do I have to use specific EU261 jargon when I request compensation – apologies but not done this before although I am reading up on the subject.

[SamG]

€250 yes

Eu Downgrade compensation is 30% of the ticket price.

I think BA will also do a fare difference refund – if it was an Avios ticket then this would be the way to go. For cash likely still the case but bit difficult as you won’t know what the cash difference was at time of booking