Placement in a higher class of travel
If you are upgraded to a higher class of travel, the airline cannot ask you to pay extra.
Placing in a lower class of travel
If you are downgraded because there are no seats left in the class you have chosen – caused by overbooking – the airline should refund between 30 and 75% of the ticket price, depending on the length of the flight.
If you are placed in a lower class of travel, you are entitled to a refund of a percentage of the ticket price, depending on the flight distance, as follows:
a) 30% – for flights of 1 500 km or less
b) 50% – for flights within the EU of more than 1 500 km (except flights between the EU and French overseas departments) and for all other flights between 1 500 and 3 500 km
(c) 75 % – for flights not falling under category (a) or (b), including flights between the EU and the French overseas departments.
If you have 2 or more connecting flights included in a single ticket, the downgrading refund can only be paid for the flight on which you were placed in a lower class, not for the whole journey.
Compensation procedure for downgrading
The first thing to do is to have confirmation that you are truly eligible for compensation. This is not a simple process: getting access to flight databases, comparing your situation with other similar cases, checking whether European Regulation 261/2004 or other international regulations applicable to air transport apply to you.
In fact, for a person without aviation expertise and the necessary technological means, this can prove to be very complicated.
However, the simple alternative is to claim compensation with DELAY.AERO. To do this, simply enter your flight details into the “GET COMPENSATION” application on our website for free. The DELAY.AERO team will check the details entered and determine whether you are entitled to make a claim against the airline. From then on, DELAY.AERO takes over the case and you are notified when the airline grants you compensation. The DELAY.AERO tool analyses hundreds of thousands of flights, has access to a wealth of meteorological data and is able to check whether your claim can be settled under EU law or other legal provisions applicable to your case.
The verification of the eligibility of your request is carried out free of charge
Our network of experts and our experience in the aviation sector, as well as the partnerships we have, allow us to negotiate with airlines on an equal footing. In 98% of open cases, our clients have won the case and received compensation/refunds. Regardless of the outcome, we take all the financial risk. If we are unsuccessful in your case, for whatever reason, we alone bear the costs. When we win, we receive a service fee according to the Price List from the amount recovered. This protects you, as the client, from any lost expenses and investment.