By Christopher Elliott | Travel Troubleshooter
Q: My husband and I were downgraded from premium economy to economy on an Iberia flight from Chicago to Madrid. We booked with Avios miles and paid $543 in taxes.
Under EC 261, the European airline consumer protection regulation, we’re entitled to 75 percent of the ticket value as compensation. That’s roughly 29,452 Avios miles.
But Iberia only gave me 3,500 miles and ignored my husband’s claim, saying he lacked an Iberia Plus account. I filed multiple claims, cited EC 261, and even emailed executives using your contacts. No luck.
Did Iberia violate EC 261? How can we get the compensation we’re owed? — Christopher Long, Chicago
A: Getting an unexpected downgrade from premium economy to economy can be painful and frustrating. Spending eight hours in a tiny airline seat with almost no personal space is no way to start a vacation. And if you paid for a higher class of service, you deserve to get your money or your miles back.
You’re right. Iberia should have refunded 75 percent of the fare for your downgraded cabin under EC 261.
Since you booked with miles, the compensation should reflect the fare’s value in Avios points. The airline also failed to address your husband’s claim properly. Requiring a loyalty account for compensation is not a valid reason to deny a passenger’s rights.
You did everything right by citing EC 261 and escalating to the Iberia executives listed on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. Your husband should have filed a separate claim (even without an Iberia Plus account) and created one if required. Always keep a paper trail, as you did — it’s critical for proving your case.
When an airline fails to follow regulations, there is a way to light a fire under it. You can file a complaint with the country’s aviation regulator. In your case, that would have been Spain’s Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea (AESA), which is responsible for enforcing EC 261 in Spain.
You had an excellent paper trail with Iberia and you cited the correct regulations. An AESA complaint might have nudged it into doing the right thing.
By the way, this is the first time I’ve seen an airline make a loyalty program membership a prerequisite for EC 261 compensation. But it kind of makes sense. Iberia’s policy is to return the miles to the ticketed traveler. How could Iberia have compensated him with Avios points if he doesn’t have an account?
Iberia is following a playbook I’ve seen many times in my career as a consumer advocate. An airline offers you take-it-or-leave-it compensation. And you have to decide: Take it or leave it?
I contacted Iberia on your behalf, and it refunded 75 percent of the miles you and your husband spent on the flight.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him on his site.