I do feel for EmilyP parents in they were not given the opportunity to reject but told. Not nice but we still don’t know the full story and we never will.
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It was good to bring it to AFF for venting and get the initial situation going but ultimately it’s between the airline (any airline) and the client.
Sorry, disagree with the last point.
Whatever the settlement is on this particular case should - rightly - remain between EmilyP's parents and QF.
However, this whole sorry saga appears to highlight a misunderstanding on the part of the FF community that an airline will protect its status passengers over and above non-status passengers. Now it may well transpire that - as remote a possibility - Gold was the lowest status in the J cabin that day; it may also transpire that - as early as EmilyP's parents checked-in, they were still the last to do so with Gold status - or even that everyone else checking in were single travellers and as such it was more "pragmatic" to downgrade EmilyP's parents than those coming behind. Given all the above, it may well be that QF followed precisely the conditions under which a downgrade was necessary.
BUT.
If this is the process, then I'm with the previous poster (sorry can't find it at the moment) in agreeing that QF are VERY transparent in the method used to process an upgrade and in my own interests, and I'd have thought anyone who may be referred to the T&Cs in future - and from this sorry episode it appears that QF consider anyone "fair game" given those T&Cs are universal when purchasing a ticket - the method used to process a downgrade should be given equal transparency.
On a brighter note, perhaps there's opportunity for QF for additional revenue here: downgrade insurance. "In the unlikely event that QF require to downgrade your seat from the cabin you've purchased, click here to purchase cabin-guarantee insurance or click here to purchase full-refund insurance". Surely this would be an airline global-first opportunity!!
Regards,
BD