Several months ago DTWpistons shared an account of his parents, who were flying Business-class on award tickets, being involuntarily bumped to economy class.

And now it seems to have happened again, only this time on Qantas – and the downgraded parents were flying on paid business-class tickets. BNEFlyer outlines the specifics of the downgrade:

Paid BNE-LAX-JFK-LAX-BNE in paid J (I) class. My friends (both Gold FF) have checked in (with 9 bags) but received Y boarding passes. Not W, but Y. They have now missed QF12 and QF94 (as well as DL, VA and NZ flights) and are receiving no co-operation from QF in LAX as to why they have been downgraded.

And the daughter of the displaced passengers, EmilyP, is struggling to understand the circumstances:

Not sure why they were downgraded. Mum was messaging me on FB and lost wifi so didn’t get a great explanation other than she is very upset. She is not a great flyer which is why she pays for a Business ticket to try and alleviate things.

In this latest downgrade debacle a Qantas representative jumped onto the thread offering to assist. But that’s the last that has been heard and no explanation nor resolution has yet been communicated.

And nearly one year later there has still been no explanation as to why DTWpiston’s parents were downgraded.

Of course, we have all heard announcements from gate agents seeking volunteers to give up their seats on overbooked flights. The mystery with regard to these two cases, however, is that the passengers appear to have been told they had to move, rather than asked to volunteer.

And neither airline has indicated why the matters were handled as they were, and if there are legitimate cases in which passengers are given no options.

Follow the most recent case in its entirety to find out when/if EmilyP’s parents receive a response: Downgraded from Business Class.