Obvious scam
I'm very disappointed in them, they are running a scam, and I hope someone pays for it. I booked a premium economy flight via Booking.com, and due to circumstances I had to reschedule it. I contact both CEA and Booking.com, and it turned out that it is impossible to book either another premium economy for another year (maximum period allowed to change the ticket is until 12/09), or downgrade to economy. The only option is to pay 4000 NZD more to get business class. And it is not Booking.com failure, it is CEA's specific policy that doesn't allow downgrade, or offers another premium economy, and they also ban transfers through other airlines. As as result, I either have to lose 40% of the what I paid to get a 'refund' or pay 4000 more, which I don't want to, of course. I hope more passengers complain, and there are severe consequences for everyone involved in this scam. There's no other logical explanation of why only expensive business class seats are available for the whole next year.