Here in the United States, if you arrive late for your domestic flight, most airlines will accomodate you on the next available flight (or at least I hope that's still the practice!).

But nobody seems to really know the international rules. We all presume that if you're flying an airline like Ryanair and you miss your flight, you'd be out of luck. But what if you're flying Ryanair to connect to (say) an Air France flight, and Ryanair cancels the flight and you can't make your Air France flight?

This has never happened to me, but I'm sure it MIGHT happen some day. Travel is unpredictable. There's traffic, strikes, volcanoes and even a few flat tires. It would be good to know what the rules are -- in case it happens to you. A lot of us travel on very good int'l fares, and it could be truly shocking to be confronted with having to pay walk-up fares. Indeed, it could be a huge financial hit if you happened to be travelling with your family.

Forgive me if there's already a "master thread" on this topic, but I couldn't find it with a search.

I'd be particularly interested in hearing from travellers who did miss int'l flights, and what the outcomes were.

Thanks.