Originally Posted by MSPeconomist

It sounds like you were counting on arriving into CDG around 6 am and then taking an intraEU connection (on AF) to GVA, then going directly from the airport to your meeting at 10:30. Any delay would have severely impacted this plan. The schedule was just too tight, even if you had no choice.

Are you sure that 11:10 am is the earliest that you can arrive into GVA? Have you explored connections on other carriers, including not only DL partners AF/KLM/VS, but also LX/LH, BA, etc.? You should be able to get a refund without penalty for your DL ticket and purchase on another carrier, probably at the full J fare, if it's important enough. Also, airport agents (including those in the lounge) typically have more power to make exceptions in IROPs than phone agents do, so I hope you've asked rather than taking without question the alternative your travel agent offered.

You should be able to get a nice goodwill gesture from DL but no "compensation" as such.

BTW, how good is your travel agent? An experienced one wouldn't book such a tight direct flight without warning you of the downside risk, just as he/she shouldn't book a tight connection and assume it's OK because it doesn't violate MCT. Maybe more importantly, an experienced travel agent who has your back would not accept without question the airline reassurances that the TATL flight will be held for you; this isn't the way the system works. Since you were a DM on a paid J ticket (most likely an expensive one that was purchased late), a good travel agent might have been able to use their connections to have the Porsche waiting for you since getting you to the plane this way wouldn't have delayed the departure by very much, especially if you had no checked bags.