Bad Experience with Air France
Jan 16, 2008, 3:28 am
#31
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: New York City
Posts: 4,002
Some variation of this problem occurs quite a bit, because people often rely on a low-cost carrier, whether it be Ryanair or EasyJet or Eurofly or whatever, to deliver them back to the airport in time to catch their transatlantic flight home.
Do you think it made a difference in this case that the original poster had a problem with a low-cost airline, and is thus being "punished" for not flying SkyTeam? Would the agent have acted the same if the poster had been delayed on the RER, or had a taxi break down on the way?
In any event, you can buy travel insurance on a yearly basis, so you don't have to worry about buying it for each of 20 or 40 flights annually. My travel insurance would cover this situation so long as the gap between the unrelated flights at the same airport was scheduled to be a minimum of four hours. But this is still too stressful for me, so I typically have at least an overnight stay between the unrelated flights.
Do you think it made a difference in this case that the original poster had a problem with a low-cost airline, and is thus being "punished" for not flying SkyTeam? Would the agent have acted the same if the poster had been delayed on the RER, or had a taxi break down on the way?
In any event, you can buy travel insurance on a yearly basis, so you don't have to worry about buying it for each of 20 or 40 flights annually. My travel insurance would cover this situation so long as the gap between the unrelated flights at the same airport was scheduled to be a minimum of four hours. But this is still too stressful for me, so I typically have at least an overnight stay between the unrelated flights.
Jan 16, 2008, 10:51 am
#32
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Hong Kong, France
Programs: FB , BA Gold
Posts: 15,655
You have to differentiate between something 'you are entitled' to and 'something they can do for you'. I call a station manager when I am entitled to something and need to get it done; else not much use in escalating this. Certain things at outstations can only be done by someone with the respective authority ... if you know it can be done and should be done, there is nothing wrong with asking for the station manager.
The OPs case is so clearly outside of the control of AF, I would have simply tried to get this fixed immediately by someone from AF with re-booking authority; basically admitting it's my fault and asking to make a one time exception for a loyal PE.
I never said that AF does it all right, hell no, read some of my other posts
, but you have to know when it is worth fighting and when not.
The OPs case is so clearly outside of the control of AF, I would have simply tried to get this fixed immediately by someone from AF with re-booking authority; basically admitting it's my fault and asking to make a one time exception for a loyal PE.
I never said that AF does it all right, hell no, read some of my other posts
, but you have to know when it is worth fighting and when not.Frankly, the OP was totally at fault for taking such an unreliable LCC (rather than AF) for Milan-CDG with a connection in CDG. The OP frustration seems to have made him very "yelling" with some AF staff who had no authority to to grant a "gift". I guess he also yelled at Eurofly but got nowhere. But he should have yelled at himself. He finally got to fly for some 220 ($345) which is not bad. I guess that he even asked AF to cover the cost of the hotel room.
Sorry for being sarcastic. I guess that one has to be burnt once to engage in more reliable travel practices. BTW, I was not aware that Eurofly was flying MXP-CDG, I think it only flies LIN-CDG. But you get what you pay for.
Jan 16, 2008, 2:38 pm
#33
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: PARIS (France)
Programs: AF/KLM Club 2000 | InterContinental Diamond RA |AMEX Plat | Visa Infinite |Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 11,054
1. Passengers who wish to make a connecting flight are urged to book their tickets from partner companies. The interest of airlines alliances, beyond miles, is to ensure continuity of service in case of delay or difficulty (but only one reservation is required for the different tickets). This recommendation is all the more important when one of the two flights is an intercontinental flight, and / or connection time is limited. In other cases, the passenger takes the risk of not being able to embark on the second flight.
2. The payment of a ticket by American Express Gold Card / Platinum or Visa Premier / Infinite gives the right to compensation for delays of more than 3 hours on non charter flights. This type of insurance can limit the risk in cases where it is not possible to book some tickets from airlines belonging to the same airlines alliance (which was not the case in this case, as Milan is both an Alitalia and Air France regular destination).
3. The European Commission has increased its controls on delays generated by the airlines and believes rightly that "Whether flying first class or low cost, the inconveniences suffered by passengers are comparable and should be
addressed as defined in the Regulation" ("Commission gives airlines and Member States six months to make the air passenger rights regulation work", Brussels, 4th april 2007)
2. The payment of a ticket by American Express Gold Card / Platinum or Visa Premier / Infinite gives the right to compensation for delays of more than 3 hours on non charter flights. This type of insurance can limit the risk in cases where it is not possible to book some tickets from airlines belonging to the same airlines alliance (which was not the case in this case, as Milan is both an Alitalia and Air France regular destination).
3. The European Commission has increased its controls on delays generated by the airlines and believes rightly that "Whether flying first class or low cost, the inconveniences suffered by passengers are comparable and should be
addressed as defined in the Regulation" ("Commission gives airlines and Member States six months to make the air passenger rights regulation work", Brussels, 4th april 2007)
