Help..

If the airline cancels the flight due to weather and waived the change fee, do I need to pay the difference?... What for example my flight is tomorrow(cancelled) and decided I wanted to fly tonight to get to my destination, is that even possible?..

..Thanks, i'm flying KLM..

The airline is obligated to get you to your destination.

If you opt to rebook yourself instead of allowing the airline to fulfil that obligation, you are responsible for the fare difference in doing so.

That's a strange answer above, I don't see how the OP can rebook anything without the airline being involved. But airlines are only proactive with their very best customers and even then, not always.

So the instant you find out your flight has been canceled, you should start looking for alternatives on your own. Ideally they will be on the same airline but you should have alternatives on other carriers as well.

Having done that, you can then contact the airline and not be pushed into an inconvenient alternative. Maybe Ryanair would tell you to pound sand, but KLM should be more accommodating.

No need to be pedantic. The airline will rebook him at the desk based on what is available. If he instead goes online and books a different flight himself, he is of course liable for the fare.

This is completely wrong on many airlines. I rebook myself in response to IROPS all the time, often via the mobile app but sometimes using a mobile browser. If I have to speak a human to do a simple rebook of same origin/destination, that tells me I'm dealing with a primitive airline.

And no, at that point (following a cancellation), you do not need your same fare bucket available (what the OP is getting at). You need seats available in your cabin of service but do not need to upfare after a cancellation.

Of course if you're trying to change something else - flying to a nearby airport that isn't really a coterminal, trying to refund the entire flight, trying to change to a lesser/greater cabin of service, trying to select a flight that is farther away from your original flight than other available ones, etc. - you might need a human...

Not my experience either and an odd differentiation. If a flight is cancelled, the first thing to do is to get in line and on the phone and deal with whoever you reach first.

The differential here is that if you simply go out and buy a new ticket, that is not rebooking. You will pay whatever the prevailing price for the new ticket is and then you will in due course be due a refund for the ticket for the cancelled flight.

Airlines typically have to follow multiple sets of rules- first there will be a government rulebook based on where the airline is headquartered and where the airline flies. Second will be a document called a 'contract of carriage' which spells out a lot on how the airline operates including how passengers on cancelled or substantially delayed flights will be accommodated to get them to their final destination in a reasonably timely manner. (Or spell out what happens in terms of refunds or flight credits if the cancellation or delay is so severe that the passenger no longer wants to make a trip)

For a KLM flight operating within European Union rules the passenger protections are relatively generous. They can't make a seat of a different flight appear out of thin air, but they will do their best to get you there as soon as possible. The airline might also have to pay you compensation for a cancelled or delayed EU flight if certain conditions are met. A little info on what's known as EU 261 rules:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight...ation_261/2004

If you're inexperienced with booking plane travel, do look up some flight alternatives online and then call the airline or ask one of their airport desks to rebook you onto that new flight rather than rebooking on your own. It's not hard to do, but might be best for your own peace of mind, and because your desired free-of-charge rebooking might need a 'nudge' from an employee's computer to get you onto the right plane. (Also- If you're trying to do something like rebook a complex routing during a mass cancellation due to weather, a good airline employee can force you into seats onto a flight that the computer system doesn't automatically offer a passenger rebooking on their own)

Now that airline has been added, maybe move to the KLM board? The experts there will know best how to rebook and how far (or if at all) you can stretch an "odd" rebooking request online vs. in person.

Booking a new flight with another airline wont be feasible since it will cost me twice as much(esp for 4 people) but i wont rule it out. Im just hopeful that maybe one can share an experience of having moved their outbound flight a day early without the change fee and paying for current rates, instead of waiting for the next available flight( a day is ok but 2 will ruin everything).

Alternatives i found so far are flights leaving a day early

Please continue to follow this thread in the KLM Forum
Thanks...
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Im new to this site, do u have the link for me to get there, im really looking for answers

Most airlines are reasonable: if a flight cancels far enough in advance that you can reconfirm on a flight prior to your original departure, they are usually willing to rebook you earlier with your consent.

Any auto-rebooking feature is likely to book later since they can't know who's actually available to fly earlier. This *may* be one where you need to call, but the KLM "regulars" here can give you better details.

If KLM has a decent app, it might show the earlier rebooking options. Airline apps vary widely in quality/capability, from terrible to marginally adequate.

This has never been my experience. If you work with the carrier to rebook, there is never any issue. If you go online and book another ticket, you're stuck with fare difference. And that's assuming your flight was refundable. There is a difference between waiving a change fee and refunding the ticket.

Assuming the original ticket was refundable. It's generally a good idea to work with the airline in these situations.

You can contact KLM and ask if you can arrange alternative yourself. I did that when I was stranded in Nairobi and KLM repaid me for the ticket I bought on KQ and offered me a �800 voucher for the inconvience.

(I had to get out of Nairobi ASAP as my youngest son had his first school play and I would have been murdered by miss guggenheimer if I had missed that)

I feel that contributors above are taking at crossed purposes.

In the US, with so little competition, many customers would have little option but than to rebook with the same carrier. In many cases, they may not even consider the possibility of straying to another carrier.

In Europe - as has been evidenced by the current Ryanair cancellation controversy - people have been misunderstanding their entitlements, and going and booking new tickets for themselves - i.e. making brand new bookings - with other travel providers, in the mistaken belief that they can then claim for these costs. Instead, the correct way to be rebooked at the airline's expense is to use their facilities to effect the rebooking, whether this is:
- using their app, and taking whatever options it might provide
- ringing their customer service, and getting an agent to book something
- standing in line at the airport ticket desk, and getting an agent to book something
- initiating such booking attempts via any other means (social media, etc)

You probably all already know that anyway. However, there are a surprising number of people who don't.

When somebody talks about "booking themselves", then they need to be warned about straying out of the "correct" channels.

Read the OP's follow-up:
The OP is going rogue, and appears about to pay for the ticket him/herself - which means they most likely won't get refunded. The only good thing is that the significant outlay appears to have stayed their hand from taking this incorrect course of action.