alesfo

Hi,
I was flying from MXP to JFK in P (my first flight in P, by the way) and the CDG - JFK segment has just been cancelled. I would have taken another flight in J or Y but today everything is full --- I guess that rebooking 400+ people is filling everything fast!

Tomorrow, I wanted to take a morning flight if possible, and J would have been fine; however, by the time the agent got around to book it that filled up too. Bottom line, I will be leaving tomorrow afternoon (in P).

Apart from the usual provisions (right to an accommodation, compensation if this was not due to extraordinary circumstances, etc) what should I expect from AF? To be honest, I was a little surprised that they could not hold a few seats in J/Y for the P passengers. After all, there were "only" 8 P pax on AF0010; they could have given them prority for rebooking in lower classes...

One of the main reasons why I decided to book P is that this was a rather important trip and I wanted to minimise bad surprises :-

Alessandro

MSPeconomist

alesfo

To clarify: this all happened / is happening today. The flight was cancelled just a couple of hours before departure ("for a technical problem", so no extraordinary circumstances).

I am aware of the EC261 regulations, but I was wondering if AF extends some special treatment to P passengers, especially for such a long (one-day) delay. (the first thing that comes to mind, ie holding some seats for them on the next flights, clearly did non apply).

Often1

To answer OP's question, I am not sure what more than EUR 600 + hotels, meals, and local transport he is expecting. That happens to be what EC 261/2004 requires, but also seems quite fair.

As to whether AF would have paid a 75% downgrade refund had OP been rebooked into J/Y, it is doubtful that AF would pay anything other than a refund of the fare difference bwtween P and the cabin flown. If one chooses to accept a quicker rebooking in a lower cabin, that is a voluntary matter. OP would still, of course be entitled to any delay compensation.

For what it is worth, in IRROPS, the first thing to do is to get in line and on the phone. Sometimes you get through faster on the phone. If there is a premium on getting to your destination sooner, better to grab a seat on the earlier flight.

Ditto

To be honest I wouldn't expect much more, AF customer service seems to have gone downhill when it comes to handling complaints, doing the minimum needed and not anything extra like they used to do couple of years ago.

Goldorak

Goldorak

alesfo

Just to quickly reply to Often1, I guess that my main expectation was that when flying a premium cabin I would have more chance of being rebooked on the next available flight, rather than on a flight that leaves 24h after. (and as I said, I understand that the P cabin is very small, so flying J would have certainly been ok). I can imagine that when a a380 is cancelled there are plenty of people to rebook, and that all cabins on the next flight fill up very quickly, but notheless I would have expected more priority to be given to someone who is flying P on a paid ticket and is is flying AF relatively frequently. For instance, holding some seats on the flight after the cancelled one (or the one after that, or the one after that) would have been an option.

All this being said, it is certainly reasonable to say that one has a right to be rebooked and to be offered care and compensation as per EU law, and asking for more would be irrealistic.

Perhaps I can turn my original post around and ask: in case of IRROPS while flying P, did you receive a different treatment with respect to what normally expected (eg based on EU law?). I think that quite a few people here travel in P with AF (though maybe they do not connect in CDG that often...?). Maybe I should just curb my expectations, and it would not be bad to know it already

alesfo

Hi Goldorak, our reply criss-crossed. I was informed in CDG, by the P lounge staff. When thy told me, I was offered this evening in Y, tomorrow morning in J or tomorrow afternoon in P. I asked for today and the agent came back in a few minutes to tell me that everything was full except tomorrow in P, which the agent had booked (to avoid further disappointment). This whole thing took just a few minutes. I accepted and they will put me in the CDG sheraton for the night.

Often1

I suspect that AF does do its best to rebook F/J passengers as quickly as possible, but it cannot create seats where they don't exist. As you yourself pointed out, there seems to have been a bit of a delay in getting you rebooked. In that time, other passengers, perhaps F/J or perhaps with high status, got whatever seats there were.

Hence my advice that the first thing to do when a cancellation is announced is to find an agent and get on the phone. At a minimum, either can hold a seat for a few minutes.

ijgordon

The special treatment will probably be that they'll proactively send you the €600 compensation instead of making you beg for it.

I had a similar issue -- misconnect from EU to CDG (was around the time of a strike ~18 months ago, regional flight to CDG was chartered out and arrived >60 minutes late. I may have been able to make the connection, but I didn't want to hustle (and miss the lounge!!!). There were only 2 flights with P operating at that time (both 77Ws), and the one the following morning was full, so they could only rebook me on the same flight 24 hours later. This was on a Saturday, so getting home from vacation on Sunday was no huge deal to me (I could spend the morning in Paris and see a good friend), and I didn't want to give up the LaP experience. Then, they "forced" me to eat dinner in the lounge (quelle horreur!) while they dealt with the rebooking (including making sure my bag didn't get on the same-day flight without me), and hotel accommodation. Also the CDG Sheraton (I don't know if they also give this to J pax, but I believe Y pax get something off-airport), with vouchers for dinner and breakfast. Then they "forced" me to book a spa treatment for the next day and urged me to come back to the lounge to have a late lunch before the early evening departure. The staff was wonderful. After my leisurely dinner, they escorted me out through immigration and drove me to the front door of the Sheraton.

EC261 comp wasn't even on my mind (the mis-connect was semi-voluntary), but after I got home, they sent me a ~€800 voucher with an apology email. It didn't reference EC261 at all, so it still didn't occur to me (I figured it out a little later...). Of course, then when I went to use the voucher later that year for a ticket for my husband, I found out the voucher was non-transferable, so I called and insisted on getting the cash compensation instead. Delta cut me a check that arrived a few weeks later. (It was a lose-lose for AF, the ticket was €1500+, and he booked on La Compagnie instead, so they gave up the incremental revenue plus the cash outlay.)

richarddd

FWIW, AF also cancelled flight 11 today, JFK-CDG, for "operational reasons". Moving 80 J and 9 F pax to other flights can strain the system.

brunos

If they cancelled AF10 from CDG, it is natural that they have to cancel the return flight AF11.

Sjondorn

I have a hard time imagining me willing to take a flight in Y when I book P, honestly. Someone would have to point a gun on me or something

bodory

I am extremely surprised that they did manage to book you on the same day, even in Y.