What are my rights? My flight has been rescheduled and I'll miss my connecting flight.

[Kimten]

Posting here for traffic.

I'm in the EU. I have to take two flights to my destination.
Air France has rescheduled my first flight to a later time and as a result, I'm going to miss my second Air France flight.
There are no suitable alternative flights.
I booked both flights together on the Air France website.
What are my rights, does anyone know?

Did you book them as one Journey or two separate bookings?

Call them and figure out an alternative. Either that or ask for a full refund if they don’t have a suitable alternative. I’ve done both with US airlines. Every time I’ve gotten better (more expensive) flights than the original.

Sorry that was confusing better/more expensive fights at no extra charge.

I am a bit confused - I’d have thought if they were booked “together” (ie from departure airport through to final destination) they wouldn’t change just one of your flights knowing it throws the whole itinerary off!

But if you booked it as two flights from A to B, then B to C, rather than booking an indirect A to C route then that could be different I guess.

call them, airlines are usually pretty helpful!

It happens, especially if a flight with 2 legs is booked far in advance.

I had one flight that was booked with 3 stops. It was a terrible flight but about 6K cheaper than the ones that made sense. I booked it 6-9 months out. About 3 months out the times had changed a couple of times and I called the airline. They booked my on one of the super expensive flights for no extra charge. Also had it on a flight to Hawaii. One of my connections had me getting in 10 minutes after the next flight left. Called the airline and they changed my itinerary. Better flights … no charge.

Haven't you received an email with an automatic rebooking? If it was booked as one journey then they are responsible for rebooking a suitable route. If you haven't received anything, then call the airline.

you'll probably have to phone and speak to an agent vs online.
but if both with AF they most likely will accommodate something with star alliance (their affiliates).

Your rights will depend on how far away your flights are (in more than two weeks time or less than two weeks time) and if you booked both flights together or on separate itineraries. If separate bookings you have no rights. Their t&C's will stipulate they're allowed to change your flight as much as they want if it's more than two weeks away. They have a legal obligation to get you to your final destination (if on same itinerary) though, or offer you a full refund. Good luck, scheduled changes are a pain in the posterior

Call Air France or contact them online

they need to offer you the option of re-routing to your final destination at earliest opportunity

They should have moved your connecting flight as well. You need to call them.

You need to clarify whether you booked two separate flights or connecting flights, because your rights will be different.

Not necessarily, it depends whether they were booked as 1 journey.

In agreement with all the above and the key is in the booking reference.

If the two flights were the result of a single booking, i.e. you did one single transaction routing A>B>C, then the two flights will share the same passenger reference number/booking reference and AF should reroute you free of charge. They should also pick up any expenses caused by the flight change, e.g. hotel accommodation.

If you did the two bookings separately i.e. booked A>B,..closed that transaction out, then booked B>C then you'll have two separate flights with separate reference numbers and AF have no obligation to fix the missed connection.

American Airlines tried to do this to me once. I just called them and they moved me onto a much earlier flight with BA who are a partner airline. And I got a free upgrade! I then had a bit more of a wait for the connection than I had hoped for but it was better than the alternative of missing it altogether and I got to spend the wait in the lounge thanks to the upgrade.

Just call them and it should be fine. Presuming you did book it all as one through ticket then the onus is on them to get you all the way to your final destination.

As others have said, it all depends on whether you have a connecting flight or not.

If it's a connecting flight, AF are responsible for the entire journey and you have various rights to an alternative flight, a refund and/or compensation. See:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delays/

You say there are no other suitable flights - does this mean also with other airlines? Check this so when you call them, you know what to ask for.

I once had an A > B > C flight booked with KLM but when I got to the airport, I'd been bumped from the A > B leg due to over booking but KLM automatically put me on a BA flight that was A to C direct - I wasn't booked on this flight originally because the cost was about 4 times more and my employer, who booked the flight, will go for the cheapest option if they decide the longer travel time is worth it. So it worked out well for me because I got to my destination earlier than previously planned.

Presuming you did book it all as one through ticket then the onus is on them to get you all the way to your final destination.

True. My morning coffee has just kicked in and having read the OP again it's possible AF actually are offering alternatives but they are not suitable to the OP...I'll get my head round this eventually.

I think if it is a connected booking then the onus is on AF to (as @Orangello said) re-route to the final destination at earliest opportunity...and "earliest opportunity" may not work for the OP..

But many people know this but airlines have obligations that mean that they might have to transfer you to another flight. Yes, even another airline (as posters above experience). I've had BA do something similar several times and had them move me to Cathay Pacific, Quantas and even Virgin (who were the competition on that route).

Again that's true (for single booking) but I think we need clarification from the OP.

AFAIK whilst the airline has an obligation to try and get you to destination (and yes that can include transferring passengers to another operator) there's certainly no obligation to get you there on the original schedule/same day as originally planned.

It's at "earliest opportunity", which if it ends up being very adrift of schedule can mean in some circumstances from the passengers POV the whole journey becomes pointless.

Not necessarily, it depends whether they were booked as 1 journey.

OP says that they were booked together.

The two flights were booked together.
Both with Air France.
Booked through the Air France website.
Both flights have the same booking reference.

Then you need to call them as has been mentioned many times - let us know how you get on 🙂

I booked 5 months in advance.

This page is quite easy to read:

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm

The DO have the obligation to re-book you, even on a different airline. They do not want to do that. If they do not offer you re-booking, then legally you coud re-book yourself and charge them the difference. They will also fight that.
Have you been able to reach them by phone? Tip - you don't need to use local phone numbers, can call any of their helpline numbers, if the main ones are busy.

So you booked Lapland -> Timbuktu as one flight which happens to stop over/change over in Benidorm rather than…

Lapland -> Benidorm
Benidorm -> Timbuktu

?