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?

Yes. Booked both flights together on the one ticket with AF.

Have you actually contacted Air France and asked them if they will refund you or arrange and alternative journey? What did they say?

That’s good then! Just call them and they’ll sort it. It may involve leaving earlier, different routing, an extra stop over or even a night at an airport hotel but they will sort something.

Love your imagination. I wonder if anyone has ever actually made that flight

Firstly YABU to not explain the situation properly and what they have actually told you.

If there are no alternative flights that are suitable for you then you will not be going anywhere and are therefore entitled to a full refund of what you paid. What else could it be? They're not going to put on a private jet for you.

If you have other consequential losses such as hotel and car hire bookings then you would be reliant upon your travel insurance to try to claim money back for them.

Flights get cancelled and rearranged all of the time for a lot of reasons. If you are due to fly in the next week contact the airline immediately. If you are not flying for the next 6 months then there is not the same urgency. The flight times may be changed a few more times before the actual day. You do need to contact them regardless of when you are going.

If you don't live very far from an airport I'd go in person to an Air France counter. Depending on where you live they might have a counter in the highstreet too (not common though). Otherwise call them.
If it had been booked elsewhere I'd be worried but because it was booked directly with them I'm sure they'll offer you a suitable alternative. Don't panic yet, talk to them first.

I have an ear worm today, so now I get to share it with all of you..... (been amended slightly to suit the post)

There is something strange,
Happening at a glance

Who you gonna call?.....

AirFrance!

I live 3.5 hours by road from the departure airport.

I'm going to ask for a refund and look for a different flight with a different airline.

Are your flights still within the minimum connection time within the airport you’ll be fly into then out of? it may look as if you’ll be late for your second flight but you may not be if the connection time hasn’t been exceeded.

They have rescheduled my first flight now so that I would arrive into CDG Paris for my connecting flight at 8:00pm.
My connection/onward flight to my final destination leaves at 7:50 pm on the same day.

See if there is a earlier flight that you get into CDG on . Or a later one .leaving. If you booked 5 months ago it's likely that prices will have soared so refund won't cover new flights

Or another thought .Do KLM fly to your destination . You could swap to them going through AMS instead

Brussels Airlines via, you've guessed it, Brussels might be another option, I've changed there before too.

You should call Air France..they may be planning to hold the connecting flight if they've rebooked a significant number of passengers. They should tell you that really though. But yeah, noone here can give you the answer.

I'm going to ask for a refund and look for a different flight with a different airline.
Don’t do this without giving them the opportunity to sort it first as it’ll likely cost you a lot more than when you booked 5 months ago! You can ask about partner airlines too, you’re not just restricted to AF and if they can’t do that then even airlines out of their alliance. E.g. I had a flight with American cancelled and their rebooked me with BA as they’re both One World. AF is part of Sky Team so includes Alitalia, Delta, KLM and loads more so there should be options.

What is the issue with calling them?

Don’t ask for a refund. Get them to put this right at their expense.

That’s my question… it’s a simple call and they will help the OP and find them new flights.

It’s really not a big deal.

Go by boat or taxi. You were told about climate change and multiple long distance flights wrecking the planet.

Seriously though, once you have booked a through journey end to end, the airline is obliged to either compensate you, refund you, or reschedule. Separate point to point flights are a different matter.

If nothing can be done then you can get statutory compensation on top of a refund.

If it wasn't so bloody expensive to travel by other means then people wouldn't fly so much.

No don't do that, your ticket will likely be way more expensive and if they have offered re-scheduling but you decline, they do not need to compensate the higher cost.

It way more dramatic to make a midnight post than just do the obvious.

How much notice have they given you, if short I think that AF would be responsible for the upset and either get alternative flights with another carrier or even put you up overnight .Do not seek a refund too early until you see what AF will do.

I travel a lot and deal with disruption all the time as well. Go to Air France website and look for alternative flights to your destination. You do not need to connect at CDG, and you can also fly from/to nearby airports. If you find something, call and give them the exact fligts you want to be re-booked to. I often get totally bizarre options offered as first choice, but they are usually happy to rebook me to flights I have chosen.

If nothing, check Google Flights or Skyscanner for other airlines. They will probably try to fob you off with not possible, but they do have the obligation to get you to your destination at earliest opportunity, not the opportunity that's cheapest for them.