Air France VENT - can you help?!

CrazyClum

I will cut a very long painful story short. I have just arrived home from a week in the lovely Dubai where I flew Air France.

The flight out was perfect, I live near Birmingham, so I flew BHX - Paris CDG and then onto Dubai. This was excellent on the way out and the service was standard of Air France with free drinks and a good personal TV, Air France branded plane and staff/cabin etc.

The way back - arrived at Dubai Airport on Sunday at 21.00 for a 00.50 flight. Firstly, flight is delayed until 3.46pm (4 minutes within 3 hour compensation barrier). This means that we miss our connection due at 07.40 in Paris.

We are scheduled to arrive in Paris now at 08.50, so are booked onto a connection at 09.50 back to Birmingham. HOWEVER, the flight is not being operated by Air France, but has been chartered out to a company called Hi - Fly who are operating on behalf of Air France. This is why there is a delay. Air France fleet at over-capacity!

We are booked onto the next 08.50 flight (FlyBE) to Birmingham giving us an hour. We check three times with the agent that this will be enough time. She assures us so.

Back to Hi-Fly. Having flown out in luxury you can imagine the disappointment. It was a glorified Ryanair. No room, no footrest, plane out of the 1970's, no personal TV, infact no TV at all. You might think why am I complaining about this, but I paid extra to fly with Air France to get these very things!

The flight leaves later than scheduled at 4am and doesnt get into Paris until 9.15am, to add insult to injury (over 20 passengers on plane waiting for this transfer!) we are bussed to the terminal, not arriving until 09.45 in the terminal. Having been in this situation before, expected Air France employees on hand to rush this large number of passengers onto the connection. Nothing at all, running between terminals at Paris CDG (a huge airport) to miss the flight.

Put onto another FlyBE flight at 15.25 arriving home at 15.50 local time. Almost eight hours after the scheduled arrival time.

LESSON: AIR FRANCE - not the scheduled service like BA/KLM that one expects.

I need your advice, is there any legal stance for compensation. One member of party missed a full day at work and other missed 11 mystery shops worth £100 to them. Add to the extra airport car park fees that had to be paid and the cost of the internet/drinks that our party needed. Internet was vital for business.

Other passengers said we could get 250 euros each, but is this just hot air?

Cheers, and I warn you to stay away from Air France.

moonrakerz

Before I retired I used to do a lot of travel in Europe, always with BA or Lufthansa. I did one return trip to Toulon via CDG with Air France - NEVER, NEVER again !!!

I knew it was not going to be good when I got to Heathrow. No Business Class check-in - just one check-in for everybody, but they did have two people [STRIKE]organising[/STRIKE] disorganising the queue. One minute you were 5th in the queue then they would move the barriers and then you were 37th .......................It just went downhill from there............

Absolutely awful airline !

paddyrg

As the flight originated outside the EU, I don't think you have an automagic right to compo - claim instead on your travel insurance.

Diver2

As the flight originated outside the EU, I don't think you have an automagic right to compo - claim instead on your travel insurance.

I don't believe this is quite correct, the compensation regulations cover all EU carriers, regardless of where the flight orginates? I think you would be able claim and also "think" it might be higher dependant on the overall flight distance.
OP - there is a special flights MSE flights forum in the travel section, you would get a much better response asking there. There is also actually a page here on the MSE website that sets it all out.

D2