Airline changed flights from direct to indirect

cfurneaux

I'm interested to gauge people’s opinions on a change the Air France made to my flights. I booked flights to Miami via Paris returning direct on a code share with Delta. I specifically wanted direct flights on the return as it’s overnight with children and didn’t want to change. If you travel regularly you will know that in most cases direct flights cost significantly more than indirect and I paid a significant premium for this direct return flight (Approx £700). A few weeks ago I logged on to the Air France site to add meals for kids and try to book seats and just happened to notice my return flight was no longer direct and was now taking 15hrs instead of the booked 9 hrs and was via New York. I called ebookers who I booked with who also didn’t know why but it turned out the direct flight was cancelled. The route has actually been cancelled so I accept that the airline don’t have too many options but they could refund the additional premium I paid. My options were to accept the new flight or have a refund. As I booked these flights back in July and travel next week the cost of rebooking at this short notice would be huge and there is minimal availability. I have accommodation booked too so I can’t change the dates.



Ebookers claim they don’t have any liability they just book the flights. I’ve written to Air France and they have replied with a polite sorry but you can’t have any compensation. My question is if I have any way to pursue this? I paid for the flights with a credit card but essentially didn’t get what I paid for as I paid for a direct flight so could I take it up with them. It just seems completely wrong to pay the direct flight premium and end up with indirect flights. I could have booked these flights originally for a lot less money. I’d be grateful for opinions.

richardw

My guess is the best you are going to get is probably frequent flyer points for future redemption.

The operating air carrier is Delta and the flight is from outside the EU so I don't think the EU rules apply.

Incapuppy

Aside from your query I think you are confusing direct with non-stop?

richardw

Delta were operating MIA-LHR-MIA non-stop flights with their own aircraft with KLM and AF codes, but these flights have been cancelled.

cubegame

Since when did direct flights to the East coast of the US cost more than indirect ones?

So you didn't pay a premium, you just chose a more expensive airline.

cfurneaux

I think the terminology for direct and non-stop is not clear but in this case I mean getting from Miami to London without stopping anywhere else.

Direct/Non-stop flights nearly always cost more than indirect ones so I did pay a premium.

baza52

cubegame wrote: »

Since when did direct flights to the East coast of the US cost more than indirect ones?

So you didn't pay a premium, you just chose a more expensive airline.

Direct/non stop flights are always more than going indirect.

cfurneaux

I should also add that at the time of booking, the flights I've now ended up with were also available at a lower cost but I didn't book them because I wanted direct/non-stop.

richardw

Non stop is where a flight goes from one airport to another without stopping, i.e. Gatwick to Alicante.

Direct can be where a flight goes from one airport to another with a stop at another airport, but with no change of aircraft required by the passengers, i.e Gatwick to Barcelona to Palma all on the same aircraft.

Just argue for compensation by frequent flyer points, I think you are highly unlikely to get cash.

richardw

cfurneaux wrote: »

I should also add that at the time of booking, the flights I've now ended up with were also available at a lower cost but I didn't book them because I wanted direct/non-stop.

Have you got a that saved somewhere?

cfurneaux

Unfortunately not.