Flight cancelled - being put on a flight a day earlier

assays_drinks

Hello all,

In September I'm due to fly from Manchester to Las Vegas via Amsterdam with KLM. This is part of a package holiday. I received an email from KLM yesterday to inform me that the Amsterdam to Las Vegas leg of the journey had been cancelled by the airline, and they had offered seats on the same flight but flying a day earlier than I had originally booked.

I've been in touch with the tour operator who are looking into what options I have, but their initial response was that we have to accept the new proposed flight or take a full refund. Obviously an issue here is that, if I accept the new flight, I'll also have to sort out an additional night in a hotel in Vegas. 

My question here is twofold:

1. In these circumstances, do I have to accept the alternative flight that KLM have offered the day before I had booked to travel? Can I insist on a flight with a different carrier on the day that I had originally planned to travel?

2. If I accept the flight that KLM have offered for the day before I'd originally planned to travel, are they expected to pay for the extra night that I'd need to purchase at the hotel in Vegas? I fully appreciate that I might be pushing my luck with this but just wanted to understand the position, as it's due to them offering the flight a day earlier that I'm in this position. And obviously a free night in Vegas isn't something to turn your nose up at!

Thank you!

Westin

Perhaps ask if you can be moved on to the Virgin Atlantic/Delta service MAN JFK LAS.  Or MAN LHR LAS. All are part of the Sky Team alliance.

bagand96

assays_drinks said:

Hello all,

In September I'm due to fly from Manchester to Las Vegas via Amsterdam with KLM. This is part of a package holiday. I received an email from KLM yesterday to inform me that the Amsterdam to Las Vegas leg of the journey had been cancelled by the airline, and they had offered seats on the same flight but flying a day earlier than I had originally booked.

I've been in touch with the tour operator who are looking into what options I have, but their initial response was that we have to accept the new proposed flight or take a full refund. Obviously an issue here is that, if I accept the new flight, I'll also have to sort out an additional night in a hotel in Vegas. 

My question here is twofold:

1. In these circumstances, do I have to accept the alternative flight that KLM have offered the day before I had booked to travel? Can I insist on a flight with a different carrier on the day that I had originally planned to travel?

2. If I accept the flight that KLM have offered for the day before I'd originally planned to travel, are they expected to pay for the extra night that I'd need to purchase at the hotel in Vegas? I fully appreciate that I might be pushing my luck with this but just wanted to understand the position, as it's due to them offering the flight a day earlier that I'm in this position. And obviously a free night in Vegas isn't something to turn your nose up at!

Thank you!

1) You are entitled under EC261 to a flight on the same day, even if with another carrier. As @Westin says, there are other services available on partner Airlines which hopefully means KLM can sort something out (the rebooking to the day before is probably the computer default, often staff can override).

You will have to do this via the tour operator though which sometimes adds complications. Sometimes you can at least talk to the airline to explore options, it does depend on the airline though. But the agent will need to make the change. 

2) If you accept the flight the day before then KLM are not responsible for the extra  accommodation cost. I don't think the Tour Operator are either.

One option may be to bring your flight home forward by a day too and ammend the hotel so there's no extra cost. Something to ask the tour operator?