KLM changed my booking to a much longer itinerary

Question

A few weeks ago I booked a return journey with KLM via their website. I am leaving from and returning to the EU. Today I noticed through their app that first leg (of three) of the return journey has been cancelled and I have been moved to a much earlier flight (~10:30 am instead of ~5:30 pm) with a extra 7 hours wait at that airport. This first leg is with a partner airline.

I am not aware of having received any notification of the change, if that's relevant. The outbound flight is in about 3 weeks and the return flight in just over 6.

Before I contact them, what are my rights? It feels unreasonable to totally change my flight like that after purchasing the ticket.

1. I see there is a flight from another airline (which I don't think has any partnership with KLM) for approximately the correct time. Have I any right to that?

2. KLM offer another route through a different airport at approximately the same time as the original. Have I any right to that?

I am specifically asking about my rights (i.e. what I can insist on). Obviously I will phone up and ask nicely! I am aware I can likely ask for a refund, but rebooking would be way more than I paid at the time.

Answer 1

There are already two good answers but the key ingredient here is "NEGOTATION".

Have I any right to that?

That's kind of the wrong question. Firstly, the law is too squishy to answer this with confidence and secondly airlines routinely ignore passenger rights anyway. The airline can certainly give you what you want. The tricky bit is to talk them into it especially if its more expensive to them.

You are entitled to a refund or "comparable" rebooking. However the definition of "comparable" is squishy. Most airlines will rebook you with an option that represents the lowest cost to them and not the best choice for you. Consider that a "starting offer. Do your own research, figure out what options are acceptable to you and then call them up.

1. Find alternative itineraries that are acceptable to you. Anything that involves Skyteam airlines should be bookable by KLM without too much fuzz. Tools like ITA matrix let you search for Skyteam itineraries.
2. Call them. Be friendly but firm. State that the 7 hour increase is problematic for you.
3. Ask specifically about the options that are acceptable to you. Make sure that the agent has the exact itinerary (which can be tricky with codeshares) and then ask them to book it.
4. If they say they can't, ask them why not.
5. Don't accept a wishy-washy answer. Things like "the system doesn't let me", "I'm not seeing the itinerary" Ask specifically which policy or rule prevents this specific booking
6. The airline might actually want you to cancel: if prices have gone up they may be able resell your ticket at a significantly higher price. You need to play the threat of cancellation by ear
7. If the agent refuses to be cooperative, ask to speak to a supervisor.
8. If the agent is simply incompetent, hang up and call again.
9. If you get a stern refusal, ask for a confirmation in writing so your lawyer can review it (this is just to scare them a bit).

We recently had a similar case where an airline cancelled a route and rebooked us silently (without notification) to a much less desirable option. In the end I managed to get us an itinerary that was much better than the original one, but it was a 1 hour plus call and I had to walk the agent step by step through the process of building it.

Answer 2

You can have a full refund. Compensations are valid only if changes happens in last 14 days (and not sure if the period is counted from the inbound flight or just from the delayed journey). See Article 5.1.c.1 in https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261 . Note: it is about cancellation, but I assume one of the flight was cancelled, and so they try you to re-route you.

I think KLM should allow you the second option. Because the flight is after 14 days, law gives you few options (apart refund). OTOH it may be interest of the airline to offer some better options (and algorithms are not the smarter guys in the city, so automatic notifications sometimes are ridiculous).

Answer 3

Legally, the only thing you can get is a full refund.

However, when airlines make changes unilaterally, they are usually open to alternatives, and you should consider the rebooking they made more as a "suggestion" than anything else.

I'm pretty sure the second option should be acceptable. The first option is less likely, but you can always ask. Not knowing the exact details of the routes/fights involved makes it difficult to be any more specific.

It's however weird that you didn't receive any notification from them. You should probably double check:

• That you provided the right contact info (e-mail, phone)
• That notifications didn't somehow get misplaced (e.g. placed in spam)