Location: Phoenix AZ USA
Hi everyone, I was in Phoenix yesterday to board an Air France flight Paris. I arrived at the gate within the stated boarding window on my ticket and was denied entry to the plane. I was told that the pilot decided to leave early and since the doors had shut there was nothing they could do. The staff advised that they sent me notifications, but myself or my traveling partner did not receive any emails, calls or text messages. Per the boarding policy on AirFrance’s website, I should have been allowed to board. They are unable to move my flight until Thursday, which will completely ruin my trip. I am already out time and a considerable amount of money. I’ve called customer service and submitted an official claim but there’s not much else I can do for now. Given that I did not arrive late, is there anything else I can do beyond asking for a refund? By every letter of their policy they were in the wrong, so I’m wondering if there’s any recourse here. Appreciate any advice!
Comments
Did you buy the tickets with a credit card?
Were you at the gate ready to board at least 30 minutes before the scheduled departure?
Do you have trip insurance?
Looks like it left 11 minutes early: https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/AFR69/history/20250407/2215Z/KPHX/LFPG so sounds like you were not at the gate 30 minutes before departure.
What kind of recourse are you looking for?
If you want to get to Paris before Thursday, you should look and see if you can find an alternative itinerary, perhaps using a partner airline like Delta or KLM, and see if AF will rebook you on that instead.
Otherwise, you can ask them for a refund, or wait until Thursday. It looks like the flight only left 11 minutes early, so there’s no compensation required under European Flight rules.
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This being a legal sub, I would recommend you review the Air France Contract of Carriage.
https://wwws.airfrance.fr/en/information/legal/edito-cg-airfrance
Did you meet all the requirements under section 8?
doesn’t boarding for an international flight begin an hour before departure? what time did boarding close per your boarding pass?
I recommend posting this at r/flights.
They have more experience with this. This is not yet a legal territory.