UKC

Who is responsible for missed flight connections, when its not your fault? Do you have to bear the brunt of the cost for the next flight, or can you get insurance for such an eventuality?

In reply to Ste Brom:
Carrier dependant and whether or not the flight was booked as a single route or two separate ones. Yes, i believe you can get insurance for failure to connect but again if you booked them as separate flights it's up to you to allow sufficient time to make the connection.

In reply to Fraser:

Im just looking at a flight that has 2 connections, one of 45min, the second 1h 45min, thats stipluated as part of the whole 'deal', with air france.

The other option is 16h. pfft.

In reply to Ste Brom:

Yeah, 16 hours would indeed be a pain! If your baggage is checked through the whole way you might be lucky enough (if the airport with the short connection time isn't too big) for that to be doable. I reckon anything less than an hour is cutting it a bit fine but I generally like to have a bit of time in hand to allow for the unforeseeable.

In reply to Ste Brom:


The airline are responsible. I have to connect a lot for business travel since my nearest airport isn't a hub, and 45 minute connections are normally fine especially at well run airports like Munich or Zurich.

If the flight is running late, while in the air the cabin crew have a list with everyone on connections and will let you know if you stand a chance of making it - often moving you to the front of the plane and getting you off first.

If you miss it, then they will book you on a later flight.

Obviously if its something like EasyJet this would unlikely count as the connection is not part of the ticket price (you would book separate flights and take the risk).

If it wasn't realistically possible to connect in time, the connection wouldn't be available as part of the deal from the airline.

In reply to yorkshireman:

Thanks lads!

In reply to Ste Brom:
Slightly risky but a major carriers should sort it out if you miss a connection for multiple flights in a single booking for the journey.

In reply to Ste Brom:

This happened to me once - I had booked my entire route on one ticket (with Qantas, for reference) and ended up missing a connection due to a delay. They put me up for the night, made sure I was fed and got me on the next available plane, at no extra cost. Whilst mildly inconvenient, I wasn't out of pocket.

As others have said, it wouldn't be offered as a package by the airline if it couldn't be done.

In reply to Ste Brom:

I was on my way back from Hong Kong to London via Frankfurt for a connecting flight about 14 years ago. There was a strike on and me and a few others were guided through what seemed a desolate airport in a non-conventional way. I arrived to board the connecting flight which they had held for us. My boarding pass number 007!!

In reply to Ste Brom:
So long as you've booked all the legs with the same airline it's their responsibility. It's when you mix and match with different airlines that you can run into difficulty.


It happened to me flying with Delta from Aspen to Denver, Denver to Newick and Newick to Heathrow. The Aspen flight was delayed so I missed both subsequent connections. They rerouted me at Denver to go via Chicago and as compensation upgraded me to Business Class for the Chicago to Heathrow leg.I was very chuffed!

In reply to Trangia:


With the exception of those where *you* book separate legs/flights to get from A to C via B, (eg EasyJet etc) in which case the consequences of any delays are your responsibility.

In reply to Ste Brom:

Also OK if the ticket is a code-share (e.g. booked together with airlines under one of the big cartels - notably One World and Star Alliance).

I think that EU regs indicate clearly that the airline is responsible - though there might be a longish delay which is insufficient to warrant an overnight. There's only so many hospitality tokens you can stand using, given the rather restricted selection of eateries.

In reply to Ste Brom:

Like others said, if you bought one ticket from A to C and you just happen to need to change at point B, its all the airlines responsibility and they should look after you properly if something goes wrong. If there are a number of people on your first plane connecting with a second flight, and your first plane is a bit late it's quite normal for them to hold the second plane and whisk you all through the airport to get on it.

In reply to Ste Brom:

its worth checking if the arriving and departing flights are to/from the same terminal, and looking up the airport map. If you're flying Air France via CdG airport this can be a long way / time

In reply to kevin stephens:

This is a problem I have had several times going through CDG, on a regular trip I make. Luckily the connection time on my outbound flights is around 1.50, so the bag always arrives where I'm going. The return connection is 0.50, so they never get my bag on the next flight. It gets delivered to my house the next day. This is something I accept, and pack all I need in my hand luggage. Rather lose the bag for a day than have a 16 hour trip back home. I'm off through CDG this week and on the way back I usually weigh up whether or not I'm getting a bus, or taking the taxi terminal to terminal. To help matters I try to book a seat as close to the front of the aircraft as possible, then run through the terminal. Always made the flight, but I've probably jinxed it now...

In reply to Ste Brom:

I left myself 6 hours once because i'd booked flights separately, still missed my connection!

Luckily it was an aer lingus flight and an aa flight and they work together. Aer Lingus initially said i couldn't get on a flight for 14 days but aa managed to sort it out.

In reply to Ste Brom:

If that 45 min is at Charles de Gaul you'll almost certainly miss it. Terrible airport to connect at- been there, missed that...

It is there responsibility. They have to put you on the next available flight and provide overnight accommodation and food if necessary for free. It can still result in a significant delay to your journey.

I had this very thing a few years back when flying with Air France from Edinburgh-Seattle via Charles de Gaul. I got a free night's accom in Paris and flown out the next day. I'm not complaining but it's a problem if your in a rush!