I recently experienced royal mess all around. Because of stand still traffic on the Bay Bridge I got to the airport at 3:20 for a 4:25 flight. I tried to call to let them know of my delay but Air France’s 800 number doesn't appear to have an option to allow you to speak with a human on Sunday afternoon., stating they close at 5pm EST on Sundays. At the counter they told me (and several other parties) the flight was over booked, all seats were gone but since we were not 1hour, 20 minutes before the flight departure, we forfeited our tickets. I reasoned nicely, I got slightly upset, I calmed back down. Finally an agent agreed to take my confirmation papers. She disappeared into a back room. I called my wife and asked her to pull off the freeway and wait to see the outcome.
15 minutes went by. My wife got pissed off....some Mother's Day….she drives me to the airport in standstill traffic and heat and then is parked in a chancy neighborhood waiting for me. She gave up and went home.

I asked how many standbys got on. "None. We don’t do standbys."

“How many people walked up and bought tickets?”

"None. We always overbook the flights.”

"Don't I qualify for a break or some compensation? I am here 60 minutes before departure as stated on your website." (http://www.airfrance.us/cgi-bin/AF/U...rement_hle.htm )

"No. You were under today’s deadline of 1 hour 20 minutes."

I asked someone else what was happening with my tickets. They got the agent and she said I had to wait until Monday. I asked about other airlines and was told no others go to Paris. I suggested via Munich or London and was told there was a Lufthansa at 10:30pm but my ticket couldn't be credited. I asked if there was any chance one seat might have cleared on today's AF flight.

"No."

She then gave my paperwork to a man who disappeared into the back office for 20 minutes. I asked what was happening. Someone else came out and handed me back my paperwork showing me a piece of paper with prices and explaining “If you call an hour before the departure time we can rebook for tomorrow for a $200 penalty. After one hour it would cost $811 additional.” It was explained that technically my ticket was worthless and I should be buying a new ticket. But they were making an exception.
“OK. I”ll do the penalty option.”
“It is less than one hour to departure.”
“But I was here an hour before and you folks took my paperwork back into your office for all this time.”
“You can pay an extra $811.00 or buy a new ticket “ (at some outrageous price.) I asked every question I could but that was the bottom line. I finally gave in and handed over my credit card, explaining that though this was a business trip, the extra would be coming out of my pocket.

He disappeared again and soon the 4:20 flight was gone. Finally he came back and explained to me how the booking in their system was very messed up showing a return routing through Ohio. He rebooked me from SFO to Nice via Paris on May 15/16. I explained that I was not going to Nice until Wednesday and he told me my original flight did not include a stopover in Paris. That would cost me more money.

So not only did I go a day late but my 2 day stopover in Paris to see friends and sights was wiped out…there weren’t even seats to Nice on Wednesday.
Luckily Hotel des Grand Ecoles was able to sell my room so I wasn;t charged for the Paris Hotel.

Also suggest using the check-in at home and print boarding pass option - for those airelines that offer this

Stating the obvious, the scenarios above would have been avoided by allowing sufficient time to get to the airport. I really don't mean that to sound flip, but I have a hard time seeing the airlines as evil, when a passenger doesn't check in on time. I thought 2-3 hours prior was normally requested for international flights.

no <b>suze</b>, it's not a requirment it's only a suggestion.

The normal, average requirment for any flight, international or not, is 1 hour with luggage, ~35 minutes without, but that means checked in, not standing in line. The gate agent can and will give your seat to the next standby if you don't present yourself at the gate 15 minutes before scheduled departure.

Of course, you are on your own to get through security, and that may be cutting close, but the point is, that any airline I have ever flown will check you in as long as the procedure is finished 1/2 hour before the flight and you are not checking luggage or 1 hour if you are. Ok, the exception are the couple of European LCCs that I have flown once or twice. I believe EasyJet is 45 minutes and RyanAir is 40 minutes, or something like that, but they make that clear on their websites.

The poster with the AF story? He simply got hosed by AF staff....

Air France allows web check in up to 24 hours before the flight

AAFF- Thank you. I really didn't know. I guess I just don't have the nerves to cut it that close myself.

and believe it or not I was wrong. The <b>required</b> time is even less, at least for AA, but I believe it's the industry standard:

<i>Standard baggage cutoff is 30 minutes prior to departure for flights departing the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands with the following exceptions:

* Atlanta, Georgia (ATL) 40 minutes
* Chicago O'Hare, Illinois (ORD) 40 minutes
* Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas (DFW) 40 minutes
* Denver, Colorado (DEN) 45 minutes
* Las Vegas, Nevada (LAS) 40 minutes
* Los Angeles, California (LAX) 40 minutes
* Miami, Florida (MIA) 45 minutes
* Newark, New Jersey (EWR) 40 minutes
* New York JFK, New York (JFK) 45 minutes
* Norfolk, Virginia (ORF) 40 minutes
* Orlando, Florida (MCO) 40 minutes
* San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) 40 minutes
* St. Croix, U.S Virgin Islands (STX) 45 minutes
* St. Thomas, U.S Virgin Islands (STT) 45 minutes
* Washington Dulles, District of Columbia (IAD) 40 minutes

Standard baggage acceptance cutoff for flights originating in all airports in Canada and <b>outside the U.S.</b> is 45 minutes before departure.

You must be on board the aircraft and in your assigned seat at least 10 minutes before scheduled departure time.

<b>Pre-reserved seats are subject to cancellation unless you have checked in at least 30 minutes before scheduled departure.</b></i>

Per AF the check-in time varies depending upon country of departure:

Europe 30 minutes

North Africa 40 minutes

Africa 60 minutes

Middle East 60 minutes

Asia - Pacific Ocean 60 minutes

Americas 60 minutes

French Caribbean and Indian Ocean 60 minutes

As I said, the AF passenger got hosede by the AF staff....

Not only did they give away his seat when they had no right to do so, but then came up with stories that he has to pay??? WOW!

Always a good idea to have a print out of the policies with you - just in case the check-in counter doesn't know their own policies!

I thought I would update on my trip from Seattle to London on Monday with no seat assignment, that I have been worrying about. Today I checked the BA website and was able to get seat assignments for my sister and myself. According to the seat map though there were only 8 seats left. I am so glad that I checked the site. Yippy skippy off we go to Ireland!