Need help with frustrating experience rebooking flights with Air France

Are you sure you were actually speaking to Air France? Many unscupulous travel agents will claim to be Air France but aren't.

The phone number you should be calling is:

+1 800 237 2747

I got that from Air France's website.

Purchase tickets that are refundable. They originally cost a bit more but can be cheap insurance if there is an itinerary change.

How many of you are travelling? What fare did you book?
I remember that Air France has modifiable fares with a 200 euro fee. If the fee is per leg, per person, it quickly adds up to 1200 US dollars.

You could try calling again and hoping for a more flexible agent (sometimes you just get a bad one), or see if canceling for a credit and rebooking from scratch would actually be cheaper. It’s annoying, but sometimes that route saves you a few hundred bucks.

OK, a couple things. One did you actually cancel the flight and get a credit or are you trying to change the flight. I would see whether you can cancel it and get a credit and then use that credit to book your new flight. I’m not 100% sure how that works on Air France. I’d ask the agent how much credit you would have if you just canceled the ticket.

This may be a hang up and call back because sometimes you get agents who are just clueless

Third to make sure that you are actually talking to Air France- do not just dial the first number that pops up when you do a Google search because as someone else pointed out there are Legions of scammers out there.

Oh, and buy a refundable ticket? . I always love that advice. I feel like anybody who gives me that advice should send me the money. It’s only a few hundred dollars more. Just checked the prices for Atlanta to Paris for the dates we’re going next year. non refundable $793 fully refundable $1193. There are three of us, that’s only $1200.

Unfortunately, you may be at the mercy of Air France. Terms and conditions of airfares tend to be very opaque. With repeated google and Air France website searches, I am having trouble finding anything on the Air France website about change fees. I did find multiple TA and Reddit posts about people paying more than expected on Air France for changes, including on "flexible fares."

I agree with the ol' HUCA strategy mentioned above -- hang up, call again. Maybe you get someone more understanding, but airlines are giving less and less discretion to their customer service employees. If you don't get what you are looking for, ask to speak to a supervisor in a kind manner.

As you may or may not know, airlines have various fare buckets for flights that are lettered and vary according to seating class and cost (for example, Q/H/N fares are typically deeply discounted economy; Y is full price economy). It appears that while you may have booked in one of the cheaper airfare buckets, Air France excludes the cheapest buckets for rebooking. If true, it's rather shady.

Adrienne, you've just posted an excellent advertisement for travel insurance.

Did you try to do the change online and see exactly what what is involved?

I am betting that the $1200 is mostly change fees and fare differentials.

Absent having purchased "cancel for any reason" travel insurance, there is little you can do. If you can't cancel these bookings for a credit towards future bookings, I would consider paying the rebooking price of $1200 to retain the $4000 I have already put at risk. Otherwise, it sounds like you will have to take a full loss of the $4k...

The only problem is if you pay and rebook, if you have to cancel again, you will stand to lose your money again.

Adrienne,
I vote for calling again. In 2023 I had booked three sets of tickets to bring my kids and grandkids to France. (different departure cities, different days). One set (daughter and two kids, 9 and 12) were to fly San Francisco to CDG and change to Bordeaux, all on one ticket. Air France changed the time of the second leg of her flight, leaving the connection VERY tight. First call to AF to get a later flight for the second leg was unsuccessful. Second call, different person, worked. They changed them to a (somewhat) later connection, different terminals. She was able to make it in time, but with a brisk walk to the connecting plane.
The second person seemed to know so much more than the first person I spoke with. Persistence paid off.
(I will add that they were in premium economy, so debarked earlier than most passengers. And they were put on their Bordeaux flight in first class, not that it mattered much on that short flight.) Being premium economy may have helped, but not with the first person I spoke with. They appeared to be poorly informed about changing connections. So try again. You don't have much to lose. I wish you luck!

Thank you everyone for your advice. It is much appreciated. I did use the phone number on the Air France website regarding our direct flight from San Francisco to Paris for two passengers. Several weeks ago when our family situation came up and we had to consider canceling our December trip, I called Air France and was told that if I were to cancel the trip, I would lose the $1000 I paid for the upgraded seats and receive credit only for the $4000 I paid for the flights. I argued that it didn't seem right that I would lose money on seats that I never used on a flight that I never took but the agent explained that it was the condition of the purchase, which makes no sense to me. It certainly does look like I am at the mercy of Air France and their 'customer service' which amounts to not much service at all. The airlines is a moneymaking business after all.

The agent I spoke to yesterday told me that I could change the dates for my flight online then call Air France back and that they would help me with the seats. I kept her on the phone while I tried to do that and a message popped up saying that I couldn't do a flight change online. I had the feeling that she wasn't particularly experienced or very well trained because she kept putting me on hold each time I had a question. Ah well, I'll keep calling Air France (and waiting on hold) until I find someone who is experienced and competent enough to help. I wasn't aware that Air France charged a fee to make flight changes so lesson learned. Thanks again.

Unfortunately, the seat upgrade fees on a lot of carriers are just lost of you change the flight

One of the benefits of booking online is that you can look at the terms you’re agreeing to as you pay them and sometimes agents don’t read them out to you

Did you read Air France's general conditions of sale for seat options?

https://wwws.airfrance.fr/en/information/legal/edito-option-siege

Good news! I just got off the phone with an Air France agent and he rebooked the flights for a June trip for an additional $455 and it took less than 10 minutes. I was able to keep the same seats on both flights, which is great because I only paid $800 for two premium seats on the return, which is a pretty good deal, all things considered. I've learned a lot from you all so again, thank you.

I wasn't aware that Air France charged a fee to make flight changes so lesson learned.

Unless one buys a 'refundable' ticket, I am not aware of any airline that doesn't charge for flight changes ( unless one has some elite status in the FF program)

Actually, if you buy a ticket departing out of the United States on Delta even without status, you will have full credit if you cancel without a change fee unless you choose to go with basic economy, and if you go with basic economy, you get about four warnings during the booking process telling you what you’re giving up

Congratulations! I had hopes that you would get better help if you kept calling. Hooray for you! Bon voyage!