Checking in online with Air France

Online check-in with Air France opens 30 hours before departure, on the Air France website and in the Air France app. On some flights leaving the United States the window is shorter, at 24 hours.

This guide covers when the Air France online check-in window opens and closes, what you need to access your booking, how the process runs, and what is left to do once you reach the airport.

Online check-in opens 30 hours before departure, on the Air France website and in the Air France app. From then on, you can choose a seat and get your boarding pass, which Air France notes you need in order to board.

One exception applies to flights from the United States. The window opens 24 hours before departure on all Delta Air Lines flights leaving the United States, and on Air France flights leaving Atlanta and Detroit.

The closing time varies by flight rather than following a single rule. Air France sets a check-in deadline for each departure, alongside a recommended arrival time and a boarding deadline, and publishes all three for you to look up. The boarding deadline is the latest time you can board, and it falls between 15 and 20 minutes before the scheduled departure time.

Checking in early does not commit you to anything. A completed check-in can be canceled at any point up to the check-in deadline.

There are two ways to access your booking. If you have an Air France account, you sign in and pick the flight from the ones already saved there. Without an account, you enter the booking details yourself.

That second route asks for three things:

• your ticket number, which runs to 13 or 14 digits, or your booking reference, which is 6 characters;

• the passenger's last name;

• the flight number.

You will find the flight number on your booking confirmation, in the form of two letters and a set of digits.

With the three details entered, select Check in to open the booking.

The process is similar on the Air France website and in the Air France app, and it ends with a boarding pass in the format you choose.

How to check in online with Air France:

1. Go to the Check-in section of the Air France website, or open the Air France app.

2. Sign in to your Air France account, or enter your ticket number or booking reference with the passenger's last name and the flight number.

3. Choose your seat.

4. Get your boarding pass and decide how you want to receive it.

At the end of online check-in, you can choose how to receive your boarding pass. Air France offers four options:

• by email;

• as a download to your smartphone;

• printed straight away;

• collected at the airport, from an Air France interactive kiosk.

The kiosks run 24 hours a day, so the last of those does not depend on what time you reach the terminal.

If neither the website nor a kiosk can produce your boarding pass, an Air France check-in counter is the place to go. Air France suggests arriving early in that case, because additional security checks may be needed before boarding.

Printing your baggage tag before you leave

If you have a bag to check, Air France lets you print the baggage tag at home for most flights, which is one job less once you arrive. The interactive kiosks print them too, for anyone who would rather do it at the airport.

At the airport

What is left to do comes down to your bags. With a checked bag, the baggage drop-off counter is your stop. With a carry-on only, you can go straight to the boarding hall.

Either way, keep the two deadlines in mind. Baggage has to be dropped off before the check-in deadline, and the boarding deadline falls between 15 and 20 minutes before departure.

Check-in can go smoothly and the flight still not. A delay, a cancellation or an overbooked flight can still get in the way of your plans.

Flights to and from the European Union are covered by EC 261, because Air France is a European airline. If the airline is responsible for the disruption, you may be owed up to $650, depending on how far you were due to fly. Both directions count: a flight leaving an airport in the EU, and a flight into the EU from the United States.

Rules on the U.S. side come from the Department of Transportation, and our guide to US air passenger rights covers them.

To find out what you may be entitled to, start with our Air France compensation page.

Keeping an eye on your flight

Check-in is done and the flight is still ahead of you. The Air France app tracks your flight status with real-time notifications, and its widgets put your next trip on your phone's home screen. If your journey runs through Paris-Charles de Gaulle, the app also gives you live information about your connection there.

For another way to keep an eye on your flight, the free AirHelp app can track it and check whether a delay, cancellation or denied boarding may entitle you to compensation.

With the AirHelp app you can:

• receive real-time notifications about delays, cancellations, gate changes and baggage claim;

• scan your boarding pass to add your flight quickly;

• share your flight status with whoever is picking you up;

• find out automatically when you are owed up to $650 in compensation;

• start your claim straight from the app, with no paperwork.

The app is free and available on iOS and Android.