What I think of Air France!
Apr 21, 2015, 12:13 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2012
Programs: Hilton Diamond DL Platinum UA 1K, DL Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 500
What I think of Air France!
Posted on DL forum:
Be careful you don't get Air France
Booked RT Business class ticket Seattle to Madrid. Did not pay enough attention to the fact that the segment ATL- CDG was flown by AF.
Definitely an inferior product compared to DL. (Did I really say that)
1. First the good things . FA's were very good and helpful. Around all the time asking if you needed anything.
2. Flight was 3 hours late departing. Re-booking handled well with flight info on my phone when landing Paris. Baggage transferred without incident.
Now the Bad.
3. I arrived at the gate 45 minutes before scheduled departure . All passengers already boarded. They already knew they would have to delay an hour waiting for passengers on another flight. Why board people when you know they will have to sit in that Tube for 2 hours for no reason. DL Club much better!
This then turned into over 3 hours sitting at the gate when they had a problem with the engine. Nothing I enjoy less then sitting on an airplane not moving.
4. Aircraft a 747/400 with 2 classes and Business on Main deck exclusively unlike just about every other carrier that has some BC on upper Deck.
5. Old styled angled flat and 2+2 in front where yes climbing over is a necessity. Thank you DL for Staggered seating.
6. No 110 volt service at seat. Really how backward are we.
7. I figured French airline at least the food would be good . Wrong!
Salad was nothing but lettuce, no vegetables and no dressing except bottle of Balsamic. Shrimp Cocktail was served with some sort of mayo . Certainly not what I would expect.
Rolls brought out stone cold . Even UA heats their rolls.
I had the chicken as the Main dish. Only thing I could think of was how people refer to the Rubber Chicken circuit . Tough and no taste.
Desert was slightly better , 3 little squares and some sorbet all mediocre.
DL serves much better food in all courses IMHO.
But the final straw is my flight from Paris to Madrid in an A321. First Class was 6 across and as much room as I get on Ryanair. Absolutely ridiculous to call it anything except what it is Economy!
Avoid Air France!
kapkap46 is online now Alert a moderator to this post
Be careful you don't get Air France
Booked RT Business class ticket Seattle to Madrid. Did not pay enough attention to the fact that the segment ATL- CDG was flown by AF.
Definitely an inferior product compared to DL. (Did I really say that)
1. First the good things . FA's were very good and helpful. Around all the time asking if you needed anything.
2. Flight was 3 hours late departing. Re-booking handled well with flight info on my phone when landing Paris. Baggage transferred without incident.
Now the Bad.
3. I arrived at the gate 45 minutes before scheduled departure . All passengers already boarded. They already knew they would have to delay an hour waiting for passengers on another flight. Why board people when you know they will have to sit in that Tube for 2 hours for no reason. DL Club much better!
This then turned into over 3 hours sitting at the gate when they had a problem with the engine. Nothing I enjoy less then sitting on an airplane not moving.
4. Aircraft a 747/400 with 2 classes and Business on Main deck exclusively unlike just about every other carrier that has some BC on upper Deck.
5. Old styled angled flat and 2+2 in front where yes climbing over is a necessity. Thank you DL for Staggered seating.
6. No 110 volt service at seat. Really how backward are we.
7. I figured French airline at least the food would be good . Wrong!
Salad was nothing but lettuce, no vegetables and no dressing except bottle of Balsamic. Shrimp Cocktail was served with some sort of mayo . Certainly not what I would expect.
Rolls brought out stone cold . Even UA heats their rolls.
I had the chicken as the Main dish. Only thing I could think of was how people refer to the Rubber Chicken circuit . Tough and no taste.
Desert was slightly better , 3 little squares and some sorbet all mediocre.
DL serves much better food in all courses IMHO.
But the final straw is my flight from Paris to Madrid in an A321. First Class was 6 across and as much room as I get on Ryanair. Absolutely ridiculous to call it anything except what it is Economy!
Avoid Air France!
kapkap46 is online now Alert a moderator to this post
Apr 21, 2015, 12:37 pm
#2
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Programs: Delta PLT, IHG Ambassador Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, BWR Diamond
Posts: 550
Posted on DL forum:
Be careful you don't get Air France
Booked RT Business class ticket Seattle to Madrid. Did not pay enough attention to the fact that the segment ATL- CDG was flown by AF.
Definitely an inferior product compared to DL. (Did I really say that)
1. First the good things . FA's were very good and helpful. Around all the time asking if you needed anything.
2. Flight was 3 hours late departing. Re-booking handled well with flight info on my phone when landing Paris. Baggage transferred without incident.
Now the Bad.
3. I arrived at the gate 45 minutes before scheduled departure . All passengers already boarded. They already knew they would have to delay an hour waiting for passengers on another flight. Why board people when you know they will have to sit in that Tube for 2 hours for no reason. DL Club much better!
This then turned into over 3 hours sitting at the gate when they had a problem with the engine. Nothing I enjoy less then sitting on an airplane not moving.
4. Aircraft a 747/400 with 2 classes and Business on Main deck exclusively unlike just about every other carrier that has some BC on upper Deck.
5. Old styled angled flat and 2+2 in front where yes climbing over is a necessity. Thank you DL for Staggered seating.
6. No 110 volt service at seat. Really how backward are we.
7. I figured French airline at least the food would be good . Wrong!
Salad was nothing but lettuce, no vegetables and no dressing except bottle of Balsamic. Shrimp Cocktail was served with some sort of mayo . Certainly not what I would expect.
Rolls brought out stone cold . Even UA heats their rolls.
I had the chicken as the Main dish. Only thing I could think of was how people refer to the Rubber Chicken circuit . Tough and no taste.
Desert was slightly better , 3 little squares and some sorbet all mediocre.
DL serves much better food in all courses IMHO.
But the final straw is my flight from Paris to Madrid in an A321. First Class was 6 across and as much room as I get on Ryanair. Absolutely ridiculous to call it anything except what it is Economy!
Avoid Air France!
kapkap46 is online now Alert a moderator to this post
Be careful you don't get Air France
Booked RT Business class ticket Seattle to Madrid. Did not pay enough attention to the fact that the segment ATL- CDG was flown by AF.
Definitely an inferior product compared to DL. (Did I really say that)
1. First the good things . FA's were very good and helpful. Around all the time asking if you needed anything.
2. Flight was 3 hours late departing. Re-booking handled well with flight info on my phone when landing Paris. Baggage transferred without incident.
Now the Bad.
3. I arrived at the gate 45 minutes before scheduled departure . All passengers already boarded. They already knew they would have to delay an hour waiting for passengers on another flight. Why board people when you know they will have to sit in that Tube for 2 hours for no reason. DL Club much better!
This then turned into over 3 hours sitting at the gate when they had a problem with the engine. Nothing I enjoy less then sitting on an airplane not moving.
4. Aircraft a 747/400 with 2 classes and Business on Main deck exclusively unlike just about every other carrier that has some BC on upper Deck.
5. Old styled angled flat and 2+2 in front where yes climbing over is a necessity. Thank you DL for Staggered seating.
6. No 110 volt service at seat. Really how backward are we.
7. I figured French airline at least the food would be good . Wrong!
Salad was nothing but lettuce, no vegetables and no dressing except bottle of Balsamic. Shrimp Cocktail was served with some sort of mayo . Certainly not what I would expect.
Rolls brought out stone cold . Even UA heats their rolls.
I had the chicken as the Main dish. Only thing I could think of was how people refer to the Rubber Chicken circuit . Tough and no taste.
Desert was slightly better , 3 little squares and some sorbet all mediocre.
DL serves much better food in all courses IMHO.
But the final straw is my flight from Paris to Madrid in an A321. First Class was 6 across and as much room as I get on Ryanair. Absolutely ridiculous to call it anything except what it is Economy!
Avoid Air France!
kapkap46 is online now Alert a moderator to this post
As to the J hard product on the A321, it's common almost all across EU-carriers to offer J class with Y seats (middle seat blocked) - the airlines claim it's for a/c utilisation. to be honest it pisses off most of us too, just be grateful that where you come from it's not common, unfortunately for me (based in TLV) most EU carriers use this configuration on flights of 4-5 hours long!
Apr 21, 2015, 1:54 pm
#3
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Netherlands
Programs: FB Plat
Posts: 111
I am surprised that you didn't complain about CDG airport... Did you like it there and the transfer process? I try to avoid CDG as much as possible although my overall experiences with AF are not that bad....
Apr 21, 2015, 2:14 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2012
Programs: Hilton Diamond DL Platinum UA 1K, DL Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 500
Actually the airport was painless if big. At 1pm it just seemed to be empty.
Nobody going through screening and nobody at Customs. Bit of a walk but a very Modern airport that I found much better then the last time I was there 3 years ago.
Nobody going through screening and nobody at Customs. Bit of a walk but a very Modern airport that I found much better then the last time I was there 3 years ago.
Apr 21, 2015, 2:22 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2004
Programs: BA blue, LH Senator, KQ (FB) gold
Posts: 8,215
I certainly can understand your frustrations with the long-haul flight, actually the short-haul flight as well.
While you can solve the long-haul flight by switching to another airline, you won't solve the shorthaul problem. As TLVtraveler indicated, if you had connected to BA in London, LH in Frankfurt or Munich, KLM in Amsterdam, etc., you would have experienced the same 6 across format that you experienced on AF. I am not suggesting that you have to like it, just that you have to recognize that it is the standard for all European airlines and you won't get any better by using a different airline.
While you can solve the long-haul flight by switching to another airline, you won't solve the shorthaul problem. As TLVtraveler indicated, if you had connected to BA in London, LH in Frankfurt or Munich, KLM in Amsterdam, etc., you would have experienced the same 6 across format that you experienced on AF. I am not suggesting that you have to like it, just that you have to recognize that it is the standard for all European airlines and you won't get any better by using a different airline.
Apr 21, 2015, 11:07 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2012
Programs: Hilton Diamond DL Platinum UA 1K, DL Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 500
Guess I failed to see that because usually I use Ryanair or Easjet for in Europe flights . Basically the same seat at much less expense and usually newer airplanes.
First time I can remember having a continuation flight in Europe on a Business ticket from the USA. Usually just fly direct to where I am gong but I chased a very good fare in this instance.
First time I can remember having a continuation flight in Europe on a Business ticket from the USA. Usually just fly direct to where I am gong but I chased a very good fare in this instance.
Apr 22, 2015, 2:06 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,697
It's funny that you should say you came from a business-class transatlantic flight, and then travelled IN FIRST CLASS within Europe!!!
Apr 22, 2015, 2:14 am
#8
Moderator: Flying Blue (Air France & KLM), France and TravelBuzz!
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Paris, France, AF F+ Rouge pour toujours, Flying Blue whatever, LH FTL, HHonors Gold, formerly proud SCC Executive, now IC Ambassador, BA down to nobody, Grand Voyageur Le Club
Posts: 12,400
Duplicate thread. Please refrain from double posting as per FT rules and continue the discussion in the DL forum.
Jouy31
Air France/KLM co-moderator
Jouy31
Air France/KLM co-moderator