Air France Frequence Plus - CDG-JFK-LAX

hi,

my family is taking flight with air France ( first time international flights )
from CDG to LAx
CDG 1:55 PM to JFK 4:10PM AF006 A380
JFK connection almost 3 hours
JFK 7:00PM to LAX 10:18PM AF2753 Boeing 752 ( Delta operated )

any experience with the flight ???

did A380 gets on time ???
did you change terminal from arrival to departure ???
did delta airlines serve free meals ( JFk to lax AF2753 Boeing 752 Delta operated )

Delta does not serve anything for free beyond peanuts/pretzels/biscoff cookies unless you are sitting in BusinessElite

I would prefer the 9 PM to LAX because if Lufthansa A380 is delayed 006 cannot get to gate. Customs can also be a pain if you are not U.S. citizen not to mention long wait for baggage due to shear size of plane

Air France arrives in Terminal 1 while Delta leaves from Terminal 2 (although non-elites non-BusinessElite check in at Terminal 3). You have to walk outside or take AirTrain in direction of Jamaica or Howard Beach one stop

Delta does not serve anything for free beyond peanuts/pretzels/biscoff cookies unless you are sitting in BusinessElite

I would prefer the 9 PM to LAX because if Lufthansa A380 is delayed 006 cannot get to gate. Customs can also be a pain if you are not U.S. citizen not to mention long wait for baggage due to shear size of plane

Air France arrives in Terminal 1 while Delta leaves from Terminal 2 (although non-elites non-BusinessElite check in at Terminal 3). You have to walk outside or take AirTrain in direction of Jamaica or Howard Beach one stop


did they really have to recheck their luggage, i thought Air France will take care of that ????

did they really have to recheck their luggage, i thought Air France will take care of that ????

When arriving in the USA, from abroad, with any airline, you have to get your luggage through customs (yourself) and then re-check it for the continuation! There are some exceptions (e.g. Canada, Ireland, etc.), but certainly not France.

did they really have to recheck their luggage, i thought Air France will take care of that ????

Recheck does not mean that you have to take your luggage to the DL terminal and queue again for check-in, it just means, you take your bags which are through-tagged to LAX to pass customs in JFK and after the inspection area, you leave your bags at a designated counter and you change terminals without your bags and go straight to your departure gate. It's easy, but as others have said, the whole procedure might be time-consuming.

Others above have already answered all of your questions but just to add that most US entry points (including JFK) now have special speed up service for passengers with short connections. With 3 hours, you do not qualify, but if AF 6 was late and you were left with less than 2 hours to connect, you should mention it to people either awaiting your plane or at the entrance of the immigration queues who can give you a red 'quick connection' pass which will allow you to go through a shorter queue.

All in all, I think your connection should be fine and if by chance you miss it DL will of course put you on the next one. Final point, I personally prefer to walk than take the skytrain. As Elite+, I do T1-T2 which is literally less than 5 minutes walk, but even T1-T3 should be under 10 minutes in any case. Between two relatively long flights, it is nice to get a bit of fresh air! ;)

Final point, while, as nystateofmind mentioned, DL won't serve any free 'proper' food in Y, there is food for sale if you want (I think a main course salad or sandwich is $8 or so). Alternatively, T2/T3 (the two are interconnected and work as one for all practical purposes) is full of outlets that will send you about any type of food to go you might want, or you can eat there if your transfer goes quickly.

Others above have already answered all of your questions but just to add that most US entry points (including JFK) now have special speed up service for passengers with short connections. With 3 hours, you do not qualify, but if AF 6 was late and you were left with less than 2 hours to connect, you should mention it to people either awaiting your plane or at the entrance of the immigration queues who can give you a red 'quick connection' pass which will allow you to go through a shorter queue.

All in all, I think your connection should be fine and if by chance you miss it DL will of course put you on the next one. Final point, I personally prefer to walk than take the skytrain. As Elite+, I do T1-T2 which is literally less than 5 minutes walk, but even T1-T3 should be under 10 minutes in any case. Between two relatively long flights, it is nice to get a bit of fresh air! ;)

Final point, while, as nystateofmind mentioned, DL won't serve any free 'proper' food in Y, there is food for sale if you want (I think a main course salad or sandwich is $8 or so). Alternatively, T2/T3 (the two are interconnected and work as one for all practical purposes) is full of outlets that will send you about any type of food to go you might want, or you can eat there if your transfer goes quickly.

While Delta would rebook you on the next available flight and the 9 PM tends to be fairly empty (relatively) I still would like more than 3 hours at JFK especially if coming off of the A380 to change terminals International to Domestic (I tend to prefer 3.5-4 hours to make that change but 3 I will do if I needed to make a specific flight, was traveling without checked bags, or knew I was traveling on a plane that would mean a shorter queue at customs such as flying the A330 CDG-JFK rather than the A380)

While Delta would rebook you on the next available flight and the 9 PM tends to be fairly empty (relatively) I still would like more than 3 hours at JFK especially if coming off of the A380 to change terminals International to Domestic (I tend to prefer 3.5-4 hours to make that change but 3 I will do if I needed to make a specific flight, was traveling without checked bags, or knew I was traveling on a plane that would mean a shorter queue at customs such as flying the A330 CDG-JFK rather than the A380)

I must say that it has never taken me more than 1h30 at most to make the connection (and much less with hand luggage only) so I would personally be comfortable with 3 hours. When you have less than two hours, the fast connection card works wonders (I experienced it again last week with a totally packed JFK, people being held in queues, and my being waved through and clearing immigration in less than 10 minutes). Even with luggage wait, customs clearance, bag rechecking (which is typically fast) and the short walk between terminals. Admittedly I know JFK very well and if it were my first time there I would factor in some 'understand where you are going' time.

I must say that it has never taken me more than 1h30 at most to make the connection (and much less with hand luggage only) so I would personally be comfortable with 3 hours. When you have less than two hours, the fast connection card works wonders (I experienced it again last week with a totally packed JFK, people being held in queues, and my being waved through and clearing immigration in less than 10 minutes). Even with luggage wait, customs clearance, bag rechecking (which is typically fast) and the short walk between terminals. Admittedly I know JFK very well and if it were my first time there I would factor in some 'understand where you are going' time.

Maybe recent problems on AF006 have clouded my judgment - landed around 3:45 (despite an hour delay in Paris) but we did not actually arrive at the gate until closer to 4:45-5:00 because the daily Lufthansa A380 was taking a delay and there were no other A380 capable gates for AF006. Despite being in Business Class did not get checked bags and clear customs until about 5:30-5:45. I cannot imagine what Coach passengers had to deal with. If I then had to walk to T2 or T3 that would be cutting it a tad close for comfort because security lines at Delta can be a pain

thank you so much guys :)
I appreciate all this information's and suggestions .
I am glad that Delta has another airplane @ 9:00 PM in case my family miss the flight @7:00 PM.

bon voyages thank you for choosing air france

Maybe recent problems on AF006 have clouded my judgment - landed around 3:45 (despite an hour delay in Paris) but we did not actually arrive at the gate until closer to 4:45-5:00 because the daily Lufthansa A380 was taking a delay and there were no other A380 capable gates for AF006. Despite being in Business Class did not get checked bags and clear customs until about 5:30-5:45. I cannot imagine what Coach passengers had to deal with. If I then had to walk to T2 or T3 that would be cutting it a tad close for comfort because security lines at Delta can be a pain

I was on the 006 flight on 5th June did not leave CDG until 3.30,made up the time en-route but also on the ground at JFK for over 30 min.
Could toyotamax not have chosen the direct a380 CDG-Lax flight.

landed around 3:45 (despite an hour delay in Paris) but we did not actually arrive at the gate until closer to 4:45-5:00 because the daily Lufthansa A380 was taking a delay and there were no other A380 capable gates for AF006. Despite being in Business Class did not get checked bags and clear customs until about 5:30-5:45.

Sounds like a truly bad experience :( I was lucky enough never to have that problem personally on AF 6 but indeed, I think only one gate is A380 compatible at T1 so I can imagine it being an issue when the LH plane is late as you say!

Recheck does not mean that you have to take your luggage to the DL terminal and queue again for check-in, it just means, you take your bags which are through-tagged to LAX to pass customs in JFK and after the inspection area, you leave your bags at a designated counter and you change terminals without your bags and go straight to your departure gate. It's easy, but as others have said, the whole procedure might be time-consuming.

MarLim,

did you take this specific flight/ connection at JFK ( Terminal 1 arrival / Terminal 2 departure)
re-checking your bags, will be in the same place just after custom ??
its a counter or baggage carousel ????
there is sign or something to look for ???
or outside the custom area ???

MarLim,

did you take this specific flight/ connection at JFK ( Terminal 1 arrival / Terminal 2 departure)
re-checking your bags, will be in the same place just after custom ??
its a counter or baggage carousel ????
there is sign or something to look for ???
or outside the custom area ???

When disembarking in JFK, your family will first go through immigration (passport control), then they will collect luggage (which will be already tagged to LAX), then clear customs with their bags. As said by other posters, this is a mandatory process for all airlines flying from international, except the few cases where you have a US pre-clearance at your departure point (or at a stop en-route). Then immediately after customs, there will be some airline counters to re-check bags. They will have to go to the DL counter. If they have no delay issue (I mean if they can make the connection) and if they already have their BP for the JFK-LAX flight, they just have to drop their tagged bags on the belt. If they cannot make the connection or if they didn't have their 2nd BP in CDG (for whatever reasons, sometimes it happens that AF cannot issue it), then they should ask a DL agent that will give them the BP, eventually rebook them on the next flight, and retag the bags appropriately.
After this, they will reach the public zone in T1 (BTW, if they want to withdraw some cash, that's the best moment and the ATM is on the left side when they exit the sterile zone). And they should take the airtrain to reach the DL terminal, and pass security and finally arrive at the gate !

Maybe a stupid question but why your family didn't take a non-stop CDG-LAX flight on AF or TN ? Because as it seems that they are unexperienced travelers, this can be a complicated and stressful process. Add to this that arriving at 10 pm in LAX will mean 7:00 am the following morning for them, with the 9hrs time difference. So they will be completely exhausted. If it was for the A380, AF is flying it to LAX. Was this itinerary much cheaper than the non-stop ?

!

Maybe a stupid question but why your family didn't take a non-stop CDG-LAX flight on AF or TN ? Because as it seems that they are inexperienced travelers, this can be a complicated and stressful process. Add to this that arriving at 10 pm in LAX will mean 7:00 am the following morning for them, with the 9hrs time difference. So they will be completely exhausted. If it was for the A380, AF is flying it to LAX. Was this itinerary much cheaper than the non-stop ?[/QUOTE]

1) last minute ticket reservation, not allot of options
2) Really i did not know that they will go through immigration and custom in JFK.
i though they will just switch airplanes, no more than that .

I spoke to delta people and they said its a smooth connection and their agents will help in the airport ( after custom just ask for delta counter).
+ a purchased extra legroom seats + they will purchase a dinner in their delta flights ..

!

Maybe a stupid question but why your family didn't take a non-stop CDG-LAX flight on AF or TN ? Because as it seems that they are inexperienced travelers, this can be a complicated and stressful process. Add to this that arriving at 10 pm in LAX will mean 7:00 am the following morning for them, with the 9hrs time difference. So they will be completely exhausted. If it was for the A380, AF is flying it to LAX. Was this itinerary much cheaper than the non-stop ?

1) last minute ticket reservation, not allot of options
2) Really i did not know that they will go through immigration and custom in JFK.
i though they will just switch airplanes, no more than that .

I spoke to delta people and they said its a smooth connection and their agents will help in the airport ( after custom just ask for delta counter).
+ a purchased extra legroom seats + they will purchase a dinner in their delta flights ..[/QUOTE]

Because there's no food on the JFK-LAX (other than a few sandwiches for sale, which will likely run out early in the service), it's nice to sit down for a decent meal and have that extra time. Three hours won't allow for arrival, processing, connceting, boarding and a sit-down decent meal.

If you do opt to stick with the three hours, make sure your family picks up decent sandwiches or the like to carry on with them (doesn't count as carry-on luggage in the USA).

Note that to purchase anything on board DL, you must use a credit card. FAs do not accept cash, although you might be able to ask a nearby passenger to use their credit card while you pay him or her in cash.

Also, take the sky train between terminals at JFK. It's easy (no steps, you can roll luggage the entire way) and there is not a safe sidewalk between all terminals.

I was checking JFK airplanes arrival today through the website jfk terminal one

Air France Flight AF006 landed 2 hours late today ( from 14:10 to 16:25)
i don t know if its late departure from CDG or the pilot get lost in the sky

my family will be taking the same flight next week.

Another little tip - if your family buy any duty free (CDG or in flight) they should put it in their suitcase before rechecking it as otherwise it will be confiscated at T3 security.

again Air France Flight AF006 ENROUTE DELAY ( from 15:55 to 16:49)
i don t know if its late departure from CDG or the pilot get lost in the sky

again Air France Flight AF006 ENROUTE DELAY ( from 15:55 to 16:49)
i don t know if its late departure from CDG or the pilot get lost in the sky

A pilot doesn't get "lost in the sky", otherwise he will lose his license very quickly. Probably a combination of late departure from CDG and congestion in NYC airspace, which is the most congested airspace in the world (JFK is one of the most terrible airport for delays).
Is there any way you can move your parents to a nonstop to LAX ?

A pilot doesn't get "lost in the sky", otherwise he will lose his license very quickly. Probably a combination of late departure from CDG and congestion in NYC airspace, which is the most congested airspace in the world (JFK is one of the most terrible airport for delays).
Is there any way you can move your parents to a nonstop to LAX ?

I know pilots are experts, and they know what they are doing.
I am a flying Blue customer, and i love Air France pilots they are my favorite, always its ts a smooth flight ( airplane takeoff , during flight and landing ) .
:-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-:



I am just saying, the New A380-800 its Big Airplane and they need make boarding process faster.
today they did better job just 1 hour late in JFK (compare to yesterday which is 2 hours late)