Carioca Canuck
Oct 9, 01, 1:03 pm
I flew back to Rio de Janeiro from Calgary to get married last month, and this is my trip report on an Air France A340 in "Tempo" (economy) class. I took my wife to Paris for our honeymoon.....what a combination, lots of miles http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif and a romantic setting http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.
It is my first AF experience.
For those of you who have not read any of my posts, I hang out on the AC board and fly about 50,000+ miles per year with AC which qualifies me as an AC Elite/Star Gold FF'er.
For anybody wondering, the reason I flew AF was that a comparable flight on Star Alliance carrier Varig was 35% more in US dollars and it's a price I was not willing to pay for Varig's product.....had it been on the TAM A330, maybe....but not on one of Varig's MD-11's.
I was recently VERY impressed with a United flight to Rio....and believe me AF is also fantastic.....in the air anyways....the ground is another story. Having said that....2 segments does not make a valid statistical survey....but if this trip is a hint of their inflight service AC has a long way to go to match other international carriers as AF's economy was just as good as AC's Executive First. You don't need a big seat when it's a seat that is designed properly in the first place.
GIG-CDG AF441.......
We arrived at Galeao (GIG) at 2000 hours for our scheduled departure of 2200 hours on the A340 that does this routing. I am glad that AF uses the Airbus here and not the 777 that they use to Sao Paulo (GRU) as I find this Boeing aircraft noisy and I have a particular dislike of the 777 having flown one from MIA-DEN previously.
At the terminal line up before you get to the counter, AF has a person who checks your documents as well as your baggage for size, etc, and also questions you about your carry ons, etc, before allowing you to continue in the normal line. Once we cleared this, the counter agent was very friendly and we were assigned seats 31A and 31B which are just beside the first galley in the economy section of the aircraft.
The counter agent in Rio did not appear to know how to enter our "Frequence Plus" numbers in the computer http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif so after some inquiries I decided to forget about it and mail in the paperwork later. The supervisor on duty also did not know how to do this either. Hhhhmmmmmmmmm. More on this later.
There was no line at security as we went thru...even with the carry on luggage being searched and each of us physically patted down regardless of what the metal detector did when we passed thru it. Kudos here goes to Infraero....the Brasilian airport authority for the security measures.
Once boarding was called we were again asked to present our passports with our boarding passes where they were once again extensively scrutinized. The AF agents checked for the reflective security features imbedded in the passport as well as looking at the binding of the document and the bonding of the pages with our photos. It was quite interesting to watch as there was also a second agent watching us for our reactions to this scrutiny.
Pushback was on time and we took off at about 2210 local time.
Now here is where it gets interesting for me. Being a some what naive and loyal AC flier I was very impressed by a recent flight on United to Rio. Were my eyes ever opened by AF.
The seats on the AF A340 are from Recaro (the manufacturer of car seats) and are "very" firm and extremely orthopedically well designed IMO. AF's seat pitch was generous (like AC's) and at no time was I ever uncomfortable. AC's 767's have terrible seats that are very soft and uncomfortable for an 11 hour flight. PTV's are in the headrests of the seat in front of you and AF has about 15+ channels as well as their GPS in flight tracking system. AC has none of this.
Shortly after take off the cabin crew started to pass out amenity kits !!!! In economy !!!! Every passenger (this was a 3 class aircraft) received a kit containing a sleeping mask, ear plugs, moist towellettes and a booklet with relaxation and stretching exercises in it. That was a nice touch as I had forgot my AC "Executive First" kit at home and was trying to buy a sleeping mask in the duty free but they were sold out. You might receive a damp cold towellette in AC economy....and that's it.
After we reached 41,000 feet the crew then passed out menus for our meal service. MENUS ??? You mean it's not chicken or beef ??? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif I checked to see if I had really gotten an amenity kit, then checked my boarding pass to see if I wasn't in first class !!!!
Nicoise Salad
Fish with Escabeche sauce
Moqueca with rice
Beef Bourguignon
Fettucine Alfredo and Vichy Carrots
Fromage Frais with Guava paste
A selection of Camembert cheeses
Coconut Flan with plum sauce
Apple tartine
coffee and tea
Chardonnay VDP Ile de Beaute
Maison AVF
Cabernet VDP doc Fortant de France
Vinde pays de saint-sardos
Maison Rigal
Stella Artios Beer
Mineral water
Any soda or liquor you wanted
FREE of charge and bottomless glasses......
Not only was the food very tasty and properly cooked for an airline.....they also came around several times for liquor/wine service and also to offer you a choice of fresh buns that were heated and served from a wicker basket....just like "Executive First" on AC. All this in economy.
The flight was uneventful so I took some time to walk around the aircraft and check out the seating arrangements as AF does not permit you to preselect seats. It is only done at the airport. Seats in row 21 are the most coveted on the A340 as they are bulkhead seats and on the AF aircraft they have about 4 feet of legroom !!! Guess which row we flew back to Rio in !!!!
Landing at CDG was on time.
Now, here's where it get's bad again....we are filling up the jetway as we disembark but no one is allowed to exit into the terminal !!!??? Imagine a full pax compliment of an A340 cramming the long jetway at CDG's T2. A frustrated AF ground crew member was motioning for us from the parallel jetway to get back on the plane. About 2-3 minutes later as we are all packed like sardines in the tunnel, they started to take us back off the aircraft and decided to let us out of the jetway after all. We never did make it back into the plane.
Apparently there was no one to check our passports as we exited the jetway ??? Why bother with this ??? We were checked extensively in Rio during boarding and had not yet gone thru customs or immigration ??? Isn't that their job ???
Immigration was no problem as we didn't need visas....but customs was quite intimidating. I had no problem whatsoever with this part though.
As we rounded the corner of the hall, we were confronted by 8 National Police, all heavily armed and about 4 Legionaires in combat fatigues with sub machine guns. If you would have been a terrorist or anybody with bad intentions you probably would have soiled your pants. Here we were checked thoroughly and admitted to the free part of the terminal.
AF 442 CDG-GIG.......
We arrived at 1000 hours for our 1215 departure. Check in was the same layout as Rio....but the agent knew how to enter our FP number this time. The people were very nice in CDG by the way.
We were once again searched and patted down at security as well. Kudos to AF for this measure.
This flight had a different and very enjoyable menu as well from our flight of one week ago....not chicken or beef like AC ALWAYS has.
It was uneventful and we landed in Rio on time some 11 hours later.
Frequence Plus Customer Service.......
As I had some concerns about the miles being posted to our new accounts as a result of the Rio counter agent, I spoke to FP today on the phone at their Los Angeles office where they credited my account over the phone with the mileage for the missing first segment !!! Say what !!!??? Now this is customer service. All I had to do was give them the ticket numbers and they verified and credited it immediately.
In all....we received enough miles with the joining bonus for a round trip for each of us anywhere in Europe on AF as a result of this trip.
Will I fly them again. YES...no question as they fly from Montreal to Paris. I'll connect on AF to European destinations from there instead of AC on transatlantics from now on.
Once I hit Elite on AC again next year I'll switch to Skyteam as often as possible as they have TAM (my preferred Brasilian airline...and IMO the BEST in Brasil) as a partner.
Observations about Paris/Parisians.......
As a Canadian, I also speak fluent Parisian (as opposed to Quebecois) French....but whenever I spoke to someone there, they always answered me back in English. Go figure.
People outside Paris are MUCH nicer than those from within the city. Also, restaurant waiters, while not rude...are very curt and unfriendly. However, their attitudes are made up for by the excellent food. If it wasn't for the 4-5 hours of daily walking thru Paris on sightseeing, I would have gained 10 pounds. As it was I came home weighing the same.
Taxi drivers are to be avoided at all costs.....sorry, but all my three of my experiences were terrible.....the worst being when our hotel called for a cab at 6am to take us somewhere and the two cars that arrived outside both refused because the fare to the destination (about 50 FF) was too cheap. It seems they were expecting trips to CDG instead. The drivers were incredibly rude to the hotel clerk...they apparently didn't realize that I understood everything that they were saying to him as I am fluent in the language. So we walked instead.
Everybody in Paris has a map. We often ran into people on the street looking at their maps trying to find their way around. The old part of the city was designed when the term civil engineer did not exist. Personally I blame the maps...they are too small and the printing is almost microscopic. We were about 2 blocks from our hotel on the first night after dinner and it took us about 1 hour to find it. It couldn't have possibly been all the wine we drank.....which costs the same as a coke. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
French people smoke too much.....everywhere it seems, except the airport.
The Metro/RER is fantastic....why buy a car ? Or take a taxi ?
The Eiffel Tower is a waste of time....it's a lousy hunk of metal, where you wait 2 hours to go up, all the time being accosted by street hawkers. We never bothered. The Arc d'Triomphe is larger than the impression that you get from photos. It's spectacular !!!
Paris, overall, is a great city....you must go there once......twice if you can afford it....it's vveerrryyyyy expensive relative to the USA, Canada and South America.
[This message has been edited by Carioca Canuck (edited 10-09-2001).]
It is my first AF experience.
For those of you who have not read any of my posts, I hang out on the AC board and fly about 50,000+ miles per year with AC which qualifies me as an AC Elite/Star Gold FF'er.
For anybody wondering, the reason I flew AF was that a comparable flight on Star Alliance carrier Varig was 35% more in US dollars and it's a price I was not willing to pay for Varig's product.....had it been on the TAM A330, maybe....but not on one of Varig's MD-11's.
I was recently VERY impressed with a United flight to Rio....and believe me AF is also fantastic.....in the air anyways....the ground is another story. Having said that....2 segments does not make a valid statistical survey....but if this trip is a hint of their inflight service AC has a long way to go to match other international carriers as AF's economy was just as good as AC's Executive First. You don't need a big seat when it's a seat that is designed properly in the first place.
GIG-CDG AF441.......
We arrived at Galeao (GIG) at 2000 hours for our scheduled departure of 2200 hours on the A340 that does this routing. I am glad that AF uses the Airbus here and not the 777 that they use to Sao Paulo (GRU) as I find this Boeing aircraft noisy and I have a particular dislike of the 777 having flown one from MIA-DEN previously.
At the terminal line up before you get to the counter, AF has a person who checks your documents as well as your baggage for size, etc, and also questions you about your carry ons, etc, before allowing you to continue in the normal line. Once we cleared this, the counter agent was very friendly and we were assigned seats 31A and 31B which are just beside the first galley in the economy section of the aircraft.
The counter agent in Rio did not appear to know how to enter our "Frequence Plus" numbers in the computer http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif so after some inquiries I decided to forget about it and mail in the paperwork later. The supervisor on duty also did not know how to do this either. Hhhhmmmmmmmmm. More on this later.
There was no line at security as we went thru...even with the carry on luggage being searched and each of us physically patted down regardless of what the metal detector did when we passed thru it. Kudos here goes to Infraero....the Brasilian airport authority for the security measures.
Once boarding was called we were again asked to present our passports with our boarding passes where they were once again extensively scrutinized. The AF agents checked for the reflective security features imbedded in the passport as well as looking at the binding of the document and the bonding of the pages with our photos. It was quite interesting to watch as there was also a second agent watching us for our reactions to this scrutiny.
Pushback was on time and we took off at about 2210 local time.
Now here is where it gets interesting for me. Being a some what naive and loyal AC flier I was very impressed by a recent flight on United to Rio. Were my eyes ever opened by AF.
The seats on the AF A340 are from Recaro (the manufacturer of car seats) and are "very" firm and extremely orthopedically well designed IMO. AF's seat pitch was generous (like AC's) and at no time was I ever uncomfortable. AC's 767's have terrible seats that are very soft and uncomfortable for an 11 hour flight. PTV's are in the headrests of the seat in front of you and AF has about 15+ channels as well as their GPS in flight tracking system. AC has none of this.
Shortly after take off the cabin crew started to pass out amenity kits !!!! In economy !!!! Every passenger (this was a 3 class aircraft) received a kit containing a sleeping mask, ear plugs, moist towellettes and a booklet with relaxation and stretching exercises in it. That was a nice touch as I had forgot my AC "Executive First" kit at home and was trying to buy a sleeping mask in the duty free but they were sold out. You might receive a damp cold towellette in AC economy....and that's it.
After we reached 41,000 feet the crew then passed out menus for our meal service. MENUS ??? You mean it's not chicken or beef ??? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif I checked to see if I had really gotten an amenity kit, then checked my boarding pass to see if I wasn't in first class !!!!
Nicoise Salad
Fish with Escabeche sauce
Moqueca with rice
Beef Bourguignon
Fettucine Alfredo and Vichy Carrots
Fromage Frais with Guava paste
A selection of Camembert cheeses
Coconut Flan with plum sauce
Apple tartine
coffee and tea
Chardonnay VDP Ile de Beaute
Maison AVF
Cabernet VDP doc Fortant de France
Vinde pays de saint-sardos
Maison Rigal
Stella Artios Beer
Mineral water
Any soda or liquor you wanted
FREE of charge and bottomless glasses......
Not only was the food very tasty and properly cooked for an airline.....they also came around several times for liquor/wine service and also to offer you a choice of fresh buns that were heated and served from a wicker basket....just like "Executive First" on AC. All this in economy.
The flight was uneventful so I took some time to walk around the aircraft and check out the seating arrangements as AF does not permit you to preselect seats. It is only done at the airport. Seats in row 21 are the most coveted on the A340 as they are bulkhead seats and on the AF aircraft they have about 4 feet of legroom !!! Guess which row we flew back to Rio in !!!!
Landing at CDG was on time.
Now, here's where it get's bad again....we are filling up the jetway as we disembark but no one is allowed to exit into the terminal !!!??? Imagine a full pax compliment of an A340 cramming the long jetway at CDG's T2. A frustrated AF ground crew member was motioning for us from the parallel jetway to get back on the plane. About 2-3 minutes later as we are all packed like sardines in the tunnel, they started to take us back off the aircraft and decided to let us out of the jetway after all. We never did make it back into the plane.
Apparently there was no one to check our passports as we exited the jetway ??? Why bother with this ??? We were checked extensively in Rio during boarding and had not yet gone thru customs or immigration ??? Isn't that their job ???
Immigration was no problem as we didn't need visas....but customs was quite intimidating. I had no problem whatsoever with this part though.
As we rounded the corner of the hall, we were confronted by 8 National Police, all heavily armed and about 4 Legionaires in combat fatigues with sub machine guns. If you would have been a terrorist or anybody with bad intentions you probably would have soiled your pants. Here we were checked thoroughly and admitted to the free part of the terminal.
AF 442 CDG-GIG.......
We arrived at 1000 hours for our 1215 departure. Check in was the same layout as Rio....but the agent knew how to enter our FP number this time. The people were very nice in CDG by the way.
We were once again searched and patted down at security as well. Kudos to AF for this measure.
This flight had a different and very enjoyable menu as well from our flight of one week ago....not chicken or beef like AC ALWAYS has.
It was uneventful and we landed in Rio on time some 11 hours later.
Frequence Plus Customer Service.......
As I had some concerns about the miles being posted to our new accounts as a result of the Rio counter agent, I spoke to FP today on the phone at their Los Angeles office where they credited my account over the phone with the mileage for the missing first segment !!! Say what !!!??? Now this is customer service. All I had to do was give them the ticket numbers and they verified and credited it immediately.
In all....we received enough miles with the joining bonus for a round trip for each of us anywhere in Europe on AF as a result of this trip.
Will I fly them again. YES...no question as they fly from Montreal to Paris. I'll connect on AF to European destinations from there instead of AC on transatlantics from now on.
Once I hit Elite on AC again next year I'll switch to Skyteam as often as possible as they have TAM (my preferred Brasilian airline...and IMO the BEST in Brasil) as a partner.
Observations about Paris/Parisians.......
As a Canadian, I also speak fluent Parisian (as opposed to Quebecois) French....but whenever I spoke to someone there, they always answered me back in English. Go figure.
People outside Paris are MUCH nicer than those from within the city. Also, restaurant waiters, while not rude...are very curt and unfriendly. However, their attitudes are made up for by the excellent food. If it wasn't for the 4-5 hours of daily walking thru Paris on sightseeing, I would have gained 10 pounds. As it was I came home weighing the same.
Taxi drivers are to be avoided at all costs.....sorry, but all my three of my experiences were terrible.....the worst being when our hotel called for a cab at 6am to take us somewhere and the two cars that arrived outside both refused because the fare to the destination (about 50 FF) was too cheap. It seems they were expecting trips to CDG instead. The drivers were incredibly rude to the hotel clerk...they apparently didn't realize that I understood everything that they were saying to him as I am fluent in the language. So we walked instead.
Everybody in Paris has a map. We often ran into people on the street looking at their maps trying to find their way around. The old part of the city was designed when the term civil engineer did not exist. Personally I blame the maps...they are too small and the printing is almost microscopic. We were about 2 blocks from our hotel on the first night after dinner and it took us about 1 hour to find it. It couldn't have possibly been all the wine we drank.....which costs the same as a coke. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
French people smoke too much.....everywhere it seems, except the airport.
The Metro/RER is fantastic....why buy a car ? Or take a taxi ?
The Eiffel Tower is a waste of time....it's a lousy hunk of metal, where you wait 2 hours to go up, all the time being accosted by street hawkers. We never bothered. The Arc d'Triomphe is larger than the impression that you get from photos. It's spectacular !!!
Paris, overall, is a great city....you must go there once......twice if you can afford it....it's vveerrryyyyy expensive relative to the USA, Canada and South America.
[This message has been edited by Carioca Canuck (edited 10-09-2001).]