Originally Posted by stut
I actually quite like travelling through CDG. The staff are at best indifferent, 2F is already looking worn, the shops are next to useless and the place has a general air of chaos... But the beauty of CDG is: you can get away with anything if you speak French and insist.
Standby on an earlier flight? 'Do you know who I am' upgrades? Carry-ons the size of a small house? Missed your flight and want rebooked for free? Fancy a cigarette and can't be bothered looking for the smoking area?
All of this is easy at Roissy...
mmm... this is most definitely NOT my experience of CDG, at least with AF: no standby on an earlier flight and most definitely no way AF would accept to rebook us for free (or even standby) on a later flight having arrived 1 (yes, one) minute after check-in deadline.
Being a native French speaker, I don't think that my French was at issue.