Originally Posted by jimrpa

Here are my thoughts:
1.one stop versus 2. I’d go for the one stop
2. CDG truly isn’t the innermost circle of hades everyone here describes it as being. It’s vastly better than MSP, for example.
3. the food in the lounges at CDG is light years better than the slop at the KLM lounges.
4. KLM in-flight staff are uniformly pleasant and warm. AF is a crapshoot. On my most recent AF flight, I had an excellent crew, but I’ve also had AF FAs who apparently went to ComAir Gate Agent Customer Relations training.
4. you WILL get good food on AF. On KLM, I strongly recommend bringing your own food. I’ve never had anything that I would rate above “edible” on KLM.
5. in J, AF has a consistently better hard product (most planes are 1-2-1 and they only have a few 777s that are still 2-3-2 which are being upgraded to 1-2-1. On KLM, you’re very unlikely to get 1-2-1 (they only have a few aircraft in that configuration), and you’re quite likely to get 2-3-2 angled seats.

Id go with AF. And on something like the Maldives, I’d see if there’s any way you can swing J. It’s a long flight, a once-in-a-lifetime experience and you’re already dropping a boatload of money.