Compensation for faulty tray in Y?
 

Flew GRU-CDG in Y in 24C (front of the Y cabin, cost something like 32USD extra), the tray table wouldn't stay up or flat. Had to support the tray with my knees to have the meals. Ditto with the laptop, couldn't do any work as the whole would fall back. Made it a rather uncomfortable and unproductive 12hr treck. The flight was full.

The flight attendant that came up to check it said nothing can be done but that she reported it for maintenance.

Parking the miles for this trip to ME, so not looking for any AF miles, but is it worthwhile writing to AF for some sort of monetary compensation? This was an AF stock ticket booked directly with AF.

Thanks

You can ask...but really ?

Had the same thing in AF W (A380). Footrest was also broken. And the seat was sprung. At least half a dozen seats were broken in some way or the other. Everyone notified the crew, who themselves were noticably salty about the condition of the cabin.
But compensation? Don't bother.

Perhaps I’ve come to accept that compensation isn’t entirely impossible as I have sought it and received it from few airlines - BA, VX, EK for various seat malfunctions.

I am expecting none but will try and report back any way.

Seems like you had decided to ask for financial compensation all along, as you have done with other airlines, so your original post was not really asking the question :)

This sounds like an inconvenience, but a minor one.
If you don't want miles then you might get a cash voucher for use on future flights. Real cash is unlikely, but as you said, one can always ask and get lucky.

It depends. I once had a faulty headrest on a Delta plane but didn't bother me so I didn't tell the crew. I thought it would be good to let the maintenance know so they can fix it at some point so I sent a message a few days later with the seat and the plane registration. I wasn't asking for anything but KLM who handled the message, since I used my UK address, sent me 3000 miles if I remember correctly.

I suppose refunding the extra seating charge would be fair in this case, but I wouldn't bother otherwise. 3000 points seem like a nice gesture as well.

I'm with the OP on this. Yes, you pay for transport and that is (pretty much) all that you are guaranteed...however from a reputable airline like AF you should be able to get better than this. One should be able to receive what is promised.

Being able to use a tray table during the flight is a pretty basic requirement, and one that any single airline that I know fulfils. One should therefore be able to expect a working table to come with the seat. Some compensation would be fitting in my opinion, as the OP will not have been able to use his/her time in the air in the way that was desired.

3K miles is, imho, nothing. Yes, it is a lot compared to the miles that you earn for a flight nowadays...but looking at what they are actually worth, or can be used for..is pretty much zero. A short haul exit row seat will cost you more miles than that. The discomfort for the long haul would be larger than the extra comfort one gets from an exit row - so I'd personally like to receive more.

agree

They will give you some miles undoubtfully.