moeve

Ok so far I have tried to avoid flying Af due to all the bad critic but we are looking into a cruise to and from Papeete. Since we are from Europe AF is really the only decently priced affair. I am how ever a little aprehensive since am I looking at a 23 - 24 hour flight. It would be nice to hear for you all.

zurichflyer

Which class will you be flying? We've recently been flying CDG-PPT and back in espace affaires, and it was a delight.

Threy

Air Tahiti Nui should be your other option ex CDG via LAX as well.

Air France is reminiscent of a former, highly subsidised , flag carrier which still employs a lot of folks from the era who earn unbelievable amounts of money while working very little. If you have to deal with those persons, you are lost and you will find them on many long haul routes based on their seniority and priveledges to choose routes...but also on the ground...

Generally the lack of fundamental english skills is also cruel reality, but somehow communication is possible, could become a monologue however...

CDG is a desaster of an airport and more build for O&D , but not for making connections. 100-120 minutes is considered to be doable, if your connection is shorter, it can result in missing the flight. Huge problems , if your final destination is not served daily or you need to make it there for a certain appointment...

In flight service is on par with most of the competition and under the lights of high oil prices and eroding yields = eroding service as well...

Food in Y seems to be solid based on recent menu descriptions, seating and entertainment in Y is also on par with most of the European competition...

Serpentos

You can think whatever you want about this airline, no problem it speaks for itself.
But please avoid this typical french-bashing craps.
Thanks

moeve

Yours Truely can only afford to fly cattle class (unfortunately) I can speak enough french as not to go hungery or thirsty so I think that problem is also dealt with.

By the way do they offer english speaking movies on these TA hauls?? My French does not cover that base.

The only reason we have avoided this carrier to date is simply that they do not get very good ratings from any of the european travel mags and to date we have always found other offers that had the same or a better price. There are a few others i would prefer to avoid for long hauls too like Iberia.

All further comments are appreciated

albireo

You will find here a trip report by one of those


Read it and then determine by yourself if his job is really a sinecure...

albireo

Sorry the films are not dubbed in Tahitian , although announcements are made in that language (as well as French and English of course). But yes as a matter of fact all films are available in English. Remember AF070 serves LAX too! Video is digital and almost "on demand" in coach as your requested movie will always start within 15mn.

Threy

I do not see where it is " typical french-bashing craps."

It is actually a very common problem among all former state owned carriers in Europe.

Basically all flag carriers offer buy outs to those people to replace them with cheaper man power, because they work under contracts that grants them more money , more spare time etc.

Not to mention the typical service, US carriers have a certain reputation for, but the latter argument is not really proven empirically, but mentioned very often under the table...

Contrary to your assumption, it is also a problem for other carriers as well, just to name LH or LTU, where the average employee is calling in sick 15 % of his working time, but he/she is a member of a union for 30 years, so you can guess the outcome, if you try to lay them off...

Falco Peregrinus

May I suggest you check your own spelling and grammar before blaming the French for their lack of skills in English?

Threy

May I suggest to simply bite the reality that AF is considered to be a mediocre carrier before pointing out spelling mistakes

BTW, I am happy to correct one, once you have pointed them out...

A person is asking for an objective view and not a glorified opinion that the AF forum used to produce day in day out

aw

AF Y is a reliable product. It is way better than any other US carrier and IMHO slightly better compared to most of its European counterparts. Catering is one of the strongest points. Meals are generous in quantity, quality is a notch above the average inflight meal and AF is one of the very few carriers that serve free champagne in Y.

Some people complain about the service onboard but in my experience I have always found the crew to be delightfully responsive at best (most of the time) and indifferent at worst (very rarely). As a matter of fact, I have seen FA's handle some obnoxious passengers with more grace and patience than they deserve. Just don't expect spontaneous outburst of smiles and engaging conversation but rather discreet courtesy. Entertainment is pretty varied and on demand but sometimes the system can crash and it has to be rebooted.

Comfortwise seat pitch is a bit tight but AF will provide you with an amenity kit containing eyeshade, earplugs, mints and earphones to make your journey a bit more pleasant.

zurichflyer

Well, on my flight ZRH-CDG-LAX-PPT the desaster was LAX. After going through immigration we wanted to go through security to board again. However only one security line was open for 8 flight departing at midnight. When it got close to departure time and people were still not much closer to the security check, they started getting angry, but we were just told by the airport staff that we should have arrived two hours earlier -- how could we, since this is just a refuelling stop. To make things short, the crowd got so angry that the airport staff called the police. The policemen listened to the complaints, taked sharply to some supervisor at the security check, whereupon three more lines were quickly opened and the flights could depart with only an hours delay. It was a worse mess than I have EVER seen at CDG.

Klm is Dead - Long Live KLM

Thanks for posting this link; I had missed it before.
Great trip report!

rcs85551

The problem with AF at LAX is that since they moved from Terminal 5 to Terminal 2, they are being handled by Swissport again.

There is nothing positive I have to say about them, as treatment and handling has been worse than anything I ever experienced at CDG when I was there.

The only positive is the great Air New Zealand lounge they use for F pax and the PPT departure.

Overall, I wish they would move back to the DL terminal, or consolidate handling with NW and KL and get rid of Swissport.

obscure2k

I have only had positive experiences on AF and have flown all classes of service. CDG is a pain but one that you ultimately get used to. All of the flight attendants have always spoken good English (including the intra-european flights).