ElSurfero

Hi,

New to the forum and hoping to be able to contribute as well.

I am FB gold, wife and (2) kids all silver.
When flying for holidays (probably CPT), will the gold membership benefits also apply to the rest of my family?
Mainly interested in lounge access (CDG 2E on outbound, the 2F ones are not so exciting on return), but also skypriority would be nice.

When flying to CPT i would rather take the route via JNB or fly KLM instead of AF, as i am not too impressed with the old A340 of Joon, depending on lounge access there as well.

Thank you very much!

Cheers

Ditto

Officially benefits are personal, also bear in mind that the KLM flight leaves during "rush hour" and therefore you won't be allowed any guests, even for a payment due to the lounge renovation.
As for SP, in AMS I never had issues bringing a guest through SP security & boarding, no experience with CDG and I suppose it's always the case of YMMV based on the dragon at the entrance to the SP queues.

I would advise to avoid JNB if possible.

ElSurfero

Thank you,
so i will send my charming daughter ahead to taunt the dragon and clear the way for us all ...
Sounds like a game of luck, and the AMS lounge comment is well appreciated! Will try AF then.

I was travelling both routes quite frequently (CDG-CPT directly and via JNB) and had no issues with JNB so far, although i have heard stories. The lounge there is good enough to make it bearable, IF we get access and to finally get the kids on an a380 which they still have on their bucket list.

Ditto

The SLOW lounge is one of the best, but I'm not sure you'd get anything on the domestic part JNB-CDG based on your status.
I'm not a fan of JNB airport in general, and the connection to/from CPT-CDG adds too many hours to the journey to my liking, the immigration queues and the chance that some of your (checked) luggage content might mysteriously disappear also doesn't make it a very appealing option.

Goldorak

Welcome to FT
For lounge access, your wife will be your guest For the kids, can I ask you about their age ? If they are very young, there will be no problem having them in the lounge in CDG. Not so sure in the SLOW lounge in JNB or the lounge they use in CPT. They may ask you to pay. The older they get, the harder it will be to have free access for them.
SkyP check-in will be no issue both in CDG or JNB/CPT. SkyP security & passport shouldn't be an issue in CDG. There's no priority lane in JNB for security and immigration. Don't know about CPT for this, but I assume it is the same (no priority lane).

I have never flown Joon yet, but the pictures of the refurbished A340 in J doesn't look too bad.

Why ? Not the best airport in the world for sure, but there's much worst.

The SLOW lounge in JNB is really great. For a CPT-JNB leg, indeed it will be hard to have free access unless flying J on the domestic sector and the domestic flight AF-coded (not sure it is possible). If free access is not possible, paid access is usually possible and cheap in ZA.

Ditto

No priority in CPT either, and the MN check-in queue can easily be 20-30 minutes long, another disadvantage of connecting via JNB, the security/immigration on departure of the AF flight are never long as together with the KL it's the last 2 flights of the day (I usually aim to arrive 1h30-1h15 before departure if I have a bag to check), on arrival YMMV if the AF airplane lands after the KL one (which seems to be a rare occurrence) you might have to queue for a while.

I explained in detail in my other comment, that is of course a matter of personal preference
For CPT-JNB, if they are on the AF coded flight (operated by MN) they can use the SLOW domestic lounge, it is a Y only flight, the other alternatives are the SA operated flights, no SLOW lounge access and I have no clue whether one can access the SAA lounge instead (my guess is no), for JNB-CPT I never tried but should be the same.
When accessing based on a ZA bank/credit card, kids above the age of 2 are counted as "guests", I'd assume it would be the same when accessing based on status/class of travel, but it doesn't seem to be specified anywhere.
If they allow guests for status passengers then the charge is probably R250 for the domestic ones and R400 for the international one.

The SLOW lounges doesn't accept cash/PP customers, and the ones that do are nothing to write home about

CanuckInParis

I have a similar situation (I'm plat, my wife and kids all silver) and was chatting with an agent at CDG once when we were all travelling together. She told that the policies were:
-The whole family can use the SkyPriority lines for check-in, security and immigration at CDG, for the outstations it depends on each airport's policies (for example, at YVR they put fast track stickers on all our BPs at the checkin desk so we can go through priority security together)
-You can bring your kids in the AF lounges for free during school vacations. During other periods there is discounted paid access for them (I paid 20USD for each of the kids at JFK once).
-Only bags checked under my name get priority as it's coded by the computer and the agents don't have any leeway, but in practice they usually all come out together.

This is what i was told, and I've never seen these in writing anywhere, so it may not be totally accurate, but my experience over the last couple years has proven it to be accurate.

HalconBCN

Good to see some common sense applied, within reason. Letting the little ones in for free during school holidays is ok. Personally I am not keen to see an increased presence of kids in the lounge throughout the rest of the year, as the quiet environment is not really designed for them.

CanuckInParis

I agree... I alway remind my kids that everyone is in there to relax, so if they disturb anyone, we're heading straight out and never returning . Between that threat and the free food, it's been so far so good. I like the kids area in the new L-gates lounge since it's somewhat separate from the rest of the lounge.

ElSurfero

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your replies, highly appreciated. I think I got the idea/procedures now...
- My kids are 7 & 10, I think they are just happy with the playstation / kids area I saw in the corner of the new lounge in CDG (can't remember if it was M or L)...
- Joon: The seats are ok, eco+ is nice and definitely better for sleeping than the AF ones, the IFE is fantastic, J is nothing worth talking about, the planes are old. So "OK". I am sure the new a350 with Joon configuration will be worth it (except J if they use the same seats).

Have a great week!

ElSurfero

Hi,

Just to update for future reference, before i forget:
- Lounge access at CDG was no problem, they were very friendly. 2E and 2F lounges.
- SkyPriority was no problem, and we were able to use it for boarding and security too. All luggage got priority tags.
- Lounge Access in JNB: We were allowed to use the SLOW lounge in the domestic terminal, excellent experience.
- Lounge Access in CPT: I had to pay for the kids to have access to the Bidvest lounge, but the experience was very mediocre (to put it in a friendly way).

Concerto

So, as a Plat, if I have a third guest, I can pay a reduced fee for their entry?

ElSurfero

Where, in CPT? BidVest Lounge there allows paid access, the price was reasonable and not reduced (and not worth it anyways).

bebert

to give my small contribution
Got back yesterday from AMM with 3 AF tickets: i was the FB Gold
Lounge is the Royal Crown used by all others companies
Wife could get in as my guest and they gave the courtesy for my 12y daughter. No discussion required. Airfrance staff could not guarantee my daughter would came in, but the lounge attendant was very kind
The lounge is very wide, so it s not an issue for them i imagine