arjen05

Which country / language? The Dutch line is operating as usual.

wuzziduzziman

I called the French and the Belgian number and got automated messages pointing to the current opening hours. I once was told that the Belgian number connects to the AMS based call center, but perhaps this is only true if your default language is dutch/flemish?

San Gottardo

Wait a sec... so after 8pm they simply hang up on you? You don’t get forwarded to a non-Platinum team?

Or aren’t there any teams at all after 8 pm that one can be forwarded to?

maalloc

It was the French dedicated line. During daytime they also have this recorded welcome message apologizing for the increased waiting time due to a increased number of calls.

Totally makes sense to reduce operating hours in this situation, probably for safety reasons, too!

I also tried the default line, they have the same operating hours and would not take calls at 8:02. I do hope they would not hang up on you in a middle of a discussion though!

San Gottardo

Please assure us that you are being sarcastic.

So how can one reach Air France after 8pm? Calling a number in a different time zone (US, Japan...), maybe, but nothing in Europe?

maalloc

I would never dare to be sarcastic about airlines staff who risk their lives (even sometimes serving coke or champagne) during these difficult times !


arjen05 was stating earlier that the Dutch hotline was working with their usual schedule... could be worth a try, though I am not even sure they would take calls from abroad.

Concerto

Another enhancement, it seems. Over at Miles & More, it seems that Lufthansa has cut ties with most of not all of its contract lounges. How is the situation with lounges for us (plats with FB)?

johan rebel

They do. I always call them from another country than the Netherlands.

Johan

Goldorak

Most lounges across the globe seems to be still closed. But, as a counter example to the LH situation : the excellent Pau Casals lounge in BCN T1, used by AF, is reopening tomorrow (15th).
Another point to consider : in many large airports having different terminals, operations are consolidated in one or 2 terminals and it is frequent that one airline is not having access to the facility they use in their regular terminal. I can cite the following examples :
- ARN : all flights are in T5, while AF is normally in T2 ==> no lounge access
- MUC : all flights depart from T2, while AF is normally in T1 ==> no lounge access
- CDG : all flights are consolidated in 2A/2C, 2F and 2E-K. LH is now in 2A and has no access to a lounge (AC has a lounge there and it is closed, and AC is now in 2E-K...go figure )
- LHR : I have an AF booking in august and my booking says T2 !!! I believe all non-BA flights are in T2 at the moment. So I don't think I will have lounge access. But if you fly LH or LX ex-LHR, you are lucky because this is their regular terminal with a LH lounge (but I don't know if it is open !).

Gajan

I suppose in current times it may be worth having a Priority Pass (or equivalent), insofar lounges are actually open (and if the lounge access is a major point for your travels).

johan rebel

And that of course is the sticking point.

I'm not sure that Priority Pass has quite woken up to this fact yet. They are still asking €399.-- for a Prestige plan and advertising access to 1,300+ lounges, and even include statements like this in their lounge descriptions:

"Due to peak seasonal activity it is expected this lounge will see an increase in the number of guests. Therefore, access may be periodically restricted due to space constraints"

Hilarious.

Johan

Concerto

I never wanted to bother with Priority Pass because I thought it was so awful, but I have a basic one which has come in handy a couple of times last autumn. Probably useful to have as a backup in case.

rangerss75

Do update us, please, Goldorak! I have AF bookings from LHR in both September and October. Thanks.

offvoice

Nice experience yesterday for us on a medium haul flight. We boarded and had a J bottle of water and oshibori (the packed one obviously) waiting for us on our Y seat. The crew came at least twice to ask us if we needed anything.

Goldorak

Unfortunately, I won't be able to update you for LHR. I was supposed to go this weekend, but I canceled due to the infamous quarantine requirement decided by British authorities for arrival from France