That would be my primary consideration for mileage running at this point....since I don't fly enough for status, I would do it solely to play the bump game.

I briefly considered building a Gemini Jets collection. Then I realized it would probably be the biggest waste of floor space I had ever thought about.

IAH-CDG-JNB all in C is $5k. The only downside is having to go through CDG.

Seats will begin to appear within a week or two of departure. It might end up that you cannot find a seat until within a few days of departure, but they definitely will make more available.

And... on most occasions, I've seen them offer $500 VDB vouchers + hotel + food on #1776. If I didn't have to work on Mondays, I would take it.

Why? CDG's difficulty as a connecting airport is way overblown, especially on a non-Schengen to non-Schengen connection.

A US-CDG-JNB AF itinerary probably would involve both an arrival into and departure from Terminal 2E, and, thus, would not even require a terminal change. Just head for "Correspondence" instead of Immigration, re-clear security, then head up to the AF J Lounge until your connecting flight boards.

In any event, you could just schedule a sufficient layover (I would suggest three hours in case of longhaul to longhaul (last of the day)) and if you do not feel like dealing with the bus to the other terminal, just clear immigration into France and walk to the other terminal.

AF is a great J product, by the way - definitely one of the best (and, arguably, the best) in Skyteam, in my opinion.

That's worth taking a day off for, IMO. Now that I know how jammed that flight is, I might try and include it when I do cross that mental barrier, admit that I'm nuts, and fly for no discernible reason.

I guess my reluctance comes from ignorance. I've only done non-Schengen to Schengen connections at CDG and had to do the terminal change.

Thanks for the info! ^

I would argue the difficulty of CDG. I connected thru there in Jan and it downright sucked. Aside from being brought to a remote stand, they held us back until F and C deboarded and sent off the bus. Then we had to wait for a bus to show up, when it did, three showed up but they refused to let the first go until it was packed to the gills.

Once inside, going through the maze we eventually got where we needed to.

The return was much worse. They refused to put us on the earlier flight out of FCO to CDG knowing we had a very tight connection. We landed late, had to be escorted from our inbound (via vans) to the EWR flight which was already mostly boarded. Oh, and they gave away our lovely window seats away and stuck is in middle seats with no recourse.

AF's in-flight staff is stellar. Their ground staff, especially at CDG and EWR are downright miserable. Throughout the entire trip, the ground crew refused to help on any occasion. I will likely never be on another AF flight because of that experience.

Miles O'Brien is an idiot...was anyone else watching the AA flight at LAX coverage?

Your experience differs from mine, except that the last time I flew AF, we arrived at a remote stand, but I think because we were in J, we had our own busses. Nevertheless, they did not let the first bus leave until it was full, and the second bus left with only a few people on it.

I have never had that poor of an experience with AF ground crew, but speaking French certainly helps. Once you learn how to navigate it, CDG is not bad at all, especially with the new Terminal E open.

Looked like a nice landing to me.

Landing was perfect - the mindless drivel beforehand...ugh.

Talking Head: "Miles, the report is that the airplane blew a...uh...<reads slower like we're all morons>...left...inboard...main...tire...does that mean anything to you? (Translation: because Talking Head has no clue.)

I get that everyone out there isn't an expert on everything, but our intrepid reporter Miles almost confused a 757 and a 737, and he's the "Aviation Correspondent". Meh.

He also is a pilot who owns his own small aircraft (not sure what type).

I'm truly shocked to hear that...still doesn't change my opinion of his reporting quality. Then again, it's well known that I don't like the media in general.

ETA: The famed FTer GateHold, Patrick Smith, doesn't think highly of O'Brien.