kay

I'm looking at flights from L.A. to Florence/Milan and have seen the cheapest on Air France, with a brief stopover at Charles de Gaulle in Paris. Has anyone taking a similar flight to Italy? If so, were there any problems with the stopover or connecting flight? <BR> <BR>thank you.

Rex

I flew Air France home FROM Italy (Bergamo, to be exact) - - the flight was operated by a regional commuter line which seems to be trying to be sort of an "all-luxury" line (or maybe this is simply a higher standard for a small airline). All passengers were accommodated in a departure lounge with free refreshments, internet etc. <BR> <BR>Now, th bad news - - the flight was about an hour late (maybe this is why the good treatment - - though it looked as if it was used for every one of their flights at this small airport). We missed our connection home in CDG - - and got vouchered to stay in Paris (more or less a bonus, wasn't planned, and most of our group had never been to Paris). It would have been at a hotel at the airport, but no rooms available (we needed 4 rooms) so they put us at an Ibis at La Villette. Vouchers for an in-airport dinner (which was somewhat poor) were included. Despite this mixed negative/positive, I would probably book the same if i had to do it over again - - just with my eyes open. <BR> <BR>For what it's worth, the transatlantic flight (an AF/Continental code share) was also a missed connection - - not the fault of AF - - the usual terrible ground traffic at Newark Airport. We felt like we got better-than average treatment in that they re-routed us free into Strasbourg (we were supposed to go into Basel - - which we selected because it was cheaper) because that was closer to our ultimated destination, and a connecting flight on into Basel would have meant a 3 hr layover at 9 am in CDG (versus the 45 minute connection we got to take us into Strasbourg). They were not at all required to do this. <BR> <BR>The equipment for the trans-atlantic was actually Continental (it would have been AF had we not misconnected), and it was my first experience with Continental's new personal seat-back video - - available for all COACH seats. Seemed okay. Of course, on other routes, AF flights are also Delta code-shares. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex

pam

Kay, <BR>(BTW we were at LACMA in August and loved the Eames exhibit.) <BR>We flew Air France from Houston to Rome in May 99. We changed in CDG and there were no problems. We were actually on Continental equipment from Houston to Paris, then changed to AF equipment; the return was AF equipment all the way. AF has good food! We also got Continental miles since they have a codeshare arrangement. I'd do it again.

Brian in Atlanta

I like flying Air France. Beware the "brief" stopover at CDG though!

Judy

Hello Kay, from Atlanta, flew to Rome on Air France thru CDG. Only an hour layover, luckily the plane was late, because their transfer system at the airport is very convoluted IMO... I would give myself at least 2 hours At CDG. If you are bored at the airport, there is a great wineshop, I often buy champagne there, yummm. Their seats on the 777, have the individual screens with lots of movies, games and shows....one of the better airlines for long distances(good wine). Order the ovo-lacto vegetarian meals, they are good(no mystery meat)...I think you will be fine on AF, P.S. Brian, we are going to Fritti next week pre-Fox show, just to let you know....

Miane

Gret deal: good airline, easy connections (same airport)and no worry about missing the connecting flight, they'll automatically put you on the next one --they operate several a day.

kay

Thanks everyone- <BR> <BR>It sounds like any typical mixture of airline experiences and (some) mishaps. All in all sounds like a viable option. I appreciate your help. <BR> <BR>One question, Brian- are you saying the planes connecting from CDG are often late so the brief layover is less than brief? <BR> <BR>p.s. Pam glad you liked the Eames show - it was really fun.

Brian in Atlanta

Kay, I'd hesitate to buy a ticket with less then one hour to connect. CDG is very busy airport (in fact the French government yesterday decided to start scouting locations for a 3rd Paris airport) and if you have to change terminals, it's quite confusing and can be slow (you have to take a bus). <BR> <BR>But if there were numerous other later flights to Rome as Miane states, then I'd probably risk it. <BR> <BR>Judy, let me know about Fritti. I'm sure you've seen the great reviews.

Paul

We flew AF Boston-Florence in '99. Great flights, and food is actually edible. We had to change in CDG, and in fact transfer from Terminal 2C to 2F (and reverse on the way home). You just follow the signs for "correspondence", and you wind up at gound level, where you board a bus to the next terminal (there are airport folks there to guide you along). I heartily agree with the above sentiments - don't take less than 1 hour between flights.