taconictraveler

does anyone have anything good to say about Air France: JFK to CDG? - especially Delta/Air France code share flights in Premium Economy
I seem to be reading mostly negatives about this service, but am trying to decide on Delta PE which is flown by Air France, for a September flight at about $3000 RT ( for 2 of us) or whether to spring for Open Skies RT at about $4,500 ( for 2). Love Open Skies but they are going up in price a bit.

We are both what most people would call "elderly" but don't look it or feel it, and want to keep traveling, but need a little more comfort, without breaking the bank.

many thanks for thoughts from Fodorites.

mztery

it's a 6 hour flight or so? If you;re flying daytime I'd stick w/ AF and save the $$ forParis . Overnight, if you think you might sleep for a few hours, maybe go for open skies if you have the extra $$>

taconictraveler

I don't think they have a day flight, but I'm going to check right away. thanks.

taconictraveler

I don't see a day flight on the Delta website.

But - another question: Does any airline fly day flights to Paris??

qwovadis

Www.airline quality.com Air France reviews

Have flown them several times

Usually snag an exit seat lots of legroom

For lots less than premium economy also nice for price

I like AF mostly breakfast food was a little iffy but I got a great deal so was not picky.

Also might check air awards.com cheapoair.com/business. For sale fares there.

No day flights currently I know of.






Happy Hunting,

taconictraveler

Quovadis: I did look at the airlinequality.com website, which is where I found lots of negatives on Air France.
I hate to say it, but I think there is an age limit on exit row seats, and we are over that!
will keep looking, though cheapoair.com seemed to be out of business or unavailable. Is there another website I could look at?

mrwunrfl

United and Lufthansa have discounted business class seats. For United, your outbound start has to be by Sept 2 and return by Sept 8.

I can say one very positive thing about AF that applies in this case and I have never flown it: they have nonstops JFK to Paris.

DonTopaz

taconictraveler: There are no day flights to Paris. However, from JFK (or Boston), you can take the morning BA flight in Premium Economy to London, stay overnight at a Heathrow hotel (the Sofitel is connected directly to the BA terminal at Heathrow), then take a morning flight to Paris. I've done this a few times, and it's a good solution.

taconictraveler

Ok, rizzuto, I'll take a look at that. thanks.

taconictraveler

Well, that won't work better for us, so now I' leaning toward the premium economy on air France/ Delta, as a fairly fair middle of the road alternative to economy vs. Open Skies.

Does anyone think it matters whether we boom it on Delta or Air France?

I think I have so old Delta miles, but they may have expired, and weren't many.

thanks again, to anyone with experience.

taconictraveler

Of course I meant "book it"

rkkwan

You can book with either DL or AF. Your travel experience will be the same - you check in with AF, you fly on AF, etc. And because they operate as a joint-venture, fares are likely to be the same, though you should check on both. If you're depositing your miles into your DL Skymiles account and prices same/similar, you should book with DL, because you will earn 150% DL Skymiles, while if you book on AF, you only earn 125% DL Skymiles.

Just make sure if booked on DL, you do an advanced search for "Fare Class W (or higher)". You have to be booked into <b>Class W</b> to be sitting in PE on AF.

Conversely, if you book on AF, you can simply choose "Premium Economy" when you search and you'll be booked into Class A.

DL recently announced that SkyMiles don't expire anymore. But of course, you old miles might have already expired before the announcement and you won't be getting those back. With 150% miles, your JFK-CDG roundtrip will earn you about 10,900 miles.

taconictraveler

thanks, rkkwan, you sure do know your stuff!

samlupowitz

Frankly, I don't understand all the negativity. I have flown AF several times lately between MIA/JFK and CDG and the flights have been perfect in every way. The charm and style of the crew and the service has been great. AF is the only way to fly those routes. I'm as American as one can be, but the style and service on American and Delta sucks. Comparing American and Delta to AF is like comparing poop to frois gras.

DonTopaz

shame, sam, you were doing so well until you got to the frois gras.

rkkwan

Something else to consider. AF operates 5x JFK-CDG daily. RIght now, four are on 777-300ER and one on A380 (AF6/7). However, with AF receiving more A380 this year, on some days, AF10/11 will also see A380.

Now the issue is that the current four A380s AF has <b>do not</b> have PE yet. The newer ones coming into the fleet (the 5th one coming this month) do have PE, and the older four will be fitted with them "before end of 2011".

If I were you, to guarantee having PE and not have to worry about being switched to other flights, you may want to book one of the 777 flights (and probably not AF10/11 either). Unless you really want to fly the A380 and want to bet that AF will have PE on your plane when you fly in Sept.

taconictraveler

rkkwan: when you refer to AF6/7 and AF 10/11, are you referring to particular flights of AF? and can that be seen by a regular person like me, when trying to book?
Thanks.

rkkwan

Yes, the even number flights are east bound NY to Paris, odd number flights Paris to NY. And you will see them when you book.

Approx times in Sept:
AF7/DL8581 JFK-CDG dep 7:15p
AF11/DL8557 JFK-CDG dep 9:50p

AF6/DL8550 CDG-JFK dep 1:35p
AF10/DL8532 CDG-JFK dep 4:35p

These are the 3rd and 4th flights on AF each day. There are two earlier ones and one later one that are not scheduled to use the A380.