We are looking at flying into LGW and out of CDG. It appears that AF and Delta have teamed up, therefore, we would fly Delta over and AF back. Is Delta anywhere near comprable to AF?

Delta is 3 star and Air France is 4 star. The last time I flew Delta, they seem to like to make loud announcements at all times during the flight so bring some earplugs.

Honestly, it all depends upon the plane. Delta's A330s and 767-400s are more comfortable than Air France's planes. On the flip side, Delta's 767-300s lack in-seat video and many dislike them for this reason. I would avoid the Air France 777-300, as they cram 10-abreast in economy, which is pretty uncomfortable, unless the flight is empty.

As for service, i find Delta to be a bit more friendly and, generally better, but service is pretty variable at most carriers. Food is poor on both. Air France has free booze, Delta only offers free wine and beer-you pay for the hard stuff.

Personally, I fly both carriers a fair bit and don't find much difference.

my opinion is no. if inflight service means a lot to you, make sure your ticket is booked on air france equipment with air france crew. delta is just not comparable.

www.airlinequality.com/Forum/delta.htm

That giant sucking sound you hear will be coach on Delta

though AF is not far behind in Coach

free wine with meals a plus for drinkers...

AF clearly superior in the upper classes

<i>free wine with meals a plus for drinkers...</i>

Actually, wine is free on both carriers and not restricted to meal times, for the past couple of years.

<i>AF clearly superior in the upper classes</i>

I would disagree, depending upon the plane. AF has nothing that rivals the comfort of Delta's flat beds on some of their 777s and 767s. I also think that Delta's catering is, at its best, better than AF's catering. Of late, I also think that, of late, Delta's wines are among the best offered in biz on ANY carrier.

As for airlinequality... It is a collection of gripes. Most of the people that write on the site don't seem to fly much and have only a limited basis for comparison. I'd take it with a grain of salt.

Delta flies to LHR, not LGW. But anyways, if you want to go to London, then fly DL. Even if AF is indeed better, I'd definitely avoid a connection.

Many thanks for all of your responses. There is alot to consider. I will be sure to also consult on seatguru and seatexpert to try and get the best seat. Thanks again!

<I>Delta flies to LHR, not LGW.</I>

Delta has one flight per day from ATL to LGW, in addition to their flights to LHR.

This is a recent Delta review of economy from the Sydney Morning Herald

In the original posting it had the title "The only thing tougher than the seats is the crew"

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travell...=1281941644443

<<As for airlinequality... It is a collection of gripes. Most of the people that write on the site don't seem to fly much and have only a limited basis for comparison. I'd take it with a grain of salt.>>

I can't understand your argument, if people don't fly much and have little interest in flying why would they bother to post on what is a relatively unknown website, it doesn't make sense.

Overall, the majority of frequent flyers around the world know that the US airlines have a bad reputation for service and this is borne out in surveys, awards, reviews and any other industry indicator.

I don't know about AF, but I flew Delta and KLM recently (coach). I was not surprised that service and food were better on KLM (although I would not say that Delta was awful - just that KLM was noticeably better). I WAS surprised, however, that the seats were more comfortable on the DL A330 than on the KLM 777.

<I>I can't understand your argument, if people don't fly much and have little interest in flying why would they bother to post on what is a relatively unknown website, it doesn't make sense. </I>

Because people like to complain. And because flying coach stinks, even on the best carriers.

<I>Overall, the majority of frequent flyers around the world know that the US airlines have a bad reputation for service and this is borne out in surveys, awards, reviews and any other industry indicator.</I>

I don't think this is true, at all. I think most frequent flyers have a more nuanced view, and recognize that carriers differ between classes, depending upon the equipment, and depending upon the route. There is also difference between good foreign carriers, like Singapore, and the likes of Air France, Lufthansa, and most of the other European carriers (I do think BA is, on average better).

I think people are trading in stereotypes that don't hold anymore. The US carriers have improved or, at least, leveled off, and a reflexive belief that foreign = better, will leave you disappointed. I mean, it wouldn't be fun to book Air France or Emirates, only to find yourself being constantly bumped because they decide to jam 10 people across in a plane designed to fit 9. It would stink to book Lufthansa in business class, only to talk to your buddy that just spent the night on a real flat bed on Delta or Continental. It simply isn't as cut and dried as some claim.

Flown both in the last couple of years, and I found AF more uncomfortable than Delta in terms of the seats, but the service on AF much better. Talk about disagreeable flight attendants--Wow--Delta takes the cake.

What Wally said -- incessant announcements from Delta, vs. AF. Preferred AF for peace and quiet; find the seats more comfy in Delta (Biz class in both cases). Would also choose based on direct flight vs. transferring.

<<Because people like to complain. And because flying coach stinks, even on the best carriers.>>

Flying economy desn't have to stink, a few months ago I flew the Qantas A380 to LA, a 14 hour journey, with a 5 year old and it was very good, why was it good?

1. Hundreds of free Movies / TV / Grames to select from

2. Despite being 6ft 4, I had a comfortable seat and enough space.

3. Select from a menu, your meal, I found them tasty and plentiful, they even gave out goody bags with sandwiches, biscuits, water to snack on, after the lights were dimmed

4. In addition there was a public galley where you can pick up your own snacks and drinks and stretch your legs

5. Service - the flight attendants were great, cheerful and prompt when requesting additional wine, beer etc

6. An ultra quiet plane that makes sleeping easy,

7. An amenities bag to assist with sleeping etc

This is a complete package that I have never found on a US airline, but I have found on other airlines, not just Qantas.

<i>Flying economy desn't have to stink</i>

No, it doesn't, but it often does.

<i>a few months ago I flew the Qantas A380 to </i>

This would correspond to the "depending upon the equipment" nuance I noted above, no? I mean, your answers to #s 1, 2, 4, and 6 would not hold if you were on, for example, a Qantas 767.

Again, I never claimed that there are no carriers better than some or all US carriers. What I dispute is the conventional "wisdom" that foreign = better, because it is not nuanced enough to capture the complete picture and does not account for differences within carriers and differences in preferences among customers. I particularly dispute this for the European carriers, who I simply do not think remotely begin to approach any sort of general superiority over American carriers. Non-LCC/non-Chinese/non-Taiwanese Asian carriers and, by all accounts NZ and QF, do seem to offer a generally better product, however, and I have always acknowledged this.

Back to the topic of AF vs DL, I simply do not believe that AF holds any significant service or comfort advantage in coach and think that they are at a disadvantage to certain DL aircraft (and vice versa). Overall, I find them largely comparable on service. I stated as much, quite clearly. Perhaps when QF starts flying between the US and London and Paris, then it would be relevant to start comparing them? I mean, I think Korean is pretty darn good in coach. This must mean Lufthansa is better than Continental, right?

<i>Preferred AF for peace and quiet</i>

Do people not use headphones? I don't ask this to be snarky, it is just that I simply don't notice any difference between the two carriers on this point, but admit I usually have headphones in for the entire time we are above 10k feet.

I'll tell you why I prefer DL over AF to anywhere in Europe: CDG.

TG apparently the decibel level of the southern woman DL flight attendant supersedes even headphones, especially when accompanied by the duty-free cart. Admittedly they weren't the expensive Bosche gear.

Dear annw,

Just when you'd pleased me by properly spelling supersede (the only word in the language to end in sede, incidentally), you go and ruin it all by typing Bosche instead of Bose.

'Bosche,' or more commonly Bosch, was a term used to disparage Germans in WWI.

[Bosch is also a major power tool, appliance, automotive and industrial technology manufacturer. So the mistyping is understandable.]