allisonm

We are flying Air France to Paris in February. Any good/bad experiences with this airline? I have flown to Europe on Aer Lingus and American with no incidents. Do the staff speak English? Thanks for any thoughts!

ira

Hi allison,

Flying cattle class on AF is no worse than on any other airline.

Yes, the staff speak English - when they wish to.

NYCFoodSnob

I don't like CDG but I fly Air France and enjoy it. I just returned from a JFK-Naples/Naples-Paris/Paris-JFK trip and I flew AF. Granted, I fly Business Class and the comfort and service is terrific. However, this past May, an assistant flew with me and he was seated in Coach. I joined him for a chat a few times and found the Coach seats to be quite substantial. They reminded me of the Coach seats on Singapore Airlines, which is one of the best airlines on the planet, no matter what Class. My assistant said that service in Air France Coach was friendly and very attentive and the food was the best he's had on an airplane.

allisonm

Thank you, I am always happy to hear mostly positive reports! (Even Ira's info was not discouraging.) I am glad to never fly business class because I am sure I would be too spoiled for economy!

swalter518

I had a bad experience on AF but it was because I had airsickness on that trip. The smell of fish in an aircraft is not a good thing on a "delicate" stomach. Other than not ordering the fish for the meal, it was fine.

Nikki

I have flown Air France several times and have no complaints. Better than average airplane food and the staff do speak English. And if you get the right planes, you can watch French movies in the seatback monitors to get in the mood.

lexluther

We flew Air France last November and loved it. We are flying with them again tomorrow. Great food, comfortable seats, and yes they do speak english. Just add a Merci or a sil vous plait in and you would be amazed at how nice the french can be

NYCFoodSnob

Allison, for many years I went back and forth between Coach and Business. Several job contracts offered me a higher fee if I would be willing to fly Coach. This is a pretty common negotiation in show business and when I was poorer, the higher fee was welcome, especially if the flight was under 8 hours. After that period, I started using upgrades because I could never use up all my FF miles if I tried. I often give friends a free ticket as a gift. Now, I fly Business because I own my own business and, of course, I'm older and I deserve to be pampered. If I don't take care of myself, who will?

Statia

Here's another AF fan. I always fly them to Europe and have always been pleased with the comfort and service.

They did lose my luggage twice in two days on the last trip, but were very helpful in resolving the issue.

gelato_lover

I flew AF for the first time in September and found the seats, service and food to be comparable with British. My biggest complaint was the poor treatment I got at CDG after missing my connection. They sent a golf cart to help one couple catch their flight, but didn't send anyone to help one DOZEN of us catch our flight to Bologna. They did give me a free phone card and a voucher for breakfast, though.

cigalechanta

I fly AF because I want a DIRECT flight from Boston. And it depended on which plane how good things were. The Delta Connection, I put thumbs down.

allisonm

We live in upstate NY and chose AirFrance because it was a direct flight from Boston to CDG. American would have taken us from Boston to JFK to Paris, plus the only return flight we could get came in to Boston at almost midnight. Not good, with a 3 hour drive home. I am happy to hear they have seatback tvs! I have trouble with airsickness (under control, no one is in danger near me) and it causes me to be unable to watch the drop-down monitors. And since we won't have to change planes, there is (I hope) less chance of things being lost. Merci to all!

ecat

Thumbs down for me and AF. They left a bad taste in my mouth after I missed my connection.

Last Oct. long story short, I had arrived in time to catch my flight however I was held up in the security line & missed the connecting flight from Rome back to the states.

I was sent to line after line to try and get another flight home, 3 hours later a ticketed was going to charge me $200. to get a flight out the following day! She said it was my fault, that's when I lost it. She ended up not charging me but you could cut the tension with a knife.

Since I had been to Paris before I knew of a hotel and booked it myself. I was not offered anything and they would not give me my luggage for the night. So AF & me grrrrrrrrrr.

kathrynj

Flew Air France to Paris and Nice last year and was pleaased. In Nice there was a potential pilot strike and the AF people at Nice airport went out of their way to change our return flight (which was frequent flyer)---could not have been a more pleasant experience.

gualalalisa

Just flew Air France this month to and from Europe.

This was my third time and I found the flight attendants to be much nicer than my pervious trip five years ago. They all spoke English but I also speak some French.

Yes, I flew Business Class and enjoyed the large leather seats, the food and other amenities, particularly the Air France lounges at JFK, CDG and Lisbon. Have chosen Air France because their Business Class airfare is always the most reasonable when I have booked my flights.

Agree with NYCFoodSnob that pampering oneself when traveling makes the trip all the more enjoyable!

SantaChiara

Air France, si; CDG, no. I fly Continental through Gatwick for direct to Houston. All just to avoid CDG because AF also flies direct to IAH. (And Gatwick isn't all that great either but it sure beats CDG.)

mp413

I'm flying into CDG this December and don't like all these references to 'anything to avoid CDG'! What is so bad about it?

Statia

mp413, don't worry. CDG is just a major hub like MIA, LAX or JFK in the US. It's not that bad, in my opinion, but is large and can be a pain in the rear, that's all.

I don't necessarily like it, just like I don't like the airports noted above. But, if I have to go thru there to get to my destination, so be it.

SantaChiara

Yes, it is like a big hub, but I find the ground personnel insufferable. And for THE Paris airport, it has very little entertainment for long waits. And I have never taken a plane out of CDG at the schedule time.

Sarah

I loved the food they gave me when I used them to connect to florence a couple of weeks ago. Food on the trip back though was not so good though. Two hour flight you don't expect much anyway.

My only warning goes to the Paris Airport securtiy check. Some super a** holes working on my return trip. I could have caught them on a bad day. They were extreemly slow with only one line to clear luggage. Also they would not let me put my glass bottles in a plastic tub. I only had them in an open plastic bag. My bag was taken out of the tub I placed it in and sprawled out on the belt. I did not understand this power trip with the plastic tubs . When I cleared a French airport worker told me he was just being difficult that this was not normal.

Other Americans told me that they had bad experiences too but they did not see this happening to non-Americans just before them. Again just one couple I spoke with. A regular commuter between NYC and Paris also told me they are rude and inefficient at security in Paris.

Could have just been a bad day for everyone. Never a set and fast rule when you are talking about something like this. Knowing what I know now I will plan on a**holes on the next trip and not expect any professional kindness.