We are considering flying Air France from SFO to Athens and back through Paris. Is Air France generally considered to be a good airline? I've heard some unfortunate stories. Also, they are requiring a check rather than credit card for payment. Ever heard of this??

I don't know about AF, but I am very curious about this requirement for a check. Are you booking directly through AF or some type of consolidator? Personally, I would never pay for a plane ticket with a check, nor has any legitimate service ever asked me to do so.

I fly Air France whenever possible, in fact we reserved last week. We have always had a pleasant experience on Air France. And I have never been asked to pay by check!

I fly A/F quite often. They are codeshare partners with Delta, where I have my FF points. I currently have reservations in September with my Intl. flight from ATL to CDG being A/F. My billing was from Delta..never with a check, always via credit card, a Delta American Express.

I have paid for airfare once with a check. It was through a consolidator booked through my travel agent (it was cheaper than anything I could find on the internet). It was on US Air. I thought it was strange too, but my agent had used them for years. Now without my agent's endorsement and using some random company on my own, I would not have done so, but it turned out just fine. By the way, I flew AF last year. No better or worse than any other airline I've experienced in coach. You're going to hear unfortunate stories about all airlines.

The request is not from Air France proper, but from a travel agency called ATM travel in San Francisco. They got us a very good airfare, but say that it needs to be paid by check for which we will get an e-ticket and an invoice. I'm very wary, but the fare is so nice and low.

pineco,

Have you checked Air France directly to see if you can get low price from them?

I live in SF too and have had some really great fares to Paris fn AF. Never had any problems.

Good luck.

Would you care to share with us the fare they are offering?

$1179 per person from SF to Athens, then Athens to Paris (spending two days in Paris) and back to SFO -- all non-stop with the exceptio of SF to Athens with layover in Paris. Travelocity books the same itinerary at almost $1000 more.

Have flown Air France on several occassions, in Business, Alize or Economy Class, and found service to be of very high standard.

Have never been asked to pay by check, AF has always asked for credit card.

Air France is a major respectable national airline, like many others. Of course it's generally considered good. If you are hesitant about booking a major ticket because of some unfortunate stories you've heard, you will not fly, ever. I would only base decisions on price and schedule and connections, myself, as long as it was a major known airline.

Your travel agency is either doing two things (or both together) -- trying to save money by not paying the credit card use fee for merchants (which may be a couple percent), or playing with floats, or both. The only place that ever asked me to pay by check was doing both, and went bankrupt, leaving lots of people out of their money. This was a wellknown consolidator, also, who'd been operating for years.

I suppose you can save the credit card couple percent (which is why their fee may be lower), if you don't mind, but you have no protection that way for the charges. ONe thing I would not do is give them the money if they say you will not get a ticket for several months, because that means they are taking in money from some customers and not buying tickets until later (sort of like a pyramid scheme, I think they are called?).

Ask them bluntly why you must pay with a check, and see what they say. If it's just to avoid the CC merchant charge, there should be no shame in them admitting that. If they can't explain why, I'd avoid them.

What is the fare? If it's legitimate, it's probably available elsewhere.

Thanks everyone. I've emailed to ask them why it is necessary to pay by check. Will await their response ...

Air France is just okay to me. I prefer Lufthansa's service better, however, AF flies to certain parts of France that's not covered by other airlines. And as another poster said they sometimes offer nice airfares. As to the inflight service, well, it's just ok, nothing great. But I fly cattle class which is pretty standard on all airlines. Their customer service (phone) is not bad, is better than it was a few years ago I find. I book directly with AF and a c/c is the only form of payment I know of.
I never paid by check via a travel agent as well.

I seriously <b> doubt </b> that Air France is asking you to pay by check. I suspect this may be the travel agency attempting to avoid merchant fees by allowing you to use a credit card.

That very fare may be avilable to you <b> directly </b> as someone above mentioned. Are you <b> willing </b> to do a little internet research first before you give the travel agency the go ahead?

If you wait around long enough you'll undoubtedly hear some &quot;unfortunate stories&quot; about every single airline flying.

Do not pay by cheque. Do not pay by cheque. Do not pay by cheque. If the travel agency goes under (or the airline does - not that AF will but relevant for other carriers), the credit card company will work with you to ensure that you don't have to pay for something you don't receive.

Also, make sure that you check out this travel agency you're considering - a Better Business Burea search, a search to confirm that they are part of a network of travel agencies that provides assurance for delivery of services, a google search to look for complaints, etc. And watch out for phishing while you're at it - completely bogus operations that pop up when you search for fares on the internet, offer unbelievable prices, and then take your money and run.