Air France (AF from IAH to CDG)
 

Has anyone flown Air France from IAH to CDG on their new 777? How is the service? How is service generally on Air France?

use Continental. I never have any problems with them.

Hi dan,

We flew an AF 777 last April.

The seats are configured 3-3-3 for maximum discomfort.

I suggest that you get two aisle seats across from each other.

>How is service generally on Air France?<
No better or worse than anyone else. The food's not too bad. Wine was free.

I have flown Air France my last 3 trips over, once from Houston and twice from Atlanta. I much prefer them to any other airline as I am spoiled to having my own personal television screen with numerous channels and remote control, better menu of the dreaded airline food and free wine and cocktails. The discomfort level is no greater than other airlines.

Now, let's get this straight. Two airlines fly non-stops on this route.

Both AF and CO use the 777 on this route. CO uses the 777-200; AF has both the -200 and the larger -300 versions, but I don't know which one they use for IAH, probably the -200. [The -300 is usually seen in JFK or NRT.]

Both AF &amp; CO have 3-3-3 seating in economy. [I think it's a good configuration, but that's not part of the discussion here.] CO has very tight 31in pitch for most of the economy cabin, and AF <b>may</b> have slightly more legroom, though I cannot confirm that.

Both AF &amp; CO has personal video screens on all seats on their 777s. I don't believe either has AVOD (audio/video on demand), so the program run in a loop.

&quot;Service&quot; is a very broad term, but I would expect it's similar for economy seats. My personal experience is that food out of IAH is terrible - barely edible on my IAH-CDG flight last March. And from what I've gathered, AF's food should be better. CO charges $5 for alcoholic drinks, which I believe is free on AF.

Both AF &amp; CO are SkyTeam members. So, if you have elite status on either one, you'll get bonus miles, dedicated check-in lines, preferred seat assignments, etc, on either airline. The details will be different, of course.

If you're flying Business, then CO will be much better in terms of food and seats. If you're flying First, then your only choice is AF.

AF's flights leave about 2 hours earlier on each leg than CO. That may influence you one way or another.

I've flown AF from another city on their 777. I don't like that plane in general, I prefer Airbus, but if CO uses the same plane, I would go by price or schedule. (that isn't the same flight, is it? I know CO used to codeshare with AF but didn't think they did anymore).

In any case, AF does not have more legroom than CO, I can say that. I think their pitch is 31&quot; also in economy and it is cramped. I like their service and food, though, but some people require some higher level of service than I probably do. On the plane, I don't require hardly any, just serve the meals and pick up the trays, that's about it. I like their food better than Continental, and they have better wine. I don't drink mixed drinks, only wine, on flights, so don't know if they charge for them. To some extent, the food is dependent on the airport catering available, though, although I'm sure there are specs that might make it better for AF.

If you want the most accurate information about seating, pitches, and which seats are &quot;bad&quot; and which ones aren't I suggest you go to www.seatguru.com

www.seatguru.com has CO, but not AF. www.seatexpert.com has AF, but doesn't have the pitch info.

But from the look of the seating plan, I think Christina is correct that their seat pitch is no better than CO. So probably the same 31&quot;. [You can see that on AA's MRTC 777, or SQ's 772ER, there are fewer rows if they put ~34in pitch.]

And Christina, they are seperate flights IAH-CDG. Each airline has one daily non-stop.

This one will tell you the pitch of most airline's classes in a table. It's broken down by base of operations, so click on the Europe portion of the map for Air France to compare with CO under the Americas.

http://www.airlinequality.com/Product/seat_intro.htm

Ah. sorry. There's a combined list:

http://www.airlinequality.com/Product/seats_global.htm

I always fly at out of IAH, and the Continental food is great!

I went to gatwick in June with them and the meals on the plane were probably the best I had the whole trip

Thank you for the replies. I would prefer to fly CO, but it just will not work this time. I am traveling with my wife, 5 yr-old son, and then 1 yr-old daughter to Luxembourg in March returning from Paris. We are willing to sacrifice and pay a little more to fly on the 777 because of the individual monitors. Flying out of IAH on the day we are leaving means taking AF because CO is a 767 into AMS or a long layover at LGW (7 hours). With the kids, the goal is to get there as quickly as possible and to minimize the discomfort. This will be our son's thrid trip in the last year and our daughter's second. We have flown CO into CDG and BA into LGW before continuing on to LUX. That just will not happen this time. On the way there, we will have a four hour layover in Houston and a 2.5 hour layover at CDG.

Again, thanks for the replies. I am sure I will have more questions while planning the trip.