horizon

Next week we fly the late Air France flight from Dulles to Paris to Nice. COACH!! Will it be miserable or merely uncomfortable? Is Ambien essential? Do they serve any food or wine? Is DeGaulle easy/difficult for transfer if sticking with the same airline? Seeking any and all tips and advice. TNX.

elberko

What other info are you looking for?

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34505142

Statia

I've never flown AF out of the US, but I've flown them from St. Maarten to CDG and found the flight to be much more comfortable than my typical US carrier flights.

In my most recent experience, each seat has it's own seatback screen for movies, games, geographical info and other entertainment. The meals were good, consistsing of more than one course and including wine and after dinner drink. The flight attendants even set up drink carts near the galleys so that we could help ourselves after "lights out."

So, all in all, I think that you will be comfortable. At least as comfortable as coach can be in this day and age.

BTW - I know most people consider CDG to be a pain in the rear for transfers, but I've never really had a problem there. Having to take the shuttle from one terminal to another can be a bit of a pain, however.

Christina

I've done that flight. Any long flight in coach is miserable, in my opinion. Some others don't feel the same way. Haven't you ever taken a long flight in coach before? Of not, it's hard to say how you'll adapt but it's just a long time to be cooped up in a small seat.

Of course they serve you food, as well as wine with it, if you want (for free).

I don't think any airport is that easy for transfers, either, if you have to change terminals. They are always easy if you are within the same terminal.

atlcity

Unless you've never flown than you know what to expect in coach and you know you'll be fed.

horizon

it's not that i hadn't flown; it's that i had not flown coach. that's why i was asking for tips.
thank you all

StCirq

AF is about as uncomfortable in coach as any airline. Sometimes, however, the food is a notch above that of other airlines.

AF is also notorious for scheduling hair-raising connections at CDG.

If you've never flown coach before, I dare say you are probably in for the experience of a lifetime. Good luck!

horizon

StCirq, thank you for the warning about transfers at CDG. we have one hour to switch from one AF flight to the next ... to Nice.

padbrasher

horizon:
I have flown twice in coach on Air France between Chicago and Paris. The seats are a bit narrow IMHO. However, there are individual video screens at each seat with many different movies, games and documentaries to view. Food is better than most airline cuisine and the wine is free. While sitting in coach is never easy for 8 hours, AF is probably as good as it gets.
Connecting to another flight at CDG is not very difficult. I have flown through Paris to Venice on Air Altalia and to Frankfurt on Air France...just follow the signs to your concourse.

Scarlett

I have no bad memories of AF. (We always flew out of Newark NJ)
The worst thing that happened one year was the a/c was haywire and it was very cool on the plane, but we cuddled under blankets and I actually slept!
They serve food AND wine

cigalechanta

We fly from Boston, direct to Paris and in all the years, only once we had to switch a flight with a delay in NY. I find all airline food BLAH!

mari5

horizon: I notice you wrote a similar question on June 8 of this year.Hope you have a good flight, and let us know when you return. We are booked for AF flight from Houston to Paris in Nov. We have flown them several times over they years and they are fine. Their 777 seat configuration in coach is similar to most other airlines 777's (tight) with the EXCEPTION of American Airlines. American has an additional couple of inches in their seat "pitch" measurment which makes a HUGE difference. Air France and Most others ..on their 777's have 3 seats on the side...where American has 2....!
Air France does have good food however, and service is fine. They cancel flights occasionally etc. They put us up overnight at an airport hotel last year...and have today cancelled a flight we had in Nov. on to another location...but put us on another flight a couple of hours earlier. They are nice about it and it all seems to work out.

subcon

st.cirq makes an excellent point about AF being notorious for allowing minimal transfer time. their attitude is that 45 min. is the legal standard (which is insane at cdg).

the last two times i flew with them i had connexions to madrid and amsterdam respectively. the only reason we made the madrid flight was that we had been upgraded to business class which allowed us to get off sooner. we still had to run with a customer service rep to the gate. we missed the amsterdam flight completely.

they don't choose to account for the long taxi time at de gaulle counting on the ground as being on time. so take a look at your flight times and plan accordingly particularly in terms of checked luggage.

other than that, i fly AF all the time out of atlanta and think they're way better than delta in terms of service and ammenities.