Christina

I'm going to Paris soon and with a stroke of luck, booked United this time instead of Air France, I am sure glad. I'm sure one could get back to the US on another airline if one wanted (out of somewhere other than Paris, if that would help, like Amsterdam or London), but I know that would be expensive at last minute. You should get the value of the AF ticket refunded, though, wouldn't you.

There are always airline offices in major cities. There is one in Paris at Invalides RER (2 rue Esnault-Pelterie,
Esplanade des Invalides), at 49 ave de l'Opera (Opera metro) and right at the Luxembourg Gardens at place Rostand (it's right next to that ice cream shop, Dalloyau). They are usually open 10:15-6:30 pm, closed Sundays. There is also one out at Porte Maillot.

I don't know if that would be better than calling, though. AF website says strike is now through 9/30 at least. http://www.airfrance.fr/FR/en/local/...air-france.htm

socaltraveler

We are scheduled to fly home on October 8, I know I will be very unhappy if I have to spend another chunk of time, this time on vacation, trying to get repositioned again. Doubt we will ever book with Air France again.

lincasanova

We paid no re-booking fees for both our fights that were cancelled.. Paris-Bogotá and reverse. We were re-routed via the USA through the Delta 800 number as AF number was unreachable.

Lufthansa is alos having problems these days.. don´t expect this to be a calm fall.

Good luck to all. Be patient and try to get them to re-book you before your flight is even canceled as sometimes so close to the date there are no seats on partners. Maybe they aren´t doing that now.. they let us re-book the beginning of our trip several days before we started but we did wait til our return was actually canceled to re-book that.

portobelloB

The Air France strike has extended to 9/30. We are in Paris now and our flight tomorrow is cancelled. We are trying to make arrangements to take train to London to connect with our Delta flight tomorrow. You can't get through to Air France but we were able to get ahold of Delta to confirm our connection in London for tomorrow.

We just have to figure out if we take the 8:13am train tomorrow if we will have enough time from the St. Poneras stop in London to get to Heathrow airport by 12:35pm. If anyone can confirm this that would be great!

jamikins

From getting off the eurostar to get to the tube to get to heathrow I would estimate 2 - 2.5+ hours - especially if you need to get tube tickets.

mamcalice

We returned to Washington yesterday on Air France. We were told the Paris - Washington flight also flew Thursday. There were a large number of empty seats on our plane so people must be getting home some way.

NYCFoodSnob

I was in Venice for the Film Festival and Milan for Fashion Week. The Air France drama stole the shows. Ah memories, when AF was my favorite airline.

I flew home from Milan on Lufthansa. There were a ton of people on my flight who were diverted from an AF flight. Those poor travelers looked a mess. Their tales of woe were the stuff of horror stories.

Flying is the worst part of travel these days. It doesn't matter what class ticket you hold. I often find myself wondering if I could give up travel, and because I love my home, I think I could be pushed too far.

pamplemuss

I'm flying out of Paris on 10/5, so hopefully it's all settled by then, though the two sides still seem to be squabbling so there's a strong possibility my flight will be cancelled same with everyone else's.

(Mine were booked by our corporate travel department: when I asked if I could proactively change them, the cancellation and change fee was quoted at $5K and any fare differential would be added on top!!!)

lincasanova

maybe they stopped letting people change flights for FREE until they are actually cancelled now?

tomboy

On Wednesday, 3 days ago, we were scheduled to fly from Toulouse to Paris. Ever since the "greif" began (about 2 weeks ago??), AF has been saying that the flight is still a go.

Tuesday, we got an e-mail from AF saying the flight had been cancelled. Shortly thereafter, we got another e-mail from AF asked if we wanted a refund, rebooking, etc. I immediately filled out a form for a refund.

Today's Saturday. No refund so far. (Funny how when you book the flight the charge shows up minutes later in the activity on the credit card website...but when they cancel the flight, it takes days to process the credit).

We drove to Paris instead.

I called the CC company to dispute the transaction (booked in August), just in case AF can't read my (English language) request for a refund.

StuDudley

Tom

Most "refunds" I've received show up much later on my Credit Card account. I think it might be your CC company that's delaying the posting - not AF.

A strike in French is a "greve" - although it causes grief.

We were delayed for 2 days earlier this week on our AF flight home - which was re-booked by AF (in the US) on United.

We have had impacted/delayed flights each of the last 3 years due to a French strike. Note that the French never strike in July & August when they take their vacations.

Stu Dudley

tomboy

Stu- some French paper had a headline that had "AF" and "greif" in it.
I remember because the spelling was disimilar to grievance. Maybe there's more than one word. I'm not an expert (gross understatement) in French.

While I've got your eye, Stu, a personal thank you for your many writings, and willingness to share, about itineraries for France. Our most recent, and probably final, visit to France was greatly enhanced by referring to your writings.

StuDudley

Thanks - glad you found my writings helpful.

Stu Dudley

cynthia_booker

STRIKE OVER, but it will take until mid-week for all operations to return to complete normal. What a relief for me, flying from ATL to CDG Wednesday.

kerouac

Actually, the word <I>grève</I> exists because of the Place de Grève (now Place de l'Hôtel de Ville) where the people without employment would wait to be picked up as day workers.
As for the word itself, when it does not refer to a strike, it is a gravelly beach. The banks of the Seine were not built up in 1120 when the area came into existence, and it was just a beach type area along the river. The name stuck until 1803. It was also used for executions because the blood was easier to wash away there.