Just as we arrived at our airport hotel last night, we were notified that the CDG-MRS leg of our Air France JFK-CDG-MRS flight was cancelled. We immediately called Delta to re-book, and the two reps we dealt with got us on a JFK-BRU-MRS flight within the hour. Whew.

Our seats aren't as good as the AF ones - we had the 3 in a row of 3, as opposed to 2 in a row of 2 with one across aisle in row of 3 - however we were glad to get the only remaining 3 seats that were in close proximity.

Also, we are now leaving at 7:41p instead of 10:30p, the original departure being closer to our bedtime/more conducive to getting into sleep mode.

For the most part, our new flights align with our original travel arrangements, save for Europcar charging us a surplus of $25 to pick up the car a few hours earlier.

Though I love Air France, I now understand why Stu and others have gone the prudent route of switching to other carriers.

No doubt this is why the Delta reps did their utmost to compensate us for the cancellation.

We fly back on May 23rd, a scheduled strike day, but they're saying it's too early to evaluate the possible impacts.

Ah well, I'll worry about that when the time comes.

Happy Travels,
Boots

When AF cancelled our CDG to SFO trip a few years ago, AF in France was worthless in helping us make other arrangements. We called them and heard the recording "our lines are full - call back later". We encountered this for 2 full days. We then called the AF office in NYC, and they rebooked us on United.

Stu Dudley

The only time I found myself blocked by an Air France strike, I was in Los Angeles. I managed to get on a Virgin Atlantic flight to London instead, and they put me in business class. Once I was in London, my Air France ticket was accepted on an Air Europe flight (I think this company died many years ago.) and since everybody seemed to think that it was impossible to get to Paris that day, I found myself on a 737 with more than 100 empty seats. It was a great trip.

However, I have to confess that I have spent most of my life flying standby as an airline employee, so almost every trip has been 'padded' with extra days in case I have flight problems. I find the uncertainty pretty exciting, but I do understand that not everybody has nerves of steel.

Off to Guatemala in about 10 days, and I am kind of sorry to have a "real" ticket, but who can refuse a trip on Delta -- Paris-Atlanta-Guatemala-Atlanta-Detroit-Paris for only 400 euros? Even though my airline job was to check airline fares, I don't think that any of us will ever understand how the computer programs now create them.

kerouac, for all the help you give here, I can think of no one more deserving of a good deal on a complicated flight. Enjoy your time in Guatamala--although we'll miss your first hand reports on the French rail strikes.

Maybe I will find things to post on the Guatemala branch.