Rmkelly313

We just returned from a trip to France, flying in and out of CDG. The flight over was a Delta flight, Business Class, and couldn't have been better. Our flight home was booked through Delta but was an Air France plane and crew. We went though the usual routine of boarding the bus - there were FAR too many people jammed into it - to be taken out to the plane. When we arrived, the crew wasn't ready for us so we stood like sardines waiting to be let off the bus. It was a very hot day and within 5 minutes the inside of the bus was like an oven. The driver refused to open the doors in spite of all the demands that he do so and the crew outside ignored the pounding on the windows and screaming as it got hotter and hotter. Finally one of the passengers spotted an emergency lever over one door and moved it around until the door opened. All the crew, including the driver, suddenly were at the door almost forcibly keeping us on the bus. They didn't seem to understand that it was air we wanted, not to storm the plane.
I might add that there were many French people trying to get the driver or crew to open the doors, so there is no way they didn't understand the problem.
When we finally boarded, we found our seats had been changed - no longer two in a row, but now three (still Business Elite). Inconvenient, but nothing like letting us fry on a closed up bus!

massagediva

Yuck!Now that sounds like a real nightmare!

Judi

I agree with you, Rmkelly. I returned from CDG on Air France yesterday. My friend and I got to the airport early and were told the flight was overbooked by 55 passengers. They offered 600€, hotel and meals to volunteer to be bumped but we declined.

We and a large group of others were told to return in an hour when some seats were assigned which I assume were those with connections. About fifteen or twenty of us had to wait standby at the gate. We did eventually all get on but it was a bit stressful. The flight left an hour late.

I paid $1535 for my "confirmed" seat and assumed it would be there for me.

I have flown Air France twice and had problems or missed connections both times. You will never see me on Air France again!

mari5

That doesn't sound like fun......and yes Charles de Gaulle IS a mess of an airport sometimes.
I just posted on another thread that Air France was Fine, and I still think it is OK. Things happen on ALL airlines. AF does sometimes schedule close connections, and once we got on the plane in Paris waited an hour, then they cancelled the flight for mechanical reasons and put us up overnight. IT was a hassle, but we "survived'.
One usually hears, on Fodors, the bad experiences they've had on AF, and yes, they do often do things for people to be uncomfortable about....however I would fly them again.
Wouldn't really want to go through CDG but that is the hub for AF,....
I REALLY don't like the changing the seat like they did you.........did you not check your boarding pass when checking in?...that is the best time to get it straightened out. And changing from two to three, I wouldn't like at all, if you had planned on the two.

wombat7

I also posted on another thread stating that it is a good idea to do a web check-in - That way you have a boarding pass before you get to the airport

kerouac

The general rule is that one unhappy customer will tell 20 other people, but a happy customer will only tell 4 other people.

DonTopaz

The bus is operated by the airport (ADP), NOT by Air France.

walkinaround

when the world heard the story of 15,000 people dying in the heat of summer 2003, we all wondered how the heck that 15,000 people can die from heat in a "civilised" country.

...now we know how these things can happen in france.

kerouac

Don't forget that almost as many people died a few years earlier during the heat wave in the American Midwest, particularly in Saint Louis and Chicago.

walkinaround

yeah, thanks kerouac. your stock answer, as i expected.

wombat7

Walk - K's stock reply to your stock comment?

Rmkelly313

Rizzuto,
Even if the bus was operated by ADP, how about the crew that was working on the plane? There is no way they couldn't have heard the shouts and pounding from the bus.
Also, we didn't get our boarding passes until we got to the airport, but since we were sitting next to each other we never thought to check the configuration of the plane. Our mistake. But the seats were not the same ones that originally had been assigned to us, which we know were two to a row.

Dukey

I am convinced a great many people were relieved that your plane didn;t crash and that you were able to live to report this.

Odin

Overbooking happens because people who reserve airline seats do not always show up for the flights they have booked. Therefore if airlines did not overbook, the flights would take off with empty seats. Confirmed reservations do not guarantee a seat.

blackduff

The fool who decided to open the door (after opening the lever)has taken care of everyone. This fool has taken the hand of the aircraft crew and decided he "knew the best" for everyone.

I hope I never fly with this fool. For better or worse, I'm paying the aircraft crew to assure my life. I don't know what this fool is doing.

Blackduff

massagediva

Well,if someone locked me on a crowded bus in the future,I hope I AM travelling with that "fool."

massagediva

that's "locks me,not locked me"

LoveItaly

I had the same experience at the Venice airport except it was after my flight arrived in Venice on a very hot and humid day. The flight had been delayed for hours due to the Italians having a flight controller strike for hours. Once we arrived in Venice and finally got on the bus to take us to the terminal the bus stopped about perhaps one block from the terminal and we were stuck on this shuttle bus for something like 30 minutes. It was horrid!

mari5

Kerouac:
I don't know where you came up with this "rule"...about " one unhappy customer will tell 20 other people, but a happy customer will only tell 4 other people "

However: I LIKE IT!

Sue4

I was convinced a long time ago to never fly Air France, and I've stuck with that plan, thank goodness.

Well, not exactly, I forgot that 2 years ago I flew from CDG to Strasbourg with them. The flight was about 2 hours late leaving because of "mechanical problems", I was just happy it made it to Strasbourg. I was sorry I didn't take the train. Actually I love the trains in France!