hckypris98

Hello All,

My friends and I are going to Lisbon, Croatia and Athens. We are only seeing decent flight prices on Air France and Lufthansa. Any reviews on these? Opinions? Clean...not clean? Service - Bad or Good? Cramped..not cramp? Any feedback is welcome.

greg

There are review site like http://www.airlinequality.com/, but it is very difficult to apply on your particular flight due to so many variables - some specific to airlines, but many specific to your particular flight.

In my experience, clean/no clean has more to do with who are flying with you. If you are flying with slobs and pigs, the crew cannot keep up with the mess. The service level also depends on how demanding are other passengers as well as where you are sitting. Cramped or not also depends on the type of aircraft and where you can get seats. For this type of info, look up www.seatguru.com.

The departure/arrival time and layover airport and duration also impact your comfort.

I focus on parameters I can control: the flight schedule, the route, the type of aircraft and the seat locations. The rest is potluck.

Alec

They are both decent European airlines, nations' flag carriers, so there should be fewer concerns like cleanliness, technical excellence, basic service (it's not Ryanair). Lufthansa has better reputation for time keeping, while CDG, AF's hub, can be very crowded and slow with occasional luggage transfer issues, though the new AF terminal is an improvement. If you are talking about short-haul, intra-European flights, legroom etc is what you might expect - clamped but bearable for a short flight. Longhaul flighst are a different matter and LH is upgrading all their aircraft to install premium economy with more space and better service, and flat beds in business class.

otto

they are both great. but to alec's point, as you are connecting, if you do use air france, and you do go through CDG, be sure to have over a 2 hour lay over. i've never connected with lufthansa only flew direct, so can't comment. af will let you book a 75 minute lay over but it's not enough. be sure to have enough time in the layover.

Dukey1

I would assume the layover "enough time" depends on any number of factors which you cannot "control" including the punctuality of the flight arrival. Of course, if possible, you could route yourself on an earlier flight IF there is one available.

75 minutes may actually BE enough time especially if your departing flight leaves from the same terminal.

The number of people arriving (and processing through Immigration if that is what has to happen) at the same time you do and again, can you route yourself to arrive at a time when a lot of other flights may not be?

In terms of how "crowded" a flight is look at the seat pitch numbers as well as how many seats are in each row.

pja1

We've flown Lufthansa for our last 5 trips to Germany (as recently as 12/13), all in economy. No complaints at all about cleanliness, service, flight crew, etc. I have to say we found the flight crews to be more than pleasant and accommodating. We flew Air France once, back in 2005 and connected at CDG on our way to Munich. That was 10 years ago, and back then it was such a inconvenient experience at CDG, we decided not to use AF for our flights in the future, even though we had no complaint during the actual flights.

travelerjan

I agree w pja ... the flights themselves on AF are OK, and food is better than on many other carriers ... but CDGaulle is an experience i never want to repeat, ever. One time I had 90 mins, nearly missed the connection, had to RUN thru airport for haff a mile, the luggage didn't make it. The 2nd time, had long layover due to AF scheduling goof but experience was equally bad. I have connected in Frankfort for Lufthansa satisfactorily .. a large airport, but do-able.

brotherleelove2004

Avoid CDG unless you have at 2 hours between flights. It's a nightmare airport otherwise.

Christina

I must be unusual as I have never had a problem with an airline not being clean. I never would have even questioned it. Whether one is cramped depends on the seat you buy, and the configuration of the aircraft (which can vary a bit). YOu can find out those things on places like www.seatguru.com but for regular economy, most international airlines are about the same, in my experience (meaning about 17-18 inches wide and about 32 inches pitch). I might choose more on aircraft, I prefer Airbus to B777, for example (and on Air France, I think the seats on Airbus are a big wider).

I fly AF a lot because they have the best prices and routes for me and I think their service is fine, and their food a bit better than avg for airline food. I haven't flown on Lufthansa for a long time, so can't compare directly, but I also would choose based more on the route and layovers, etc., not the brand name of the airline.

yorkshire

A bonus (depending on your perspective) favoring Lufthansa is that they allow you to purchase seat assignments at a not-too-onerous price. Traveling as a couple, we prefer the two-seat configuration when flying overnight. Not sure what AF is doing these days.

parosblue

I concur with above. The only problem is changing at CDG - very stressful. I avoid flying Air France because of it. Lufthansa has always been reliable and changing at their hubs has not been a problem.

geenance

I will add to some of the opinions expressed here about CDG. Hopefully the airport has improved, with the new terminal, but we flew AF and had a 2-hour layover at CDG and almost missed the connection. Our arriving flight was on time, but by the time they bussed us from the plane to the terminal (a seemingly 10 mile journey snaking around various construction areas, we lost 30 minutes. Then massive lines at passport control. then a delay at security, where they held up my 80 year old father for about 30 minutes. They were very rude to him and kept grilling him with questions. "What do you do?" "Nothing, I'm retired." "What are these?" (while holding up his little ziplock bag of Digestive cookies). "Cookies." The next level of authority would be called, and would arrive about 10 minutes later. "What do you do?" "Nothing, I'm retired." "What are these?" "Cookies." Then the next level of authority would be called, while the others chatted and gossiped. Repeat. Any time they spoke to my father they did it in rude tones. Any time he replied, he was nothing but straightforward.

They left that 80 year old man standing there, in his socks, holding up his pants (they had his belt), for at least half an hour. Was it a game?

Admittedly this was only one incident and so many airports have them from time to time, but I decided that if I had a choice, I would never fly through CDC again.

I am looking forward to dealing with the Germans in Munich when we fly to Bosnia and Croatia.