Air France - Opinions?

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Enzo

Guest
Anyone ever flown Air France to the US?

Any comments - good, bad or indifferent?
 
Air France aren't bad at all on long haul flights... Most of their modern aircraft have pretty comfortable economy class seats with seatback TV, food is fairly decent in general. Overall not a bad option from an inflight perspective

What I would watch out for is the connection at Paris CDG .. they will often book you on very tight connections (as tight as 45 minutes) ... the chances of making this connection (especially as the flights from Dublin-Paris may run a bit late) are very slim and if you miss the conneciton it will be very messy (the will have to get you to your destination eventually but it will be hassle)

However I would say book it with a not too tight connection in CDG and it should be fine
 
AirFrance

Hi Enzo,

I got bumped off an AirFrance flight because my name was spelled incorrecty by the travel agent. (a single extra character was inserted). The flight was over suscribed (due to an earlier cancellation) and anyone with any irregulatities was bumped off.

So beware.

ajapole
 
Re: Thanks

I have to disagree. Flew Air France from Dublin to Paris to J'burg return and it was terrible. There were no backseat tvs, despite having ordering veggie food in advance it wasn't provided.

After a drunk afrikaaner spilt her wine over my blanket, the stewardess nearly had a fit when I asked for another blanket.

All the staff were extremely rude - particularly when one of the flights was delayed.

Later in the year I flew to Capetown with Lufthansa - far better service.
 
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Cahir, indeed you got unlucky ... Paris - Jo'Burg does not have new aircraft - they operate that route with rather old 747 aircraft .. so no telly etc.

Most flights to the states are operated with Boeing 777, Airbus 330 or 340 aircraft .. All of which you should get Personal TVs on - which generally makes a huge difference on long flights.

Surprises me though that you preferred Lufthansa ... long haul economy class with them is pretty grim I've found .. and definitely no TVs on any aircraft
 
Thanks everyone.

One question though.

If I travel to the US on a two-legged flight (ie Dublin-paris-US), will I need to check my luggage in twice or will once at Dublin airport suffice.

If just the once, will this make it easier or more difficult to make the connecting flight?

Thanks
 
You will only have to check in once in Dublin... Your bags should be tagged through to your final destation in the US (unless you have an onwards domestic flight in the USA in which case you have to pick them up to clear customs at your arrival in the US) ..

You will also get your boarding passes in Dublin for all flights so you can just follow the transfer signs in Paris and go directly to the departure gate for your onward flight.
 
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Thanks EvilDoctorK

The options I have are a 65 minute delay between connection or 4hrs. Would 65 minutes be cutting it too fine? The alternative of 4 hrs is encouraging me to take a chance.

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Enzo,

Is the connection in the morning or afternoon time ? If it's in the morning you'd probably do 65 minutes alright .. if it's in the aftenoon it's a bit dodgier (as the Dublin-Paris flights are more likely to run late as the day goes on as it's the same aircraft going back and forth so delays tend to accumulate).

65 minutes is a legal connection at CDG .. so as I said if they sell you this ticket they are obliged to get you there .. but if they only have one flight a day to wherever your ultimate destination is that could be hassle if you miss that flight.

Faced with 65 mins or 4 hrs .. i'd certainly go for the 65 minutes myself.

When you get to Paris the Dublin flights arrive in Terminal 2F .. Most US flights leave from 2C .. they are quite close by - there is a shuttle bus that runs around the terminals - but sometimes you seem to have to wait for ages for it and there can be big queues

In my experience though forget about the shuttle bus (especially if there's a queue for it) ... it's only a little more hassle to exit through passport control as if you were arriving rather than transferring and once you get past customs (never any delay) out of the baggage hall (downstairs in 2F) walk to your right along the terminal towards the train station .. you can easily get to 2C from here - just follow the signs for Aerogare 2C .. it's at most a 5 minute walk (all indoors).. you'll have to reclear security at terminal 2C .. but this shouldn't be a terribly big deal.
 
Thanks

Thanks EvilDoctorK

You're a mine of helpful information.

The flight from Dublin is at 12 noon which would get me in Paris 65 minutes ahead (hopefully) of the 4pm (french time) connection.

The alternative is to get a 9AM flight to Paris for the same connection.

One thought occurs - assuming I make the connection, what are the chances of luggage doing likewise?
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No matter what airline you are travelling on never pack anything in your checked luggage that you can't afford to be without for 24 hours.

If you make it your luggage is likely to do so yes .. but don't rely on it bags do get delayed/miss connections .. always take sufficient hand luggage to keep you going for a day or two (better still travel light and don't check anything in!) This is not just Air France advice rather general advice.

Also unless you've a specific reason to go on the flight at 4pm from Paris.. why not take the 9am flight from Dublin and get a flight from Paris around 1.15pm .. there's a flight from Paris to all those US destinations at that time and it will give you a more comforable ~ 90 minute connection and get you to your destination earlier.
 
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