Do NOT fly Air France if you can help it!!

[DD]

We just flew British Airways and they lost 3 of our 4 bags when we arrived in Rome. They said our bags didn't make the connecting flight in London, that they knew exactly where they were and would be at our hotel by 10 the next morning. The next morning we went sightseeing and didn't return until after 7 p.m. Low and behold our luggage hadn't arrived. Of course I had divided our clothes between the 4 suitcases however the bag that didn't get lost was our garment bag and of course that was the only bag I put most of our formal clothes in. We had been in the same clothes for 48 hours and after a hot day of sightseeing...well you get the message. All our extra camera batteries, rechargers, converters were all in the other bags which now we needed to use for our next day of sightseeing. We normally would have carried those in our carry-ons but because of the strict carry-on limits (13 pounds) we had to pack them. The hotel contacted the airlines but the office was closed already. We were devastated. We went down the street to eat dinner and upon our return the desk said our luggage had arrived! What a relief, instead of 10 in the morning it arrived more like 10 at night. So even though I was careful in packing it really didn't matter but I guess it could have been worse.

 

We had almost an identical experience with BA last month. They were so strict about the carry-on luggage requirement that we ended up with next to nothing in our carry-on when we were forced to repack on the airport floor (as were about 40-50 others). They insisted on even including the weight of my magazines and water in my carry-on even though I clearly told them that I would be reading the magazines and drinking the water before the flight (we had almost 4 hours to kill). The snotty check-in lady was like, "Either dispose of them now or they're included in the weight."

 

So, we ended up with very little in our carry-ons. BA lost 2 out of 3 bags. What really got me was that they out and out lied about the location of our bags. They told us they knew where they were and that they would be there by 7 pm, that became 9 pm, which then became by 8 am, which then became by noon, which then became, "between noon and 4 pm." To that last "estimate", I replied, "Wonderful! Please take your time because as of 3 pm, it'll be 24 hours and believe me, I intend to go shopping on your dime and spend every last cent that I'm entitled to." Amazingly enough, the luggage appeared at 2:30 pm.

[mcsea]

Hi

After speaking with coworkers upon return who are from europe. They inform

me that Air France in known for long lines, delays delays delays and always

problems. So My personal advice for anyone choosing air travel

Choose another Airline. anyway, someone asked who is angie

taxi international. Angie is a taxi service in barcelona who will provide

private transfers to the ship/ airport / hotel etc. You can reach her at

www.taxiinternacional.com . There is more info on these boards from others

who have used her.

 

pat848

when our flight was delayed we did nothing and they had found the information on there own and were waiting for us at the new time. Our driver was holding

a sign and easy to find.

[Jane110]

Hi

anyway, someone asked who is angie

taxi international. Angie is a taxi service in barcelona who will provide

private transfers to the ship/ airport / hotel etc. You can reach her at

www.taxiinternacional.com . There is more info on these boards from others

who have used her.

 

 

mcsea,

 

Thanks for that info.

 

Jane

[dbh62ark]

Hi

After speaking with coworkers upon return who are from europe. They inform

me that Air France in known for long lines, delays delays delays and always

problems.

That's the kind of information that I'm interested in. No doubt that all airlines lose luggage. When you board a plane with several hundred other passengers, someone's luggage is not going to make it on nearly every flight. If you travel enough, one day it will be you.

 

It's interesting that there are statistics indicating which airlines are worse, but there are no statistics to demonstrate which airlines handle the problems quickly and efficiently since we all know it's going to happen. But I'm interested in knowing how the airline handles the situation and how long it takes for them to resolve the matter.

 

Thanks for the info,

Donna

[nizurc]

After a wonderful 12-day Mediterranean cruise, on October 3 we checked our luggage in Venice with Air France; to date we still have one bag missing. Air France cannot locate the bag. Has anyone received their Air France lost luggage since the workers strike in Paris?

[dsawyer]

We flew to Rome on September 20th for a 12 day Medterraean/Greek Isle Cruise. We flew on "good ole" Delta Airlines. Guess what? One of my bags did not arrive in Rome and 3 weeks later no one knows where it is. When my bag did not show up on the carousel we went to the baggage claim office. They told me it was still in JFK and would be sent to my hotel the next day. When it did not arrive, I had the hotel call for me. After repeated calls, they finally told me it had arrived and was on the way to the hotel. The problem - we were on the way out the door for our trip to Civitavecchia to get on the ship. The driver was waiting and so were the rest of the people in our group. The hotel arranged for the airport delivery service to bring it to the ship but it never arrived. Princess cruises supposedly tried to track it down for me but to no avail. Now Delta says they have no record of it after it arrived at JFK on our connecting flight from Norfolk. I had to get along for the rest of my trip on only half my clothes. I did purchase a few things here and there to help me get by. Princess Cruises provided me with free laundy service.

 

I am now in the process of completing my inventory loss form for Delta. I researched statistics on the web and one source said Delta has the worst record of all American airlines. After such a long time, I don't have much hope to ever see my "stuff" again.

 

Donna, I have only talked with one Delta rep who really tried to help me. The rest just looked on the computer and said "no news"

[dbh62ark]

Yikes--someone from Delta knew something at one time after the bag left JFK. Otherwise, the bag wouldn't have been dispatched to your hotel in Rome. I see that happen on all our cruises; once the ship starts moving, it's very difficult for the airlines to get their communications in order to get the bags to ports. I don't understand that in our age of technology, but I see it a lot. But the issue is that no one knows what happened to your bag after it arrived in Rome, and the deplorable telephone service that you've received has added to the issue.

 

I'm sorry that happened to you and know that it changes the way you feel about Delta. American Airlines lost one of ours a few years ago (we've had bags delayed for a few days several times while in route for trips and after we arrived home but only one permanently lost bag to date), so I understand your frustration with that particular airline. If it happens to you, it's 100%. If you're like me, you'd rather have your stuff back even at this late date than to deal with all the claims, etc.

 

Kudos to Princess for taking care of your laundry and to you for not letting it interfere with your cruise, but I hear your angst dealing with the business matter now that you are home. I hope that Delta will do a better job of resolving the claim than they did of handling your bag.

 

I know you've done everything you can to stay on top of this situation, so my best wishes for a swift resolution with Delta.

 

Donna

[dsawyer]

However, we are not real sure my bag ever arrived in Rome as its not showing that in my file. The barcode tracking shows the bag made it to JFK but doesn't show that it ever left JFK. However, the baggage handling company in Rome said they had it and was going to deliver it to the ship. I never got it. Who knows where it is? :confused:

[Glorious]

I have recently had my share with theses two. Delta or Alitalia lost 2 bags out of JFK. I received them 2 days later in Rome at my hotel wet! Delta and Alitalia do not share computers very well either. I book seats on Delta and Alitalia in March and confirmed them again in 2 days before departure in October and when I got the airport. Delta had no record of Alitalia seat assignments and randomly assign seats. These were going to be bulkhead seats and there was no way Delta could contact Alitalia to confirm my orginal seats, even with an Alitalia confirmation number. By the time Delta got to JFK, late, my seats were given to someone else that I had reserved for 7 months!

 

Gloria

[bbeaton]

Al Italia is worse. Trust me.

[Degas]

I just returned last night from the 01oct-13oct Millie Venice-Barcelona cruise.

173 people DID NOT recieve their luggage from Air France on our cruise !!!

I mean NOT AT ALL !!!!!!!!

People with babies did not have diapers or strollers.....

People were scrambling for everything !!!!

The cruise lines helped out as much as they could but they were not responsible for anything.

Air France dangled these people every day with promises of next day next day. They refused to admit that there was no chance the luggage would be found and therefore didn't have to up with some money. My heart ached for these people.....

One couple saved for years to go on the cruise for their 50th anniversary.

The cruise lines gave them a bit of a party and let them borrow clothes from the rental centre.

I hope people will read this and NEVER book Air France!!!!

[smeyer418]

FYI delta code shares with Air France some of their flights are actually Air France ones.

[CiaoItalia]

Tyleen's story is the same as ours. There were so many people on our Holland America cruise from Oct4-14 whose luggage was lost by Air France that the crew of the ship actually threw a special cocktail reception for us!! This was one of the many things that Holland America did to try to help...they also did our laundry and rented us formalwear for free, which we greatly appreciated, and had their agents calling and scouring airports to try to find lost bags. A few were located and delivered to the ship, but by the cruise's end on Friday, there were still more than 40 bags missing.

 

In the meantime, we are back home and STILL trying to track down where our stuff is!! Air France has been nothing but exceedingly UNhelpful...to the point where they are still telling us they have no idea where anything is!!! :mad: :mad:

 

Suffice it to say...we were able to enjoy the cruise, with the help of Holland America, but we will NEVER fly Air France again.

 

Is anyone else in a similar situation still?? Have you been able to get anything back yet???

 

 

 

 

I just returned last night from the 01oct-13oct Millie Venice-Barcelona cruise.

173 people DID NOT recieve their luggage from Air France on our cruise !!!

I mean NOT AT ALL !!!!!!!!

People with babies did not have diapers or strollers.....

People were scrambling for everything !!!!

The cruise lines helped out as much as they could but they were not responsible for anything.

Air France dangled these people every day with promises of next day next day. They refused to admit that there was no chance the luggage would be found and therefore didn't have to up with some money. My heart ached for these people.....

One couple saved for years to go on the cruise for their 50th anniversary.

The cruise lines gave them a bit of a party and let them borrow clothes from the rental centre.

I hope people will read this and NEVER book Air France!!!!

[estebofarr]

We will be flying Air France in May as part of redeeming our Continental miles!

 

I am so sorry for all of you that didn't get your luggage. Thank you for sharing so that the rest of us can pack more carefully in case it happens again. Another example of Cruise Critics looking out for one another.

[josiem]

Our group was on the Millennium Oct 1-13th and did not receive any of our luggage because of Air France and Paris CDG. Celebrity helped as much as they could - the concierge was GREAT!!! As of today I have received 2 of my 3 suitcases. The first was received as I was getting off in Barcelona and the second was delivered last evening around midnight. The other couple has received 2 of their 4 pieces of luggage. I realize that any airline can lose luggage; I am attributing this problem to CDG Airport - all airlines in and out of CDG were affected. I have been advised that my third piece of luggage will arrive today - not counting on it, but am optimistic that all will be received at some point.

[kyriecat]

I just got back from the Oct. 3 - 15 Brilliance of the Seas Greek Isles Med cruise. We flew KLM to Barcelona and back. Our luggage made it with us both ways. However, we heard several horror stories from British Airways and Air France travelers. I heard 157 people on one Air France flight were missing one or more bags. A couple of our table mates did not receive their luggage until the second to last day of the cruise. Another of our table mates flew British Airways and missed their connection flight at Heathrow due to an "unexpected delay" in Toronto. They never found out what the delay was. They ended up having to spend the night in London and catch a plane to Barcelona the next day. I heard that around 100 people who flew BA to Barcelona on the day of departure missed the ship due to various delays. On the return from Barcelona, the BA flight from Barcelona to Heathrow announced it would be delayed 1.5 hours. Several people were lined up at the desk trying to change their connecting flights.

[bchbms]

I hope I am not driving you crazy. We are planning to use Angie for all 3 transfers. You mentioned that your flight to Barcelona was late. How did you notify Angie of this? I am just wondering if we should miss our connection at CDG and have to take a later flight.

 

We just returned from the 12 night Brilliance cruise and can answer this for you. We also had a nightmare flight from Heathrow to Barcelona where my luggage was lost. It took almost two hours of standing in line waiting to file a claim. We sent one of our party out to look for Angie's sign for us, and they told Manuel what was going on. He waited the entire time for us, and believe me, he was a welcome sight after all the problems we had! They were also right on time picking us up at the hotel and at the ship on the final day. I can't recommend them highly enough!:)

[Sheltiecruiser]

My DH and I flew to London for a conference and then hopped over to Paris on Air France just for a few days. Since it was winter and a long trip, my bag was a bit heavy. The Air France counter agent told me it was overweight and should cost close to $100.00 to fly but she waived the fee (just to be nice). She also advised me to ship some stuff back to the US so I wouldn't have the same problem flying back to London. I found CDG airport to be easy to navigate and everyone there was very pleasant. This was in January so maybe things have gone downhill since.

 

Can't point to any one airline for lost luggage - they have all lost something at some time for me. I always hold my breath at the carosel until it shows up.

 

Sheltiecruiser

[pc21214]

Josiem, would you know if the problem affecting luggage passing through CDG has been resolved? We are flying to Paris on Cathay Pacific next week, spending 2 days there then onto Barcelona for our cruise. I was so relieved we chose not to fly AirFrance but if the other airlines are also affected I will try to stuff as much as I can in my carryon and pray!

[katiebeth]

We have six business class tickets booked on Air France next June from Tallahassee, Florida to Barcelona and then back from Venice. My husband, two children ages 11 and 9 and my parents (mid-seventies) will be traveling together. Air France was having a great sale on business class seats and I booked prior to researching the airline. Normally, I am very much a planner and do a substantial amount of research when planning a trip. However, the airfare was good and I didn't want to "miss-out", so I booked without doing any research on Air France.

 

Since booking I have read absolute horror stories about Air France with regards to their total lack of service. (overbooking, enormous check-in lines, lost luggage, missed connections, dirty airplanes, etc.) Our tickets are non-refundable, so I am stuck with Air France. Our connection times through CDG are only an hour each way. Based on what I have read regarding the total disorganization at CDG and lengthy lines everywhere, we will NEVER make our connections. I have also heard that Air France does virtually nothing to help with getting passengers on the next available flight. Obviously, with six of us traveling together, four of whom need assistance, (children and elderly parents) I am extremely concerned about missing connections and being at Air France's mercy to be placed on another flight.

I've even heard Air France will try to charge you full fare if you miss your connection because you can't get through CDG in time. (even though you have already paid for a ticket).

 

I have not breathed a word of what I know about Air France to my parents or husband. I don't want to worry them. I am checking with our travel agent to see if we could possibly switch to Delta since they are a partner airline but I am not too hopeful. Even if we can switch we will have to pay a $400 per ticket change fee, which is rather hefty. However, if all of our luggage ends up lost it may be worth paying the change fee.

 

I feel terrible for all of those that went an entire cruise, or even a few days, without luggage. I know the amount of time and money spent purchasing the clothes and packing. No one would want to spend valuable sightseeing time trying to buy clothing.

 

I guess I am asking for any advice and/or tips on how to survive flying on Air France. I would also be interested in knowing if anyone has flown business class on Air France? I am beginning to think I not only made a terrible choice for an airline but also wasted my money upgrading to business class. It sounds like you receive awful service regardless. I am also wondering on much attention they pay to safety issues if everything else relating to this airline is so terribly lacking.

 

Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you,

 

Nancy

[smeyer418]

You will have no problems making your connection we made a 45 minute one a couple of months ago. You should enjoy business class. They normally will make you very comfortable and feed you constantly. The luggage thing was a hold up for everyine- AF union is not happy right now.SInce AF code shares with Delta you may wind up with Delta on some of the segments. Your boarding passes will tell you which terminal you will arrive at at CDG and which terminal your flight leaves from. There is a shuttle bus downstairs that will take you to the terminal(it leaves every few minutes and can get crowded. Study the map so you know when to get off so to speak. On the day of my flight we went to the airport early and they for free put us on the earlier flight to CDG----yes we had to wait at CDG but it was much better.

[Pat848]

Hi Nancy,

 

I am in the same situatation as you. I booked Air France before all this came out on the boards. I am concerned about the connection time also in CDG - we have 1hour 25 minutes. I have looked and there are about 5 more flights to Barcelona after ours. We are going 2 days early - I hope you are going early. I have decided not to stress about this and figure with the flights after us we will get to Barcelona.

I am concerned about luggage though. I think what we have recently heard was a strike by the baggage handlers. I am hoping this will not be the case when we go.

I have talked to a woman who is on the October 15th cruise and she is flying Air France & is also from MA and she said she would come on and let me know how she made out when she comes back.

There is not much we can do but deal with it. The thing is I do not feel we got a "bargain" price. I booked Air France for a number of other reasons.

[Pat848]

Thanks for coming on with something positive.

 

We are flying into Terminal C and going out in Terminal F.

I have had people say you get on a bus right from the plane and then go to main terminal and then get another shuttle.

Did you stay on the same shuttle bus to get to your terminal?

I would appreciate any information.

Thanks

[smeyer418]

It depends. If you arrive at a gate you walk downstairs and then get on the shuttle. If you go to a hardstand(not a gate) you take shuttle that takes you to a stop where you change to a shuttle bus that goes around---these are all the same type of bus. They know you are coming and as long as you have a legal transfer(in time) you'll make it. They don't want you at the airport as much as you want to be there. It is annoying they need a better way. I don't know what they mean by one main terminal its all one big terminal a-f I believe.

[katiebeth]

Dear smeyer418,

 

Thank you so much for easing my mind regarding Air France and CDG. I really appreciate your tip regarding showing up at the airport early and possibly catching and earlier flight. We have a rather lengthy layover in Atlanta and that may be a possibility. I would rather wait at CDG than rush and worry about missing our connection.

 

Pat ... I don't know if showing up early is an option for you as well, but it is something to consider. Although, it sounds like you may be in o.k. shape with your 1 hour and 25 minute timeframe. I am planning on printing out and taking with me a schedule of the later Barcelona flights as well. It is good to be prepared. Also, as far as the luggage I have read that it happens frequently even when there is no strike (particularly if you have a short connection time). I suppose this is true with other airlines as well. I plan to pack a carry-on bag for all of us that contains enough clothing for a couple of days in Barcelona (yes, we are planning on doing 3 nights pre-cruise in Barcelona). I may investigate the possibility of shipping some bags to our hotel (instead of checking them) although I have heard this can be expensive and I am sure there is still a possibility that they could not arrive.

 

 

Anyway, I guess we should both hope for the best and plan for the worse in terms of delays and lost luggage. I am going to focus on the fact that I am blessed beyond belief to even be able to go on such a wonderful adventure. It will be our first time in the Med. and I am so looking forward to our trip.

 

Thank you both for taking the time to reply.

 

Happy Sailing!!

 

Nancy