Air France Biz Class

[katiebeth]

Has anyone recently flown Air France business class? We have never flown Air France before, but have booked them for our Med. cruise in June of 2006. They were offering a good deal on business class from Tallahassee, Florida to Barcelona through Atlanta and CDG. We will return from Venice through CDG and Atlanta. We normally fly Delta but was hesitate to book with them given their current financial situation.

 

I am a little concerned about Air France, based on some posts I have read on these boards regarding service issues and transfering through CDG. According to some posts, Air France in-flight service is inconsistent and their ground staff, particularly in Paris, can be downright rude. I am hoping that I will not be disappointed in their service, since I splurged on business class airfare, which I have never done before. We have flown first and business occassionally on other airlines, but always using frequent flier miles.

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

Thank you,

 

Nancy

[CruisinMatt]

Nancy, I was thinking about booking AF business class for an upcoming trip to Lisbon. I've heard the same things as you, that the in-flight experience is nice, but you take a gamble with CDG and could have possible luggage issues. That with a tight connection on my return, I decided to go with TAP.

 

Good luck!

[vivian02]

Nancy,

My wife, son, and I had a business class flight on Air France Flight 309 out of Atlanta to CDG last May. The flight was on time and we were scheduled with a tight transfer of flights at CDG since Munich was our final destingation. This was our first time going through CDG and with a 55 minute window to catch our next flight we were really relieved to make it to the gate on time. However it was Delta that cancelled our flight CDG to MUC because their specialist didn't think we had made our connection in Atlanta the night before!?# This may have been a blessing since the flight we we supose to be on was one of those tiny interconnect jets. Air France did a great job of getting us on the next flight three hours later. This gave me a chance to check out CDG Airport. The flight into Munich was on a 319 Air Bus very new with lunch included and all you wanted to drink. Now let me go back and give you information on the 777 business class ATL to CDG. You sit up front just behind First Class. The seats are much bigger than coach I think 21 inches wide. (Coach is 18 inches wide) Threre was plenty of leg room. Each seat has a LCD for viewing movies and music. I have heard that Air France was going to do a movie upgrade but I don't know the dates. Once you get on the plane the Steward should offer you something to read and will offer to hang up your business coat in a separate area. (I was on a vacation so no business coat). Next the steward should offer you wine or champane before take off. I hear they do this in coach also. I acturally remember taking a second glass of champane before take off. The one thing I do remember about the French, if they offer you something make a quick decision. If you can't make up you mind they will go and wait on someone else right away. If you call them back they will ignor youl. The way around this is to just be persistant. Once in flight there will be appitizers served. I did like the cheese plate that was served. Four different kinds of French cheese and it went really nice with the wines that were offered. Make sure to view the menu when you first get on the plane so you know what to order. There are strange things listed on the dinner menu that some Americans I know can do without. The smoked El and samon are served "raw". It may sound good to you at first but once its served you might change your mind. On our flight back I choose the "Duck" which wasn't what I thouht it was. Their style of "Duck" isn't the drum stick....its acturally the inerds all ground up (Yum). Once I got three quarters of the way through I figured just what it was. The deserts were wonderful. After that you will be offered a after dinner drink.

There was the quiet period where those who wanted to sleep could. I think I had maybe one and a half hours sleep. Breakfast was served about one hour before landing. I ate only half of the breakfast because the scrabled eggs were soggy. The coffee was good.

If you are going on a cruise I would make sure to call AirFrance two day before your flight to confirm your resevations. If you do have a tight schedule it is possible to make you connections in less than an hour. I recommend you find out which Terminal you are flying into and which Terminal you have to fly out of. Take a look at a map of the CDG airport so you have an idea of where to go. We had no problems with customs at CDG. Even though we had flight problems it wasn't because of Air France. I hope this helps. Happy Cruising Tim and Cathy

[katiebeth]

Thank you Matt and Cathy for your replies. I appreciate you both taking time to respond.

 

Cathy ... I really appreciate your detailed description of Air France's business class experience. It is good to hear that you had such a positive experience. We do have a rather tight connection at CDG (80 minutes between flights), but based on your experience, it sounds doable. So sorry to hear about Delta canceling your connecting flight to Munich. I am sure that must have been extremely frustrating.

 

We are definitely looking forward to our cruise next summer and hoping for a great experience with Air France.

 

Thanks again and Happy New Year!

 

Nancy

[katiebeth]

Dear Tim,

 

I just realized you were the one that wrote about your family's Air France business class experience. I mistakenly directed my comments to your wife instead of you!

 

Anyway, thanks a bunch!

 

Nancy

[vivian02]

Pat,

No problem....people do it all the time. I do see some good points on your flight schedule. That 80 minute window at CDG is great. If you should have any kind of a flight delay which happens this will allow you the necessary time to still catch your flight. Another thing to remember, had Delta not cancelled our morning flight out of CDG the chain of events would have never have happened. This was a Germany land tour and not a cruise. If this was a cruise then it would have set up some frustating issues. Once we got to Munich of our 5 pieces of luggage we got 2. They were Tim's luggage so Cathy wasn't really happy about it. Air France tracked down the luggage which was still at CDG and said they would deliver our luggage to our hotel. By morning we had all of our luggage so everything worked out great. Another point to consider with that 80 minute window at CDG gives the luggage handlers plenty of time to get your luggage to your connecting flight. Being a business class passenger you will probably be one of the first passengers off the plane and that includes your luggage. Being a business classs passenger this is how it is supose to work. Now that you have heard Tim's opinion I know what Cathy would tell you. She told me not to take her through CDG again. Remember she was jet lagged and missed a flight and had to spend three hours at CDG without any airconditiong. If you have the time at CDG and the temperature is too warn go to the area near the Sheraton and the inside train station. The temperatures were comfortable and there were some interesting art displays in that area.

There is some good to come out of our trip. Delta did not give us our full Air miles and once we followed up on it they did come through. We will fly directly into Barcelona from Atlanta on Delta this coming May. Flight delays are just the normal thing that can happen with any airlines these days. Tim

[katiebeth]

Dear Tim,

 

Thanks again for the information. I didn't even think about the situation with no air-conditioning at CDG. We have only been to Europe once during the summer and I had forgotten that air-conditioning is not so common there.

 

I did have another question about CDG though. Did you visit the Air France business class lounge, and if so, how was it? Also, I have read reports that CDG is rather dirty. Did you find this to be true?

 

Have a great New Year!

 

Nancy

[vivian02]

Nancy,

Your asking all the right questions. We flew into CDG on a Sunday and the loung your talking about was closed that morning. I have heard good thing said about the loung...like you can take a shower and so on. I think you have to remember that most of the workers in the Airport are working under some kind of contract so finding a really clean place can be difficult. I remember looking for a restroom only to find it closed because it needed cleaning. Remember what I told you in the area of the Sheraton and the inside train station there is less sun getting into the enclosed glass area and the air temperature is more confortable. June shouldn't be too bad for hot weather.

Here is something of interest. While on your flight if you go up to the 1st class area to use the restroom you will be told to "leave". If you are in coach and go up to use the Business class restroom you will be told to "leave". Personnally I thought it was funny. An accident waiting to happen. Tim and Cathy

[Globaliser]

Here is something of interest. While on your flight if you go up to the 1st class area to use the restroom you will be told to "leave". If you are in coach and go up to use the Business class restroom you will be told to "leave".

What's odd about this? The first class and business class facilities are provided for those cabins only. If I'd paid for a premium class, I'd be pretty irritated if the airline allowed all the economy class passengers to come and use the toilets in the premium cabins.