AIR FRANCE review :  21 January 2009 : by K Chan

HKG-CDG on Boeing 777-300ER with 3-4-3 configuration. Extremely cramped, leg room was minimal which did not help in terms of comfort. Flight attendant seemed unenthusiastic and reluctant to serve. The crew disappeared until about 1.5 hours before landing when they served food again. Food was awful. Snacks and drinks available mid flight which were placed near the gallery and you needed to grab yourself. Programme on the AVOD not very attractive - personal screen was small and programme very difficult to navigate. CDG-YYZ on aging A340-300 with 2-4-2 configuration. Seats the old version and I felt a lot more comfortable than the new ones on the Boeing 777-300ER. Cabin was not as cramped as the Boeing 777-300ER (probably because I was at the back of the plane where it changed to 2-3-2 setting). Cabin crew was friendly on this flight unlike the HKG-CDG crew which made the journey a little more enjoyable. Food so so. AVOD carried the same programme as the HKG-CDG flight however the programming in the Audio section got all messed up. All in all, not a very pleasant experience with Air France - probably this would be my first and also my last time flying with this airline. AF definitely got lots to learn from other carriers and I really have doubts about their 4-star rating here. If it wasn't the better experience on the CDG-YYZ route, I would have rated it with a zero.

AIR FRANCE review :  21 January 2009 : by J. Murray

IAD-CDG-STR. On our way to Stuttgart we had to change planes at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The plane was late and we were afraid not to be able to catch our connecting flight. Nobody there offered us help or tried to get us through security faster. I've never been to a worse Airport with worse/no customer service or more ignorant people. When we arrived in Stuttgart only 1 of our 2 suitcases arrived with us. They promised to bring us the missing suitcase the following day - guaranteed. I called the next morning to make sure our luggage arrived in Stuttgart and it did. When it wasn't delivered 12 hours later I called again, because we hadn't heard from anybody. Turned out that they didn't have enough staff to deliver ALL the luggage and a 20 minute ride to our place seemed too far for them, so we ended up picking up the luggage ourselves at 10.30 at night by taxi. When we wanted to fly back home our flight got delayed 24 hours, because of bad weather (snow). Nobody contacted us and we had to pay for the Hotel, Taxi and food ourselves , because "mother nature is not the airline's problem".

AIR FRANCE review :  19 January 2009 : by K Chan

SIN-CDG. Seat configuration on a B777-300ER was 3-4-3, meaning that it was unbelievably cramped. Visited the toilet shortly after take-off and it clearly had not been cleaned. My tray table had a coffee stain on it (behind from the previous flight). We were fed 20 minutes after take-off, then left alone for more than 10 hours until 1 hour before landing. We were not even given a bottle of water! Entertainment selection was terrible, movies/tv shows skipped every few minutes - regardless of which channel we were viewing.

AIR FRANCE review :  17 January 2009 : by S Ainsworth

MAN-CDG-BKK. MAN-CDG service ok, food awful, leg room ok. Checked in online for CDG-BKK leg, got a good seat upper deck, extra leg room and seat back IFE. Good service and food ok. Return BKK-CDG checked in on line to try for upper deck seat it showed no seats available. Arrived at BKK airport and asked at check in if there where any upper deck seats - no problem. Had inside seat and did not want disturb the lady asleep next to me, rang three times over an hour before I could get some water. Poor service and food, main meal beef stew and breakfast some cheap cold meats. CDG- MAN ice cold croissant and lukewarm coffee for snack. CDG airport the rudest, most ignorant staff anywhere in the world. And my luggage arrived two days later.

AIR FRANCE review :  16 January 2009 : by Chris Knapp

ATH-CDG-LHR. Never will I fly Air France again - even as a Flying Blue Silver! We landed in CDG only to wait on the aircraft for almost four hours before being allowed into the terminal. We were given no information and one drink on the aircraft, by the end having spent almost 8 hours on the A320. No real apology. CDG-LHR flight delayed. No staff at the gate, no refreshments, outdated information. Arrived at LHR when the airport had effectively shut down, no transport options like tube or train. Luggage not loaded onto the aircraft and, 10 days later still waiting for it. Told by the ground staff in LHR to get the night bus home - coldest night of the year. Have tried to speak to someone in customer relations but this is not possible - you can only email your complaints in, no phone calls. Appalling. They do allow calls to baggage tracing who feed false promise after promise which is constantly failed. They still do not know where my bag is and I can't speak to anyone to complain. Terrible service ethos.

AIR FRANCE review :  14 January 2009 : by A Shah

MXP-CDG-TXL.I travelled with my 78 year old mother from Singapore via Paris CDG to London. The flight was a nightmare. The aircrew put so much baggage in the overhead locker over mine that I could not access my bags or close the locker. I asked them to do so twice but I was asked to leave my items on the floor. Unfortunately I had a knee injury and needed the room to exercise. In any case, we did not have much inflight luggage - just a small daypack and bag with our winter coats. My mother caught a chill during the flight because she was so cold. She would not ask the crew for help because she did not want to be manhandled like me when I spoke to them. We landed a Paris CDG one hour late (due time 6:10am) and it took another hour to get to the terminal (8:00am). We had to take a bus to the terminal in the freezing cold. My connecting flight to London had departed. I asked for a flight to any other London airport but we were allocated one leaving at 4:30pm, nearly nine hours later than my original flight. My mother was quite ill at this point and I asked for medical attention from three different members of staff at the transfer desk. They all told me we had to walk out of the terminal, go through immigration and find a doctor in terminal F. My mother was not in a state to do this. I asked for a rest place and this was refused. After a cold and tiring nine hours we went on a bus (again) at 4:00 pm to catch the flight. We spent an hour on the tarmac and we were then told that the flight had been cancelled. We were sent by bus back to the terminal and my mother fell and hurt herself. By this time, she had a raging cough and I was afraid that she would catch pneumonia. Air France refused to send us home on the next available flight as they had to put people on their marketing list first. This, by the way, was compiled by air crew and your name got on the list if you were white, dressed very well or would flirt with the staff. Air France does not make the old and sick a priority. Only after I asked for medical attention and my suitcase for my mother's medication did they try and find two seats for us. I was backed up by other passengers and Air France decided to take notice of my mother's plight. The other passengers that were asked to stay overnight on the flight were Malaysians and I was shocked to find such blatant racism - all white passengers except one were put on alternate flights. The next flight left at 19:50, nearly 12 hours and 30 minutes after the flight I was booked on. We arrived in Heathrow but over 46 bags from the flight had not turned up. I waited for my bag and had to put in a claim for delayed luggage. We arrived home at midnight more than 15 hours after we were due home. It is four days since the nightmare of a flight and my suitcase has not turned up yet. My mother is very ill and I have caught a bad cold myself. Almost every time I ring the lost luggage office I am cut off. I managed to get through today and I was told to fax a list over to Air France. I don't know when I will get my things and they include medication as well as personal items such as a mobile phone, a hairdryer etc. I will never travel on Air France again or Charles de Gaulle airport. The French lack compassion and Air France any sense of service. My sister was on a Singapore Airlines flight that left 10 minutes later than our plane but arrived in London at 5:20am, 15 minutes before the due time! My advice is only travel on Air France if you are desperate.

AIR FRANCE review :  14 January 2009 : by T Lucca

MXP-CDG-TXL. First flight on very old and cramped A319.Check in Malpensa was a big mess. We asked for emergency row seats, but they answered they were not available even though they knew we were Skyteam ElitePlus. The inflight service was minimal but the crew looked professional. Paris has a big problem - you never arrive at the expected terminal - we should have arrived at 2F, but we arrived at 2D. The second flight should have left from terminal 2f but left from terminal 2D. Paris airport is a big mess where connect - moreover the employees were very rude, unfriendly and unpolite. Tegel airport is wonderful, I think that the baggage belt was no more than 20 meters far from the aircraft.

AIR FRANCE review :  13 January 2009 : by Alan Share

Good News - flight from Santiago to Paris wonderful. Bad news - baggage handling deplorable. Air France does not know where lost baggage is. Tracing service useless. Communication impossible. Meanwhile they use Swissport to handle locally. They do not issue "Property Irregularity Report", give reference number, or advise use of internet checking. All communication polite but totally unhelpful.

AIR FRANCE review :  13 January 2009 : by C Chouleur

CDG-DKR. I had paid for economy ticket but travel often travel Air France on business and was happy to learn at the gate that I had been upgraded to business. I had the opportunity to wait in the lounge at terminal E as a gold Flying Blue member. Onboard, the seat was comfortable and I managed to watch a movie I had missed previously. The best part was the dinner - everything was excellent. The crew was ok but lacked the personal touch that makes the difference. Baggage delivery was terrible, despite a priority tag.

AIR FRANCE review :  6 January 2009 : by Monika Diek

IAD-CDG-TXL. Travelling with one infant and one toddler. At check-in in IAD we were promssed to get a bassinet for the baby. In the aircraft we were told that there is no bassinet for our 4 months old baby as there are already two babies requiring this. After one hour flight I checked the seat where the two babies should be - but only one baby in one bassinet was there. When telling the steward he told us that the person sitting next to place where the bassinet is normally placed may have paid more for the flight and he cannot change our seats. After asking this passenger, he agreed to change the seats. The flight was late arriving and we did not get the connection to Berlin (we were actually only 5 minutes too late at the gate). They offered us a connection 6 hrs later - it was freezing and we had two little children there. We did not get any blankets for the kids. Never more Air France.

AIR FRANCE review :  6 January 2009 : by S Gaudicheau

AMS-NTE-BOD and BOD-CDG-AMS. I flew with Régional airlines on the inbound flight and it was absolutely great. FA's friendly, and sufficient newspapers available on such a small plane (Embraer 145 and 135) for short flights. Flight back to AMS was on AF for BOD-CDG and KLM for CDG-AMS with the usual A320 and FA's again were nice and the flights were on time.

AIR FRANCE review :  31 December 2008 : by Nicolas Clement

MAD-CDG in Y & CDG-MAD in C on A319 and A318. MAD-CDG in Y was better than the return in C. Gold Skyteam "Elite" member, so I had lounge access which is privately run by Aena airports in Madrid, not as many options as in CDG 2F but cleaner and roomier. Flight load was about 80% but they did keep the middle seat open which provides a middle table (up to row 8 or 10 on the A320 family planes). Crew at best responsive but not exactly cracking bright smiles. Seat malfucntioning and hardly pushed back manually. Back in C, due to gate upgrade. Nice but this meant my wife was left in Y with strangers. Gate agents split families and couples by playing the upgrades in a 95% full aircraft (A318...). No way to either be together in Y nor in C. C difference of service with Y (and I mean Tempo, not Tempo Challenge) consisted of free middle seat (which came in nice on this flight, true) and a pre-departure cup of bad champagne and a tiny slice of ham plus 2 micro pastries (less then one bite each). CDG 2F lounge for once had a good magazine selection but showers are still full of mushrooms (dark disgusting ones). Will never pay by my own means a medium haul in C with them for such a slight difference in service and comfort.

AIR FRANCE review :  27 December 2008 : by B Parker

Four sectors in economy. First one, LAX CDG. 777 300, very cramped with 10 abreast seating, verses 9 abreast for most other airlines 777 200's. Crew were lazy and arrogant, served dinner and did not appear again until breakfast - only appeared to police seatbelt policy when sign illuminated. I was amazed that no water rounds were done, and other passengers requests for drinks were answered with a hand in the air, and a stern "later!". I guess later meant after you disembarked the aircraft! The inflight entertainment was a tiny, scratched screen with a choice of eight movies, three of them Wall-E! My partner's remote was malfunctioning, and when it was brought to the attention of a crew member, he laughed and said, "Oh really, that's nice" and walked away! CDG CAI was on an A330, much roomier, and slighly friendlier crew, but same abysmal entertainment. CAI CDG 777 200 with better range of movies, however the system wasn't working for 4 of the 4.5 hour flight, and no explanation, or apology, or compensation offered. Crew again lazy, but aircraft equipped with roomier 9 abreast layout. CDG LAX, another 777 200, again with the choice of eight movies, 3 of them Wall-E. Crew again answered all requests with "later!", but never came back. Will never, ever fly with them again.

AIR FRANCE review :  25 December 2008 : by M Lember

IST-CDG-HAV return. A terrible experience in total. All the 4 legs were delayed at least 1.5 hours. For example, in Havana they couldn't count the seated passengers for 1 hour. We were 3 and could not be seated together on the first leg. The meals were cold and not tasty and FAs were generally rude and refusing to serve beer/wine to some passengers - although these people hadn't had any alcohol in an excessive amount. The seats were uncomfortable that we felt like we're packed sardines.

AIR FRANCE review :  22 December 2008 : by Robert Birtwell

MAN-CDG-EZE. Delayed out of Manchester and my wife and I not seated together on the CDG-EZE leg despite having reserved seats. A couple on their honeymoon were also required to sit apart. Very stressful changeover at CDG. One (vital) baggage (and the honeymoon couple's) didn't arrive at Ezeiza with us which meant that we had to spend an unscheduled night in Buenos Aires, as well as purchase emergency supplies. Staff at Ezeiza very apologetic and helpful. Baggage arrived next morning and we were advised to claim compensation on our return. This I did but AF denied this due to claim being after 21 days after the baggage was delivered. Was still away inside the 21 day cut- off and nowhere on the information provided did it mention a time limit. I've now been in contact with them 3 times and they still hide behind this ridiculous technicality and are very slow to respond - average response time 4 weeks. They now regard the matter as 'closed'. I don't. They have absolutely no concept of honour or customer service. I will certainly not use them again, and would advise others to avoid them at all costs.

AIR FRANCE review :  22 December 2008 : by Davide Greco

MXP-CDG-MIA and back. They use a 747-400 on the Paris-Miami leg, a pretty old plane having no personal TV screen; also, throughout the long flight (more than 9 hours) it often happened that the monitor was showing no program at all, not even the route map, making the flight very boring if you are not able to sleep. Crew was OK, professional and taking care of passengers with a positive mood. No problems with the connection in CDG, which I did very quickly despite of the lots of negative comments about this airport in the forum. Overall, an average positive experience but nothing more and I would expect more from a 4 star airline.

AIR FRANCE review :  15 December 2008 : by B Berry

IAD-CDG return in Economy. Compared to budget US carriers this was an amazing experience. Meals delicious, and having free wine/beer with dinner is nice. The interactive tv screen with several good on-demand movie options made the 8 hour flight breeze by. Staff on both legs of the flight were very courteous. Seats ok, didn't seem to recline very far.

AIR FRANCE review :  15 December 2008 : by Patricia Reis

Paris-Orly to Guadeloupe return 777-300ER in economy. The cabin crew was friendly, vegetarian meals just great. PTV screens, IFE Excellent. Very good surprise for the excellent service provided by Air France. I will fly with them again !

AIR FRANCE review :  15 December 2008 : by T Grodecki

WAW-CDG-JFK and back in Economy. WAW to CDG very nice A320. Flight on time, nice FAs, fast boarding, quite good food. Good legroom. CDG to JFK B777 clean, IFE with good selection of movies and games, nice crew, good food, poor legroom. JFK-CDG old 747, flight delayed, no IFE, central TV Screen doesn't work, poor legroom, very nice FAs and good food.

AIR FRANCE review :  15 December 2008 : by W Staab

JFK-CDG and return economy (continuing to Budapest on Malev). Both 777s, tight seats, but onboard service outstanding, professional, flight attendants charming, accomodating. very attractive and with warm personalities. Outbound to Paris flight attendant suggested that I switch seats to accomodate a couple to allow them to sit across the aisle together. I agreed as the seat vacated was also on an aisle and further up front. On return, flight attendant suggested I move to another row to have more space. The meals served (on larger trays than most transatlantic airlines) were of a much higher quality than other airlines - genuinely tasty. Returning from Budapest our Malev flight was late arriving at CDG due to mechanical difficulties and 3 passengers had to spend the night in Paris - but this was handled well with supper, hotel near the airport and breakfast supplied compliments of Air France. The downside to Air France was luggage not transferred to next flight to Budapest (it arrived 15 hours later at the hotel in Budapest), reserve seat assignments are often not honored at checkin despite elite status, , and CDG airport is extremely difficult to negotiate in transfers - for these AF flights an absolute 10 for onboard service and food, but reduced to 7 for lost luggage, tight legroom. Also even though part of Northwest World Perks mileage awarded on Air France is reduced to 25 percent of actual miles flown in certain ticket classes - a major irritation as one does not find that out until mileage awards are granted.