Air France

We were in the upper deck of the A380 on a direct flight from CDG to LAX last month. Navigating CDG is a challenge but the very comfortable lounge was a welcome respite after trudging what seemed like forever. This was our first experience with the A380 and were very pleased with the remarkably quiet upper deck. We also appreciated the dedicated passenger ramp at both ends of the journey that made entrance and exit very easy. The flight crew was outstanding very polite and personable. The were very accommodating to my requests for meals whether light or full whenever I wanted them. Food and wine quality was excellent. I echo the comments of other passengers regarding the seats. I'm 6'2" 200 lbs and the "sleeping" position was very uncomfortable for me. Sitting comfort was just okay. My wife is much shorter so it wasn't as much of an issue for her. As an aside the seats on the AF 777's are no better. I'm not sure who AF Airbus and Boeing used to test the design for a business class seat but they obviously recruited no one my size or larger. That aside the overall experience was very good and I would recommend AF.

I flew AF 256 on 20/8/13 upgrading to premium economy at CDG for a substantial price. Unfortunately my expectations were not met with what was a less than satisfactory onboard service. On boarding I was allocated seat 21A which I identified immediately was broken I brought this to the attention of the male flight attendant. The seat would not stay in its retracted position and I had concerns that this would not be safe. I was most disappointed when this was not dealt with. He returned to say that it would be ok and continued on. The service in general in prem-Eco was less than satisfactory. On arrival into SIN and deplaning I brought it to the attention of the female cabin crew positioned between pre-Eco / economy and asked that it be reviewed prior to the return flight to Paris. She stated that her flight was finished and it was not her problem. It is for this reason that I would not consider flying Air France again.

We have traveled all over the USA and Europe for over 30 years. This trip was 3 weeks long we were on American Airlines British Airways Iberia etc. with the same luggage. But Air France charged us £60 each for small carry on bags that all other airlines allow free. The check in clerk was very rude and rigid in typical French fashion. They were proud to say that they are different and do not belong to the "One World Alliance". The on board experience was just as bad flight attendants were rude and unwelcoming service was poor. This was a pleasure trip and Air France took all of the joy out of air travel. We will never fly Air France again and would not recommend.

BSL-CDG-IAD / JFK-CDG-BSL. The short legs on ATR 72 were nice solid. Quick round of drinks and choice of snack. Easy check in / boarding due to small plane and few passengers. Changing in CDG between 2E and 2G absolutely without a problem via airside shuttle bus and many signs. CDG-IAD on A380 with mixed results: Economy seats on upper deck are a plus when travelling as a couple - only 2 seats at window with nice little storage compartment between seat and window. Very good choice of films/music on IFE. However for an airplane of 2.5 years of age the interior looks like straight from the 90s: egg-shell-whiteish plastic and a smallish screen. The weirdest thing is that the screen is offset to the left to accommodate the remote control on the right. This makes for awkward angles of head/neck while watching films. Seats quite hard but enough leg room for me (6 ft 6). Crew very nice and open bar in the galleys throughout flight. Still do not understand the boarding process: They started boarding 40 minutes before departure despite 500+ passengers and a more thorough check due to flight to the US. Departure therefore almost an hour late. JFK-CDG in 10 year old 777-200 with the same seats/video screens/interior design. Crew very nice. They recognized me not fitting in my regular seat (albeit officially the same pitch in 380 and 772) so they moved me to bulkhead seats with lots of leg room. Seats very hard. Weird time of serving a good selection of (for airplane standards) good food: After a midnight takeoff they started serving a full dinner despite almost all passengers longing for sleep. All in all a good experience with some quirks that need to be cleaned up.

BKK-CDG-HAM. My AF Flight was a morning flight at 9.45 am. Check-in staff very friendly and helpful flight full on B777 10 seat abreast in Y Class very tiny seat with footrest tiny aisle very cramped. Crews very rude didn't want to speak English 2 hours after departure crews begun with service lunch (only 1 choice) but high quality and quantity with bottle of red and port wine packed in the food tray only soft drinks and beer were offered finalized with coffee and tea. 30 mins later Duty Free offered after Duty Free informed that self- service bar with soft drinks was offered at the galley from that time on FA's were absent. No water or beverage offering during the flight until next snack service (sandwich croissant cheese tea and coffee) 2 hours before landing. Luckily AF has a very good IFE on board. Transiting at CDG 2E to 2F was smooth and easy (not horror as reported). CDG-HAM on A321 with croissant and soft drink. Other disappointing: no glass of champagne for Y class as advised in the website and newspapers.

BHX-CDG-BHX. Outbound flight fine on time and good service on board consisted of complimentary snack and drink. Plane was an Embraer type narrow body with a 2x2 configuration. Plenty of leg room and leather seats made it a comfy experience. No IFE as only a 45 minute flight. Return flight I arrived late at the check-in (25 mins before the departure time). I can't praise the AF ground staff highly enough for getting me on that flight particularly as I was due to attend a wedding back in the UK. The flight was the same as the outbound one. AF still takes some beating on this short hop.

Flight AF695 MIA-CDG 12/08/2013: This flight is operated with one of the last 7 B747 that remains in operation with Air France. Crew were nice and the flight was on time both at departure and arrival. Meals were good and on best standard around for Airlines. Now there comes the downsides: the seats are some of the worst I've flown. Then the IFE crashed throughout the airplane just few minutes after takeoff the crew restarted it 3/4 times without success. Lastly was the seat was not cleaned at all: there was trash in my front pocket and some trash under the seat also the two rows near me was full of trash the crew apologized and cleaned while before departure. At least a nice and gentle crew.

ICN-CDG. Run down seats (old generation) several parts in seat and armrests missing. No lie-flat seat. Too short (I am 1.87 cm - I guess it can only accommodate persons up to 1.75 cm). I complained to the crew who was very attentive to my comments but could not do anything but agree. Food: average for business class. A bad experience.

Recent trip from BOS to CDG as a SkyTeam Elite was anything but pleasant. I am enrolled in Delta's program rather than AF's (though I probably fly AF and KLM more than Delta) and the whole "SkyTeam seamless travel" ad campaign is an absolute joke. My platinum status did nothing to upgrade me to the Premium Economy seats though it is supposed to - at check-in AF said I could only upgrade for a fee. When I asked to speak to a supervisor the story changed and "all the Premium Economy seats are already taken but if not we would of course upgrade you." Getting on the flight 3 out of 27 Premium Economy seat were occupied. I politely asked the head steward if under the circumstances I could take a PE seat and he gruffly said that I should have asked on the ground - it was impossible to ever upgrade passengers once on board! No one is actually bad they just don't care and have learned that they can fob off any complaint. Flight attendants do an adequate job of serving dinner then you don't see them again the food on board is also adequate economy seats are expectedly uncomfortable IFE screens tiny. The best thing about AF are the CDG lounges. The worst thing is the uselessness of working to get status on SkyTeam when partners can be utterly arbitrary in honoring its benefits.

I flew from Paris CDG to Hamburg through the modern terminal 2F. The flight was good and the crew were polite and helpful. The seats had a good recline even for a short flight of 1.5hrs. The one thing that I regret is the food choice - only croissants were offered. I will use this airline again for my next trip.