Air France

Flew from London City Airport to Brest on 20th August Flight AF5291 and returned on 27th August Flight AF5290. Having arrived 2 hours before my flight at London City Airport and being second in the queue at check-in I was told I was being put on stand-by as Air France were not sure how much luggage they would be able to carry. I was told to go away and return 40 minutes before my flight and that I may have to divert to Paris or stay in a hotel at City Airport overnight. Being an elderly person travelling on my own I was concerned by this and this was not helped by the attitude of the Air France staff. Having booked my ticket 6 weeks ago and arriving in plenty of time before check-in I feel that this was totally unacceptable. I will certainly not be travelling with Air France until they improve their service and their attitude towards their customers.

Flying from Atlanta to Paris CDG in Economy. We were held on the runway at Atlanta due to thunderstorms. Not the fault of AF but where were the crew? It was stiflingly hot but no sign of water. The menu looked good but the meal was abysmal. The champagne aperitif turned out to be a choice of a long opened bottle of fizz or a plastic bottle of vin de table. Miserable staff who then disappeared until offering a low grade snack before landing.

Brussels to CDG and CDG to Narita in First Class on Aug 2nd 2013. I had booked in business but upgraded. Boarded a train in Brussels allowed to wait in Thalys lounge comfortable but basic no service on the train but luggage handed over and rather short trip of 75 minutes in first class. Collect luggage on the platform in CDG pretty quick an AF staff member welcomed us on the platform. Small waiting lounge while our luggage was checked in accompanied through priority immigration and security line then to the First class lounge. Accompanied and driven by car to the plane and introduced to the crew on A380. A nice female attendant took good care of us all through the flight very professional a quick lunch (just a main course and light sweet as I had eaten in the lounge). After lunch I changed into the pyjamas offered coming back to my seat the FA had turned it into a bed with mattress soft pillow and comfortable quilt. Nice breakfast of apple pancakes and tea. After landing first to disembark welcomed by AF staff priority lane for immigration and by the time we entered luggage hall our case had already been collected by another AF staff waiting for us with a luggage cart. All in all a very good experience.

Paris to Washington (IAD) in economy on August 27. We had a pair of seats aisle + window with a convenient individual mini-storage bin by the window on top deck of Airbus A380. Extremely quiet and smooth flight. Aircraft very clean and in excellent shape. Reasonably comfortable seats with small footrest and excellent video/audio selection (wide music selection and at least 30 movies to chose from in a variety of languages). Departure delayed a few minutes due to a couple of passengers showing up late. Crew was pleasant and helpful. Food was average for economy. Open bar in the rear throughout the flight is a definite plus. All in all a good experience. Value for money was top by definition: frequent flyer award tickets earned in Delta FF program (yes FF tickets can be had even in high season at least when you book 9 months in advance).

Flew with them back in February and March. One is ABZ-CDG. Another one is CDG-ZRH. Both are returned flight. Enjoy all the flight even there was nothing much to comment as they were all short flight. Check-in at Zurich was nice as the staffs checked through my baggage straight into ABZ even though I bought two separated tickets. Sandwiches snacks and drinks are offered onboard which were alright. There is not IFE. So can't comment on that. Would have been much better to get a proper meal for the price I've paid for. Overall satisfied with the airline and would fly them again.

August 1st - Minnesota to Paris aboard AF 340-300 flight was great. Enjoyed the larger seats and more leg room food was average wine with and after dinner was good. The air-conditioning in the airplane was not working correctly so we sat on our blanket and pillows which offset the hardness of the seat. After dinner we were offered liquor flight attendants were friendly and accommodating. Since we departed at 8pm shortly after dinner the lights were turned off encouraging passengers to sleep or take advantage of the in screen entertainment. Screen size was exceptional big and easy to watch movie and TV selections were average. Breakfast was served about an hour before landing again the food was just average. Would fly AF Premium economy again absolutely so much better than economy.

August 21st Paris to Minnesota aboard AF 340-300. Flight delayed an hour because of a problem with the air- conditioning. Once again we enjoyed the larger seat and extra leg room. I especially like the option which allowed me to raise the seat front to support my calves. When dinner was served; my choice of chicken was quite good while my husbands choice of risotto was not good at all. Flight departed at 1.50 pm the lights were dimmed after dinner to enable passengers to get some rest. Attendants came through 3 or 4 times offering snacks and ice cream as well as additional drinks. The entertainment options were exactly the same offered on our previous flight. Once again we did not need the blankets so we sat on them which compensated for the hardness of the seats. My only complaint is the handling of our luggage. One of the advertised benefits of booking and paying for premium economy is to have your bags tagged priority’ which is supposed to insure prompt delivering upon arrival. As I stated our flight was an hour late departing therefore we only had 45 minutes to make our connection in Minnesota. We were traveling with friends who did not opt for premium economy. We both checked in at the same time. Upon arriving in Minnesota our bags which were tagged priority were definitely not delivered in a timely manner. In fact many non priority bags arrived long before ours; including those belonging to our friends to flew economy. As a result we barely made our connection (2 minutes) our bags did not.

CDG-VIE took this morning flight and it's so disappointing to see the standards drop so low. For breakfast if you don't drink Tea of Coffee it's Bread (croissant) and water no juice of any kind. Crew look suitably embarrassed. And you have for the inflight entertainment the reading of their Air France magazine. The paper cup and napkin is collected in a rubbish bag very quickly after serving and then the crew disappear. Virtually a low cost company.

Frankfurt to Clermont Ferrand - connecting in Paris with both segments on Air France. Connection requires you to switch from terminal 2F to 2G in Paris which involves exiting the airport taking a shuttle and going through security again. My first flight was slightly late as a result I got to the gate 10 mins before departure. They refused to let me on supposedly they close the doors 10 mins before departure. Granted I am a frequent flier the flight probably does not have more than 2 dozen people on it I was already checked in and on my way from the other terminal. You would have thought they would make an effort. Unfortunately that's a recurring problem and since they have a monopoly on flights to smaller French airports like Clermont Ferrand they could not care less about what people think. I absolutely do not recommend this airline to anyone. Very high prices terrible service no consideration for customers. If you can avoid it I recommend you do so.

Return trip Hong Kong to Paris. Outbound flight was delayed 1.5 hours but landed close to on time. Seat was hard but putting your pillow and blanket underneath you helps. I prefer normal recliner seats to the Air France shell seats as the recline is minimal. Food was reasonable and staff service was much warmer on the return flight.