French Bee

✅ Trip Verified | I feel bad that French Bee has so many negative reviews, so I figured I would leave one to balance out the negative reviews and give a more accurate representation of this airline. I overall thought the airline was great and I would definitely fly again, considering the price. My only two complaints are the seats are so tight, that if my hips were any wider, I wouldn't fit. The seat type I was in wouldn't allow you to lift the arm rest for more room. If you weigh more than like 220 pounds, ouch. The boarding process is also a bit chaotic. I appreciate that they board the plane back to front, but everyone gathers and crowds to get there to hear them call out the rows to board. Then its a mad rush of everyone rushing to get on board. Other than that, I found the flight attendants friendly, the plane is very clean and has a small but decent amount of entertainment options, bathrooms are clean, and for that price I would absolutely fly them again. I feel that the people complaining about not being able to check in an hour and a half early, are most likely those who are arriving last minute, so that's their own fault. International flights tell you three hours early, so to me that doesn't sound like a french bee problem, but a personal problem. So can't ding them there. As my flight wasn't cancelled I can't comment on the refund process. But I wouldn't shy away from booking with them. I was freaking myself out reading the reviews prior to my flight, but my actual experience was much better than I would expect. I would recommend and fly with them again.

✅ Trip Verified | On September 5th at check-in in Papeete the following situation occurred. An employee for Frenchbee, ended up urging me to book 2 flights out of the US. He insisted we defiance! B1/B2 visa for the USA does not have a connecting flight, he does not check in for the flight PPT-SFO We are not picked up by the airline without a booked onward flight as we only have one flight from PPT to SFO. As the immigration officer in the US later told me. Because the necessary booking could not be processed quickly enough, I had to try to show a second ticket for a connecting flight with an e-ticket number in good time.

✅ Trip Verified | French bee is the worst airline I’ve ever flown with. I was flying on my own, got stuck in traffic and arrived a hour and 25 minuets before. I was checked in online and exhausted. They refused to let me check in my bag claiming their policy to check in bags is a hour and half before. 5 minutes Late I said can you make a exception they said no and even 1 minuet late they don’t allow. No matter what your situation is. They get the worse customer service only 2 staff on site and I figured I can book my flight for that night I have a holiday the next day which I can’t fly on .. i waited for a good while they did not apologize and just said you can fly with no bags - I said so your proposing to leave it at airport ?I got no refund , and had to fly the next day for 1500 - they don’t care at all about their customers and are really rude.

✅ Trip Verified | Low-coster with very poor customer service. Tried to charge us for a stroller, when we boarded and the plane was delayed for an hour, would not let us use the restroom until the aircraft was in the air. The planes are somewhat new but personnel needs training big time

✅ Trip Verified | Worst airline ever! They had the best time and airport for a direct flight from San Francisco to Paris so I bought a direct flight end of June 2021 for a 9/18/21 departure. On 8/4/21 they canceled the flight. I was still emailing them in September to get my money back! I had to be proactive to do all the research on how to get reimbursed, had to call them then fill a form and email it to them and despite all that it took about 2 months for them to actually refund the cost of the tickets. I always get tempted to buy an SFO to orly French Bee flight since landing in Orly is convenient for where I'm going next, but it's just not worth the risk.

✅ Trip Verified | I've had negative experiences before of course, but never one so appallingly awful that I felt the need to warn others. Their cheap prices lure you in, but it is not worth it. I was flying from Dublin to Los Angeles with a layover in Paris. Upon landing in Paris, I decided to check in online while waiting to pick up my luggage, before making my way over to the other terminal. Their system would not let me check in, as I needed to show proof of my US visa. Not thinking a whole lot of it, I made my way over to the other terminal in what I imagined to be great time. Arriving at the check-in kiosks more than 90 minutes before departure, it would not let me check in there either. Confused, I walked towards the check in counters with clerks, and met two groups of people who where having a back and forth with the clerks about not being able to get on the LA flight, as they were abruptly rolling down the shutters and closing the baggage belts. I was confused. I knew I was there in great time. There was no way I could have missed this flight? Knowing what I was going to hear, I waited my turn and said I was there to check in for the LA flight. I was rudely pointed towards the customer service desk and told that I needed to book another flight. I looked towards the other groups of people and one guy said they were all equally confused. We walked over to the customer service desk together and met around 5/6 other people who had encountered the same situation. As we waited in line for help, more and more people who were supposed to be on the LA flight started to show up. Frustrated but unsurprised, the customer service representatives were incredibly rude, unhelpful and entitled. My options were, pay $400 + for a flight to San Francisco later that day and make my own way to LA from there, or pay $400 for a flight to LA the next day, and book a hotel in Paris for the night. Apparently check in closes exactly 90 minutes before departure. This wasn't made clear to me when booking, and clearly to the 20+ other people who were in the same boat as me. There was no one around and they easily could have checked us in. Aside from this, I was at the check-in desks more than 90 minutes before departure and I had previously tried to check in online! They wouldn't hear any of it. They wouldn't let me talk or explain the situation. The agents were the opposite of calm, and turned to shouting at and fighting with customers instead. I was absolutely flabbergasted. So I ended up sitting outside the airport like a bloody fool while my flight hadn't departed. There is no doubt that we all could have very easily got on that flight. I guess they make their money through having people pay for multiple flights though. There is always a catch with these low cost airlines. One guy had the exact same thing happen to him two days in a row, so he had to book three flights through them just to get back to LA. The lady "helping him" simply mocked him and went off when he mentioned her customer service skills. So all in all, I ended up paying more than double the price of what I originally paid. For this, I could have flown with a reputable airline where I wouldn't have been squashed in a seat like a sardine where you have to pay to get a cup of water. I will never fly French Bee again and I will never recommend it to anyone.

✅ Trip Verified | It’s absolutely worth any difference in fare price to fly a different airline. Today I got an email that my flight was canceled and that the only option was a flight a week later. I’ve tried to call over a dozen times today and been disconnected each time. I gave my direct telephone number to call me back with the agent after being cut off the first two times and never got a call back. They won’t confirm a new flight even on their website unless I buy a new ticket. Just needed up buying a return ticket on another airline. The worst air travel experience ever. Still have not received any response from them.

Not Verified | Great experience. Check in was fast using face recognition, the flight left on time and the staff were phenomenal. There were no questions about how many bags we had or how large they were. The plane seemed new and the airline seemed like they cared that you had a good experience. Seats reclined back far. Would definitely fly again.

✅ Trip Verified | Newark to Paris. I had a very pleasant experience at the airport and while boarding the plane. My expectations were low because of the reviews I saw online. When comparing this airline to others I would say: the seats recline really comfortably and the bathrooms onboard are spacious and clean. Great value, especially being an inexpensive airline.

✅ Trip Verified | Avoid French Bee at all costs! While flying with my wife and two young children from Paris to LAX, we checked in online and got our boarding passes on my phone. The boarding passes explicitly stated that baggage drop closed 1 hour before (the time it stated was 13:50, flight was at 14:50). As such, we arrived 90 minutes early to provide some buffer, but when we arrived at the baggage desk they claimed bag drop was closed and that we were too late. Every agent was incredibly rude, disrespectful, and actively unhelpful. They stated that we needed to go to the ticket counter to rebook our flight, and the ticket agent initially quoted a price of $150 per person to change our flights. However, they said we needed to sit and wait for our original flight to depart (so we officially "miss" it) before they'd rebook us. Then, when we went to rebook, they claimed it was impossible for us to change to any flight within the next 3 days for under $2000. Ultimately, we ended up having to fly into SFO instead and fork over $2,500 for the privilege of flying in 4 hours late to an airport 300+ miles away from home. If they had even told me it'd cost that much initially, I would've just ditched our checked bag instead of allowing them to force us into missing the flight we had boarding passes for! I would never consider flying French Bee again, and I'm aghast that they're still in business with their predatory and dishonest business practices. There were at least another 5-10 people on our flight who had something similar happen, as well. It's a total scam, never ever ever get tempted by their "cheap" prices!