OT Air France is Horrible and is to be avoided

[dailybuck777]

My brother flew from Hawaii to the Canary Islands last week through Paris. So part of his trip involved flying on Air France and he said it was the worst airline he had ever flown on. He has flown all over the world including Bali, the Philippines and Ecuador. The service was generally very bad, and among other things the seats were very small and the food was terrible. (He is a vegan and said what they served him looked like something cheap they grabbed from a convenience store)

In any event, I know people here sometimes take special trips and I hope that my brother's experience may inform others.

 

[psu00]

This seems to be a trend among many airlines worldwide. I hear Brit’s complaining a lot about the decline of British Airways and the US airlines have gone downhill as well IMO.

 

[dailybuck777]

This seems to be a trend among many airlines worldwide. I hear Brit’s complaining a lot about the decline of British Airways and the US airlines have gone downhill as well IMO.

I flew Delta to Hawaii over Christmas and it was reasonably good. Nothing bad but nothing special. Will say that Delta handled the omicron spike around Jan. 1 where many flights were cancelled adeptly. I was able to switch flights and get home with virtually no problems.

 

[ralphster]

A French company served some crap when someone asked them for a vegan meal? Shocking.

 

[joeaubie21]

A French company served some crap when someone asked them for a vegan meal? Shocking.

Are peanuts and potato chips vegan?

 

[LionDeNittany]

My brother flew from Hawaii to the Canary Islands last week through Paris. So part of his trip involved flying on Air France and he said it was the worst airline he had ever flown on. He has flown all over the world including Bali, the Philippines and Ecuador. The service was generally very bad, and among other things the seats were very small and the food was terrible. (He is a vegan and said what they served him looked like something cheap they grabbed from a convenience store)

In any event, I know people here sometimes take special trips and I hope that my brother's experience may inform others.

I flew on Air France a few years ago.

They weigh what you can carry onto the plane and force you to check the rest.

I was pulled from the security line at PDG so they could weigh my bag then they forced me to check it.

Amazingly terrible as I booked a single ticket through whatever US airline was their partner.

LdN

 

[Chickenman Testa]

A vegan complaining? Now that’s a first

 

[BW Lion]

My brother flew from Hawaii to the Canary Islands last week through Paris. So part of his trip involved flying on Air France and he said it was the worst airline he had ever flown on. He has flown all over the world including Bali, the Philippines and Ecuador. The service was generally very bad, and among other things the seats were very small and the food was terrible. (He is a vegan and said what they served him looked like something cheap they grabbed from a convenience store)

In any event, I know people here sometimes take special trips and I hope that my brother's experience may inform others.

Business Class on AF is much better.

 

[Obliviax]

My brother flew from Hawaii to the Canary Islands last week through Paris. So part of his trip involved flying on Air France and he said it was the worst airline he had ever flown on. He has flown all over the world including Bali, the Philippines and Ecuador. The service was generally very bad, and among other things the seats were very small and the food was terrible. (He is a vegan and said what they served him looked like something cheap they grabbed from a convenience store)

In any event, I know people here sometimes take special trips and I hope that my brother's experience may inform others.

has he flown Aeroflot? My first Aeroflot flight was a 747 from JFK to Moscow. This was in 2005. They had the old tube TV's sitting on a 1x8 across the corner above the bathrooms. About half the bathrooms were inoperable by the time we landed and the entire plane smelled like an outdoor porta-potty. Then we took a flight from Moscow to Kaliningrad. It was a Tupolov Tu 104. When I boarded my seat was leaned forward like you would do on the back of the front seat in a two door car to get into the back seat. They also had yellow tape on it. I was told the seat was broken and find a different seat. As I walked through the plane there were about ten of them. When we landed in Kaliningrad, it was about 20 degrees (really record cold for the area). A pickup truck brought the luggage over from the plane in front of the airport building and dropped the luggage on the grass. The inflight meal was a can of sardines and soda water. The overhead luggage was simply a shelf with bent up edges to guard against things falling off.

 

[joeaubie21]

Nothing like the odor of shift in flight!

 

[Hugh Laurie]

I flew on Air France a few years ago.

They weigh what you can carry onto the plane and force you to check the rest.

I was pulled from the security line at PDG so they could weigh my bag then they forced me to check it.

Amazingly terrible as I booked a single ticket through whatever US airline was their partner.

LdN

Not surprised. Airliner's centers of gravity are sensitive to weight distributions which affects their taking off, landing, and in flight control characteristics. Accordingly, sometimes it becomes necessary to manage weight distributions especially on full flights, flights carrying third party cargo and flights with fuel tanks fully loaded. Poorly managed weight distributions can result in tail strikes on takeoff and landing issues when fuel is burned and/or pumped between tanks during a flight. If they're weighing your bags and having them stowed in the belly of the aircraft it's for a reason and almost always safety related.

 

[PSU Mike]

has he flown Aeroflot? My first Aeroflot flight was a 747 from JFK to Moscow. This was in 2005. They had the old tube TV's sitting on a 1x8 across the corner above the bathrooms. About half the bathrooms were inoperable by the time we landed and the entire plane smelled like an outdoor porta-potty. Then we took a flight from Moscow to Kaliningrad. It was a Tupolov Tu 104. When I boarded my seat was leaned forward like you would do on the back of the front seat in a two door car to get into the back seat. They also had yellow tape on it. I was told the seat was broken and find a different seat. As I walked through the plane there were about ten of them. When we landed in Kaliningrad, it was about 20 degrees (really record cold for the area). A pickup truck brought the luggage over from the plane in front of the airport building and dropped the luggage on the grass. The inflight meal was a can of sardines and soda water. The overhead luggage was simply a shelf with bent up edges to guard against things falling off.

So you’d recommend based on the sardines, correct?

 

[Tri-Power65]

How 'bout if those with outlier diets just bring their own f'n food on the plane.

 

[LionDeNittany]

Not surprised. Airliner's centers of gravity are sensitive to weight distributions which affects their taking off, landing, and in flight control characteristics. Accordingly, sometimes it becomes necessary to manage weight distributions especially on full flights, flights carrying third party cargo and flights with fuel tanks fully loaded. Poorly managed weight distributions can result in tail strikes on takeoff and landing issues when fuel is burned and/or pumped between tanks during a flight. If they're weighing your bags and having them stowed in the belly of the aircraft it's for a reason and almost always safety related.

I think you missed the point here.

I was in the security line for all flights. They had no clue which flight. There were probably 100 going out that day.

No airline in the US has ever done this.

Purely a model to get fees.

FYI the combined weight is 26lbs. If that is going to cause an airliner not to take off properly time to ban people over 200lbs from sitting in the back.

LdN

 

[Obliviax]

So you’d recommend based on the sardines, correct?

ha! more of a cultural difference, really. They also serve those weird cured sandwich meats with a lot of fat. I know of Asiana they served an interesting Sushi that is common to Korea. I've learned to bring my own food for flights longer than 4 hours.

 

[BOSCO2]

My brother flew from Hawaii to the Canary Islands last week through Paris. So part of his trip involved flying on Air France and he said it was the worst airline he had ever flown on. He has flown all over the world including Bali, the Philippines and Ecuador. The service was generally very bad, and among other things the seats were very small and the food was terrible. (He is a vegan and said what they served him looked like something cheap they grabbed from a convenience store)

In any event, I know people here sometimes take special trips and I hope that my brother's experience may inform others.

Seems pretty close to what you get with every airline.

 

[84Lion]

has he flown Aeroflot? My first Aeroflot flight was a 747 from JFK to Moscow. This was in 2005. They had the old tube TV's sitting on a 1x8 across the corner above the bathrooms. About half the bathrooms were inoperable by the time we landed and the entire plane smelled like an outdoor porta-potty. Then we took a flight from Moscow to Kaliningrad. It was a Tupolov Tu 104. When I boarded my seat was leaned forward like you would do on the back of the front seat in a two door car to get into the back seat. They also had yellow tape on it. I was told the seat was broken and find a different seat. As I walked through the plane there were about ten of them. When we landed in Kaliningrad, it was about 20 degrees (really record cold for the area). A pickup truck brought the luggage over from the plane in front of the airport building and dropped the luggage on the grass. The inflight meal was a can of sardines and soda water. The overhead luggage was simply a shelf with bent up edges to guard against things falling off.

According to Wikipedia (admittedly not always the greatest source) the 104 was retired in the 1980s. Maybe it was a 134 or 154 (still old but 727-era old) that you flew on? When I was younger I might've been thrilled to ride a museum piece like the 104 but not so much anymore.

 

[Obliviax]

According to Wikipedia (admittedly not always the greatest source) the 104 was retired in the 1980s. Maybe it was a 134 or 154 (still old but 727-era old) that you flew on? When I was younger I might've been thrilled to ride a museum piece like the 104 but not so much anymore.

you are probably right. I recall it was a Tupolev but am not sure on model.

 

[PSUTENN1]

British Air = Delta and American, nothing special. Was shocked on a British Air JFK to Heathrow. Plane was filthy.

Have flown Cathy Pacific on flights all over the Far East region and Hong Kong - JFK. Easily my best experience on any airline.

the OP is correct, flew Air France once, never ever again.

 

[Navion N8865H]

Airitalia back in the 80's was an experience.

 

[dailybuck777]

British Air = Delta and American, nothing special. Was shocked on a British Air JFK to Heathrow. Plane was filthy.

Have flown Cathy Pacific on flights all over the Far East region and Hong Kong - JFK. Easily my best experience on any airline.

the OP is correct, flew Air France once, never ever again.

Before the pandemic, I flew China Eastern and China Southern and both were reasonably good.

 

[dailybuck777]

Airitalia back in the 80's was an experience.

Good or bad? Might be visiting Italy in a year or two.

 

[Navion N8865H]

Good or bad? Might be visiting Italy in a year or two.

First, I'm not sure Airitalia exists anymore, I thought they liquidated a few years ago. Secondly, I don't know what it is like now, but back then seat assignments were a mere suggestion, it was basically they opened the gate people ran enmasse to the jet and grabbed the closest seat (even though we had ticketed seats). Smoking, optional, seatbelts, optional, listening to anything the flight crew was telling the passengers, optional. As soon as the last person ran aboard, zoom down the taxiway, right out on the runway for takeoff. Guy flew it like a fighter all the way to landing.

 

[dailybuck777]

First, I'm not sure Airitalia exists anymore, I thought they liquidated a few years ago. Secondly, I don't know what it is like now, but back then seat assignments were a mere suggestion, it was basically they opened the gate people ran enmasse to the jet and grabbed the closest seat (even though we had ticketed seats). Smoking, optional, seatbelts, optional, listening to anything the flight crew was telling the passengers, optional. As soon as the last person ran aboard, zoom down the taxiway, right out on the runway for takeoff. Guy flew it like a fighter all the way to landing.

Disorganization fits in with stereotypes about Italians.

 

[dailybuck777]

This seems to be a trend among many airlines worldwide. I hear Brit’s complaining a lot about the decline of British Airways and the US airlines have gone downhill as well IMO.

Checked my last flight to China in July of 2019. Was on Delta originating from Detroit. I remember the food was amazingly good and equivalent to a better than average restaurant. By far the best food I ever had on an airplane. I have no understanding as to how this could have occurred because most airlines are required to cut corners, but I have to admit the food at that time was quite good.

 

[Obliviax]

First, I'm not sure Airitalia exists anymore, I thought they liquidated a few years ago. Secondly, I don't know what it is like now, but back then seat assignments were a mere suggestion, it was basically they opened the gate people ran enmasse to the jet and grabbed the closest seat (even though we had ticketed seats). Smoking, optional, seatbelts, optional, listening to anything the flight crew was telling the passengers, optional. As soon as the last person ran aboard, zoom down the taxiway, right out on the runway for takeoff. Guy flew it like a fighter all the way to landing.

they went out of biz but have been replaced by Air ITA. They are pretty low end and unless flying a short-haul, I'd avoid them.

 

[psu00]

Flew Egypt air once. That was quite an experience starting with ‘security’ at the airport. 😳

 

[Obliviax]

Flew Egypt air once. That was quite an experience starting with ‘security’ at the airport. 😳

I've never flown EL Al but was in Newark once, just two years ago, when they shut down half the concourse to board an EL Al flight to Israel. I know some guys who built face recognition and cognitive behavior software to profile people going through security for Mossad. They are now building marketing and money laundering software.

 

[psu00]

I've never flown EL Al but was in Newark once, just two years ago, when they shut down half the concourse to board an EL Al flight to Israel. I know some guys who built face recognition and cognitive behavior software to profile people going through security for Mossad. They are now building marketing and money laundering software.

Yeah El Al and Egypt air are 2 completely opposite sides of the security spectrum. We had more security checks anytime we entered a hotel in Cairo than we did getting on a plane there.

It would be interesting to hear how effective or accurate that software is for security.

 

[Obliviax]

Yeah El Al and Egypt air are 2 completely opposite sides of the security spectrum. We had more stringent security anytime we entered a hotel in Cairo than we did getting on a plane there.

It would be interesting to hear how effective or accurate that software is for security.

very. trust me on that. they look at people that are overly fidgety and under fidgety. People are naturally anxious and impatient. Overly patient people get a hard look. there are also a lot of ticket buying behaviors.

I work for a company that times how long it takes you to put in your password. If you take too long, or not long enough, it does an out of band authentication. Everything you do is monitored by software and it scores your behavior against prior, legit, interactions. When you score too high, you are flagged.

 

[SouthpawPSU42]

Air New Zealand is the best airline I have ever flown. Clean planes, unbelieveably friendly workers, cool uniforms, and their safety video was LOTR themed.

 

[Cletus11]

Flew Frontier Air down to Florida, first time flying Frontier. Flights were on time, was shocked at how sparse the airport was as historically in February the airport is mobbed with people going down south. Seats seemed a touch on the tight side legroom wise. Didn't know that they didn't even give you a free cup of water, have to buy even that which seems to me to be a little nuts. I can understand having to 'buy' a soda or alcohol, but you would think they could spare 10 cents worth of a cup of water. Also no in flight wifi entertainment like all the other carriers. So boring flight down and back as I didn't have my IPAD with me with pre-downloaded movies just my laptop as assuming that the plane would have wifi entertainment.

 

[The Kid Twist]

British Air = Delta and American, nothing special. Was shocked on a British Air JFK to Heathrow. Plane was filthy.

Have flown Cathy Pacific on flights all over the Far East region and Hong Kong - JFK. Easily my best experience on any airline.

the OP is correct, flew Air France once, never ever again.

Cathy Pacific is very nice! Emirates is very nice as well. Singapore Air is very nice as well with beautiful stewardesses! I have never had a bad flight on Quantas or New Zealand Airlines when I was working in Australia on those long 25+ hour flights from NYC! I was always in Business or First class though. I can't imagine being in coach for that period of time. The American and European carriers have really gone down hill except for SAS which I recommend if you are heading to Europe.

 

[The Kid Twist]

Air New Zealand is the best airline I have ever flown. Clean planes, unbelieveably friendly workers, cool uniforms, and their safety video was LOTR themed.

I likes the old ANZ safety video where all the stewardesses were wearing just body paint!!! You couldn't get away with that in the US!

 

[The Kid Twist]

Good or bad? Might be visiting Italy in a year or two.

Al Italia is owned by the Italian government so that is all you need to know! Old fleet with spotty safety record. Do they even do transatlantic flights anymore? They are a decent size regional carrier in Europe. I would only use them for short haul flights.

 

[Agoodnap]

 

[PSUTENN1]

I likes the old ANZ safety video where all the stewardesses were wearing just body paint!!! You couldn't get away with that in the US!

Someone throw a flag !!!!

 

[ralphster]

What, you guys don't fly on your own private jets?

 

[Ski]

I likes the old ANZ safety video where all the stewardesses were wearing just body paint!!! You couldn't get away with that in the US!

 

[Obliviax]

I forgot about my experience with Viet Air in Vietnam. I had a round-trip flight from Hanoi to Danang. The first leg was fine. However, I saw tons of families with their pets sleeping and killing time all over the airport. On the way back, I had a 1pm flight and was informed that my 1:00 pm was being moved to 11 pm. I wasn't looking forward to traveling at night in Danang or Hanoi so changed to a different airline. I came to find out Viet Air's model is that their times are not commitments but "best-effort". You simply go to the airport first thing in the morning and hang out until they tell you to jump on a flight. Now my roundtrip flight for a 1:15 flight was ~ $65.

People were taking onto the flight sacks of rice, goats, dogs, cats, etc.