[sat4jon]

We flew from Manchester to Bordeaux via Paris CDG on 26th December.
I was not looking forward to the flight as we had flown with Air France in the past and both times were not pleasant experiences!

On arrival at Manchester Airport we checked in through the automated check-in terminals but then we had to queue for 1hour 30 mins just to drop off our luggage at the self drop off desk. Half way through our wait, We were told by a member of staff that we could use the luggage drop off desk for internet check-in, so we left the queue to do so... Then later we had our doubts we weren't queueing in the right place and we checked again with the same Air France member of staff who then confirmed that we were in the wrong queue - despite telling us that we could use that lane moments earlier! So we had to rejoin the original queue. At the baggage dropoff there were 2 members of desk staff for 3 planes full of passengers, as our queue was for KLM / Air France to 3 destinations. Beyond the desk staff, there was noone in charge to direct the 100s of queuing passengers or answer questions.

On board the plane from Manchester to Paris, we were offered a Muffin and a drink. No other food was available.The second Flight from Paris to Bordeaux was similar.

For a flight using a "premier airline" of £278 per person this is not acceptable !

We arrived in Bordeaux at 11.40am on 26th Dec to find that one suitcase was still in Paris and the the other was lost . We were told that once the lost case had been located it would be delivered to our destination address along with the delayed case.

Later that day (26th) we awaited a phone call to update us... And waited...and waited. NOTHING

Today is the 27th and we had to phone them this morning to find out why we had still not received the delayed bag and to see if they had located the lost one. The woman said that there was good news ! and promptly told my wife that one bag was delayed but found and the other was still lost ??? "I know that this is the situation already" said my wife. "Oh ?" said the Air France woman. "Will the located bag be delivered today ?" "No, Tomorrow" was the reply...The delayed suitcase is set to be delivered on the 28th Dec in the morning (some 48hrs late) We have had to buy underwear, a replacement shaver, and personal hygene products and are still wearing the same clothes as we flew in ! Air France have said that we are entitled to €100 per person for necessary items which we thought was generous initially, but we soon found out that we quickly reached that amount by only buying essential items to make it to the next day (contact lense solution is €13). Also we have spent our own money so far and have yet to have the claim approved / verified, so it could be a long wait.

The other case is still lost and it contains(ed) Christmas Presents for our friends and family in France who we only see twice a year. The lost case also contained my wifes brand new trainers bought for her as a Christmas present from me All my Wifes makeup and clothes, most of the clothes were new and received as presents for Christmas!

We normally fly with BMI Baby and get excellent service and have never had cause to complain in over 11 flights to France.

We have travelled for Bordeaux with Air France on 2 previous occasions and they have:
Delayed our flights for 10 hours on one return flight
Delayed for 5 hours on another
Been rude and unhelpful during delays.
Proved more expensive than other airlines (€250-280 a return flight versus €100 max with Bmibaby or Ryanair)
Never provided proper food or the option to purchase food onboard.


Overall, I would never ever fly with Air France if given the choice, but unfortunately, they are the only option to visit our family in Bordeaux at Christmas time, as the other BETTER airlines do not fly at this time of year.

When My Wife announced that she had booked with Air France, I felt a sense of foreboding which has now proved to be fully justified.

AIR FRANCE ARE POORLY ORGANISED, INEFFICIENT, RUDE and DONT CO-OPPERATE PROPERLY WHEN PROBLEMS ARISE.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE !

[sat4jon]

An update :

Received our delayed bag on 28th as expected.
We checked the AF site online today (30th) and found that our lost bag had been found but we never got a call to tell us ?

We called Air France and they said that Air France apparently phoned us this morning ????? at 8.50 am ??? We got no missed calls on either of our mobiles and the house phone DID NOT ring. This morning as there were 3 of us in the house. They were clearly lying.

We fly home to the UK tomorrow 31st Dec (with Air France) and they asked to deliver the case to our French location tomorrow at 8pm... But we fly home at 4 pm we said. The man on the phone was extremely arrogant (no surprise there, being French and working for AF !) and said that it was our fault for not answering "the call" this morning ! - repeatedly calling my Wife (who is french and not arrogant) Madam but in a "I am in conrol of the situation and you are nothing" kinda way.

After much gabbling, they informed us that they are going to deliver it tonight... 30th Dec at 8pm... We hope...and wait for a confirmation call but its been 1/2 an hour already and nothing !!!

Great Service Air France !!! NOT!

[sat4jon]

Well Surprise Surprise.... Its Almost 10 pm 30th Dec and No luggage has arrived. No Phone call. No Contact whatsoever. I emailed the customer service department 3 days ago and they have not replied to me either.

AIR FRANCE ARE TOTALLY INCOMPETENT WITH NO CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS WHATSOEVER.

We Fly home tomorrow with one case and then need to fly out to Italy 2 days later... When are we going to see our missing suitcase again ?

AIR FRANCE ARE USELESS BEYOND COMPREHENSION....

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by sat4jon

We flew from Manchester to Bordeaux via Paris CDG on 26th December.
I was not looking forward to the flight as we had flown with Air France in the past and both times were not pleasant experiences!

On board the plane from Manchester to Paris, we were offered a Muffin and a drink. No other food was available.The second Flight from Paris to Bordeaux was similar.

For a flight using a "premier airline" of £278 per person this is not acceptable !

You're joking, right? The Manchester to CDG flight is just under an hour and thirty minutes in duration and the flight to Bordeaux is just over an hour. What were you expecting? A five-course meal? Perhaps with a rosemary-lemon sorbet before the cheese course to cleanse the palate!

Originally Posted by sat4jon

We normally fly with BMI Baby and get excellent service and have never had cause to complain in over 11 flights to France.

We have travelled for Bordeaux with Air France on 2 previous occasions and they have:
Delayed our flights for 10 hours on one return flight
Delayed for 5 hours on another
Been rude and unhelpful during delays.
Proved more expensive than other airlines (€250-280 a return flight versus €100 max with Bmibaby or Ryanair)
Never provided proper food or the option to purchase food onboard.

Why, then, did you chose to fly Air France this time?

Originally Posted by sat4jon

Overall, I would never ever fly with Air France if given the choice, but unfortunately, they are the only option to visit our family in Bordeaux at Christmas time, as the other BETTER airlines do not fly at this time of year.

Oh, I see. If they are so much "better" then why do they not operate year-round service? Or if you detest Air France so much then why not fly another airline to an airport close to Bordeaux and rent a car?

Originally Posted by sat4jon

When My Wife announced that she had booked with Air France, I felt a sense of foreboding which has now proved to be fully justified.

Ah, so it's your wife's fault! (That was a joke.) May I also suggest that next time you ship the gifts ahead with an insured carrier that provides tracking such as FedEx or UPS.

Originally Posted by sat4jon

AIR FRANCE ARE POORLY ORGANISED, INEFFICIENT, RUDE and DONT CO-OPPERATE PROPERLY WHEN PROBLEMS ARISE.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE !

Everyone I now who has traveled on Air France has had an issue with them. Most minor. I too agree they are an airline to be avoided however if you do fly them don't have high expectations. I think your expectations, despite your past experiences, were far more than Air France could ever deliver.

[jimworcs]

Low cost airlines do not fly during the winter months unless they can be sure of full loads, as their model requires fuller flights. The fact that they don't fly in winter doesn't necessarily say anything about quality. However, although the poster had apparently not had issues with Ryanair in the past, comparing them favourably even with the hellish Air France is stretching it a bit. They are the least customer focussed airline ever. BMI Baby is pretty good, I have flown them many times on the BHX.CDG route and the Bordeaux route and found them to be fairly priced and pretty good service. Their staff particularly are pretty good.

There is very little choice for travel to Bordeaux in Winter. Personally, I would fly MAN to CDG, perhaps with BMIBaby, JET2, or Flybe and then take the TGV to Bordeaux. It is fast, efficient and cost effective and far more reliable.

The point about the catering Phx is not the time, but that AF charges full service airline prices, and fails to deliver a full service. If their charges were more competitive you could understand, but to charge £278 return to Bordeaux and provide a muffin is pathetic and parsimonious.

Back to the Fedex option again. If AF don't want to provide a baggage service, they don't have to. But if they charge for a service, then the passenger has every right to expect it to be delivered efficiently.

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

Back to the Fedex option again. If AF don't want to provide a baggage service, they don't have to. But if they charge for a service, then the passenger has every right to expect it to be delivered efficiently.

As you know I travel often and have had very few (thankfully) baggage issues. When flying "home" for the holidays, however, I always ship gifts ahead. No matter how well a bag is packed there is the possibility of damage or pilferage. If I ship items with FedEX and insure it for $500 USD and the package gets lost they will cut me a check for $500 USD. Show me an airline that will do the same!

[justme]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer

As you know I travel often and have had very few (thankfully) baggage issues. When flying "home" for the holidays, however, I always ship gifts ahead. No matter how well a bag is packed there is the possibility of damage or pilferage. If I ship items with FedEX and insure it for $500 USD and the package gets lost they will cut me a check for $500 USD. Show me an airline that will do the same!

PHX, I'm curious how much it cost's you to insure your FedExed items for $500 and if they cover jewelery or high cost electronics with that (standard) insurance. Delta's standard baggage liability (domestic) is $3,300, and for $40 you can increase that to $4,000, or for $50 you can make it $5,000. Not sure if you've ever seen the tag or not, but it's a BIG white sticker with the letters CAGPT on it. (Stands for "Check and Give Protection To") Usually it's used quite a bit during the hunting seasons on expensive guns/bows.

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by justme

PHX, I'm curious how much it cost's you to insure your FedExed items for $500 and if they cover jewelery or high cost electronics with that (standard) insurance. Delta's standard baggage liability (domestic) is $3,300, and for $40 you can increase that to $4,000, or for $50 you can make it $5,000. Not sure if you've ever seen the tag or not, but it's a BIG white sticker with the letters CAGPT on it. (Stands for "Check and Give Protection To") Usually it's used quite a bit during the hunting seasons on expensive guns/bows.

I may live in Arizona but unlike so many (too many, if you ask me) I don't own a gun so I wouldn't know all the in's and out's of traveling with expensive weapons to shoot at something I can buy neatly wrapped in butcher paper at my local meat market.

I believe (without bothering to check the website) that FedEx charges $ 0.65 per $100 so to insure a $500 item would cost a whopping $3.25. So in your example Delta charges $40 for an additional $700 worth of coverage while FedEx would cost under $5. Gee, who has the better deal? And correct me if I'm wrong but most airlines don't insure things of value such as electronics, jewelery, art, etc. And if the TSA gets their sticky fingers into my bags I don't want to wait for my settlement while Delta or any other airline plays the "blame game."

Thanks, but I'll stick with FedEx. They've never let me down.

[The_Judge]

Yeah.....those numbers offered by just me seem high. It used to be 40 cents per 100usd of insurance up to a max of 5k. Maybe they've increased that amount since I've left but what an increase, if true. What would have cost 2.80 a year and a half ago for an extra 700usd now costs 40 dollars??!! Wow.

Also....PHX is correct, one cannot take out more insurance on items already not covered. If the agent is collecting and telling the passengers they are covered, they will be in for quite a shock when they try to make a claim.

[justme]

Originally Posted by The_Judge

Yeah.....those numbers offered by just me seem high.

Got the numbers straight from our internal database. I'm not saying that it is cheaper or more secure to use Delta, I was just offering some info for comparison. Cheers!

[The_Judge]

Wow.....just checked DL's website and it is indeed 40.00 for extra valuation from 3300.01 to 4000.00 and 50.00 for 4000.01 to 5000.00.

NWA's site says it's 1.00 per 100 extra above the 3300 free. So 7 dollars up to 4k and 17 dollars for 5k. Amazing difference.

[jimworcs]

and, tells you what you need to know about Delta...