Air France
Reviews and Complaints

I'm writing this complaint to let people know that the customer service is Air France is absolutely nonexistent. You are essentially dealing with operators that only care about take your order, not assisting you.
I purchase 2 tickets New York/Paris for May 2009. I need to change one to leave one week earlier and was told that it would cost me $250 penalty plus $300 for the fair increase. So far, nothing surprising, all company do the same. So I looked for a cheap way to leave earlier and found another Air France ticket for $400 (about a $200 saving for me). I intended on leaving using that new ticket to leave earlier, have a no show on the departure date of my initial ticket and still use the return date of my initial ticket. Everybody wins. I save myself $200, I get the dates I want and Air France collects an extra $400 (minus airport taxes of course).
When I called customer service to warn them of the no show on my initial departure date but still validate that my return date I was told that the entire ticket would be canceled. No matter what. I insisted on the fact that I was ready to spend an extra $400 with Air France, but that did not make any different to the operator nor his manager.
So to sum up: Air France would rather lose $400 and my business rather than try to accommodate my needs. Am I the only one absolutely stunt by their lack of business focus?

Air france lost my luggage on the trip from Paris to Miami. They left it behind. They say there was insufficient time between my original flight landing at Paris (from spain), and the departing flight to Miami. I dont know how long they wanted, but i felt that 5 hours was enough!
So i get to miami, no bags. I am flying with American airlines on to Honduras to join a ship. Not a cruise ship mind, an oil survey ship. I will be away for a number of weeks.
First Air france baggage in Miami say it would be best to talk to the baggage department at my destination! Whatever for! they have not lost it! I tell them to forward it when it gets here in Miami on the next flight. I am then told that despite three other air france flights departing paris for miami since i left, the luggage is STILL in Paris. Why i ask? because we are waiting for you to tell us where to send it, reply the baggage dept! To me it was blindingly obvious to put it on the next flight to Miami! So now they are going to forward it to roatan in Honduras, after it finally gets to Miami!
Three days later i am still waiting for my luggage in Roatan, Honduras. Air france lost luggage dept say they need 48 hours to transfer it to Roatan in Honduras. It only took me 4 hours to get there!
So i wait a little longer. Five days later i call air france luggage and get told it will take 48 hours to get there from miami. I explain that it has already been 112 hours since i was told it had arrived in Miami!
So now the ship i am on has sailed. I will not be able to get my luggage to the ship.
Seven days later, the luggage is still in Miami! Now i am told that i must collect it within five days or it disappears to a luggage claim facility god knows where!
It was a simple task to put it on the next plane out of paris. Then transfer it to American airlines the next day and forward it to Roatan.
The person i talked to at air france lost luggage was a ###. I kept asking for the location of my luggage! I was then told to phone Miami airport lost luggage. I phoned them and the automated service redirects me back to the same airfrance lost luggage dept where i started. I was then told by the same ###ic lost baggage assistant, that it will take 48hrs to transfer it to Roatan!
At this point there is not a lot i can do. The luggage cannot get to me now. I will have to try and chase it when i get back to Spain.
I bet when i call airfrance, they will tell me it will be in Roatan in 48hrs!
These lost baggage ###s at air france do not listen. They seem to have an automated script in front of them.
The good news is, that my not insubstantial company, are now going to send their numerous employees abroad via any other airline except Air France where possible.
So Air france, in these hard times you look to be having the amount of passengers flying with you reduced by about 300 flights a year!
If anyone sees a tan bag with Fugro on it lying around Miamia airport, adjacent to the airfrance lost luggage department, please say hi to it for me, because i doubt if i will ever see it again!

Bad Bad Bad experience with Air France, I wrote a letter of complaint (see below) and to date have not heard back from anyone!

Darren Moore
39 Park Crescent
Hornchurch
Essex
RM11 1BJ
10th February 2009
To whom it may concern,
I am writing with regard to a trip I made to St. Petersburg on Wednesday 4th February 2009. We were holding a Conference in Russia starting on the evening of Wednesday 4th February 2009 and had booked 4 tickets from London Heathrow, catching a flight from Paris then onto St Petersburg. Due to the adverse weather conditions on Monday 2nd February several flights were cancelled from Heathrow and we were concerned about being able to catch the flight from Paris to Russia. I called up Air France at Heathrow and was told that I could fly to Paris Tuesday night, stop over and be on time for the connecting flight. Which I did, I purchased a late ticket from London Luton by Easyjet and flew into Paris at 9pm that night. When I arrived the next morning to check in at Charles De Gaulle I was told that I needed to go back to the ticket office, I was given no reason for this and this was giving me less time to check in. I managed to finally speak to a lady who could not understand why they had sent me there until I told her that I flew in the night before. After 10 minutes of talking and phone calls (the time is now 9am) the lady I was dealing with said ‘I’m sorry but I have to leave’ and passed me onto someone else. I then had to explain everything again (this is now nearly 9.10am). She then tells me that because I didn’t get the connecting flight from Heathrow, which at this point had still not arrived, they had to CANCEL my original booking and had to sell me a new ticket. This shocked and amazed me as I already had a ticket from Paris to Russia and back to Paris then onto Heathrow I didn’t need another ticket! Unfortunately as you can imagine time is now ticking and I had no other choice but to stump up the 1599.95 Euro’s for another ticket (daylight robbery) after she told me that she may not even have an available seat, which I took as a joke because I was already booked on the same flight. They rushed me round to the check in desk, which was about to close and checked me in. I ran to the gate and made the flight within 5 minutes. My colleagues did manage to get the connecting flight from Heathrow and arrived again with minutes to spare.
It wasn’t until I got to Russia and was talking to my colleagues about the food on the flight that I realised I had been sold a S Class ticket, this disgusted me as I had no idea and I was given no other option for economy where there appeared lots of empty seats, all I wanted to do was get to Russia!
One I arrived in St Petersburg I waited for my baggage which did not arrive, again I was disgusted this was beginning to become to journey from hell, and although I don’t claim to travel that much I have never received such a bad service, I then had to fill in more forms in Russia and was told that my baggage (along with my colleagues) would arrive on the next flight from Paris the following day. This was not acceptable as I had clients arriving for a cocktail reception that evening with the conference beginning on the Thursday morning and I had no other clothes to change into…
My baggage arrived at 8.10pm on Thursday 5th February.
There are a number of issues I would like to raise. Firstly, why did I have to purchase another ticket when I already had one and was told this would be ok, secondly why was I up sold to S Class which made my ticket even more expensive and thirdly why did my baggage not arrive when I was checked in half an hour before the flight took off. If they knew my bags would not make it why did someone not tell me and I would of taken it with me as hand luggage.
This was a terrible service from Air France and one that has put me off from travelling with you again. I enclose a copy of my electronic ticket that I would like a full refund for and my bank details with IBAN number so the money can be transferred straight into my account.

DO NOT FLY AIR FRANCE

I had booked an Air France flight from London Heathrow to Delhi (India) departing on 17 Dec 2008 and returning on 17 Jan 2009. On 17th December 2008, I was travelling by Air France from London to Delhi. The journey involved a change-over of flights in Paris.

The flight from London Heathrow to Paris CDG was AF 1981. It was scheduled to leave at 06.40 (London time), and arrive in Paris CDG at 09.00 (Paris time). From there I was supposed to catch the connecting flight AF 148, scheduled to leave Paris CDG at 10.25 (Paris time), and arrive in Delhi at 23.00 (Delhi time) on 17th December 2008 night. But the flight from London to Paris, AF 1981, was delayed and it arrived in Paris at 12.21 (Paris time). This led to my missing the connecting flight, AF 0148, to Delhi on 17th December 2008.

My flight from LHR to Paris CDG (AF 1981) was delayed by several hours. I was told that the flight crew did not have the stipulated rest as was supposed to as the reason for the delay. Due to the delayed departure from Heathrow my connecting flight from Paris CDG to Delhi (AF 148) was missed. The Air France staff at Heathrow made a public announcement promising that flight from Paris CDG to Delhi (AF 148) is being delayed for us; so that passengers will be able to catch onward flight AF 148 to Delhi.

Surprisingly, when we reached Paris, Air France staff informed us that flight AF 148 had already departed. And that at no point of time they had communicated to their counterparts in LHR that flight AF 148 is delayed; for us to be able to catch it. It is disappointing to know that such a reputed airline does not operate transparently and just for their own convenience they had put so many passengers into trouble. So if the airline staff was aware that the flight AF 148 is not being delayed – they should not have flown me to Paris. The flight was destined to a non-EU country and therefore it was highly unlikely that passengers like me will have the right to enter Paris without having a transit/ Schengen visa.

When I bought the ticket from Air France, I entered into a contract with Air France which included the airline getting me to Delhi on the 17th Dec itself. I had no intention of entering or staying in France, and for that reason I had not gone through the trouble of getting a Schegen visa. It was Air France’s fault that they had delayed the LHR to Paris CDG flight because of which I missed my connecting flight. The immigration (police) officials at Paris decided not to grant me a (like many other fellow passengers) transit visa to stay overnight in a hotel in Paris.

It is also surprising that Air France staff at Paris CDG had poor communication skills. Paris CDG, being an international airport, the Air France staff should have been well conversant in English – most of Air France ground staff lacked the basic language skills. They were unable to understand the passengers and could not communicate properly.

I had left my house 3.30am (UK time) to catch my flight from LHR to Paris CDG. I had not eaten anything in the morning and just got a croissant in the flight AF 1981. Till about 4pm CET, we were left stranded at Paris CDG airport with no one providing us any food or water. Air France staff did not even realize that the passengers are hungry and thirsty and it is their responsibility to provide them the necessities. These are basic human understandings. These should have been provided without even anyone asking for it. The passengers had to fight for even these basics. I believe that the staff behavior was highly inappropriate. At last, when the Air France staff did manage to get a few sandwiches, most of it was non-vegetarian. Most of the passengers on the other hand including myself were vegetarian. I could not even get a sandwich to eat as the staff ran out of vegetarian sandwiches. Until about 10pm CET I had to survive on few chocolates I had in my handbag. The dinner we were provided was also very inappropriate. There was just a vending machine at the terminal where we were stranded but I did not have any Euros to use it.

Under such circumstances it is also the airline’s responsibility to provide calling cards to passengers so that the passengers could at the least inform their family members of the situation. My friends, family members and relatives in the UK as well as Delhi were so worried about my well being. The airline had very few calling cards which they soon ran out off. I could not get hold of a calling card.

My troubles did not end here. On my return flight (AF 147 & AF 1080) on 17 Jan 2009 my checked-in baggage was torn.

Under the circumstances specified above, as per EU laws, it is also the legal responsibility of Air France to inform me of my rights and information about where to complain. No such information was provided by Air France to me at any point of time.

For choosing to fly Air France, after paying for it, I was harassed in all possible ways. Stranded for approximately 24 hours in an airport with no blanket, no proper seating arrangement, nothing to eat or drink causing so much mental and physical stress to me in addition to the worries of my friends and family members. Additionally, we were moved from terminal to terminal by the security staff because of which we could not even rest properly at night. This was not only my worst ever flying experience but my worst life experience – thanks to Air France.

I lodged a written complaint to Air France Customer Service. I am still awaiting response.

I have recently used Air France for a trip to St Petersburg in Russia, and let me tell you something, never again! I have written a letter of complaint (see below) but to date have not heard back, If anyone else has had a similar experience and has either had a result or can give me any contact details then I would be eternally grateful. My mobile is [protected] or email at darrenmoore.[protected]@gmail.com
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10th February 2009
To whom it may concern,
I am writing with regard to a trip I made to St. Petersburg on Wednesday 4th February 2009. We were holding a Conference in Russia starting on the evening of Wednesday 4th February 2009 and had booked 4 tickets from London Heathrow, catching a flight from Paris then onto St Petersburg. Due to the adverse weather conditions on Monday 2nd February several flights were cancelled from Heathrow and we were concerned about being able to catch the flight from Paris to Russia. I called up Air France at Heathrow and was told that I could fly to Paris Tuesday night, stop over and be on time for the connecting flight. Which I did, I purchased a late ticket from London Luton by Easyjet and flew into Paris at 9pm that night. When I arrived the next morning to check in at Charles De Gaulle I was told that I needed to go back to the ticket office, I was given no reason for this and this was giving me less time to check in. I managed to finally speak to a lady who could not understand why they had sent me there until I told her that I flew in the night before. After 10 minutes of talking and phone calls (the time is now 9am) the lady I was dealing with said ‘I’m sorry but I have to leave’ and passed me onto someone else. I then had to explain everything again (this is now nearly 9.10am). She then tells me that because I didn’t get the connecting flight from Heathrow, which at this point had still not arrived, they had to CANCEL my original booking and had to sell me a new ticket. This shocked and amazed me as I already had a ticket from Paris to Russia and back to Paris then onto Heathrow I didn’t need another ticket! Unfortunately as you can imagine time is now ticking and I had no other choice but to stump up the 1599.95 Euro’s for another ticket (daylight robbery) after she told me that she may not even have an available seat, which I took as a joke because I was already booked on the same flight. They rushed me round to the check in desk, which was about to close and checked me in. I ran to the gate and made the flight within 5 minutes. My colleagues did manage to get the connecting flight from Heathrow and arrived again with minutes to spare.

It wasn’t until I got to Russia and was talking to my colleagues about the food on the flight that I realised I had been sold a S Class ticket, this disgusted me as I had no idea and I was given no other option for economy where there appeared lots of empty seats, all I wanted to do was get to Russia!

One I arrived in St Petersburg I waited for my baggage which did not arrive, again I was disgusted this was beginning to become to journey from hell, and although I don’t claim to travel that much I have never received such a bad service, I then had to fill in more forms in Russia and was told that my baggage (along with my colleagues) would arrive on the next flight from Paris the following day. This was not acceptable as I had clients arriving for a cocktail reception that evening with the conference beginning on the Thursday morning and I had no other clothes to change into…
My baggage arrived at 8.10pm on Thursday 5th February.
There are a number of issues I would like to raise. Firstly, why did I have to purchase another ticket when I already had one and was told this would be ok, secondly why was I up sold to S Class which made my ticket even more expensive and thirdly why did my baggage not arrive when I was checked in half an hour before the flight took off. If they knew my bags would not make it why did someone not tell me and I would of taken it with me as hand luggage.

This was a terrible service from Air France and one that has put me off from travelling with you again. I enclose a copy of my electronic ticket that I would like a full refund for and my bank details with IBAN number so the money can be transferred straight into my account.

I look forward to your reply

Regards
Mr Darren Moore

My husband and I bought three tickets thru Expedia for Paris in April 2008. My husband bought a Delta ticket, and I bought the other two on Air France. They share the same carrier so we would be on the same flight. Come the flight date I was extremely ill with a flu. I was told Air France would waive the penalty for reissuing a ticket if I had a doctors note, and that I would need to show it when I rebooked to AF. Both Expedia and Air France confirmed, we would have flight credit until April 2009. I called Expedia, Air France and Delta to confirm we would have flight credit until April 2009. Two weeks ago, I called AF and a booking rep confirmed we had flight credit in their database for two tickets, in my name and my sons. She was ready to book our flight and I asked to hold off while we considered more dates. On Saturday 11/29/08 I called AF to book our flights. This time I got a nervous rep who said she needed to read the rules on this ticket. In short, I had the pleasure of speaking with a supervisor who claimed, of their 8, 000 Customer Service representatives, he was the only person one could speak with and there was no one above him. Our problem was that now AF was refusing to honor our flight credit. This indifferent, smug Frenchman on the line, was reiterating the rules from his book that we had no flight credit. He refused to provide any address or name for me to discuss this problem. Two hours later, Expedia decided to give us a full refund. My husband has spent around a half million dollars with Expedia in the past six years, and they acknowledged their resonsibility in the communication of the--suddenly changed-- rules. While Air France decided to make big ### of themselves, Im happy to say Delta did not. Delta is honoring my husbands flight credit. Interestingly, Air France is also keeping their share of his flight credit for the same flight. So in all, Air France is keeping $1454.40 of our money for nothing. Suffice to say, we will NEVER FLY AIR FRANCE! And we are not really interested in going to Paris anytime soon.

As a Flying Blue Silver member (FB no. [protected]), I booked our honeymoon to Mauritius, at a travelagency, with the remark that we wanted to fly a SkyTeam Airliner. On the travel papers, we received, this was confirmed ("you will fly with Air France"). When embarking at Charles de Gaulle, it appeared we were flying an MK flight (Air Mauritius). In the meantime, the same flight was an Air France flight, so I asked if this could be corrected, so I could collect the airmiles. Unfortunately the KLM-Airfrance Desk informed us that we could not be helped.

The return flight was even more frustrating, since we (indeed) were flying an Air France plain (AF 963), without receiving the air-miles. Again I mentioned this at the check in desk, showed my card, but did not receive any help or other gesture. Since being a Silver member, I would have expected more service and cooperation of an airliner like KLM Air France.

Since we expected we could use the miles, for a new years visit to New York, we had to deal with quite some frustration, that could have been solved easily. Very disappointing.

To begin, flight AF2652 on November 2403, 2008 @ 07:35 from Paris to Kiev was delayed. Flight was late for an hour (1) for leaving, so I missed my appointment due to the flight delay.
Flight duration: 3 h
Meal: None
Drink: Water
Although staff was very professional and friendly, obviously well trained and air stewards and stewardesses were lovely and were very nice, however, I'm disappointed that such – just water - an airline offers virtually nothing. I would expect on this route much more than a water.
I expected a much higher level of service from Air France, and I am quite disappointed. I will be informing my friends and family about this experience.
Just a reminder that we are your profit and should be treated fairly.
I would highly request you to consider my complaint.
Thanks for understanding this matter.
Sincerely,
Olga Poryadynska
Kiev, Ukraine

I'll just post the complaint I sent to Air France, their treatment of pets is deplorable
To whom it may concern

Dear Madam/Sir,

On 5th August, we (my husband, 2 kittens and I) were travelling with your company from Sofia to Paris and from Paris to Montreal (details about the flight provided at the end of the letter). I'm glad to say that the flight from Sofia to Paris was pleasant and that the flight attendants were helpful and professional. However, we are very unhappy with the service we received from the Air France staff in Sofia, the place from where the tickets were purchased, as well as with the conditions during the flight from Paris to Montreal.

Even thought the tickets were booked 2 months in advance, no one in the office in Sofia was able to inform me about the requirements concerning the transportation of pets in the cabin. Even after calling the main office three times, and once the office at the Sofia airport, I still couldn't receive reliable information. For example, once I was told that if I take a pet I would not be able to have any hand luggage. I regret to say that the staff at the Sofia office and at the airport is poorly trained.

Additionally, we specifically requested to book seats at the back of the plane or in front (in our class), and were surprised when during both flights we were travelling in the middle of the plane. This was not a problem during the first flight (Sofia-Paris) because the seat next to us was available and we could put one of the cages there and the other on the floor. However, during the second flight (Paris-Montreal) the plane was full and we were ordered by the flight attendant to put the cages below our seats. Even though, we followed all instructions as to the measurements of the cages, it was so tight between the front and our seats that we had to put our feet on the cages and stay like that for more than 7 hours. Given that my husband is 1.90cm, this was a very unpleasant experience. The flight attendants were extremely unhelpful and rude, and refused to provide any assistance.

We chose to have our little cats (both are around 3 kilos) with us in the cabin, because it causes less stress to the animal and the possibility of fatal accident is reduced. Due to the deplorable conditions in which your company transports pets, I was not sure that they will survive the flight even though they were with us. I find your attitude towards animals horrific. The fact that I paid EUR 300 to transport 2 cats and that there was no designated place for the cages is shocking. Following this experience, neither I nor a member of my family will ever use your services again, with or without pets. Also, we strongly discourage any of our friends to fly with Air France. I strongly believe you have to seriously revise your rules and procedures, and, above all, to train your staff.

Flight information: Sofia – Paris, flight: AF 2687, date: August 5; Paris – Montreal, flight: AF 348, date: August 5

Regards,

Stefania

To Whom It May Concern,

I would like to make you aware of my experience on your Air France Airlines. My party of 10 people (4 business class seats and 6 economy seats) had a terrible trip departing, connecting and returning on your airline. The personal were rude, unhelpful and spiteful.

To begin, Flight AF0007 on June 24, 2008 @ 19:10 was delayed. We were told (by the stewardess) that the connecting flight in Paris would be held since we were 10 people. At Paris a bus with a sign "Venice" on it was sent to speed us from one terminal to the other. We were told that personnel were supposed to meet us and provide priority status, so we could move more quickly through immigration etc. and get to the gate on time for Flight 1426 @ 9:50 to Venice. No one was ever sent to assist us.

We inquired numerous times if we could get to the gate more quickly, but we were told by the airport staff "Don't Worry" the connection would wait, especially since we were 10 people. Not one of the airport staff called and inquired for us, the just said "Don't Worry".

When we arrived at the gate the flight had departed. Personnel at the gate said they were never informed we were on our way. Then we were told by another employee that they never wait for passengers. I don't know if your policy is to wait for passengers that have landed and are en route or if you do not wait. (I guess your employees don't know the answer either). When we became upset, one employee actually had the nerve to say Next time they won't send a bus to the terminal- They will let us walk! Actually, sending a bus was useless since there was no one to assist in getting to the front of the extremely long immigration line.

Because we missed our connection to Venice, our plans for a prepaid tour bus and a boat ride and a tour guide was not possible before we had to board our cruise ship. So we lost our money for those excursions.

Upon our return to the United States Flight 1427 @ 12:40 in Venice was delayed again. When the delayed boarding time was finally announced there was still enough time to make our Paris connection. But then, they announced that 4 people didn't board the plane. We now proceeded to wait 45 minutes more for these people to arrive. So, do you wait for passengers or not? Now with the departure delay and the added 45minute delay for those passengers. We now would miss our connection in Paris AF0010 @ `15:55.

Previous to our arrival in Paris the airline had rebooked us on AF004 @ 20:45. Upon our arrival we found there was a flight @ 18:00 that was available. So we went to the Transfer Desk in order to get on the 18:00 flight. We were the 1st passengers to arrive at the Transfer Desk. The agent confirmed that there were enough seats on the flight for my family of 10. Again we needed 4 business seats and 6 economy seats. He did not know why they put us on the later flight @ 20:45 when there were so many seats available on the earlier [protected]@ 18:00 (maybe they didn't expect our flight to land at the time it did)

We asked to speak to the manager. At this point we were quite upset trying to explain why we had to move to the earlier flight. The Supervisor C/Rousseliere @ the Air France Transfer Desk did not want to switch us. She said we were already booked on Flight AF004 @ 20:45 and there we would stay.

We explained to the supervisor:

1) That my grandfather and his wife are in their 80's and the longer wait is too taxing on them.

2) We had 4 infants that had to be picked up from babysitters and the later flight would get us home too late to get them.

3) We required special meals and with all the delays we had not eaten for many, many hours.

She lied and said there were no seats available on the earlier flight. We told her the original agent said there were plenty of seats available. Her reply was "The agent was mistaken".

My grandfather and his wife, who were part of my party, saw the attitude of the supervisor and quietly moved to another agent. My grandfather had no problem switching to the 18:00 flight with 2 business seats. Then my sister and her father went to this agent to also get on my grandfathers' flight. The new agent was in the process of giving my sister seat numbers, when the supervisor ran over and told the agent not to give my sister seats. She told the agent to tell my sister there were no seats available on the plane. Obviously the agent had to obey her supervisor and didn't give my sister and her father seats.

After they denied my sister seats we asked how the elderly couple (My grandfather and his wife) got seats on the flight, since she said there were none. She lied again and said they were already booked from much earlier in the day. Obviously this was not true since they were on the delayed flight with me. The supervisor was not aware the elderly couple was from my family.

The supervisor then went back behind closed doors. The original agent who called the supervisor to help make the changes said "when people are insistent that Air France Policy is to not help them. They automatically do nothing to assist them".

For your knowledge the 18:00 flight had at least 2 or more business class seats available for my parents and numerous economy seats for the rest of my family. The flight was definitely not full. My grandfather asked the stewardess/steward and he counted himself.

Our 20:45 flight was also delayed. In total it took us 24 hours to get home to New York from Venice. We had not eaten in this amount of time because we require special meals that did not arrive to the planes. Since we got home so late, my grand children were not picked up on time. We also had to pay the babysitters an extra days pay for the 4 infants.

The head office showrooms for Air France in Rabat, Morocco, refuse to sell tickets to English speaking people. I was informed, in French, that if I can not speak French or Arabic then they will not sell tickets to me. So I did go to Lufthansa (and they NOT demand that I speak german) and they are happy to sell tickets to people that speak English. I fly long-haul every month, and have only used Air France service recently for 4 flights, because now that I understand that they do not want to sell tickets to people that speak English, there are plenty of other airlines that are happy to take care of us English-speaking people.

All I said was... "Good Morning"... and i was immediately told... "if you can not speak French or Arabic then we can not deal with you". So I walked out and bought my flights from Lufthansa. It is sad that they should have such a narrow minded way of thinking in this modern world, to practice such a policy. I do speak a little French but realized that I was not welcome, so just took my money somewhere else.

Air France is the worst airline I have ever encountered, in addition to their shady sales practice, their have the worst customer service. Check out other complaints here before you even hear mine

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/air_france.html

My horror story is below.

Due to a family member’s sickness, I could not foresee myself being able to make the trip to Spain on March 17th – the original departure date. I called Air France on 3/11/2008 and 3/13/2008 and 3/17/2008 to cancel the trip but was informed the following unreasonable restrictions.

1. At the time of booking the flight, Air France informed me that in case I need to reschedule flight date I only need to pay $230 reschedule fee. They failed to inform the ticket is non-refundable, and for the worst, you cannot even exchange the ticket for a credit with Air France for which you can apply toward future travel with them. This restriction is a significant deviance from the mainstream air line practice that for them not to disclose to consumers at the time of purchase is very irresponsible.

2. Air France failed to inform customers at the point of reservation/purchase that any changes to the flight schedule must be made before March 17th original departure date or else the ticket will be treated as forfeited.

3. Trying to resolve the issue in an amicable manner, I tried to make compromises with Air France during my call with them on 3/11/2008, 3/13/2008 and 3/17/2008 by complying with their restrictions and reschedule the flight to an alternative future departure date. I requested to be rescheduled to ANY departure date that will cause minimal airfare difference between what I have already paid for vs what they will charge me for the new airfare. I was told by the reservation agent that ANY departure date they could reschedule me to will require me to pay $1, 500 for the new ticket in addition to the $230 penalty fee for making changes to my flight. In another word, I was left with no choice but to either forfeit the entire $520 airfare I’ve already paid for or else pay $1730 additional fee in order to use the supposedly $520 credit with them. A total of $2250 for flying to Madrid . (If I change the date again, I will have to pay more again).

I do not consider Air France practices to be fair in anyway to consumers (it’s more of a bait and switch sales practice) so consumers be aware, just save yourself the headache and trouble by staying away from them.

Important info for fellow AirFrance abusees: the SECRET NUMBER for the AF refund department is [protected]. Fax is [protected]. This information is not published on their website for obvious reasons.

I am a business-class traveller to Paris with regularity. Don't usually take the time to write gripe letters and have never before posted on a complaint board. Most of the time, time is better spent in moving forward, not looking back.

AF is the exception to the rule. My first and last AF flight was in October 2007, Dulles-to-Paris. My route since has since been and forever will be BA to Heathrow, car service into Waterloo, Chunnel to Gare du Nord.

Never never ever again Air France!

It is June 2008 as I write this and I am still dealing with the refund request made for a Paris-to-Dulles return flight that AF cancelled in October 2007 when their flight attendants went on strike. Getting off the continent was a nightmare. CdeG airport looked like a refugee camp and AF staff were totally unhelpful, stunningly incompetent and gratuitously rude. Actually, I didn't mind nearly so much for myself -- a reasonably hardened business traveler -- as for the thousands of vacationers, elderly in velcroed shoes and couples with young kids from all around the world -- who were standing in the airport, simply stunned at their treatment.

AF failed to respond for months either to my emailed or mailed refund submissions or to American Express, to whom I submitted copies of my AF inquiries to dispute the full RT charge that AF had posted to my account. I eventually received a letter from Amex saying that, because AF had failed to respond to them within their time limit, they were crediting my account for the entire RT airfare. This actually was fair given that the actual cost of getting back to the US -- returning to the hotel from CdeG via taxi, another hotel night, taxi to train station the next AM, Chunnel to London, taxi to Heathrow and last-minute high-price BA ticket to get home -- in fact exceeded the total RT fare on AF.

Then, however, in April 2008, I received an email from Amex saying that AF had resubmitted the charge (for the full RT fare!) and asking for my response. Concomitantly, I received an email from AF -- a "do not reply to this automated email, " with an attachment that included no person's name, no address and no phone or email -- demanding that I explain why I was due a refund for my return flight from CdeG to Dulles on October X. They must have forgotten about the strike. I was dumbfounded. (AmEx is not blameless in this mess, but that's a different story. Would any cardholder be permitted to dispute a settled charge 6+ months later? Apparently, there is no statute of limitations on merchants' claims.)

I have again filed all paperwork and submitted claim forms, as AF has no record of previous submissions. Just received another anonymous AF email yesterday in which AF allows as to how it has my return trip refund under consideration, but advising that it will not reimburse for any costs of getting home that were significantly above and beyond their return fare because I could produce only COPIES of air and train tickets and hotel bills, not the ORIGINALS -- the originals, of course, having been submitted last October to the company on whose behalf I was traveling and which have long since been shredded in the accounting department.

I give up. The disputed amount is less than a rounding error in the world of business travel, and the company that actually bore these costs is more than fine with just letting this all go rather than waste more of my and their time. AF wins by wearing us all down. I have no more time for this other than venting through my first-ever complaint board posting, and the certainty that none of I, my family or my employees will ever again board an AF flight.

Bonne chance to all AF fliers; you'll need it!

Elle

Without going into excessive detail, as it's not really necessary, I found myself about to pass out from a severe diabetic crisis at a customer service desk in CDG in Paris. I asked for urgent medical aid, and was refused by the attendant. As I was about to pass out, the rage of the other travelers around me encouraged the AF agent to do something. He called, not a doctor, but a wheelchair attendant, whom he ordered to load me onto the plane for New York. I passed out before take off, and no one seemed to have noticed, but fortunately I awoke again from the coma somewhere over the Atlantic.

Article 223-6 of the French penal code, as well as the French constitution, declare that the right of a person in need to necessary aid must be respected. When I complained about this incident Air France responded that after a thorough investigation, they had found that I was lying...seeing my condition, the Air France agent had proposed I see a doctor, and that I had refused his offer of assistance. Even if this were true, ordering someone to load me onto the plane put other passengers at greater risk, because to save my life the plane might have had to make an emergency, unscheduled landing.

No consumer or legal organization has been able to contrast the power of Air France, not even the French Police, with whom I filed charges.

Flight AF 267 from Seoul to Paris, which I experienced on January 12, 2008, was extremely uncomfortable. The Boeing 777 used for this flight had a seating arrangement installed for economy that borders on the inhuman. It is patently not suitable for 10-12 hour flights. It was like a kind of torture.

I am not a large person. I am just 75 kgs and I'm under 6 feet tall, but what I was expected to fit into gave me practically not moving space at all. I don't even believe in such conditions when it comes to livestock animals, and yet here I was reduced to the same kind of confinement. I find it hard to believe that anyone else could find this restricted space acceptable. Why do people put up with it?

After arriving in Paris, we transfered to a flight to Nice on what I believe was an Airbus A320. This aircraft actually had leg room, by which I mean room for a pair of average legs plus some extra space for leg movement. This kind of aircraft would have been much better for the Seoul to Paris flight.

What made Seoul Incheon to Paris all the worse was the rude and inconsiderate passengers in the row in front of me, who were French, by the way, not Korean. As soon as these rude individuals sat down they inclined their seats as far back as they would go, and that's how they stayed for the duration of the flight. That reduced my space considerably. Sometimes the guy in front of my was bouncing on his seat as if to try and force it back further.

I had to get out to stretch at one point and upon my return I looked at the space I was expected to fit in by and I just couldn't believe it. I actually went and inspected other rows to check that my seating was not worse then everyone else's.

Does Air France use such a torturous seating arrangement because it's a Korean flight and because there is a mistaken belief that Koreans are smaller than Caucasians? It is true that the Japanese are smaller on average than Caucasians, and it might have once been true of Koreans, but it is not true of the average Korean anymore, especially the males. Air France needs to adjust its policy, not just for Caucasians like me flying out of Korea, but for Koreans, too.

On top of everything an incident occurred that could only be described as discrimination. My wife, who is Korean, was like me finding the confinement of the seating hard to cope with. By the way, she is somewhat smaller than me, and even she found it torturous. The woman in front of her ignored any protest. At one point, it got too much for my wife and she asked one of the stewards to get the person in front to put her seat up. The steward simply shrugged and did nothing. However, later, my wife noticed a steward asking a Korean passenger to put their seat up at the request of someone seated behind them.

Is there a special rule for French passengers and another rule for everyone else? It would seem so because, to add insult to injury, the rude people in front of us were not even made to put their seats up during meal service. Putting seats upright is usually a standard requirement on all airlines at meal times. Why does Air France not practice this policy? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to eat a meal when the person in front of you has the seat back as far as it will go?

Another issue that made flight AF 267 a draining experience was that the video screens on the seats were not of a consistent size. It seem completely random as to who got a good screen and who didn't. Some people had new larger screens while others like me, who presumably paid the same price for a ticket, got a tiny old fashion screen that was like watching an iPod. This only added to the resentment of the conditions I was expected to endure.

Air France has a monopoly on direct flights to Paris from Korea, so I presume the airline believes it can get away with anything. However, I suggest that Air France should rethink their seating policies and upgrade their fleet. I certainly won't be taking the direct route to Paris again on Air France until I hear that conditions are better.

To learn how to improve Air France need only look and learn from the Koreans. The flight back from Paris was magical with Korean Air compared to the torture of getting there with Air France. With Korean Air, people in economy have more space. The video screens were the largest I had ever seen and the viewing selections the widest range I have ever seen. There must have been about 20 to 30 movies to watch. The staff ensures seats are upright at meal times and were courteous at all times.

I won't go on because, quite frankly, what the French could learn from Koreans, in terms of customer service, transport and consideration of others, would fill an entire book.

I was on a Flight AF1275 on 28.01.2008 with connecting Flight AF0204. The Flight AF1275 was delayed because of which I missed my connecting Flight AF0204. The Flight AF1275 was scheduled to land at 09.20 hrs, actually landed at 09.50 hrs and by the time to reach the gate it was 10.05 hrs. I had to run to my next flight Gate and I was there at 10.25 hrs but the flight had gone. If the first flight is delayed for no fault of passenger, the second flight shall wait for the passenger coming from connecting flight especially when it is a matter of just 10-15min.

My complaint is basically for the alternative arrangement made for me inspite of better arrangement could have been very much possible. I have been ask to wait for 13hrs at CDG airport for next flight. I was suppose to go to Chennai, India. The new route which was given to me was Paris-singapore (13hrs waiting at CDG & 12.30hrs flight) and another flight Singapore-chennai (2.50hrs waiting at singapore & 4hrs flight). There was a flight Paris-Dubai at 13.30 hrs and there is good connection from Dubai to Chennai by other airlines. I requested a lot but he attending officer were so rude and non-cooperative. I was given just one Sandwitch and Cold drink coupon for 13hrs waiting at airport.

I not only missed my Business schedule in India but also lost one complete day. I shall be compensated fairly for the trouble caused to me for my no mistake (except choosing Air France to fly).

I received a letter from someone named Dejan Dumik regarding a letter of complaint I sent not too long ago. After a trip to Paris for business on Air France it was discovered that my luggage was not on the flight with me. Once I had reached my hotel I was told that the luggage would be delivered that evening. That did not happen. I was then told on the next day that it would come at noon. That did not happen. Then I was told it would come at 16:00 h. That did not happen. Then I was told it would be shipped to me and that they were “sorry” for the inconvenience. As I had another stop to make and I did not want to go shopping at H&M for 100 Euros worth of clothes to get me through my trip I went to the airport and picked up my bag. As a result I missed my scheduled train and had to stay in Paris another night. (It was to Germany and trains don’t run that often to certain countries.) Through my frequent traveling I was able to procure a deal with a hotel that was relatively inexpensive and I took a train the next day... no appointments missed. All of this came to around 100 Euros, which, according to the nice young lady that helped me at the Air France Baggage counter, was the amount that would be covered by Air France should I not get my luggage when I was told I would.

Dejan Dumik wrote me and told me about some obscure Article XV. That is unacceptable. When the largest, or one of the largest, airlines in the world bickers over 100 Euros there is a problem somewhere. Had the service run as it should have; had I received my bags when I was told I would receive them instead of getting the “run-around” I never would have had cause to write a letter or go to the airport to get my baggage. Now, Dejan Dumik has my receipts and has the nerve to tell me I can’t be compensated for my time or the inconvenience.

This airline sucks, and that's putting it nicely. If you have the choice between Air France and walking... I would advise walking... you'll be sure to arrive tired and hungry but with your luggage and a fresh change of clothes!

During my recent trip to INdia, I had bought a musical instrument veena and transported as a baggage in Air France. It did not make it to the airport and they had a list which said so. Now they are saying I made a claim after four days thanks to their wrong information about the airport timings in their consumer center.

I did not know that I had to make a claim immediately. I was not told by the Air France employee and I do not have past experience with it. When I called next day the customer service center also did not advice me of the same. They had wrong timings of the Boston airport baggage center as well in their database. These factors resulted in me in visiting airport twice and not having the ability to get in touch with anybody. The tonnes of calls left with the Boston airport air france baggage center was not returned. Eventually I filed a claim on Thursday which as four days after my arrival. Now the reply from Air France is you made a late claim and we are not responsible for your loss.

My Sister Tejal Tandon flying on 24/10/07 through Air France from Vienna At to Paris Fr through flight No Af2639 which was delayed by 40mins from Vienna in which she had a connecting flight from Paris FR to Mumbai IN through flight No AF134 of 24/10/07 which was missed due to late flight which flew from Vienna AT to Paris FR.

There is no one to help her as my sister is sitting in Terminal 2B near paris de paris there is no Accommodation provided by the airline no meal given to her.

Please someone help my sister as she required Attention or we will be unwontedly have to take this matter to Consumer court.

You can call me on my cell No +[protected] / +[protected]

Air France's employee rudeness is institutionalized. I had purchased confirmed reservations on a trip with multiple legs. Air France suddenly moved one of those legs forward by 1 day, without adjusting the other legs, so I would have shown up at the connecting airport one day late.

I caught the error immediately - then had to spend 8 hours on the phone over the next week, either on hold (45 minutes average time to get through to their so-called Customer Service) or talking to incredibly rude, arrogant and downright hostile incompetents. Eventually got through to a somewhat polite supervisor. This person demanded that I had to be issued new tickets - by the travel agency, since there was more than 10 days left. The agency told Air France that they should issue the new tickets. Eventually the Air France supervisor who directed me to go to a local airport Air France counter to get new tickets issued. When I got there - guess what?

1. They made me and my wife wait OUTSIDE their office (during posted office hours) because the supervisor was "training" an employee (in rudeness, no doubt).
2. Asked us to return in 10 minutes after she heard why we were there (standing outside, of course).
3. When we came back, the supervisor just hastily left.
4. The now-trained rude and hostile employee demonstrated here training on us, with a dazzling display of racist arrogance and hostility that would have left Inspecteur Clouseau speechless in admiration. She flat-out refused to issue the new tickets. She demanded that we send our tickets to some address in some other state. I asked for a copy of the memo that authorized that, so I had some basis for sending my tickets out to an entity who had promised nothing. She refused, saying it was an "internal corporate communication". I asked to speak to the supervisor who told her to do this - she said that person was an internal corporate superrvisor who would not speak to customers.
She told me that I was not Air France's passenger! (Because the ticket, though it said AIR FRANCE, was issued by a prominent global travel agency that probably does 40% of Air France's ticket sales!)

This airline needs to fire its Customer Service Vice-President. The natural rudeness of their employees is doing fine at showing off the quality of the airline and their nation without a highly-paid VP training them to do so.

75% of Air France staff I have had the misfortune to deal with so far, are hostile, rude, and utterly, totally clueless. There have been a very few decent flight crew, and that one supervisor, who seem to be in the wrong company.

This rudeness has GOT to be corporate policy, if it is not a national trait. Maybe they have schools (I mean "ecoles") where they teach gratuitous rudeness?