Air France

[BENJI 8]

Flying Dublin to BKK via Charles De Gaulle. Have 2 hour layover which should be plenty but have heard lots of bad stories about CDG. Have to get from terminal 2E to 2F. Anyone have experience of this?.

[jacko 8,813]

Flying Dublin to BKK via Charles De Gaulle. Have 2 hour layover which should be plenty but have heard lots of bad stories about CDG. Have to get from terminal 2E to 2F. Anyone have experience of this?.

Yes, I am afraid it is a crap airport, but you have plenty of time.

Read the signs....... don't expect any help from the locals unless you speak fluent French.... otherwise they mock you!

[Fatboyfat 361]

2E is directly opposite 2F (covered walkway) and is a 5 minute walk at the very most.

[monochromeman 41]

Flying Dublin to BKK via Charles De Gaulle. Have 2 hour layover which should be plenty but have heard lots of bad stories about CDG. Have to get from terminal 2E to 2F. Anyone have experience of this?.

 

Air France/CDG are on my never fly with/to again list due to their attitude when me and GF got stranded there on way back to LON from BKK due to fog. Shite airport. Cold in winter. It was freezing in fact. They refused to give updates on when flight to LON would be [if ever]. The Air France staff actually RAN AWAY [i'm not exaggerating they actually ran like it was a kid's joke] when an English guy on my flight went to talk to them. They ALL ran and locked themselves in behind a staff only door. Elsewhere in CDG, my GF spoke non standard French and they wanted nothing to do with it. They could all speak English but preferred me struggling in my 1970's schoolboy french. It was the ignorance of running away and deliberate offensiveness that made me say never again.

[Gus 97]

"The Air France staff actually RAN AWAY [i'm not exaggerating they actually ran like it was a kid's joke]"

 

Sounds par for the course. :)

[jacko 8,813]

"The Air France staff actually RAN AWAY [i'm not exaggerating they actually ran like it was a kid's joke]"

 

Sounds par for the course. :)

Once did an Air France flight to Sao Paulo and in Biz Class they wouldn't answer the service bell. They were all sat in the galley smoking with the no smoking cabin on the other side of their curtain.That was a long time ago and my last AF flight. Had to watch out when booking to Bangkok with KLM though as they came up with AF flights.

[the_inspector 6]

It's a horrible airport but 2 hours is plenty of time!

 

I flew AirFrance last December to BKK and have no complaints what so ever, i actually found it to be much better than expected! (I fly KLM/AirFrance within Europe weekly)

[TheFiend 1,181]

Have flown Air France and KLM, and I wasn't impressed with either of them.

 

The highlight of the KLM trip was enjoying a pint of Murphy's in Schipol on my way back

[jacko 8,813]

Have flown Air France and KLM, and I wasn't impressed with either of them.

 

The highlight of the KLM trip was enjoying a pint of Murphy's in Schipol on my way back

KLM used to serve Grolsch beer in Biz class with the spring loaded top..... ..... that impressed me.

I think they went to cans.......

[Trvlr 50]

Once did an Air France flight to Sao Paulo and in Biz Class they wouldn't answer the service bell. They were all sat in the galley smoking with the no smoking cabin on the other side of their curtain.That was a long time ago and my last AF flight. Had to watch out when booking to Bangkok with KLM though as they came up with AF flights.

 

Maybe it's the accent.

I have flown LAX-Paris in biz class a few times and found the service to be fine, better than fine actually. The crew was pleasant and responsive, and a couple of the girls took time to go over the workings of one of those chronometers, that I had bought on a previous flight.

The Paris airport has its quirks. But crap? Well, I guess that depends on your experience - I was okay with it. I would say it is probably better than the mess that LAX is these days. (They are investing heavily in an attempt to improve it, but they don't have much leeway, being surrounded by heavily populated areas, and with the Pacific at one end.)

And I also find puzzling the story that the French do not help anyone who speaks English. Again, maybe it is an extreme accent that they do not understand. I asked for directions and help on many occasions and was never disappointed. I remember once a woman went out of her way to lead me to the correct train platform, and it was a day when it rained heavily.

[jacko 8,813]

Maybe it's the accent.

I have flown LAX-Paris in biz class a few times and found the service to be fine, better than fine actually. The crew was pleasant and responsive, and a couple of the girls took time to go over the workings of one of those chronometers, that I had bought on a previous flight.

The Paris airport has its quirks. But crap? Well, I guess that depends on your experience - I was okay with it. I would say it is probably better than the mess that LAX is these days. (They are investing heavily in an attempt to improve it, but they don't have much leeway, being surrounded by heavily populated areas, and with the Pacific at one end.)

And I also find puzzling the story that the French do not help anyone who speaks English. Again, maybe it is an extreme accent that they do not understand. I asked for directions and help on many occasions and was never disappointed. I remember once a woman went out of her way to lead me to the correct train platform, and it was a day when it rained heavily.

It is a well known issue more particularly with Parisiennes, it may also be a hangover opinion from some years back.

Comparing a crap airport with another crap airport isn't perhaps the way to go.

Edited August 22, 2013 by jacko

[Trvlr 50]

It is a well known issue more particularly with Parisiennes, it may also be a hangover opinion from some years back.

Comparing a crap airport with another crap airport isn't perhaps the way to go.

 

I am well aware of what I consider the myth of the rude Parisian (Parisienne refers to females only - if you are referring to women only, I actually found them extremely helpful).

There may be some truth to it, but I have been going there since the 1980s and have not run into any issues. And English is my only working language. I was putting forward the theory that some English and American accents are so thick that they are incomprehensible. I know of some Angelenos who would run away from such an accent! And there is also the possibility that it is not English that is putting off some French folks, but the English. And then there is the fact that some people have trouble wherever they are.

As to comparing CDG to LAX, the point was that LAX is not crap as a functional airport. It can get messed up sometimes due to construction, it presents a tired image, it does not have flashy stores lining the walkways. But it moves 60-odd million people every year about as efficiently as a huge modern airport can, and provides most necessities that travellers need. Maybe I have low expectations, but I did not find CDG so terrible.

However, I will defer to people who had not-so-good experiences there - they undoubtedly suffered, and I sympathize with them.

[jacko 8,813]

I am well aware of what I consider the myth of the rude Parisian

There is a lot more than one of them.

[Nightrider 340]

There is a lot more than one of them.

 

Yep , try all of them ( They hate us brits ) oh la la.....!

[monochromeman 41]

I am well aware of what I consider the myth of the rude Parisian (Parisienne refers to females only - if you are referring to women only, I actually found them extremely helpful).

There may be some truth to it, but I have been going there since the 1980s and have not run into any issues. And English is my only working language. I was putting forward the theory that some English and American accents are so thick that they are incomprehensible. I know of some Angelenos who would run away from such an accent! And there is also the possibility that it is not English that is putting off some French folks, but the English. And then there is the fact that some people have trouble wherever they are.

As to comparing CDG to LAX, the point was that LAX is not crap as a functional airport. It can get messed up sometimes due to construction, it presents a tired image, it does not have flashy stores lining the walkways. But it moves 60-odd million people every year about as efficiently as a huge modern airport can, and provides most necessities that travellers need. Maybe I have low expectations, but I did not find CDG so terrible.

However, I will defer to people who had not-so-good experiences there - they undoubtedly suffered, and I sympathize with them.

 

It's not accent it's just them being French. The bloke they ran from has an RP accent. Not that they'd know as they were locked behind closed doors before his lips moved (: I doubt they can tell regional accents either although they probably know American from British. Regardless, they're being paid to do a job.