Air France: Nice, Stylish, Helpful By Rancosto on Dec 06, 2007 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

I was a bit worried about using France Air for my trip to Europe after hearing a friend complain that he had missed his connecting flight in Paris because the connection window was too small, and nobody spoke English so he could not get any help. However, my tickets were already booked, and I decided to risk it.

I flew from Chicago to Paris, France, and then from Paris to Moscow, Russial. The connection window in Paris was indeed very small, I had only 45 minutes to switch planes. I was adviced to be quick about it as I checked in, which did not help to ease my anxiety. During the flight, I spoke to a flight attendant, asking him to check how close my boarding gate would be and, if possible, arrange one of those motor carts to take me there. I was assured that I had enough time: it was all in the same terminal, close enough for me to easily make my connection. Well, I don't know what went wrong, perhaps the plane was directed to park at a different gate in the last minute or something like that, but I was not in the same terminal. However, Air France was quick to help: there was a shuttle bus waiting for us passengers that took us to the right place; there, an airport employee stood waiting to further direct us to the right gate. I was among the last ones to board, but I had made my connection. My luggage hadn't, as I found out in Moscow. I guess they did not have enough time to load it into the plane... It all ended well though: I filled out a form, and my suitcases were safely delivered to me on the next day.

As you see, the flight was not perfect, but I have to say that the Air France personnel was very professional and helpful. I had not encountered the "nobody speaks English" problem; every flight attendant I talked to spoke good English and was very attentive. While I will avoid tight connection windows in the future, I would definitely choose to fly Air France again. I liiked the service, the in-flight entertainment (a choice of movies, music, cartoons, and computer games), and the price: Air France offered one of the best deals for my destination.