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Rouzbeh of Canoga Park CA (04/25/08)
On March 19, 2008 I tried to use the Amex points to receive a rewards international ticket. Once Amex was reached and they confirmed me to contact Air France regarding the ticket. I contacted Air France which they then informed me to contact Flying Blue to use the point for the rewards ticket. I contacted Flying Blue and they said that they were not able to search for any ticket without the Flying blue account number so I had to open a Flying Blue account and transfer 90 thousand miles point (80 thousand was the actual requirement for any international ticket) Once the miles were transferred which took between 3-4 days I contacted Flying Blue customer service to get the Rewards Ticket and since their availability in sitting is limited and also their customer service representative can only search for 20 day period I had to contact them over 5 times a day in order for them to be able to search for the ticket that I wanted.
Each time that I contacted Flying Blue with their Non-friendly customer service and they were not able to search and find a ticket for me since they only search for 20 days availability and after that they kept hanging up on me after numerous times. The only thing that they were able to inform me was to call back later and to keep trying, I was trying to get in contact with their supervisor or manager and they kept denying me that right. Finally on Tuesday April 1st while I was in Seattle I was able to find a ticket and got the confirmation and gave them my Amex card for airport taxes, and finally they were able to confirm it after a couple of hours (Confirmation YAYMPZ). Few hours after the confirmation was complete they called me and informed me to go to Air France airport in Seattle to get the ticket since the ticket was a paper ticket; I had to drive 40-50 miles in order to get to the airport. Unfortunately it was the opposite of what they had confirmed with me earlier and there was no one in their Air France office and I was informed that their office is open when they have flights only and the other days they will not have anyone available.
The day after (April 2nd) I was in Los Angeles and I contacted them and again they asked me to go to LAX airport and since their office is open from 6am-9pm at the airport I was going to be able to get the ticket there. I went to the airport to the Air France counter and talked to Rima K. and her manager and they said that they dont issue flying blue tickets at Air France office at the airport. They asked me to go to North West to see if they would give me the ticket and once I went to the North West office and talked to Martin at KLM and he said that they have nothing to do with Flying Blue and Air France tickets. So once again for the second time I had to drive back home over 40 miles with empty hands and very unsatisfied.
On Thursday (April 3rd) I called Flying Blue and talked to Chelsea Mathew which she told me that she was going to overnight the ticket to me due to their wrong information for 2 times and making me drive so long every time to go to airport. Since the ticket was purchased for my (over 70 years old) father in law I gave her his address and full contact information as well in case. We never got the ticket on Friday and since the flying blue offices are closed on Saturday and Sunday I had to wait till Monday which is departure date. During the weekend I had contacted the Air France a few times to see if they can do anything about my on going problem but on fortunately when there is an issue they have nothing to do with other departments so they would not be able to help me with Flying Blue ticket but What I did was to reserve another ticket just in case for Tuesday morning with reservation number for $1700.00 and they informed me that this reservation is only valid till Tuesday (since the phone was on speaker phone I have 2 wideness).
On Monday morning I called flying Blue at 8am and talked to Christian about the ticket and he said that the ticket was never issued nor mailed but he advised me to have my father in law to go to Seattle Airport Air France or KLM office and they can issue the ticket. I asked him (numerous times) if he can call to make sure that everything is fine at the airport because I had bad previous experiences and he said that they werent able to make any outgoing calls and he said that everything was fine 100%, so I sent my old Father in Law to get the ticket and unfortunately when he got there at 9:30AM they were closed again so I called Flying Blue again and talked to Andrew and Bob and both of them said that they were 100% sure that the Air France members were going to be there at 10:05am on Monday April 7, 2008 so my father in Law stayed there waiting and still no one showed up so Bob (Flying Blue customer service on the phone) advised me to send him to KLM office and he said for sure they can issue the ticket there. The poor old man had to walk over 1 mile in order for him to get to the KLM office as Flying Blue customer service on the phone advised us.
So he ends up going there to the KLM counter and talks to Matt and he tried all his best to contact Flying Blue and Air France but they didnt let him issue the ticket and on the other side I called Flying Blue again while Matt was on the phone with Flying blue and they were denying his request so I talked to Irene and she told me that everything is fine and that we just needed to get the ticket at the KLM office and when I put her on conference call with matt she said that they cant issue the paper ticket since it has to come from Canada. My father in law lost his flight and I called Air France to get the other ticket that was reserved for Tuesday but unfortunately they had sold my reservation ticket and my seat and now they offered me a ticket for over 3-4,000.00 dollars. Now we spent over 2 weeks of our time, headaches, phone calls, fights, broken promises trying to resolve this issue. I am back on my seat searching for a ticket once again; it was such a Air France Air line and Flying Blue, plus all the nightmares I had honestly I cant even look at my wife and his dad anymore. I wish they would charge me for a ticket price instead of going through all this like I had asked them to do so and leaving me with shame.
i had to buy another ticket for more price from another airline. over 2 weeks of waisted time, all headaches and etc
Sumedha of Sonepat OTHER (04/22/08)
Horrible experience...they stole or lost i dont know but my baggage was terribly mishandled and after that when i made the complaint they didnot reply....Why air france treat their customers in so terrible manner....Why dont it takes care of their time and money....Its so irresponsible....is anyone there who can contact me ....or li8sten to me?
80 euros loss+1000 rs loss in lodging the complaint
Mary of Flushing NY (03/17/08)
When you pay twice and have receipts why can you not get a refund? It does not make sense. It's bad business!
I'm out $2,703 dollars and stressed out. I will never fly Air France and will tell everybody.
Rama of Windsor OTHER (03/10/08)
I took a flight on Air France from Detroit to India. I had a good service all the way to India but when iIwas to come back to Detroit on 10 March, my flight was cancelled from Paris to Detroit. I was starved all day, I had to sleep on the floor in transit lounge of paris airport. I was given 10 minutes calling card to call some one, like my family who were waiting for me at Detroit airport. I was treated as though I was not a customer but a person flying free. These people treated rest of the passengers the same. They didn't had the brain to send some one out to get food for all these people. We had to live on Coke and muffins. No supper, lunch or any kind of food. Little children were hungry and I had to sleep on the floor at the airport because we didn't had the visa for France. Isn't that ridiculous, the way Air France treated their passengers. I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND AIR FRANCE TO ANYBODY EVER AGAIN.This is the worst airline I have ever experienced in my life. Now I wish I would have listen to my husband and flown British Airways.
Adity of Bristol OTHER (03/06/08)
I was traveling with my two children (5 yr old daughter and 2 month old son) from Delhi to Paris and then from Paris to Bristol. At the Delhi airport when I asked the ground staff of Air France to help me out, we were informed that as a policy economy class are not provided any assistance. I therefore had to push the baby stroller and the trolley myself with the help of my 5 year old daughter. Then at the check in counter we were informed that the baby stroller would be handed to us at Bristol directly and that I would have to travel with the hand baggage and the child in my arms from Terminal E to Terminal F. No assistance would be provided as we were traveling in the economy class. I had to plead to the staff to let me keep the stroller for I have severe back problems and wear a lumbar belt. No way would I be able to manage the baggage and the child in my arms for 4 hrs. till the next plane to Bristol. The air crew finally agreed.
The service on the plane too was substandard. I would call for the air hostess for hot water for the baby bottle, and at times they never showed up. It was kind of passengers traveling in the next seat to give me their baby's hot water. At Paris, the lady at the boarding desk for the Bristol flight informed me that I would have to go down the flight of stairs to the bus by myself, and as expected that they would not provide me with any assistance. When the flight was finally canceled, the ground staff paid no attention to me despite the fact that I was the only person traveling with children on the plane; and they could see that my children were hungry, tired and crying. Only when I finally broke down due to frustration, did they pay heed to me. I was not prepared for an 8 hr delay in reaching Bristol. The ground staff took no initiative to make us comfortable. I had to ask for baby food and nappies. When I asked the staff for hot water for the baby, I was given water from a coffee vending machine. It is 2 weeks and my son is still suffering from a stomach infection. I had registered a complaint on their web site No: 3258181001, and they have not even bothered to respond.
Emotional harassment that we went through, and we were tired lugging everything with no help from the staff.
Tony of Gurgaon OTHER (02/28/08)
Due to the incredible chaos at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, we were only at the Air France check-in at 00:45. However, we were 3 hours in front at the entrance of the Airport. Due to the chaos there we could not move forward, and it is not our fault that we were not on time at the check in. At the check-in there was no support for the stranded passengers. The only thing that was said to us was that MAYBE there would be another flight tomorrow evening and a number to call. I called that number on the 28th at 9:30 a.m. And I got the answer that we would have to pay an additional 200 euros to book the new flight. We were not the only passengers in that situation. Every time we were answered: "It's not the liability of Air France". I'm sorry BUT I'M NOT BUYING THIS NONSENSE. I myself have a business and often rely on third parties to deliver my services to my clients. IF MY OWN SUPPLIERS FAIL, THEN STILL I'M LIABLE TOWARDS MY CLIENTS. The arrogance in the way we are treated by Air France, the total lack of customer care and on top of that the ease by which their company waivers all its liability is STUNNING.
Stranded passengers were even not offered a cab or sleeping facilities or any other service. WE EVEN WERE NOT WARNED AHEAD OF TIME THAT WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE 6 HOURS BEFORE THE DEPARTURE HOUR IN THE AIRPORT. There was no help whatsoever from their side, even not for stranded passengers with small children or old people who had to climb over luggage and other people who waited for hours to reach the check in. Nobody even knew WHERE to check in. OF COURSE this is the liability of Air France. WE ARE NOT THE CLIENTS OF THE AIRPORT. WE ARE THE CLIENTS OF AIR FRANCE. Their arrogance of denying this liability forces me to take LEGAL STEPS against their company. I formally demand: a free ticket for us both on 28th or 29th Feb, compensation for the sufferings we had in the airport, compensation for the costs we had to make to go back to Gurgaon to our office and arrange for the night. We lost one complete working day (were in India for business) already. I want an indemnification for the lost time caused by them, I expect them to treat us as clients and not as cattle!
Hiendra of Thane Eat OTHER (02/12/08)
I took a flight from Zurich to Paris onwards connection to Mumbai by AF 134, with my baggage on the flight to Mumbai. The Baggage was lost on its way to India and not yet reached India. Since my all belongings were in the Bag and I did not have anything for my daily use including my clothes and other Accessories, I would like to request they allow me to buy at least two pairs of Clothes with other essentials. Mistakes of Air France need to compensate their customers, and secondary I am not interested in indulging myself in cheap activities by asking un-genuine claims. I would like them to kindly advice me of their claim procedure ASAP enabling me to proceed further, And for them to tell me time limit to receive my luggage
By the way, they need to try to improve their services, especially connecting flight services, otherwise they may have problems in getting dedicated customers in future like me.
Parikshat of Shimla OTHER (02/09/08)
Traumatic Experience Traveling On Air France: I along with my family of six traveled on Air France (AF 147) from Delhi to San Francisco via Paris on the 11thof December and traveled back on Air France (AF 148) on 24th--San Francisco to Delhi with a change of flight in Paris .On the Delhi to San Francisco flight we had opted for pure-veg meals, but we were served meals containing egg. When we complained to the on board staff, they were very arrogant and rude and refused to pay any heed. On reaching San Francisco we were told that two of our bags had been left in Paris, and as per airline rules we were entitled to 100 Euros each to meet our immediate needs and the same would be reimbursed once we file a claim with Air France in India. Despite repeated telephone calls and emails we have failed to illicit any response from the airline about the reimbursement and have ended up spending about $900 from our pocket.
Our ordeal did not end. On our return journey we again sent a request to Air France that on the 24th of January we should be served Asian Veg Meals (AVML) which according to their website does not contain any egg, but to our horror we were again served food containing egg on both New York Paris sector and Paris to India sector. My mother and children had to go without food on the both the flights. Our repeated complaints and protest fell to deaf ears, the staff was unresponsive and rude. On reaching Delhi we were told that our baggage had been left behind in Paris and would be delivered to us the next day. On receiving the baggage after more than 30 hours we found that three bags were badly torn and mishandled and some of the articles from the bags were missing .We have since that day tried to call Air France customer service, but every time our calls are put on hold. Our repeated emails to them have got no response. The whole episode besides hurting our religious sentiments has caused us great mental agony and has put us to a big monetary loss. The attitude of Air France seems to be highly unprofessional, unethical and arrogant. I am at the end of my wits how to deal with the whole issue.
Bala of Lexington MA (12/15/07)
Recently I had travelled to India to visit my dad using Air France. I had bought a musical instrument, a veena, and checked it as my baggage. When I arrived in Boston, the baggage did not make it and I was told by an Air France employee that it did not make it and will be delivered to my house the next day. As of today it has not arrived.
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 the airport twice and not having the ability to get in touch with anybody. The tons of calls left with the Boston airport Air France baggage center were not returned. Eventually I filed a claim on Thursday which was 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.
Richard of Torino Italy (10/26/07)
I was to fly from Turin to San Francisco via Paris on the 22nd October.
My flight AF2203 from Turin to Paris was scheduled to leave Turin at 07:10 and arrive in Paris at around 08:40. The onward flight to San Francisco was scheduled to leave at 10:15.
The Turin flight did not get off the ground until about 07:50.
After landing, by the time that I had waited for a bus to arrive to take us to the terminal, then waited for a second one to arrive (as I was not able to board the first) and then waited in the security queue for the shuttle to take me to terminal E and then travelled twice round the houses on the bus to get to terminal E, I arrived at the gate to find that the staff would not let me board.
Though perhaps not as bad as the experience reported by Ikela of E. Lansing MI (10/21/07), with whom I sympathise, many of the elements of her experience were present in mine (bad mannered staff, total lack of real understanding, suggestion that I myself may have been to blame for the late arrival at the gate for the flight to the US, an almost marxist sense of the division of labour applied to responsibility, mostly taken by nobody). Above all I am perplexed at the way the airline ignores, totally ignores, the possible inconvenience caused to the passenger.
Through dogged insistence (it was hard work) I managed to get myself on a flight to Cincinnati leaving just 90 minutes later than my original flight: but this nonetheless translated into a total trip time of 21 hours rather than the planned 14. I was told that my luggage would not be with me when I arrived and that I would receive it the day after. I am writing on the 26th October, I am still in California and my luggage has not yet been forwarded to me.
The airline does of course taken upon itself to complete its original task: that is transfer the passenger and his/her luggage to the original destination. But I would question the meaning of this task.
I bought a ticket to fly to California in 14 hours (Turin-Paris-SF) and arrive with my baggage: I did NOT buy a ticket to fly to California in 21 hours and arrive without my baggage. Therefore in some way I have been failed, as have all customers who undergo similar inconvenience, and I would want the airline to recognise this.
The airline does not, in fact, recognise this.
This is a sistemic fault.
The busy and somewhat rude staff at Charles de Gaulle Airport can only find a new itinerary, they can do nothing else!
The attentive staff at the Air France luggage office in the US (somewhere on the east coast) are not able to do anything except relocate and eventually forward missing luggage!
Consequences have been fairly simple, beyond the obvious inconvenience. I have had to buy such necessities as were in my luggage: Transformer for my PC, socks, pants, shirt, toiletries etc.. No big deal perhaps but this has cost me close to 200 US dollars and a few more hours of my time which should rather be dedicated to work.
In total, between airline and airport handling, about 12 hours of my time has been wasted unnecessarily, much stress has been caused and considerable inconvenience. My time and my comfort are of great value to me: apparently these do not even merit the attention of Air France.
Ikela of E. Lansing MI (10/21/07)
I am an Assistant Professor in Tourism Marketing. I have flown Air France recently and had an experience that was against everything I teach my students in terms of customer service. I flew from Hong Kong to attend a conference in Spain; and I had connections in France in both arrival and return flights. On my return flight, from Madrid to Paris, my consumer rights were violated and I was insulted and humiliated grossly.
When I arrived in Paris (Charles de Gaul Airport), there was only an hour and 5 minutes to my Hong Kong flight. I had to transfer to another terminal for the Hong Kong flight. In a panic, I rushed to the transfer bus, where I and many other international passengers were kept waiting with no explanation. We reminded the gate keepers about our flight time so that they can hurry about bringing a bus but the answer we received was: you just wait? The bus arrived, passengers rushed to it but the bus waited another five minutes so that it was jam-packed before it took off. By the time we arrived at the security check point, there were only 30 minutes to my flight. There were two long lines in front of the security check point because only two lines were open with personnel attending the scanners. The security check was quite thorough and therefore slow, so some passengers including me were anxious about missing their flights. Again, we reminded the security personnel that we might miss our flights; the answer we received was: not my problem? After I came out of the security scan, one female personnel wanted to search me although there was no signal from the scanner. And I was trying to hurry by saying that my flight is about to leave; her response was: not my fault? By this time, there were 10 minutes to my flight, I rushed to the Gate, but it was the wrong gate, the gate number on my boarding pass was wrong, so I rushed to the correct one.
When I arrived to the right gate, there were five minutes to my flight. There were one male and four female (one of them Asian) gate agents. The Asian female agent approached to me, I showed her my passport and boarding pass, but she responded that it was finished, with a sympathizing manner. I could see that the gateway to the plane was still up and connected; so, I replied: I see the plane is still there and the gateway is up, why dont you just let me go?? The male agent approached to me right away and said: Madam it is not a train you know, we closed, you have to wait for the next flight, which is tonight at 11 oclock. That flight was 10 hours later. It did not make sense to me at all; I tried to explain to him that we had to wait for the bus and for the security check, but he did not listen, did not even look at me. The Asian agent was looking sorry; other female agents did not even hear the problem because they were counting boarding passes. Another passenger, an elderly Dutch gentleman, came in a hurry, the agent told him they were closed, by showing more empathy. Then, the male gate agent started talking with the other agents in French. I was really upset because they did not seem to care; so I said: The plane is still waiting, why cant we just go? But they did not even seem to hear me. Then, he turned to us and asked us to follow him so that he can re-issue a ticket for us. On the way there, I saw another passenger (Asian) rushing to the gate; I knew he was also on that flight because he was talking to people on the security check line about missing the flight to Hong Kong. But the female gate agents must have let him in because I have not seen him again for the rest of that day or on the next flight.
When we were being taken to a re-ticketing agent, I kept expressing my disappointment. The Dutch gentleman was so shocked that he had to take a pill to calm himself down. We passed through the security check again and went to one of the re-ticketing agents; the gate agent started talking to a dark-skinned re-ticketing agent in French. The re-ticketing agent looked at me and smiled. They chatted in French for about two minutes; let alone showing understanding, they seemed to be having fun with the situation. The re-ticketing agent asked for my passport, when they saw my passport their attitude became even worse; they looked at each other, talked in French again, with a confirmed manner and the gate agent left.
Then, the re-ticketing agent told me that my situation was different from the gentlemans situation because his flight was late but my flight was on time, and it was my fault that I missed the flight; he said it without checking anything on my flight. I could not believe what I was hearing. In fact, the Dutch gentleman was saying that he arrived an hour and half ago but still could not make it. Obviously, my being upset with the situation and expressing disappointment coupled with my national identity were good reasons for them to treat my case differently. I tried to tell him about the waiting, but he kept saying it is you madam, most people make it, so it is your fault, Air France is not responsible for your situation because Air France is never late. I was not arguing that Air France was late, but trying to tell him that we were kept waiting so they should show a little understanding but he did not even listen. He served the Dutch gentleman with a new ticket and a voucher for sandwich and drinks in an apologetic manner; and he gave me a new ticket with an attitude and turned his head without any further explanation.
During this process, other customers were around as well (most probably French), they heard all conversations and kept looking at me. The Dutch gentleman and I waited ten hours that day, for the next flight at night. The lack of common sense, empathy, customer care, friendliness, courtesy, namely, those qualities necessary for sensible customer service on the part of the personnel of Charles de Gaul Airport as well as the personnel of Air France cost us several hours of waiting and physical and emotional distress.
This is the most outrageous experience I have ever had. My rights were violated; I was discriminated and quite honestly abused, humiliated and insulted by the personnel of Air France. Therefore, I wrote a complain letter addressing to the CEO of Air France, Jean-Cyril Spinetta, and demanded apology from the responsible personnel as well as compensation. I faxed this letter to several offices of Air France, including its customer service office and headquarters; also e-mailed it to several related personnel. However, to this date, I did not receive any response. I am assuming that the CEO of a national flag carrier airline must have received the news from his personnel; otherwise, appropriate business, management and marketing would have been only joke terminologies for them.
I study consumer behavior. I know for a fact that consumers usually do not complain because they feel that it would not matter even if they did because they see no difference, no corrective action or apology from the wrongdoer; so the wrongdoer gets away with it most of the time. However, I also know for a fact that successful companies do take corrective action because they care about their consumer based brand equity. Turning such negative experiences into positive ones to contribute to their brand equity is in their hands. They can turn a dissatisfied customer into a loyal one with a positive word-of-mouth. ALL needed is CARE. But I guess Air France is not one of them; THEY JUST DONT CARE!
Nancy of Pasadena MD (09/24/07)
I am writing to tell you about the experience my husband and I had on a recent Air France trip from New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG). While our stay in Italy was wonderful, I have to say that the journey we took to get there was the most miserable travel experience either of us has ever had. The problem was that we had a connecting flight from CDG to Pisa (PSA) that left one hour and 25 minutes after we arrived, so we were naturally concerned that we would miss our connecting flight. About an hour before we were supposed to land, I attempted for 20 minutes to contact a flight attendant to discuss any options we might have to expedite our travel through the airport so we could make our connecting flight. The first flight attendant I found very rudely put her hand up in my face and walked right by.
But once seated on the plane, we both realized what a long trip home it would be, for in front of us sat a screaming 2-year-old boy with a dirty diaper. I am not exaggerating when I say that this child screamed, cried, sang, shouted, jumped up and down on his seat, and ran up and down the aisle for the entire 7-plus hour trip most of the time with a dirty diaper. The child was clearly disturbing all of the passengers around him, yet not once did a flight attendant suggest that maybe the parents could try to get the child to be a little quieter. It was bad enough that the child made noise for the entire flight (while the parents slept!), but he continued to do so during the hour and a half we spent sitting on the runway to get to our gate at JFK.
Mek of Rome (08/24/07)
This is the worst flight of all my life. The flight assistants were so rude and I had to fly 7 hrs without sleep. I think the airline has to organise how to assign seats for it's clients. This airline says it has special care for babies but this should be done taking into consideration the interest of other passangers too. esp. in long flights one should be given the minimum of respect to get some sleep and rest. The crew members were not at all interested in giving you other seats at all. Very bad customer service. Very bad indeed.
Mary of Whitestone NY (06/10/07)
Paid for Ticket to travel agent. Never received it.Went to airport with ID was told could not get on plane unless i paid again. Called the travel agent she said to pay and they would take care of the problem and I would be refunded by air france. Never happened. I have 2 receipt payments for the same trip.
Andrew of Bedford Hills NY (04/09/07)
I arrived in Paris Charles Degaulle two hours late because of an AF flight delay. I raced through the airport trying to get to a waiting connection to New York. A diabetic, I felt weak, and when I got to an AF customer service desk, I informed the attendant. I measured my blood sugar in front of him with a portable meter, and showed him it was dangerously low, and requested emergency medical aid. To my surprise, he said, as soon as I finish booking these other passengers. There were about twenty.
I waited until I started to see colors and hear echoes, and then pleaded with him again to call a doctor. He called, not a doctor, but a wheelchair attendant, who speeded me past the handbag control point, and onto the plane. I don't remember anything until I awoke somewhere over the Atlantic.
I contacted Air France, doing all they asked, and four months later was told that as a result of their investigation, they'd found that the attendant had asked me if I needed a doctor, and that I had refused help. Standing at the counter with me were several other passengers, who, seeing the attendant refuse my request for a doctor, had given me their business cards and said they'd testify if I needed them to. I offered the names of these passengers to Air France, but they refused to accept them.
Richard of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (04/06/07)
My friend from Namibia was going to visit me in Cuba, flying in with Air France. He did not need a Visa for Cuba as he is Namibian. Unfortunately immigration detained him and I waited for 3 hours. After 3 hours I asked the Air-France office if he had come. They rudely said that they could not give me that information as this is confidential. The day after Air France office informed me he had a reservation, so should be in the country. Only after 2 days my friend emailed me that he was sent back to Namibia using Air France!
If they had informed me he was at the airport I likely could have followed up with immigration. If the town office would have told me he had been sent back, I could have informed the hotels I had booked we were not coming. The Air France office told me they could not find such information, while they themselves had taken him back.
Leaj M of Atlanta GA (03/20/07)
my husband, my 3 month old baby and I were denied boarding because of Air France & Delta agent ignorance. We got another ticket from a different airline. Now Air France will not refund our money for the unused tickets. That's the most rude, inhuman, expensive, good for nothing airline I'd ever known. I will never, ever fly them again. I had to purchase tickets with a different airline on the spot at almost $10,000.
Fadi of Brooklyn NY (01/30/07)
I was traveling from Damascus, Syria, to New York City, with a connecting flight in Paris (Flight 006 on Jan. 17, 2007)--already one can see where this is going. Never have I felt as humiliated, disrepected, profiled, and discarded as I did on this trip during my brief stop in Paris. Not that it should matter, but I am a Catholic American citizen, living in the U.S. now for 23 years, ever since I left my homeland of Syria in 1986.
I had gone to Damascus to escort my elderly mother of 74 back home after her visit with her sister after an accidental fall. My mother does not get around so well; ever since her cancer, following various other mishaps, I've used special caution when traveling with her. Thus, I had requested a wheelchair when purchasing our airline tickets; however, it was to no avail. Upon our arrival at Charles De Gaulle airport, we were told that there was no wheelchair available and asked to wait at the gate for staff to locate one. After 20 minutes, I was told I had to leave the gate because it was closing, and directed towards the terminal's central authority.
Meanwhile, I and my mother, carrying all of our luggage, had to treck another 20 minutes, past some 20 odd gates to reach this destination without any help, concern, or apology. Finally, I received a wheelchair and proceeded to a bus to be transported to another terminal (literally another building), wherein I experienced severe harrassment and abuse by security officials, never having really entered Paris to begin with. I had already gone through this screening process in Damascus, and found a second one highly unneccessary; airport staff responded to my concerns and complaints with arrogance and attitude.
The more concern expressed by me for my mother's condition, the more harshly we were treated. After she broke down crying, and we almost missed our flight (the connecting time of which was two hours), we finally boarded the plane--just barely. Before boarding the plane to New York, at the gate, I attempted to resolve my complaint one final time. In response to my concerns, Air France management told me they should have charged me for a wheelchair because not everyone needs one. This insinuation implied that due to customer's needless demand for wheelchairs when they don't need them, one was not available. This was their apology. Needeless to say, I will never again fly Air France.
Jurij of Sierra Madre CA (01/10/07)
On the flight from Paris to LAX on sept. 16th 2006 all my baggage was lost. I reported a missing baggage at LAX to Air France representative and gave her all the neccessary tags. 7 bags reached me in two days, the last one was never discovered. It was a portable baby crib which cost me about 150 euro. After calling Air France customer service I was instructed to wait for 21 days in case the bag shows up. After 3 weeks I was asked to send an inventory letter in which I described the missing item. My first letter was ignored so after two weeks they told me to send another one and explained to me that they have to re-open the case, whatever that means. I was told I would receive an official letter from them in two weeks.
A month has passed, there was no letter so I called them again (maybe for the 10th time already). A guy on the phone told me that my claim hasn't been processed yet and assured me that he will take care of that, his name was Robert. Another month went bye and again no sign of life from Air France. I called them again (12/07/06), this time It was Sharonn who told me to call back in 2-3 days to make sure my claim would finnaly be handled. I called after 11 days (12/18/06), It was Virginia who told me that in order to get any reimbursment I should get another claim number with customer relation service.
It was the first time that any of the agents I spoke with mentioned something like that. After I insisted she generated this number for me and asked for two weeks to be processed, I generously accepted the offer. After 3 weeks (01/10/07) I called them again because there was still no letter with their offer for reimbursment in my mailbox. They told me that they need 3-4 weeks to process this and that I should be a little more patient. I don't mind the crib and 150 Euros and I understand that bags can be lost in long distance busy flights, what really bothers me is the attitude and arrogance of their personel.
I am getting inclined to the idea that this is a kind of official Air France policy towards their customers. I can't find any other explanation for such behaviour. I am missing the bag since September and they need 3-4 weeks to process the claim. I would like to know how this process is going on. Is there a special committee who meditate on my lost bag or they are trying to clone it, I have no idea. It must be a really delicate and demanding task.
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Zohreh of Rockville MD (10/24/06)
I was traveling from Washington, DC with a stopover in Paris; when we landed, I forgot my small bag with $800 in cash, which was hidden in the space between the window and my seat; when I returned, less than 30 minutes later, with an AF agent, the cleaning crew had not yet come around, only the blankets had been removed, which makes me think that the flight attendants are the ones who pocketed the money.
While I understand that I bear some responsibility here, the fact that this theft took place on the plane, with strong chance that it was AF's staff (travelers are just busy getting their stuff and getting out of the plane as fast as they can), means that AF is liable for it. I filed a police report and then sent a detailed letter with proof of having withdrawn the money a couple of days before, etc.. I got a curt reply and a very rude person in customer service who refused to let me speak to the person who had written the letter, nor to a supervisor or anyone else. Basically, this Daniel only answers the phone and responds rudely to anyone without helping at all. Needeless to say, I will never again fly Air France.
J of Cape Town South Africa (04/14/06)
I find it fascinating that Air France does not have a "customer services, opinions, or complaints" section on their website. But I have come across this site and decided to try some self "therapy" by posting my complaint in cyberspace, with the faint hope of getting some response from Air France ... My wife and I have just returned from France. We travelled to on AF 0995 to Charles de Gaul and were supposed to connect with AF 7700 to Nice, but were forced to transfer to Orly and then connect to Nice (a 6 hr add on to our already long flight). Our return flights were AF 7715 Nice to CDG and AF 0992 CDG to JHB. Here's the story of our journey.
We've been married for 18 years and have never left our children alone at home. Looking forward to our "honeymoon" and French experience we boarded Air France 0995 in JHB. From the start the reception was cold and even hostile, seats were extremely cramped (even less space than the internal BA flight from CT), and the food horrific! On arrival at CDG, the experience worsened ... after standing in a queue for more than an hour, we were duly informed that all connecting flights from CDG to Nice were full and that we had to find our way to Orly.
On arrival at Orly we once again experienced the "AF welcome"! To be expected, we arrived at Nice to be informed that our baggage have been delayed, and our "torture" continued with the interrogation by the baggage "(in)(con)sultant". Our stay in France was fantastic and we put our bad experiences with AF behind us. I can truly say that France, especially Provance and the VAR is an experience not to be missed. 12 days of bliss passed way too fast and it was time to return home on AF.
Being an optimist, I hoped for a better treatment by AF. This hope was dashed on book-in at Nice airport. We were overweight by 20kg (French food and wine is truly superb) and had to pay 30 Euro per kg. By the way the weight limit is exactly 20 kg per person (no leeway), and not 23kg's (BA, SAA, and other reputable airlines). The baggage allowance for business class is 30 kg's and I enquired about upgrading the 2 of us ... the price quoted for the upgrade ... R29880-00 per person! Remember this is one way to JHB PER PERSON!!! In addition we were told to book our bags all the way to Cape Town, and had to pay an additional 80 euro for the excess baggage for this leg on BA.
Anyway, we found our way to CDG from Nice, booked onto AF 0992 to JHB .... on a flight with more than 50 seats EMPTY. I understand the penalty for excess baggage, but take offence to being "ripped" for 680 Euros on an empty flight!!! On arrival at JHB we were told to collect our baggage ... the "promised book in to CT ... NOT TRUE!!! We paid the 80 euros .... FOR NOTHING!!!!! What a pleasure Booking into BA from JHB to CT. By the way ... no charge for the excess baggage! I wonder if BA will ever receive the 80 euro from AF?
Only one problem ...BA mislaid our baggage, and we were re-united with our prized and now very expensive pates and wine 2 days later. Be warned ... do not travel AF, and if you do, prepare yourself for a long and tiring trip, with no one to complain to!!! I'm not sure if I feel any better by having written and posted this note in cyberspace ... perhaps I need to try alternative therapy and open my bottle of Chablis now. By the way, should any AF employee ever read this, I'll be more than willing to recount our story with some added free advice to improve "service".
Sharon of Copthorne UK (04/06/06)
On Friday 24th March I received a phone call from my father who was in South Africa on holiday, to my shock he advised me that his only sister had suffered a fatal heart attack and passed away. I immediately phoned Dial A Flight and booked a ticket with Air France for that evening Friday 24th on AF2271 Departing Monday 4th April AF997. My oldest brother had to also fly out however due to work was only able to book his flight out On Monday 27th March on AF2271 Departing Monday 4th April AF995.
Due to reasons unknown to us his connecting flight from France to Johannesburg was cancelled and he was told he would fly on a later flight that night, as the evening grew hiewas then advised that he would be taken to a hotel and only be on a flight the next day. When he tried to get help and explain he had a funeral to attend his was told that he wasn’t the only passenger and just sit down and be quiet.
As a result of this my brother missed the funeral and was shown no compassion by your staff. Later that week when we were checking our return details we realised we had booked different flights which were within 1 hour of each other! So we phoned Air France in Santon to try change our flight in order to travel together. I first spoke to a young woman called Sinita who was extremely rude to me and said, No I won't change your ticket as it's nonchangeable yet in the small print of my ticket it states that for a fee my ticket is changeable.
My brother tried to explain the situation and asked if she could try to help us due to our situation and maybe have a bit of companion… Sinita asked my brother who had died. When he said my Aunt, she replied it’s only your Aunt who’s dead not your mother. He asked to speak to a manager but she refused telling him he could only speak to her and that she would not let him, he put the phone down. I called back and again this same women was rude and unreasonable, she told me that she would not let my brother speak to a manager and she would let me either. I asked her why and she replied with “Because I don’t want to”.
Fair enough if this is the way your agents deal with clients on the phone I can see in the future your company will fail.
Tico of Berlin, Germany (03/24/06)
Two incidents: In the first, my child's baby carriage arrived two weeks late to our travel destination. It was destroyed. We took pictures and submitted a request for funds to buy a new one. They refused as we had not gotten an estimate from a repairman for the cost to fix it. We don't know any baby carriage repairmen where we vacation. The carriage was so broken we immediately trashed it because it was unusable.
Despite three letters and numerous phone calls, no progress was made. Next, my baggage was missing on arrival again!. After filling out all the necessary paperwork, I realized I would be late for my appointment. The service rep assured me that Air France would cover the cost of a taxi. I submitted the paperwork appropriately, but have been denied. I have sent three letters now. What is most infuriating is they never explain why they refuse my request. Their baggage services seem a criminal enterprise.
The baby carriage was worth about $200. The taxi was 23 euros. The first incident hampered my holidays tremendously. The letters and phone calls have taken hours of my personal time.
Harold, M.D. of Bay Harbor Islands FL (03/20/06)
My baggage was delayed for a good 2 1/2 days. Went from Miami to Belgrade, Serbia for a medical meeting with no clothes, no underwear, no toiletries. The Airline doesn't have their act together. Trying to get compensation is very difficult. All replies are delayed for weeks, and they will not let you talk directly with any correspondent.
Finally they determined that my troubles were worth only $70, what I laid out to get by for 2 1/2 days. I think a lot differently and am considering litigation. If you accept their check, you waive rights to litigation. It's lying in my desk drawer.
Lubi of Sacramento CA (01/13/06)
On May 23, 2005 my husband and I were scheduled to fly on Air France. The flight was delayed for several hours. We continuously asked for some type of compensation. We wanted to be re-routed anything to help smooth out our honeymoon plans. We were not given ANY compensation, not even drink coupons.
We ended up having to pay for a hotel stay in Rome because our plans were to arrive in Rome then take a train to Florence where we had a hotel reserved (and paid). The flight delay ended up costing us a hotel stay in Rome and a loss of the preplanned stay in Florence.
Clemens of Miltenberg, Germany (12/01/05)
If you like to be treated like dirt, fly AirFrance. If you want to get wrong information about your flight, fly AirFrance. If you want to miss your flight because they let you wait in line for five hours in CDG, fly AirFrance. If you then want to stay in a 3rd class hotel without a breakfast, fly AirFrance.
If it's ok when your luggage is 2-5 days late, fly AirFrance. If you think that safety is guaranteed when a passenger is left ALONE with a SHOTGUN and about 100 rounds of amunition in CDG baggage-handling area, fly AirFrance. This is the experienve of one flight from BCN to MIA via CDG.
Helen of San Francisco (11/29/05):
I had purchased a round-trip ticket to Berlin for my husband, 3-month-old daughter and myself through Air France. I am currently breastfeeding my daughter and I also have a huge fear of flying so on most flights I have a few glasses of wine to calm me down.
Well, when you're breastfeeding you really shouldn't drink. So I called Air France a few weeks ahead of time to see if it was okay for them to take my pre-pumped breastmilk and store it for me on the plane and to warm it up when I needed some. The guy on the phone said yes it would be no problem at all. So I pumped 24 ounces of milk and took it on the plane with me in a cooler pack (I had to have a cooler pack for the three hours of waiting before I got on the plane from SFO)
While waiting for the plane I had a few glasses of wine thinking all would be fine since my daughter would be getting pumped milk. Well, upon arriving on the plane and getting situated I asked one of the stewardesses if they would store my milk for me and lo and behold they said no and were very rude about listening to me about what the Air France rep had told me over the phone.
Irving of Old Saybrook CT (11/25/05):
On October 9th 2005 I along with 5 others of my party arrived at Logan Airport in Boston, MA, USA. We got there two hours early to take Flight AF-337 to Charles DeGaulle Airport in Paris, FR. Originally we were scheduled to depart March 13th 2005 on AF 321. Due to a family emergency our travel arrangements were changed at the same time to Flight AF-337 on October 9th, 2005. All fees were paid and the “E” tickets were reissued and confirmations were received.
All six of us checked in our Luggage at the ticket counter and were assigned seats for Flight AF-337. We proceeded through security and were awaiting boarding when I was paged to return to the ticket counter. This was 20 minutes before boarding was to take place. The Ticketing Agent told me there was a problem with my ticket and in order for me to continue the flight I would have to pay an additional $1,715.33US! The same thing was told to another member of my party, Wayne (L). He however, was not called back to the ticketing agent.
The Agent realized he had to pay $1,715.33US as well when we were discussing my situation. Wayne and I both had flight confirmations and were assigned seats. I was at the ticket counter with Michele of our party. The four others were waiting to board the plane. We were unable to discuss the situation with all six parties. Not only that, but we had only minutes to decide what to do.
We had no time to discuss this with the ticketing agent or ourselves. It was an extremely emotional and stressful situation. The added fee was outrageous and totally unacceptable. We had already paid for the “E” tickets and had confirmations, via the Internet for months. Why were Wayne and I never notified of the problem prior to boarding time on October 9th so this could be handled in a timely manner? Why were we able to receive confirmations and seating assignments over the internet? Why was the outrageous amount of $1,715.33US charged after we had already purchased our tickets? How can Air France justify doing this to us twenty minutes before our flight was to depart?
We all have done a great deal of flying and have never encountered this type of treatment. What should have been a wonderful experience started out horribly and very costly. We are all outraged by this occurrence. This has to be investigated and our added fees refunded.
Mrs. S.A. of Aberdeenshire, U.K. (11/23/05):
AF5556, 0955 hrs 21 November 2005 Flight delayed because of freezing fog, which is acceptable, was at gate 41 for the new time of 1000 hrs. bus finally arrived at 1030 hrs to take us to aircraft, bus did not depart terminal for another 20 mins. the outside temperature was -3c.
On arrival at aircraft we were again kept waiting while a disabled passenger disembarked onto a special vehicle, and only then did the cleaners go on board! Finally boarded the aircraft, then there was the delay in taking off because of a queue. It was another 30 minutes before the refreshment cart appeared. Being at the back of the flight despite being a 'platenum' business class traveller, it was quite a while before the flight attentant got to me, I was offered a juice and biscuits!
The time was now 1200 hrs and I had been traveling for 24 hours, why where we not offered something a little more substantial, a cheese or ham roll would not have been that more expensive and I am sure more appreciated by the passengers.
I know that there was at least a third of the passengers who had been, like me, on long haul overnight flights. On board service should have been a lot better. I travel the world on other airlines all year round and the service I got on this flight was very bad.
Yuri of New York NY (10/19/05):
I am writing to relate to you a disastrous experience I had flying Air France this past May 24th. My family had purchased tickets on Air France via Travelocity. I was looking to travel on flight 23 to Paris, a 5:10 PM departure from JFK with a connection the next day to Prague. I am writing to you because Air France made me pay an additional $1,303 for my ticket, because they claimed I had arrived late for my 5:10 flight.
I arrived at the Air France counter at 4:20 PM with no bags to check for the 5:10 PM flight. To my surprise, I was immediately told that the flight was closed. I was never informed during the purchasing process that my flight would be closed 1 hour in advance. Furthermore, I was never informed that that if I was to arrive after the flight’s “closing”, I would forfeit my ticket. I arrived at 4:20, even before boarding began.
My family, who had arrived at the airport two hours in advance, had notified the check-in personnel that due to a work commitment I would be arriving later than initially expected. However, these personnel never informed my family that I was in danger of missing the flight, and losing the value of the ticket. They never told my family that at 4:10 my ticket would be worthless, and my ticket would be forfeited. If my family was notified, they could have reached me by mobile phone, and I would have arrived at the airport potentially fifteen minutes earlier.
When I arrived, I was disappointed that this flight was closed, but I was sure that I would be accommodated on the next flight. Much to my surprise, I was told my ticket would be worthless, and that to take the next flight, I would have to pay $1,303, nearly twice the price as my original ticket.
Carole of Washington DC (9/4/05):
I purchased a round-trip ticket from Washington DC to Paris using a consolidator. Unfortunately, I found out I have cancer and I needed to change the return date from France to begin chemotherapy. I got a letter from my oncologist to explain the situation. The Air France office in Washington told me I would have to make that change in France.
Upon arrival, when I went to the Air France office, I had to pay more than half the cost of my original ticket. They were not interested in even looking at the letter from the oncologist. Upon return to the US, I sent a letter to Air France again explaining the reason for the change with the accompanying letter and requested a voucher for a free flight or an upgrade.
I am a frequent flyer member and travel at least twice a year to France, at my own expense. I received a form letter "regarding the refund" which I had not requested that stated "The fare used on this ticket does not allow any waiver of change fees, even in the case of a medical siatuation (sic)". The letter was signed from the "Refund Department". I feel that their response was a shabby one and did not address my request for a voucher or upgrade.
Air France has little competition on its trans-Atlantic flights and does not need to show any comprehension or compassion. I don't expect anything to be done in my situation but I would hope to warn others about Air France's strict policy of non-refundable tickets, their failure to address a request other than a refund, and their lack of compassion. Thank you for allowing me to express my frustration.
Carol of Poughkeepsie NY (6/27/04):
I am trying to solve a dispute with Air France over a fee charged for an airline ticket. In August 2003 I traveled to Paris, France. I was given a ticket as a gift. Due to delays getting from the parking lot at JFK airport to the terminal, I arrived 40 minutes before departure. Boarding for the flight closed 60 minutes before departure. I wasn't aware that this was the policy. As a result, I has to pay an additonal $1100 to get on the next flight.
I disputed the charges with my credit card company and the charges were reversed six months ago. I just received a letter from Air France asking for payment. I wan't aware that boarding would be closed an hour before departure time or I would have alowed additional time to get to the airport.
Susan of Jersey City NJ (5/28/02):
On March 24, 2002, my husband and I were returning from a vacation in Paris. Our flight on Air France was to leave Charles de Gaulle airport at 10:20 AM. We left very early for the airport but due to some delays on trains, etc., we actually reached the airport a little after 9 AM. We went directly to the Air France check-in area, which were heavily cordoned off by those systems of barriers, where we were told by an Air France employee to wait at a particular barrier (we were the only people there at that point) as she was busy with a large line of people that were lined up for another flight. We assumed that someone else would soon be along to check us through.
We waited for about 20 minutes and then at around 9:30 AM, I noticed that our flight's listing had changed to "boarding". At that point I found another employee and asked when we would be checked through. She asked to see our tickets (the first employee hadn't) and immediately sent us through to a desk, saying we ought to have gone through before instead of waiting. (Well, we were told to wait.) At the desk there were a male and a female employee. They looked at our tickets and informed us that we could not be checked in later than one hour before the flight due to "new regulations". We did explain that we had been there and had been told to wait but we didn't want to have a fight with them over a couple of hours time waiting, given the current atmosphere at airports.
They told us we would have to go to the ticketing kiosk (at the other side of the airport) to be reticketed. We gathered up our luggage and hauled it all over there. After waiting in line for ten minutes or so we got to an agent who informed us that she would be charging us 170 Euros apiece for reticketing. She didn't care that we had been there earlier and had been incorrectly told to wait by an employee of the airline. She didn't care about anything at all, except that it would cost 170 Euros each or she wouldn't reissue our tickets.
At this point I wished I had made a bigger fuss with the people at the desk -- at that time it was still 40 minutes before the plane was to leave. By this time it was about a quarter to ten. We argued with her for some time and asked to see a manager (she claimed none was available). None of this was helped by the fact that she clearly considered speaking English to be a bother (she was speaking to her co-workers in French while she was helping us, giving us the impression that she was contemptuous of us for not speaking French). Ultimately I paid the charge, telling her that I would dispute it with Air France in America and also with my credit card company. Again, she couldn't have cared less. To add insult to injury, we were made to wait for standby tickets for the next flight, which was to take off at 1:00 PM -- and were finally ticketed for that flight at approximately 12:45. Somehow the "one-hour rule" didn't apply any more once they'd gotten more of our money.
I began disputing the charge through Air France literally at Newark Airport when we got off the plane. However, it seems that customer relations are handled ONLY through an anonymous PO box in Florida. There is a toll-free number, but all they will do is to tell you the address to write a letter. During my initial call, I said I was extremely unhappy that I could not speak to an individual. I was assured that once I had sent a letter, it would be answered by a specific customer relations representative who would then handle my case. I sent the letter, received in return a totally generic so-sorry-you-were-inconvenienced response that did not address a single one of my complaints (and naturally did not address the question of a refund). When I called, I was told that consumer service reps NEVER answer the phones, that there was no way I could speak either to the person who had written me the letter (Marjorie Bucknor) or to a supervisor.
The damage, besides temporary high blood pressure on my part, is economic. I am a full-time student and this was a very special trip for me and my husband, one that would not have been possible had we not been able to stay with relatives in Paris, and not only can we ill afford an extra $300 in plane fare, it was a horrible way to end what had been a wonderful trip. Fortunately we did not check baggage, so our things all stayed with us. We got the next flight out a few hours later and were not materially inconvenienced by the change in times.
Mary of Rochester NY (3/4/00):
On February 25th, in my rush to get to my connecting flight from flight AF0003, I left my reading glasses on the plane. I relalized I had left them as soon as I got on my connecting flight but I had to wait until I got to Brussels before I could report them missing. The man at baggage claim took my report and supposedly contacted the Paris office. I checked back with the claims office repeatedly but they said that nothing appeared on their computer.
On my return trip I took time to go to the Air France baggage claims office and check in person. There I was told that very often items such as lost glasses were thrown away by their cleaning crews. Those glasses cost me over $140.
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