Air France DTW – CDG, never again!

Yesterday, after a nineteen day hiatus, I returned to Rome following my holidays in Detroit and Mexico (post coming next). For the first time ever, I flew Air France for the first leg of my transatlantic flight. As previously mentioned, I am VERY loyal to the Sky Team airlines, which includes Air France, Delta, KLM and Alitalia, among others. I generally end up flying KLM or Delta through Amsterdam, but given the very cheap cost of this Air France flight during the holidays  (USD 853) I promptly booked it without a second thought, assuming that quality was high given the other awesome things that France produces, i.e. cognac, champagne, cheeses, white wines, you get the point.

Unfortunately, I have not yet reached the level of flying first class when traveling for personal trips, so I have to settle for Delta and KLM’s Economy Comfort sections which, while they still offer the same mediocre food as compared to business class, the seats are wider and you get a lot more legroom. Plus those with Platinum Medallion status get to sit in these seats for free.

Prior to my flight, I researched Air France to see if they also had Economy Comfort and found that they have what is called “Seat Plus”. When I looked at reviews, there were a lot of complaints about comfort, but I figured there were some overreactions. I went to the Air France website in an attempt to change my seat to Seat Plus but was unable to do so, so I called Air France and was assured that I was assigned a seat in the “preferred
medallion area.”

When I boarded the plane, I was surprised by how small the seats looked, when I sat down, I knew immediately that it would be a long uncomfortable flight. As as far as the “preferred medallion seating”, um I am pretty sure that 19A is the exact same cramped space as 32E. As soon as I sat down I sent a tweet out to Air France and after going back and forth a few times I was told that contrary to what the people on the phone said, it was in fact a regular economy seat. I used their crappy pillow to relieve my back from the wood-like chair.

Other horrible things about the flight included the tiny TV screens with low resolution and a list of movies which leaves much to be desired. I generally dislike economy airplane food, but Air France made me almost incapable of eating it, most I did in fact opt out of. My Mommy usually sends me to the airport with a full meal but she wasn’t up to it this time. However the small ziploc bag full of greens was my saving grace. They offered the usual chicken or pasta, but one thing that really threw me off was the “Brie flavor” diary product. Please do read the ingredients below. I was VERY surprised that the French would serve me American cheese made in a lab, knowing they themselves would not eat it. Do better. And the breakfast that included plain yogurt, ugh. At least give me strawberry or blueberry.

Needless to say after that six and a half hour flight Detroit to Paris, I am sure that I will be avoiding Air France on transatlantic flights. After talking to others, I have confirmed that on long haul flights, Air France is a bad choice. As far as within Europe I find the airplanes to be fine. Even the hummus sandwich on the flight from Paris to Rome was better than everything they served Detroit to Paris.

As a bit of a disclaimer, my disdain for the airplane screens and seats may be based on the fact that it was an older airplane though I am not sure how many years this specific plane has been in use and the airline should never have made such crappy accommodations available at any point.