It was about 5 or so years ago when my wife and I decided to travel to Korea to visit the family and have a nice long vacation. We booked a flight with Air France from Frankfurt to Seoul via Paris. Everything was fine in Frankfurt; we boarded our flight and touched down in Paris not long after leaving Frankfurt. The time to get to our connecting flight was a bit short but we didn’t worry too much because the gates were supposed to be close to each other.
After landing in Paris we found out that for some reason, without information, we had parked at a gate on the other side of the airport and that we had a long walk ahead of us to get to our next flight. Charles de Gaulle Airport is not a small place as we discovered soon and it seemed to be in the middle of construction because we entered and exited 3 understaffed makeshift security check points. Nobody seemed to care as we repeatedly stated that we were late for our flight, we weren’t the only ones…
As we finally came running to the gate the plane had already left. The staff there just gave us a condescending look and told us to go downstairs for arrangements. We waited in line for about 30 minutes until a bored agent just handed us a few pieces of paper and told us where to wait for the transfer to the hotel. Hotel? The guy next to us, a Korean business man, nearly lost it at the news that he had to stay over night to get the next flight and so did I. The bored unfriendly staff just told everybody that there was nothing they could do and that we had to stay at the hotel.
So we waited outside and were picked up by a small bus to transfer to the hotel which was apparently owned or exclusively rented by Air France for people missing their flights as this was very common. The place was decent; we spent the night and enjoyed the breakfast and were transported back to the airport the next morning. We got on the plane and expected to be served food and drinks, as we were used to from prior flights with other airlines, but nobody showed up.
Dehydration and starvation kicked in and so I walked up to the kitchen section of the plane to find the entire flight crew sitting there chatting and having a good time. After I asked for food and drinks the FA looked a bit puzzled and just pointed me to a corner where they had positioned a few carts with all sorts of sandwiches and beverages, self service. What an experience; it’s one thing to get bad service but getting nothing at all is totally new to me.
On the flight back home we knew how things rolled and immediately grabbed what we could get from the kitchen section to have enough for the flight before they ran out again.
Survival flying with Air France.
Alex
Tagged as:
air france,
hotel,
korea
I had planned my trip home for Christmas well in advance, to make sure I would get a comfortable aisle seat for my large 6′5″ frame. I arrived at SFO and checked in at the gate well in advance (about 2hrs) of my flight. A few minutes after boarding the plane, an elderly gentleman came to my seat and told me I was sitting in his seat, and showed me his boarding pass. I showed him my boarding pass for the same seat. He called the flight attendant to resolve the issue.
The flight attendant looked at my pass and explained to me that I didn’t have the stamp on my boarding pass indicating I had gone through the double secret security screening, so my seat had been given up to the elderly gentleman. I had not left the gate area the entire time between the time I checked in to the gate and when I boarded the airplane. Nobody announced a need to check in again “for security purposes.” They just gave away my seat after I had already boarded the airplane. In addition — they cancelled my connecting flight to my final destination.
I received no apologies from the gate agent, and the best he could do for me is get me a different seat (middle seat in central seating area) for the flight to Denver, with reservation for the connecting flight. When I arrived in Denver, the gate agent treated me like the situation was my fault, and was reluctant to help me get to my destination.
This is the reason I will not “Fly United” when I’m paying the bill. I’m stuck with whatever airline my employer selects, but I will not pay to fly their “unfriendly skies.”
Tagged as:
airport,
flight attendant,
gate agent,
holiday,
seats,
security,
united airlines
So, this was my first time flying alone internationally to India without anyone. I was excited to have that experience without my parents, especially since they ask tooo many questions such as the gate, the flight time, etc.
My experience started at Detroit with a very rude spokesperson for Northwest. I had no idea that they would starting boarding 30 minutes earlier than the ticket had said. I asked the guy at the Northwest checking desk if they had started to board since people were lining up and there was still an hour and forty five minutes for the plane to take off. Here’s the response I received: “Can’t you see people standing here??” Well, helloo, there was no announcement first of all and no flight number on the ticket. Was I suppose to predict that this flight was going internationally or just wait in line for 30 minutes to find out that it was?
Well, the story doesn’t end there… my next stop was to Amsterdam. Like I said, my first time flying. On my next flight KLM had also started boarding. This was well before two and a half hours before the actual departure time! I thought I had prepared myself for the hour and 45 minute time before departure. I didn’t want to go through “please excuse me”or “let me pass by” or “oh sorry, I didn’t mean to slam in to you.” Boy was I wrong, because I had just thought of going to the restroom before that. By the time I came back, I see this long line of people had started to board… so I thought of waiting it out… WRONG IDEA !!! The line just kept getting longer and longer and longer… I had to wait an hour and a half before I could finally get to the security check point. I swear I thought this plane was going to go down since I had never seen so many people board a plane.
I just wished on international flights they would let the people on the back board first since you don’t have to push your way in all the way towards the back only to find out that you don’t have a space in the overhead bin to put your bag in, so you have to walk all the way to the front with your bags until the flight attendant finds a space to put it…
Tagged as:
airport,
KLM,
northwest airlines
In August of 2008, my daughter, wife and I flew from St. Louis to Jackson Hole, WY with Frontier Airlines. We connected through Denver. We planned somewhat poorly, with our last day in Yellowstone being our daughter’s last day of summer vacation. But we did have a great trip… at least until our attempt to return home.
Being conscientious fliers, we arrive for our return flight from Jackson Hole two hours early. We stood in a small line at the Frontier counter, where it was immediately clear our return home would be “eventful.” All of the other passengers at the counter appeared anxious, and we quickly learned our flight had been cancelled due to… no explanation. Weather was fine. No mention of mechanical problems. No air traffic clogs.
We were “checked in” to a United flight which would be leaving an hour or so after our scheduled flight, and we would still be able to make our Denver to St. Louis flight… the last one of the day. After being “checked in” to the United flight by the Frontier counter, we were told that we needed to go stand in line at the United counter.
My wife and I took our six-year-old to the United counter where we stood in line for one hour before being told by a surly older woman that she had no record of us, and we most certainly were not on any United flight to Denver no matter what we had been told by the Frontier people.
We walked back to the Frontier counter, where we waited again. I was irritated by this point, but I did not lose my temper. When we were finally helped, I explained the situation to a diminutive older man. I told him that I was upset, and I gently demanded that we be placed on a flight from Jackson Hole to Denver. I never raised my voice. I used no impolite words.
Whoa! That little guy did not have to take that from me! He yelled full throttle, to both my surprise and the surprise of the nearby likewise frustrated Frontier customers, “I do not have to put you on any damned flight! And I won’t if I don’t want to!”
The Little Napoleon with anger issues was right. He did not have to put us on any damned flight, and my family and I were entirely at his mercy. We could not get out of Jackson Hole without his help. Furthermore, it was peak Yellowstone season, and there were no lodging vacancies and no available rental cars. At any rate, the little charmer decided to get us on the United flight. He stormed over to their counter, stormed back to us and insisted we go back an wait at the United counter.
Unbelieving, we did so. Would we miss the United flight? No worries there, it had become delayed an hour for some inexplicable reason. After another hour in line wondering if our names would show up for the old bag at the United counter, we were relieved to learn that we were in fact on the delayed flight to Denver. Unfortunately, we would definitely miss our Frontier flight to St. Louis… last one of the day. My daughter was going to miss her first day of 1st Grade, and my wife and I were definitely feeling like bad parents at this point.
I called the 800 number for Frontier to see if we could obtain help in finding another route from Denver to St. Louis. No problem said the pleasant Indian gentleman on the other end. It would only cost me three same-day full fares. Would I like to pay with MasterCard or Visa? On principle, I refused to pay. First grade wasn’t worth that much.
Pissed off at Frontier and vowing to never fly them again… and I won’t, even if they are still in business… I made it through security with my family. I walked over to the gate agent counter at Frontier to let them know how much they sucked. Of course there was no one there. They had decided to cancel their flight, so why should anyone man their gate desk? Luckily for us, some industrious Frontier employee had created a list of helpful phone numbers. Among them was a customer service number for the gate agent to call if they needed help.
I copied the number and gave it to my wife to call… better her than me at this point. The fellow at the other end demanded to know how she had come by this special number. She sweetly lied and informed him that she had been given the number by the “non-existent” gate agent. He accepted this and immediately found us tickets for an alternative airline flying out of Denver to St. Louis.
We arrive home very late that night, and my daughter was pretty tired for her first day of 1st grade… but she was there. Thanks to a little forced customer service. 
Tagged as:
airport,
delay,
frontier airlines,
gate agent,
senior citizen,
united airlines
