I%26#39;ve been reading the posts here that with some carriers they don%26#39;t leave close to local transportation but rather you would have to take a shuttle.
I%26#39;m thinking of booking flights with American Airlines since its a bit cheaper than Air France, not by much though and Air France seems to have the times I%26#39;m looking for.
Any comments would be helpful.
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I%26#39;m not at all sure what you mean by %26quot;..some carriers they don%26#39;t leave close to local transportation but rather you would have to take a shuttle..%26quot;. Both American Airlines and Air France arrive and depart from different buildings of CDG Terminal #2--AA at #2-A and AF at either #2-C or #2-F (CDG #2 diagram-- http://www.adp.fr/webadp/a_cont01_an.nsf/0/A806156E4C6A964CC1256ABE004858F6/$File/cdg2gran.gif ) So BOTH airlines will be convenient to ALL forms of airport transfer into Paris.
I haven%26#39;t flown American Airlines lately but several friends and acquaintances have and confirm that AA does indeed have more legroom back in Coach--which can be a big deal on a six(6) hour trans-Atlantic. AF may have marginally better airline-food. But ultimately, since both fly direct out of both JFK and EWR, it will come down to two substantive factors--price and schedule.
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Hello NYC,
Maybe what you are referring to is that A.A., does not pull their planes up to the terminal at CDG as A.F. does. Instead you are bused into it from out on the field, but you end up at the same place....Tis a pain, however the seating in coach does seem to be a little more roomy. There are not private TV%26#39;s on our planes outta Florida on AA...dont know if AF has them or not. Not sure about this but I think AF still gives free booze on its flights.........AA charges.
In either case dont expect too much..........both are crowded and it%26#39;s a long ride!
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Bea: not in business class! and I%26#39;m sure First Class on Air France is TOTAL luxury and omfort!! I was pampered and spoiled on Air France%26#39;s business class out of Florida, and we definitely had private TV%26#39;s....enjoyed several movies on the trip, including the hilarious %26quot;Bringing Down the House%26quot; with Steve Martin and Queen Latifah......my Mom and I laughed so hard we were in tears! I%26#39;m sure that our reactrions were heightened by all the champagne and delicious food too. To me, and I have done this trip on American too, the French have us beat on transatlantic comfort.
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There are a handful of budget airlines that leave from some pretty inconveninetlly located airports, but with AA and AF you will be coming into Charles de Gaulle and will have no problems with transportation.
Between the two it is really a question of 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.
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Thanks for your response.
Yes, Bea I was referring of the bus to the terminal. While it sounds like a pain, I think I might do AA to get the miles.
Thanks again to all.
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Anyone knows if US Airways does the same thing? you know, do they take the plane all the way to the terminal or do we need to get on the bus?
Thanks.
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I flew on Air France December 29th, 2004. I don%26#39;t recommend flying coach on AF as the legroom is practically non-existent and the seats are pretty narrow.
Not true AF does not always pull up to the terminal as mentioned above. We were not told by the flight crew about this at all before we disembarked. It%26#39;s routine to the flight crew but do they think that it%26#39;s routine for all of the passengers? After coming from the warm plane to walk down some steps onto a tarmac with very cold temperatures and not knowing what is going on was just bad service in my opinion. There was only one bus for a full flight of an Airbus 340. Needless to say there was not enough room, people were pushing and shoving another, SRO on the bus, and there were people left on the tarmac by the plane as they didn%26#39;t get a space onto the bus.
United Airlines, which I flew last year, did pull right up to the CDG terminal-no problems at all!
First time I flew AF was in %26#39;99 and it was the worse flight ever: 747 that was practially falling apart and %26#39;food%26#39; that was inedible. I thought I%26#39;d give them another chance in 2004 but they still have problems.
I would go with either AA for the spacious legroom or UAL just because the planes pull up to the terminal (legroom is okay, not the best). Best of all is Lufthansa-lovely f.a.%26#39;s and newer aircrafts. Only problem is that you have to transfer planes in Germany.
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At different times of the day--depending on traffic ALL of the airlines which arrive or depart at CDG MAY use the %26#39;scissors-buses%26#39; to transport passengers from plane-to-gate and less often from gate-to-plane because of a lack of available Gates. I know that ALL of the trans-Atlantic air carriers arriving at CDG #2 (Air France, Continental, Delta, Continental, Alitalia) do at one time or another. I%26#39;ve only had to go through CDG #1 once with US Air and they used a %26#39;scissors bus%26#39; on that occasion.
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I don%26#39;t know about American but I can offer my 2 cents on Air France - they have outfitted their planes recently such that business and 1st class are quite luxurious and coach can actually be quite painful - the seats are stiff and hard and very small (and I%26#39;m not a big person by any stretch) and there is very little legroom. They did have the little movie screens which is a plus but it was incredibly uncomfortable.
BTW, I just returned from Paris and took USAir - much more comfortable; there was plently of legroom; the Phila. - Paris planes are Airbuses and have the little screens which really speed the trip along. I%26#39;d recommend USAIr if that would fit into your plans. (Arrives at a CDG gate and there were 2 doors for entereing the plane right at the terminal).
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P.S. - I just noticed one of the later posts. USAir has the 1 flight a day from Phila. which arrives at 9:20 AM if I remember correctly. I%26#39;ve never had to use the scissor buses with their flights.
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