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Air France

terrilynn

We are trying to book a flight into Vienna for Xmas Markets in Nov and layover will be Paris - so Air France it is. Air France is NOT letting us pick our seats until 10 days before flying?????? Even for the long leg JFK to CDG == is this the norm? Seems we've always pre-picked our seats. We even called to confirm. Is KLM the same? Thanks.

Comments

AlanS

I've been tracking Delta fares for our Dec '22 Rhine XMAS Mkts- as expected they are much higher than last year and have been varying from week to week (I use same days of week for tracking) so far this year. Last week they jumped approx $1000 per (bus) ticket! I expected them to go up around XMAS time but not by that much. Last night and earlier today Delta must have been having computer problems because the fare briefly increases another $2000! (the refundable price). Fares are back down now. Our booking window opens in five more days. Maybe the computer glitch that affected Delta also affected Air France. Were any legs on Delta aircraft?

What class of ticket? Try booking seats using your PNR on the Delta website- see how that works. I've successfully done that in reverse, using a Delta PNR on the Air France website. Also, depending on class of ticket, you may need to pay to select your seats.

British

It could be that they won’t let you select the seat’s because they are not sure which type of aircraft they will use

terrilynn

The prices are actually great for us - we are flying the new Premium Select - a step below Business class for $1400. This Air France issue about the seats is apparently a rule by Air France that you can’t choose your seats till 10days before your flight- I just don’t remember this in the past

British

Hello Terrilyn, I think Premium Economy is great for what I personally consider is a fairly short flight, so there is little time to sleep by the time you take serving dinner and waking you for breakfast are out of the equation

Claudia Sails

Terry, it may be linked to class of seat. We booked our flights with Tauck air a couple of weeks ago. Business class. They are all Delta flights except Barcelona to CDG and CDG to Atlanta via Air France. We were able to select all seats. I did tinker around with the seating for our transatlantic flight going over - moving from one side of the plane to the other - on Delta's website with no problem. Didn't try to do anything with the Air France seats.

MCD

I booked business class seats on Delta, with flights operated by Air France. I could choose seats on 3 of the 4 flights; however the flight from KRK to CDG is actually on "Hop!" (which I have never heard of; maybe it's their no frills carrier) and I have not been able to choose my seat on that flight.

British

Kfn….please excuse my abbreviation, I just can’t remember your forum spelling….uses Air France a lot, maybe she will see this and chip in.

AlanS

Hop was created by Air France to compete with budget regional carriers. It has gone through a number of restructurings, but according to Wiki will soon be indistinguishable from Air France and sporting the Air France livery. (It is not to be confused with Joon, Air France's short-lived attempt at an airline aimed at millennials.) Hop will be just like Delta Connection feeders that operate under the Delta name, with aircraft in Delta livery.

BKMD

Alan - what is an airline aimed at millenials? TikTok videos automatically playing on the seatback screen?

terrilynn

Would most of you prefer KLM if you had the choice ?

gladysorlando984

I would chose KLM, Amsterdam airport may be big but I find it easier to move around than CDG.

kfnknfzk

Air France is my preference for flying from Los Angeles to Paris because I love their A380 double decker aircraft. Whether I or Tauck make the bookings, I have always been able to select my seats. It may be a class of service issue.

I frequently fly on KLM (non Tauck tours) and very much like their service. I am also able to select my own seats, as well.

Sorry, terrilynn, I doubt my input helps you with your particular dilemma. Best wishes.

Claudia Sails

Our trips last fall were our first experience of business class and our first time on KLM. We flew over on KLM to Amsterdam and back on Air France from Paris. Plus a couple of European short hauls on both airlines. I'd have to give KLM a big thumbs up based mainly on the food for all the flights and their lounge at Schiphol was the best of the entire trip.

We've once flown Air France to/from France before but in Economy. There they seemed to be pretty much the same as other airlines.

terrilynn

Well - it's so crazy - but we finally booked.

What is interesting is that if you CALL Delta and have them book for you - they tell you that you can't book Air France seats until 10 days out -- our friends who are traveling with us did this.

I got online last night and booked thru the Delta website without an issue - booked Charlotte to JFK to Paris to Vienna and was able to choose all our seats. Not sure why the Delta agent told our friends that she could not do that.

We chose the newer Premium Select seat, that are similar to Business Class (maybe slightly less room), but much improved over Delta Comfort Plus. We did book at our 330 day window and got prices not that much higher than coach - we paid $1413 - we are very pleased.

Now keeping fingers crossed for not too many flight changes over the next few months.

Alan - thanks for the tips on the 330 day out mark. While we can't afford Business Class, these Premium Select seats look perfect.

Claudia Sails

Terrilynn, your friends might be able to choose theirs on either Delta or Air France's sites using the confirmation number they should now have. Worth a try.

terrilynn

Yes Claudia! They were able to choose their seats online - just interesting the Delta Rep couldn't do it over the phone. There were no additional charges.

Claudia Sails

I kind of prefer on my own so I can actually see the plane layout and avoid things like toilets, kitchens, etc. that I don't realize are there as the agent is just reeling off row/seat numbers.

One thing we learned the hard way last year was that not all bulkhead seats give you the leg room you hope for. Some did but others had plenty of knee room but my husband couldn't stretch out his long legs. Even seat guru doesn't always tell you that.

terrilynn

She had everything picked out and written down that she wanted in regards to seat numbers -- she had pulled up the seat maps online - they were using an E-voucher, so it was easier to call in -- the REP was very firm that no seat choices could be done until 10 days out. She had no trouble getting her seat choices the next day online. I had no issues getting what we wanted online. Just very odd that the REP reiterated many times that AIR FRANCE doesn't allow us to choose seats. There were no additional charges.

BKMD

Sometimes when you book partner airlines, there's a secondary confiramtion number that applies only to the foreign carrier.
For example, When I booked by trip to Japan, I'm flying AA for leg 1, then JAL for leg 2. With the AA (main) confirmation number, I could only book seats on the AA legs. My confirmation included a JAL confirmation numbe, too, and with that, I was alble to book seats on the JAL legs. I've noted a similar setup with UA and Lufthansa on past flights.

Smiling Sam

I agree with BKMD, with one addition. Even with the secondary confirmation code sometimes the partner airline will charge a fee to get an assigned seat more than a short time before the flight date. This was the case for my upcoming Russian Glories, Baltic Treasures tour. I booked through AA, with some legs on Finn Air. With the secondary code I could reserve seats on the Finn Air legs but there was a charge.