I recently flew Air France to and from Paris -- it was okay. The flight there was great, the flight attendants are very customer service oriented, and the meals were good as far as airplane meals go. No problems with the flight running on time or baggage.

However, I'm still pissed about the return flight where our plane size was downgraded with no notice to me (and thus no chance to claim a decent seat for myself). I had spent time picking a good seat, and ended up having to cram my pregnant self in the middle of a row of 4. Ugh.

We took Air France last year. The seatback entertainment was great (video games, on demand movies). I'm not sure what United offers internationally. Air France had good kids meals with a bag of three finger puppets with each meal. (We had a complex trip--Dulles to Paris to Cairo to Venice to DC, so they got a lot of finger puppets.)

I greatly prefer Air France over United.

I'll say that I've flown Lufthansa and united to Paris and the trip was far better than when I flew air France (seats was old, my entertainment system didn't work etc). We did stop in Frankfurt which was really easy.

Anonymous wrote:Flying Biz, then there is a discussion. Economy? Makes no difference. United and AF are direct to CDG which is way better than transferring at hellish Frankfurt. Plus Lufthansa Economy has to be the most uncomfortable seat in the air.

I agree.

Last year our AF ticket for our 5 year old was about $200 less than the adult tickets. Not sure if that is still the case but worth checking. We had a good experience with AF.

Flying Biz, then there is a discussion. Economy? Makes no difference. United and AF are direct to CDG which is way better than transferring at hellish Frankfurt. Plus Lufthansa Economy has to be the most uncomfortable seat in the air.

Air France or united. I personally have had no trouble with either airline

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone not based in the US, but be sure you're not on a codeshare or your relaxing Lufthansa trip could become a United nightmare.

Yeah, the Lufthansa flight is not direct - unless it's a United code share. Will stop in Frankfurt most likely.

With small kids, get a direct flight. That's United or Air France.

Unless you're planning to fly to Frankfurt and change planes (why bother?) the Lufthansa flight will probably be a code share with United. I personally would choose whatever the direct flight is that isn't Air Chance, because they suck at getting bags there.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone not based in the US, but be sure you're not on a codeshare or your relaxing Lufthansa trip could become a United nightmare.

Yeah, the Lufthansa flight is not direct - unless it's a United code share. Will stop in Frankfurt most likely.

I would fly where I get the most use of the miles if all 3 are within about 250 price round trip. Hate getting mega miles on airlines that don't fly where any of us normally go...

They are all about the same really. Air France maybe a notch better.

Anyone not based in the US, but be sure you're not on a codeshare or your relaxing Lufthansa trip could become a United nightmare.

We will be flying out of Dulles airport..traveling with kids ages 5 and 18 months. Which would be the best airline?
Thanks