Review of Air France flight Paris Bogota in Economy

Airline Air France
Flight AF 422
Class Economy
Seat --
Aircraft Airbus A340-300
Flight time 12:30
Take-off 11 Aug 13, 10:20
Arrival at 11 Aug 13, 15:50
AF   #26 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 5929 reviews
Chibcha
By SILVER 5601
Published on 4th February 2014
This is the final part of a ZRH-CDG-BOG trip with Air France.

Previous flight:
AF 1415 ZRH-CDG


The inbound trip consisted of:

CM 658 BOG-PTY
KL 758 PTY-AMS
KL 1961 AMS-ZRH
__________________________________________________________________________


So…we were at the point where I got into Terminal 2G of CDG. I was looking forward to this connection in order to compare it with AMS and FRA. I had about 1.5h to make my connections, previous experiences on both AMS and FRA told me this was a piece of cake (specially the FRA marathon)

According to the (really insufficient) information both on AF's and ADP's webpages, passport control would take place somewhere between Terminal 2F and Pier L. But to my surprise there was a Passport Control at Terminal 2G, for our convenience. I wouldn't call convenience an understaffed passport control when a huge bank of connections takes place (about 3 policemen on shift). So the process was painfully slow…as my clock ticked and ticked even more painfully. Eventually I was cleared to go by an uninterested Police officer. Now the real fun begins. Whoever manages the busses between Terminal 2G and the L and M gates should be sent for life to île du Diable. A lot of buses arrived, but none to places where people where heading, whilst the necessary busses didn't show up. A huge and ludicrous line had formed. Not only we had to cope with the incompetence of ADP's folk, but also with some obnoxious American passengers who considered everyone had to give them way so they could make it to their SLC flight, well guess what mate…we're all toiling to get into our flights. This made even more stressing by the fact that the screens showed my flight as boarding…yay!

So in the end it turned into the law of the jungle, something you get used to as a frequent traveller of Bogotá's Transmilenio…somehow a middle aged woman asked me if I was going to Bogotá and I said yeap, next thing she tells me not to leave her alone because she doubted she could make it on her own. So when the next bus got into place, it initially was destined to somewhere else but the lady coordinating the operation ordered the bus to change destination…as soon as I noticed this I shoved my way to the bus, with my new matie gripped tp my t-shirt.

We made it confortably to the bus, managed to secure seats and chatted a bit. She was also in Switzerland for the summer, staying with a friend of hers in a village deep in Fribourg(?) Canton (the kind you reach only by postbus). I told her what I was up to…then we made ironic remarks about how inefficient the airport was compared to Bogotá's and how people where behaving…as if things suddenly changed roles.

Eventually we made it to Terminal 2F, then we had to get to an elevator to the corridor towards L gates…managed to get this pics (finally)
AZ in the house
photo IMG_4551
Funky corridors…OK for me!, much better than hospital like AMS or industrial FRA
photo IMG_4553
Ubiquitous DL (remembered for a moment the SLC guy…hope he made it (or maybe not…yerk!))
photo IMG_4554

We made it to the L gates…nice flashy duty free…but no time to check it out, run to the gate.

Eventually I made it to my gate…the CCS flight, on the next gate, was already closed (hope nobody missed the flight because of the mayhem at 2G). I find it funny when BOG and CCS bound flights are on nearby gates. A huge line was being swallowed by the Airbus by the time I got to the gate.
photo IMG_4555

I was hoping to buy some macaroons for the women at home at Ladurée, but due to the time constraints I was giving up on the plan…when suddenly there was this little kiosk, eureka! I must have looked really funny because I was packed with wines and booze I bought at Zurich, along with some chocolates, and now I had this new bag on me…

Finally, A340-300 for me! I had waited so long for this moment. F-GLZJ was to be my first.
photo IMG_4558

I felt so relaxed when I finally made it…but the flight was completely packed, oh #%T$Y%

Luckily I managed to pack my silly amount of bags on the overhead bin…but my backpack would have to take all (remaining) space bellow my front seat. the rest was taken by the IFE Box.
photo IMG_4560

The worst irony of the whole deal was the inverse proportion between the box and the screen
photo IMG_4559

But what the hell…I was on an AF A343, something I had to do before I kicked the bucket, or else I would have regretted it.

And the flight to our sister nation is off!
photo IMG_4562photo IMG_4564

Cabin view from my place
photo IMG_4572

The plane clearly showed its age
photo IMG_4573

Eventually everyone was in and we were good to go… taxi to RWY 27L, really long! In the meanwhile, lets try to grab some pics

Le merou
photo IMG_4567
Oh look…a DL plane!
photo IMG_4568
…how weird..another one, did I suddenly got into ATL?
photo IMG_4570
one sexy PILF…hope I make it this year
photo IMG_4571

And now we're lined and almost ready to takeoff, cute little Tarom A318 landing on RWY 27R
photo IMG_4574

Take off was…as expected…slow, felt like when you're going up a hill on the car but you're one gear over the one you really need. It was alarmingly slow. Thought we were going to stall and all.
photo IMG_4575photo IMG_4576

Adieu CDG… see you in (unknowingly at the time) 2 months!
photo IMG_4577

Eventually menus where distributed…nice touch
photo IMG_4579photo IMG_4580photo IMG_4581

By the time we were leaving Europe our lunch was served. On a side note, the guy servicing our zone was envy-inspiring good looking, I wished he had an accompanying female colleague on this flight, but no luck for me.
photo IMG_4582photo IMG_4583

I went for the chicken, really nice!
photo IMG_4584

Small PTV did not help to entertain…so I kept it on the map function. I was dozing on and off anyways.
photo IMG_4585

Yeap..one could tell the plane had 16 years old
photo IMG_4586

After some really painful hours, we made it to America, we made it through Puerto Rico.
photo IMG_4587photo IMG_4588

After flying over Boriquén, we had second servings… the food sounded nice on the menu, but the cold chicken was really dissapointing. The salad was not of my taste. And the couscous was stale…had to pour the cheese over it to give it flavor.
photo IMG_4589

Having the eating issue taken care of, dosed for another while, till I noticed we were over Colombia. Sadly it was mostly cloudy until we were on finals.

I reckon this was Paraguaná Peninsula
photo IMG_4590photo IMG_4591

Love that you can see the engines
photo IMG_4592photo IMG_4593

Finally skies cleared…
photo IMG_4594

The Magdalena Valley can be made out
photo IMG_4595

Payandé Golf Course (1h away from Bogotá by car, 10 minutes flying)
photo IMG_4596

Clouds again…beh Bogotá…beh
photo IMG_4597

I've come to hate this view…means: your trip is imminently about to end
photo IMG_4598

Smooth landing on RWY 13L
photo IMG_4599photo IMG_4600

New airbus in town, visiting from Mexico!
photo IMG_4601

Our pllane at BOG, the cleaning squad ready to raid it
photo IMG_4602

Bye bye!
photo IMG_4603
See more

Verdict

Air France

7.0/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering7.0

Paris - CDG

4.4/10
Efficiency1.0
Access2.5
Services5.0
Cleanliness9.0

Bogota - BOG

9.1/10
Efficiency9.5
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.0

Conclusion

In a nutshell, this flight was totally different from the previous one, leaving a positive image of AF, a nice way to hop the Atlantic overall, but there are certain things AF can work on though.

AF: Nice crew, like LH and KL crews having troubles with Spanish (something weird French and Spanish being romance languages, and AF having strong presence in LatAm), the guy serving our area was really nice and not only good looking. IFE is practically useless. Food receives a mixed note, first serving was really good. Second serving, bleh. The bread was awesome, I totally loved it. Seat comfort, ok although a bit cramped, some seats were stuck together with duct tape. Something that I really liked, my bag made it to Bogotá!!! Suck that LH ( they've failed to get my bag to BOG both times I've connected at FRA)

CDG: Totally awful first experience at Terminal 2G, stupidly understaffed Border Control, and even more stupidly managed shuttles to the rest of the airport. Other than that, AF's hub at CDG seems to be improving, architecturally its more interesting than either FRA or AMS, and seems to be more fun than MAD. Could eventually make it into one of my favourite airports, as soon as they get the connections act together.

BOG: Arriving at BOG at AF's schedule is awesome, few lines, you're on the car less than 30 minutes after leaving the plane (providing the guys at baggage handling do make it on time).

Thanks for reading, saludos!

Information on the route Paris (CDG) Bogota (BOG)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 7 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Paris (CDG) → Bogota (BOG).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Air France avec 7.5/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 11 heures et 18 minutes.

  More information

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 98863 by
    NGen92 55 Comments
    Hi Chib! Thanks for this report! The A340 is a long-tail aircraft (one of the longest I guess) and that's the reason why she needs to run a long way before getting off. It's the same feeling you got when flying with A380, very long long takeoff and actually you wonder whether it will make it...

    You were Lucky to be served by a cute and pro FA and as far as I remember, I've never experienced that in all my long-haul flights with AF. Would be great to have snapped him serving! ;-)

    Catering is poor for a long-haul flight from my standpoint and stamp-size IFE screen is not acceptable.

    CDG terminals have been improving in recent years with buildings renovation, more DF boutiques and services and finally not be ashamed of FRA or MAD but still behind LHR


  • Comment 98940 by
    Caribel 113 Comments
    Muy amena la narracion de tu viaje. No hay excusas para el comportamiento de los pasajeros a SLC. La razon por la cual sentian la presion de lograr su coneccion es porque si no abordan 15 minutos antes de cerrar las puertas, Delta tiene derecho a cancelarles los asientos para abordar empleados y sus familias. Tambien, Delta les puede cobrar $400 por persona por llegar tarde.

    Referente al sabor de la comida, si la linea aerea no paga por sazonar los platos el proveedor los envia insipidos. Yo siempre cargo con sobresitos de salsa soya, ajo y mostaza. Espero leer mas reportajes de tus viajes. Cuidate!
  • Comment 98967 by
    Airfunes 323 Comments
    Hi !
    I wish i took the AF A340...
    You should have taken a photo of the steward ;-)

    Thanks for the FR

Login to post a comment.