My wife and I just returned from a two week vacation in Morocco. There will be plenty more on Morocco forthcoming in the month ahead. I have plenty of photos and stories to share. You will be tired of hearing about Morocco by the time I am done (I hope not, but I am going to discuss my trip in detail, one post at a time). The first challenge faced on our vacation was getting there which isn't necessarily "half the fun." At least, not when half of your trip is threatened to be delayed due to a strike.
My flight was a combination of Delta and Air France. The first leg from Raleigh to Paris was on Delta, which was a fairly new aircraft with an excellent video system. I received a call a couple of days before our flight advising about the Air France strike which threatened to delay us by a day in Paris. The alternative was to fly from Raleigh to JFK to Amsterdam and then to Morocco adding several hours to our flight. But worse, we would both be stuck in middle seats in opposite parts of the aircraft. Rolling the dice with Air France meant that, at worst, we would be stuck for a day in Paris, missing the first day of our tour in Morocco. We were set to arrive early in the day in Paris, so I figured we would make lemonade out of lemons and spend the day in Paris if the strike delayed us. While I didn't want to miss any of my vacation, I preferred that to a middle seat between strangers.
I was refreshing the Air France website with regularity as we waited to board our flight. As we were boarding, I talked to a couple who were headed to Italy for their son's wedding. I told them I was worried about my connection and they replied that they had no idea what I was talking about. I told them they were fine as long as they weren't on Air France. They were. I looked up their flight real quick and was sorry to advise them that their flight was already cancelled. At least they had a few minutes before take off (or the entire flight if they chose to purchase wifi or a phone call) to sort things out. I hope they were able to make it. As luck would have it, our flight was not delayed. We arrived in Paris and headed to our gate, where we had a four or five hour wait. I looked up at the board at our gate and was happy to see the flight appeared to still be on track.
We made the flight, which was a relatively short hop of three hours. This was our first leg with Air France. We ended up with three total. The flight from Paris to Morocco, Morocco to Paris and Paris to Atlanta for our return flight, which rerouted us through Atlanta due to the timing of the single Raleigh Flight out of Paris. Aside from the headaches involved with the strike and the uncertainty of our trip, the Air France legs of our journey were largely uneventful. I would have expected better food on a French based carrier, but found it to be typical airline fare. The seats were as comfortable as one would expect from an economy class flight. They were stiff, didn't recline enough and made my back hurt. Luckily, traveling with my wife, we took advantage of those two extra inches by lifting up the armrest between us.
Clearing Customs in Morocco wasn't quick, but it was fairly painless. It didn't take excessively long. Maybe half an hour. Our luggage was waiting for us and we quickly retrieved it and found our ride to the hotel. On the return trip on Air France, the long portion of the trip was nine hours. The aircraft was older and less comfortable...although those are degrees of discomfort. The flight attendants were great on all the legs, which was refreshing. The technology not so great. Air France has outdated seat back entertainment that has a decent selection of movies but a horrible system to navigate the menu. There is a remote control in the seat back that does little to make navigation any easier. That is a small point, as I barely used the seat back entertainment, relying more on my iPad, which I was able to charge in the USB port attached to the entertainment system.
When we arrived in Atlanta, we had a massive Customs line to deal with. It moved quicker than it looked, but it still took thirty or forty minutes to get through the line. Once we cleared Customs, we had to retrieve our bags and recheck them on the other side. There was one guy working at the baggage claim, with bags stacked three and four deep. I watched as my bag hit the conveyor in an area that was cordoned off so that I couldn't get to it. I cringed as I watched my bag get crushed between the other bags on the conveyor and the conveyor chute, hearing the bag rip as the bag behind it forced the issue. I was not happy. The baggage situation was unsatisfactory. To make matters worse, my luggage was soak and wet. It was raining outside and, apparently, the area where they load the bags is not covered. I had some gifts that I purchased inside that bag, although the most fragile items I had in my carry on. I was relieved to find my clothing damp, but nothing inside the suitcase damaged. The suitcase had a gaping hole in it, but not large enough for the items inside to fall out. So I rechecked the bag and filed a claim for the damage. I have to travel to Salt Lake City tomorrow so I went ahead and purchased a new suitcase. I hope I get reimbursed for it.
Overall, my experience with Air France was not atypical of other airlines. Except for the strike and the damaged bag. We arrived home safely, which is most important. The flight attendants were far friendlier than other airlines I have flown (El Al comes to mind). The seats were uncomfortable but typical of economy class. The entertainment system was outdated. The flights all arrived on time. I made all my connections. The issues can be sorted out, but it is a headache to deal with after a two week vacation and catching up with work. But all said, I would probably fly Air France again, but they would not be my first choice.
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