Hi All, What is the collective experience and wisdom regarding Foreign carriers. Family of 5 looking at airfares for summer 2007. Not comfortable with Czech Air, but what about Iberia, AirFrance and others. My question is not directed at Alitalia (the obvious carrier), but the other choices. We are probably coming out of JFK. Thanks...Great group = Great Info
Welcome. Well, we have vastly different experiences so perhaps no collective wisdom. However, you should decide what is important to you: schedule/layovers, price, plane configuration, etc. That will help you make your decision.
To go to Italy I have flown American, Lufthansa, Sabena and Air France. All have positives and negatives. Mostly I choose by a combination of layover time and price and I end up compromising on both.
Funny, I flew in 89 with the OK lines, the Checoslovachian -at the time- airlines. It was like flying Goofy airlines. So scary! DH never moved his eyes away from me. At some point I tell him how fluttered I am of his obvious fodness of me, and he say, I do love you, Ibut I am looking at you because I am terrorized to look anywhere else!
I had a friend who flew Czeck air recently and RAVED! I love AirFrance (footrests in coach mean a lot to me), but Charles De Gaulle drives me crazy. Whadya gonna do.
My sister in law's boyfriend is a Lufthansa pilot, which is an airline with one of the best safety records in the industry. He has told me that HE would fly any WEST European airline or American airline, as well as airlines registered in China, Singapor, Japan, the UAE (Qatar and DUbai, for axample), and Saudi Arabia. but would not personally fly any airlines registered with a former Eastern Block, African, Turkish, Indian, Pakistani, middle or southeast Asian airlines. It sounds prejudicial, I know. But his claim is that the consistency of maintenance is the biggest issue. He always says that consistency of fleet maintenance has to be of the highest priority. Pilots have the responsibility to check the maintenance of a plane before they take off and he says he would rather not risk flying with airlines where he has seen too many inconsistencies.
He has also voiced the occasional concern about Alitalia for this very reason, but would still fly them if necessary. The way he said it does not make me feel that great, but a Lufthansa pilot would rather err way way way on the side of safety and security, and I keep trying to remember that.
Originally posted by venexiananan: I had a friend who flew Czeck air recently and RAVED! I love AirFrance (footrests in coach mean a lot to me), but Charles De Gaulle drives me crazy. Whadya gonna do.
I have no idea of the czeck airlines NOW. I flew in the Czecoslovachian lines in 1989 before the collapse of the Berlin wall. And THAT was an adventure by itself!
Lots of our guests fly Air Berlin from Hamburg to Bergamo when they come to our B&B. It is a very good inexpensive carrier... just going public now with an IPO. Great prices, punctual service.
Originally posted by Diana Strinati Baur: ...HE...would not personally fly any airlines registered with ... southeast Asian airlines. It sounds prejudicial, I know. But his claim is that the consistency of maintenance is the biggest issue. He always says that consistency of fleet maintenance has to be of the highest priority. Pilots have the responsibility to check the maintenance of a plane before they take off and he says he would rather not risk flying with airlines where he has seen too many inconsistencies. ... Diana
Tell him Thai Air is great! Both internationally and within Thailand. Can't lump them together with Royal Khmer, Lao, or others. They are more like Singapore A/L.
Posts: 657 | Location: Palmyra, NJ, USA | Registered: 29 July 2003
We've often flown Air France and Lufthansa to Europe, as well as Swiss and Sabena. Like AF the most - they configure their 777's 3-3-3 which doesn't give anyone the dreaded middle seat in a row of 5. The seats are relatively comfortable (and that's from the perspective of 2 6-footers) and the food is better than the American carriers. Anne
they configure their 777's 3-3-3 which doesn't give anyone the dreaded middle seat in a row of 5
It must depend on the route -- I confess I don't know what type of plane it is, but from Boston, Air France does fly 2-5-2. Personally I prefer that for my husband and myself, since the 2-seat configuration is better than the 3-seat, where one of us has to take the middle.
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