[Tom Otley]

Very interesting comments.

As “luck” would have it, I am flying Air France 4 times this week, the first flight being the morning of the strike tomorrow from LHR to CDG. I then have a quick tranfer across to the inaugural Joon flight to Cape Town.

So far communication has been excellent.

I received the following over the weekend

Dear Dear Mrs/Mr THOMAS OTLEY,

Further to the call for a strike issued by several Air France staff unions, for Friday 30 March, our flight schedule operated by Air France, or Joon will be disrupted.
Air France flights operated by aircraft of other airlines, including HOP! will not be affected by this strike.

How do I know if my flight AF 1081 on 03/04/2018 is concerned?
We invite you to consult “My Reservations” section and check if your flight mentions “provided by Air France” or “provided by Joon”. If not, your flight is not concerned.

Otherwise, if this mention exists, we will send you an SMS or e-mail the day before your departure, to confirm the potential impact on your journey. Please, make sure your details are up-to-date in your reservation file.
Your reservations will be updated in real time on our website (www.airfrance.fr) and mobile app, in the “Your Reservations” section.

What are the specific commercial options available?
If it”s possible for you, you can change your travel dates at no extra cost.
You can anticipate your departure on 01 or 02 April or postpone it between 04 and 08 April 2018 included.

You may also choose to cancel your journey. In this case, you will be entitled to a non-refundable voucher that will be valid for 1 year and can be used on Air France, Joon, KLM or HOP! flights.
You can make these changes on our website*, in the “Your Reservations” section, on our mobile sites or via your travel agent.
* Online modifications are possible for flights until 06 April included. Beyond this date, we recommend to contact your travel agent.

What solutions do I have if my booking is cancelled?
If your booking is cancelled, our staff will do their utmost to offer you an alternative solution. In some cases, rebooking may be possible on other airlines. You will also be able to change your flight independently on our website.

What should I do on the day of departure?
We advise you to check-in online, for you and your baggage.

If your reservation is cancelled, we recommend you not to go to the airport without confirmation of a rebooking solution.

We would like to assure you that our teams are mobilised to assist you and minimize the impact of this industrial action on your travel plans.

We sincerely hope that your flight will operate as scheduled and apologize for any inconvenience this strike action may cause you.

Air France Customer Care

It will be an interesting trip for me for a number of reasons.

1. see how AF is coping with the strike
2. To see what Joon long haul is like and to hear the reasons for the launch of the airline
3. To return to Cape Town at such a time (Please do not come to Cape Town)
4. to fly between Cape Town and JoBurg
5. To fly Air France back to CDG from JoBurg
6 To transfer through CdG once again and see if I can visit that new lounge that has opened.

Air France unveils its redesigned business class lounge at Paris CDG

[MarcusGB]

Hi Tom.

Please let us know what “XP’s” you get with the new Flying Blue, revenue based, which commenced 1st April 2018.
Also the Award Miles, which will be revenue based Excluding taxes etc, ONLY based on the fare we are now told.

I see today, there are NO award tickets loaded in for connecting flights to Oceania, (Auckland, Sydney etc).
Best book these before end of May for 125,000 miles each way, on the old program!

The Frequent flyers are the losers as always in this, and it seems if you are Platinum, and travelling Business Class long haul, or Partner Airlines in First, then we will be fine, but not less than Platinum levels…
For sure, if you merely travel with loyalty of flights on KLM to Amsterdam each year, this does not work in your favour.

What will be your impressions post your travels?

Good luck with the flights. AF announcing more strikes will cut the profits of The group yet again this year, ruining the recovery of AF / KLM.

[capetonianm]

To see what Joon long haul is like and to hear the reasons for the launch of the airline
3. To return to Cape Town at such a time (Please do not come to Cape Town)

Tom, as far as I can see Joon doesn’t operate its own flights to Cape Town they are just the normal Air France flights sold under a different brand which I find a little bit odd so I would be interested to hear your view on that after you’ve flown.

Also if you’re in Cape Town next week please drop me an email with a contact and maybe we could meet up for a beer or something suitable.

Have a good trip and please don’t use too much of our water. There’s lots of wine.

[Tom Otley]

Yes, the Flying Blue programme does baffle me.

But then, I don’t even understand the adverts

[christopheL]

French ad Tom 🙂

Can your understand this one ? Difficult for me.

Cultural diversity. That’s it.

[Author]

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