Good reviews prompted me to travel with Air France among the other available airlines that were within my price budget. Initially, my top choice was to fly to Mauritius with Emirates as I had travelled with them before and loved it. I had never travelled with Air Mauritius and looked forward to travelling with them as they are operated through Air France.
I booked my flight through a trusted travel agent, who recommended Air France and Air Mauritius. I was booked in to travel with Air France to Paris, and then Air Mauritius, from Paris to Mauritius.
Flying High
Upon departure, we boarded our 2-hour flight from Heathrow to Paris, with Air France which went smoothly. We had a three-hour connection from Paris and staff at CDG airport were very uneducated with directions as some only spoke very limited English. After debating with a particular member of staff about the correct departure gate, we then saw someone else who confirmed that I was correct about the departure gate I needed to board our connecting flight from.
Our 10.5-hour flight from Paris to Mauritius was operated by Air France, not Air Mauritius. However, it did run quite smoothly, but because we had such a long-haul flight, we expected much more food and snacks to be offered, than the standard one meal.
During the flight, we waited an extensive amount of time for food to be served. The menu on offer was extremely limited and basic, with no other option for vegetable or alternative meat choices. Chicken, green beans, potatoes, bread and cheese, with a dry chocolate cake was served. No alternatives were available. One cold drink was offered later on during the flight and we were offered one hot drink.
By this time, our stomachs bloated with air, and we felt that hot drinks should have been offered more than once during the long-haul flight. My T.V screen did not work, so I was forced to read or sleep during that long-haul flight. Not all announcements were translated into English, and although I understand we were flying with Air France, I did feel it should have been taken into consideration that not everyone on the flight, (like myself) spoke French.
Operating through a Broken Promise
Upon our return back to London, I dreaded flying again with Air France and hoped we would be flying with Air Mauritius as promised. Unfortunately, we flew with Air France once again. Our flight was now 11.5 hours long, with another three-hour connection again in Paris. We remembered to bring extra snacks for the long-haul flight, but we were starving because we left our resort very early to check-in at the appropriate time. Our plane departed at 10.00 am, and it was hours before we were offered something to eat. Lunch consisted of a cheese croissant, cheese once again, and vegetarian pasta.
A certain waitress skipped our row when offering hot drinks, and I wasn't sure, but I did feel like it was done intentionally. However, I began to get very uncomfortable without being offered a hot drink so I called the waitress back and ordered one for every member of my travel party, which was received and greatly appreciated.
One hour before landing, we were offered the rest of our snacks which was well deserved. While the amount of food had improved, we had only hoped the food was served periodically so that our stomachs would not cramp with extra gas! My main issue with Air France was the fact that the food was offered minimal times for a long-haul flight. This seemed unacceptable to me. The menu seemed fairly limited to me, and offered way too much cheese!
As if that wasn't bad enough, upon arriving at Heathrow, we waited 45 minutes to find my mother's luggage, which we then had to report missing. We filled out a missing luggage form and were told the airline would likely find the luggage and contact us within 3 days. (bearing in mind that would be Christmas eve.)
We waited five days and were contacted on 26th December 2022 to say my mother's luggage had been located and that the airline would arrange delivery to her address. After waiting 5 days for the missing luggage, it was severely damaged beyond repair, upon receiving it. The way we received my mother's luggage was completely unacceptable, unprofessional and completely embarrassing for the Airline to return it in such a state. A complaint was then filed immediately and we now await the decision for compensation from Air France.
Overall, I would give Air France a rating of 2.5/ 10 and wouldn't particularly recommend travelling with them, but flights to Mauritius are very limited among better, and more affordable choices.