We couldn%26#39;t resist the fares and an opportunity to visit Paris again this fall. We haven%26#39;t travelled on ATN before, though have heard good things through friends, but read several scathing reviews online.
Don%26#39;t care so much about the food, but are the seats relatively comfortable, and is there any possibility of sleep on the flight to Paris? We%26#39;ve picked seats on the side (whew!).
Has anyone who has travelled this route recently have any thoughts or suggestions? Much appreciated!
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I haven%26#39;t flow with them (although I was tempted by the airfare and nearly went this year before I had to cancel plans).
The seats are the usual 31%26quot; pitch that most airlines have in their international economy flights. So if you are 6%26#39;4%26quot; like me than it will be knees against the seat in front. they are a tiny bit wider than many other airlines (18%26quot; compared to 17 or 17.5) so that will help.
Just having the two seats togeather is nice since you won%26#39;t need to deal with anyone else.
Having a direct flight is a big plus also - cuts down the travel time considerably.
You%26#39;ll be fine.
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I have not flown with them. I have seen some favorable review about them. I think most coach flights are pretty miserable regardless of the carrier. It does help if you can fly non stop and if you have the 2 seat instead of 3 configuration and I like to have the personal entertainment unit.
Several years ago we flew with Conair which had the same Tahiti/LA/Paris route. The problem was not with the flight but with some of the passengers. The plane was 3/4 full of vacationers on their way home from Tahiti. They had been inflight for several hours already. Some of them decided to have a little party in the space in front of the restrooms. They proceeded to get really drunk and rowdy. The flight attendants were nowhere to be found. I imagine that since 911 this kind of behavior would no longer be tolerated. So a few folks managed to make for a miserable flight for the rest of us.
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I have flown on ATN, and it is no less comfortable than any coach fare, which isn%26#39;t saying much. I wouldn%26#39;t count on sleeping in any coach section on any carrier. Plan your itinerary accordingly--you%26#39;ll be tired when you land.
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I have taken Tahiti Nui and so has my brother and his wife.
All of us found it quite acceptable with very good service. One thing that proves that the airline is well tended is the fact that the cabin is fresh when you get on the plane, even though it has just arrived with a bunch of passengers from Papeete already on board.
I have taken a number of airlines that were midway through a long flight, and some of those cabins (and passengers) were really ripe.
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I flew ATN LAX-PPT, then PPT-SYD in May %26#39;08. Like others have said, the coach class seat comfort level was pretty average.
One thing I would add is that you may want to have with you the schedules for alternative flights on other airlines if you won%26#39;t be traveling with a device with internet access. Because ATN is such a tiny carrier, they do not have extra planes available. When a problem arose with our scheduled SYD-LAX return, they had to cancel the flight outright (this created a domino effect with that aircraft%26#39;s other scheduled flights as well). We were not able to leave until nearly 24 hours later when space enough for our entire planeload became available on a Qantas flight. However, we learned that two other carriers had planes that were not full that departed shortly after our flight cancellation was announced, but ATN representatives simply didn%26#39;t have time to rebook everyone and therefore rebooked no one! If we%26#39;d had alternative flight info at our fingertips, we would have been able to quickly approach the other carriers directly to request a seat.
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Yes, cancellations are one big concern. As we%26#39;re only going for 7 days, we don%26#39;t want to lose 2 days just getting there.
There two several Air France flights later the same day...if the flight were to be cancelled or indefinitely delayed, would we be able to take our e-ticket receipts directly to the Air France counter? How does this work?
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Getting put on another airline%26#39;s flight will be at your expense if it%26#39;s not done with ATN%26#39;s approval. You would need to speak with a representative at the Air France counter to see if they could help you make these arrangements (assuming the ATN reps are too busy/not high enough up the pecking order to help). In the case of an %26quot;indefinite delay,%26quot; it%26#39;s unlikely you%26#39;d get ATN to pay to put you on the AF flight...only an official cancellation is likely to do the trick. Of course, this is all an unlikely scenario, and every airline handles even seemingly identical situations differently, so you can%26#39;t predict for sure what will happen. I was simply suggesting that you be as educated as possible about alternative flight schedules in case you do encounter this kind of thing. I hope you have a wonderful delay-free trip!
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We have been flying out of LAX for years usually on AF. I have yet to see any empty seats on any of the flights we%26#39;ve been on.
I know someone who booked Jet Blue to NY and AF from there to Paris. The Jet Blue flight came in late and they had to pay full fare to get on a later AF flight. If the ATN flight is a lot less that the AF flight then I say go for it. If not I%26#39;d pay a little more for the piece of mind and fly with AF.
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Suzanne,
We%26#39;ve already booked our flight on ATN, so we%26#39;re committed at this point. AF direct flights from LAX-CDG would have been several hundred dollars more for the round trip. Some family and friends have travelled on ATN before and liked it, but after we%26#39;d booked I kept seeing bad reviews online and complaints about cancellations. We%26#39;ll keep our fingers crossed!
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I prefer a non-stop flight so I normally book with AF. I will make an exception if I see a really good fare with another carrier. I have considered ATN because I%26#39;ve seen some good fares there. They have a limited schedule though so I%26#39;ve not been able to use them for the times I needed. Try not to worry it%26#39;s not worth it. One thing I%26#39;ve learned is you sometimes have to go with the flow. Most things pertaining to travel are out your control. AF is far from perfect either. They once lost my luggage for 5 days causing me to book with NW for the next trip. Then there was a snow storm and we got stuck in Detroit for 24 hours. so I%26#39;m back to using AF.
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