Flight from Seattle to Paris for May 2009

If the fare difference is less than $250 or so from the west coast I would absolutely fly nonstop. It makes your life so much easier because, after all, it something happens, you're stuck either at Seattle or Paris, not in some random connecting city.

You might want to wait a bit to book though, fares tend to drop six months out or so...

British Airways does not let normal (eg non-frequent flyers, etc) passengers choose their seats until check-in 24 hours in advance. Lucky you can choose your seats early with Air France! We're flying British Airways to London from Seattle in two weeks!!

My brother and his wife liked their Air France flight but that was only from Munich to Paris. They took United from Seattle to Chicaco and then from Chicago to Munich, and thought it was horrible.

I had a similar question since Lufthansa is now flying direct from Seattle to Frankfurt. I talked to my sister-in-law, and she said if you can afford the difference, fly direct. I am so excited to go on one plane, with no chance of missed connections and reduced chance of luggage being lost, AND it gets us there a lot faster.

That said, yes, you could find fares cheaper if you wait, but they might be inconvenient (like changing planes 2-3 times). Our Lufthansa flights are getting close to full both ways. I don't think there will be any last minute deals, and if we had waited, I don't think we would have gotten to pick the seats we wanted. (For example, there are no more window seats left on our flight there.)

Be careful if you are flying with a code share. We flew Delta - several years ago- LAX to Paris and back. The flights were fine. Since our tickets were Delta, we found that we had no seat assignments with Air France. Apparently Delta & AF computers didn't talk to each other. Once in Paris we visited the AF/Delta office (twice) to avoid problems on the return. It didn't help. We were each given a middle seat in the midst of a graduation tour from the US.
One of the kids was nice enough to trade seats so we could sit together. Good Luck

Have you checked NWA flights direct into Paris from Seattle? Does NWA have a non stop flight?
My husband and I took the new route for NWA -Seattle to London, non-stop on June 2nd and it was great!!!! I would pay extra to fly non stop into the city I was heading for and not have to waste time changing planes and possibly running into a missed connection and whatever else may happen.
It is just so nice not having to change planes and hoping to make the connection if you leave Seattle late. Good luck.

I always go nonstop if it is only a matter of saving less that $100. Totally worth it!

Go for it! I'm in Seattle and have flown to Paris many times before the recent Air France service, and it just sucks having a layover. Not only is there the time factor, but with a non-stop you have twice as many chances for cancelled flights, lost luggage, missed connections, etc. We did take US Air last year even though Air France had started the route because it was $700 per ticket cheaper on US Air. But if you're finding it's only a few hundred more to take AF, I'd do it.

Also I've heard you get champagne, even in coach, for free.

Miss B, the only non-stop Sea-Paris is on Air France.

I used Air France from India to Paris then to Seattle .I thought it was very good service They did have sparkling French wine, free and quite good . ( it was not from the champaign region )

Susanna, I see you have not yet received a direct answer to your question, but I have one for you: By all means take the Air France direct flight. We took this flight this most recent June/July and it was so wonderful to avoid that Heathrow nonsense we have experienced many times with British Airways. Nothing against BA, it is what it is. It is true you can choose your seats during booking on AF flights. Before I booked our flights I looked at the extra couple hundred dollars per ticket (and there were four of us) with an eye toward justifying the extra expense. In the event, I felt ridiculous for even having gone through that exercise as the difference was SO nice.

The only airport advice I have is that because of the many Air France flights operating out of CDG (duh) you have to ask AF personnel which of the many ticketing counters is the correct counter for your flight. Also, I would arrive THREE hours early for the return flight.

Yes, by all means take Air France direct. I always take the AF direct flight from Miami Int'l to CDG. They will take really good care of you on the flight. They do absolutely everything they can to make it a comfortable experience from start to finish. They will serve 2 great meals on the flight, plus they have open free self-service soda/juice bars for the duration of your flight. On your return you will find the flight status board by looking up high when you enter your terminal. The ceiling of the terminal is several stories high, and if you are only looking down or eye level you will miss the board. The board will tell you the correct number of the checkin counter for your flight. (There are about 8-10 checkin counters all in a line in Terminal 2-E which is the AF terminal). (And yes, book your tickets at 6 months out).

I notice a lot of persons answering your question advise taking a "direct flight" - DO take a "non-stop" flight. A direct flight can make stops along the way. I am flying Air France from Seattle to Paris early in May 2009 and made those reservations a couple of months ago (330 days early or less) and was able to get seat assignments when I made the reservations. This will be my first AF flight and I have only heard good things about them.
I got back from Europe Sept 6th and got routed via British Air to Heathrow.
And, yes it is still true, Heathrow is the pits.

Just a quick follow up on Charlie's post: In airline industry parlance, a "Direct" flight means you stay on the same plane from the point of initial departure until your final destination BUT the plane WILL STOP AT LEAST ONCE enroute to your destination, giving the airline the opportunity to mistakenly remove your checked luggage at the intermediate stop(s), or cancel the ongoing leg to your city (which has happened to us).

On the other hand, a "Non-stop" flight in airline parlance means the same as it does to we passengers --- you take one plane and it makes NO stops until you reach your final destination.

Only take a "Direct" or a "Connecting" flight if there are no other choices, especially when flying between the U.S. and Europe. As the other contributors have pointed out, flying non-stop is faster and you only give the airline one chance to delay or cancel your flight, or lose your checked luggage. Today, if you miss a connecting flight or if the leg of your "Direct" to your final destination is canceled, you could get stuck for hours if not days trying to get to where you were headed. Non-stop flights aren't always more expensive, but even the fare is higher to fly non-stop, you'll not regret the peace of mind that it will bring.

By the way, if you are trying to use your "frequent flyer" miles to get a seat with an airline (like United or Delta) that has a two-tiered system, before you blow a high number of miles to get a COACH seat using the higher tier when no seats are available in coach using the lower tier miles, check to see how many more miles you might need to get a seat in Business or First Class using the lower tier. In fact, consider buying tickets for domestic U.S. flights to save your miles for international flights (the redemption value will be higher and I guarantee you'll enjoy your flight to Europe much, much more if you're not emulating a sardine back in coach, even if you're on an Air France flight and are offered free bubbly!).

We took the Air France flight from Seattle to Paris (as part of a trip to Italy) last November. Not a bad flight and I would always recommend flying non-stop. One 8-9 hour flight is much nicer than two 4-5 hour flights with a layover in between.
That being said, my wife liked our British Airways flight direct to London better than the AF flight. I was pretty neutral on both.
One thing to watch for is your seating assignment. When we booked, it allowed us to choose the basic seats in the middle of the plane, but when I checked several days later, we found ourselves not even sitting together in the back of the plane! I ended up getting us together on the side of the back section where there are only two seats on the window. For the trip home, these were full and we were on the aisle of the center row. I recommend choosing seats in the back section on the aisle with only two of you.
Personally, I wouldn't book now. The Euro dropped to $1.40 US (on xe.com) and has been steadily declining. If the trend continues, you could find the taxes/fees a little cheaper over time. Plus they aren't doing any special fares that far out currently. You'll also want to sign up for their club and get the email offers (use a spare email address if you have one for these purposes).
What dates are you traveling, are you flexible, and what kind of prices have you found?

Charlie, you are right, I should have said "non-stop," as the Lufthansa flight I am taking and the AirFrance from Seattle to Paris are both non-stop, and that is what I was talking about. I have no desire to land anywhere but my final destination.

Thanks for the helpful info. I ended up booking the non-stop flight on the Air France website today for $1300 R/T. Even though it was about $200 more than others, I was convinced it was worth the saved time (almost a full day in Paris), potential transfer problems and plus just wanted peace of mind after seeing the prices go up over the past couple weeks. I was also able to select seating.

Although my flight is Pais /Boston..i too decided to go AirFrance...USAir went via Philadelphia to Manchester NH which is closer to "home" and cost 50€ less..but the non-stop option sounded better..and will just take a bus the rest of the way

Yes, Charlie, and any of you guys that get hung up on semantics, obviously we all meant non-stop.