[cbkotchka]

You can judge how much a company cares about customers by how you are treated when something goes wrong.

A month ago, I flew from the US to Berlin with a layover in Paris CDG. Despite a 3 hour layover in Paris, my bag did not make it to Berlin. In Berlin, I waited 30 minutes at the luggage carousel then 45 minutes in line to file a "lost luggage" complaint. I was told there wasn't room on the flight for my bag but it would be on the next flight. AF has 5 direct flights a day from Paris to Berlin and I was on the first one. I was given a toothbrush kit and was told AF would reimburse up to 150€ with receipts and forms properly filed.

When my luggage did not arrive by evening, I phoned AF and was told that my bag would be on the next flight - but that the delivery service has 12 hours in which to deliver the bag.

This went on for 3 days! During that time, AF had 14 direct flights to Berlin but my bag didn't make any of them. And they continued to lie about "the next flight". Finally my bag arrived 2 hours before I was leaving for the airport to return to the U.S.

I have since filed an expense claim (not an easy process) and heard nothing.

Contrast that with my experience with Singapore Airlines. I connected from Paris to Singapore. When I landed in Singapore, I was immediately paged (no waiting at the carousel) and told my bag did not arrive. I was given a toothbrush kit and $200 cash. And my bag was delivered on the next flight.