[Yak] Re: Air unfare - don't travel Air France on a Friday!

[Victoria and Guillermo]

I have flown a few times with Air France with a BF, both a tandem triple and a nwt. No charge, Singapore to Paris, Paris to NY. My most recent trip was this past summer.
 
If a bicicle fits in a suitcase, then it should not be a bicycle as stated in the luggage policy of Air France. Note that they want you to (sorry it is in French)
 
 enlever les pédales,
- démonter la roue avant et la fixer au cadre,
- fixer le guidon sur le côté (parallèle au cadre),
- placer votre bicyclette dans un emballage protecteur (carton, plastique résistant). Des cartons adaptés sont en vente à la plupart des comptoirs d'enregistrement Air France.
 
 
Which means they are expecting a non-conforming package that requires special handling. In your case, I think you just found a typical employee of a big company or goverment agency with an attitude (no offense to the French reading this, but I find them quite often over here) and enjoying the sadistic pleasure of exerting their power over you. You see this all the time in France (and elsewhere but here it is a perfected art)

I have often found that to find reasonable people you have to go pretty high up in the hierarchy of a given company. So apart from the credit card dispute why not write to the CEO of Air France? His coordinates:
 
Jean-Cyril Spinetta
Air France
45, rue de Paris
95747 Roissy
France
 
Just in case, since Mr Spinetta will leave in January, you may want to wrtite to his no 2 who will take over: 
Pierre-Henri Gourgeon
 
 
Guillermo