When flying into CDG, you never know what and who will be on strike. The Air France pilots/flight attendants/ground crews, or the CGT unions, or the taxi drivers, etc…
My daughter says Qatar is like the Southwest of international airlines. The layover in Doha she had was fine. It’s a secure international airport.
My kid did Cathay Pacific TO Singapore. She recommends that you use them for the round trip. The stopover on the way to Singapore from JFK was in Hong Kong.
She suggests Cathay Pacific or Singapore Airlines. She says my BIL (who lives in Singapore) also said to look at Qantas.
Probably the most pleasant flying experience there is anywhere globally is Singapore Airlines even in coach. Malaysian airlines has a similar level of service but they have lost a few planes recently
You can’t blame Malaysian Airlines for the second loss, MH17. That was a freak accident, and that the Ukrainians and Russians did not warn civilian aircraft to stay out of the area was not Malaysian Alrlines’ fault.
We are travelling to Asia in the not too distant future. We are on United and other family members are on United but its an ANA flight. I think I’d have preferred to be on their flight and fly ANA but it is what it is. Not sure what airline we then take to a nearby island.
A couple of months ago, I bought a ticket to go to Israel in July. I checked the prices to/from Boston as well as JFK because a relative there was considering making the trip as well. It turned out that prices were just a tad more than HALF to/from Logan (Boston) vs JFK (NYC). I paid $790 round trip via Alitalia, change planes in Rome. A friend paid $1500 round trip via Air France, change planes in Paris.
I’m sending kiddo on a puddle jumper to PDX so she can go to Geneva - rechecking bags and switching terminals is worth $300 in savings when you are young. 
I had a layover in Doha and no problems or concerns at all. Very nice terminal. Not sure what thumper meant about Qatar being the Southwest of international airlines - is that a good thing or not? I thought it was a much better flying experience than United, for example.
Most people like Southwest. It was probably a compliment.
OP here. I am happy to report that I’m DONE with this. He is booked on United, with only one stop each way. It’s the same flight number after stop in Japan, so if he has problems, so will all the other people trying to get to the final destination. I looked up both Qantas and Cathay Pacific. One doesn’t fly our route, and the other was over 2k. I slightly consider putting him on ANA, which is 300 more, but has better flight times and may be a better “experience,” but he’s young and I’m paying, so he’s getting the cheaper but fine airline.
Thanks again to everyone.
Re #79
In airline jargon, “direct” does not mean “nonstop”. Specify “nonstop” if that is what you want.
Re #79
In airline jargon, “direct” does not mean “nonstop”. Specify “nonstop” if that is what you want.
Congrats on being done. The kid is young and can take it. I used free mileage to book my kid to a summer program and I think it had long overlay in Chicago but she was 16.
My daughter is not a Southwest fan. The remark was not a compliment. She suggests taking another airline…if you can. But she did say…she flew Qatar because the price was right. Not because of the service. And then,any over was not a problem.
Whoops. Most peole like SWA. I have flown it and its fine, except I prefer to have a seat assignment, not queue up to rush foir a window or aisle.
@ucbalumnus I wrote 79. I’m aware of the difference between direct and non-stop; I was simply advising OP that any stop in Narita, to the best of my knowledge, involves getting off the aircraft, a fact I did know in advance of my direct flight.
@skieurope, I’ve been trying to find information to verify whether or not he will need to get off the plane. Once post somewhere indicated in some cases they do not want people to get off the plane, but it wasn’t an authoritative source. If anyone knows of an authoritative source please let me know. Thanks
Southwest serves no food, doesn’t have assigned seats, but does have good prices and customer service.
My kid says for an international flight, even she would rather pay a tiny bit more for a good experience. Qatar was fine…got her where she needed to go. But it is not her top choice…just like Southwest isn’t her top choice here.
As an aside, the rest of this fami’ynis huge southwest fans. But we flew to Mexico this year, and it was a very long trip to eat peanuts and pretzels. We would hit do that again.
@1214mom Perhaps call United?
Thanks. I do plan to call them in a couple of days to hopefully get better seat assignment. I will ask then. It really doesn’t matter either way, it’s now just a curiosity.