Disingenuous PR: The New Delta/Air France ‘Shuttle Service’ To Paris

by Gary Leff

Delta and Air France are supposedly ‘launching’ a ‘shuttle service’ between New York and Paris starting next month.

Here’s how they pitch it.

Starting next month, Air France and Delta Air Lines are partnering to offer hourly flights daily departing from New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Paris’ international airports: Paris – Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Paris – Orly Airport (ORY).

This transatlantic “shuttle” service will make travel between the two cities easier and more convenient with nine daily flights operated between Air France and Delta. Together, the airlines will offer hourly departures from JFK starting in the late afternoon and departures from CDG and ORY every one to two hours during the day.

Here’s the reality of their service,

  • Today Delta operates 2 daily New York JFK – Paris flights. That isn’t changing.
  • Today Air France operates 1 daily New York JFK – Paris Orly flight. That isn’t changing.
  • Today Air France operates 6 peak daily New York JFK – Paris Charles de Gaulle flights. That isn’t changing. The 11:50 p.m. departure is currently 5 days a week, but will go daily.

You might think ‘maybe they’re better-coordinating their schedules’ but flight times don’t appear to be materially changing.

Or you might think ‘maybe Air France is relocating at New York JFK, or Delta relocating its Paris flights, so all of the flights leave JFK from the same place’. But Delta continues to operate from terminal 4 in New York, while Air France leaves from terminal 1.

Furthermore a shuttle service isn’t just about offering frequent flights it is about flexibility. The original shuttle concept meant you could show up at any time and get on a flight. You didn’t need advance booking. You could show up late and just get on another flight. And there were shortened check-in and bag cutoff times, too.

A ‘shuttle’ was a service designed for business travelers to just turn up at the airport and go, being accommodated on whatever flight was next. Delta and Air France do not appear to be doing anything of the sort.

Instead all that’s ‘different’ to make this is a ‘shuttle service’ is that the 11:50 p.m. Air France departure from New York and 7:35 p.m. departure from Paris will operate on Friday and Saturday nights, which they do not now. Let’s see which travel media get tripped up by just ‘publishing the press release.’

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  2. I took the original NY to DC shuttle years ago, and remember paying the fare on the plane. That wouldn’t work these days, people would get on and refuse to pay.

  4. “Disingenuous” PR?

    Mr. Leff,

    Time and again, I visit this blog and see posts with such titles as, “Delta business class to Paris for 40,000 points,” hopeful that I can redeem my Skymiles. Then, I read the post to find out that it’s actually 60,000 miles on a foreign airline where I don’t have an account, and it requires a 50% transfer bonus from a bank where I don’t have a credit card.

    What do you expect to me to feel?

    Other than PISSED AT YOU?

  5. @Yin Jing – this is not a skymiles redemption only blog, nor one for United and AA. If you’re solely into collecting Skymiles (or as many folks call them, “Skypesos”, because they get devalued so often and are worth very little), then I’d suggest that reading blogs like Gary’s isn’t going to be for you.

    But for those of us who maintain “foreign airline” accounts to redeem on Delta, we want to hear about how we can pay ~40k + $200 to redeem a biz class flight on Delta One. And when we do redeem at those rates, and with some justification, we reserve the right to punch the air or suppress a grin at those people who pay Delta’s Skypeso rate of 160k points for the same flight

  6. Forget a shuttle, I’d settle for an airside jitney from the far end of T4 to the Air France lounge in T1. 😉 Just did that connection. It’s a HIKE.

  7. Sorry, @khatl, nobody calls them Skypesos, except sheep who can’t think for themselves and can only parrot what they read on influencer marketing channels disguised as thought leadership blogs. I know Mr. Leff enjoys patting himself on the back for coining what is really a xenophobic quip.

    Here’s a tip. If you ever meet somebody who is “aspirational” for a “premium cabin” flight, they have fallen for marketing without even knowing it. Think about it. Are these terms that normal people use to describe their dream vacation? Or are they clinical, nearly made up words intended to pair with credit card points marketing schemes?

    Now in response to the rest of your comment. I appreciate that some people will find value in a convoluted redemption of Membership Rewards to some random airline on some random dates of travel. Why not specify all of those in the headline? It is not as though there is a character limit. “DL biz JFK-CDG in late July for 40k Amex” would narrow down the post to the relevant audience.

    To say you can get a DL flight for 40k points, but it turns out they’re not Delta points, is disingenuous.

  9. Max,
    Gary can’t even properly proofread articles that contain just 5 letter words.
    Surely you don’t expect him to get 12 letter words right, do you?

  10. Isn’t Air France a hot mess right now? Saw that yesterday on Paddle Your Own Kanoo…..

  11. Khatl, some people get it and others don’t. Those who do get it do so because they’ve put in the study time and have asked “what if?” over and over again. Those who don’t get it don’t want to work for it . . . they want it to come easy . . . they want momma to wipe their butts. Don’t dignify their comments with a response. Let them wallow in their ignorance.

  12. Here’s what I know about Reno Joe. He spent a decade in the military, then became a tax lawyer. Now he is posting internet comments about butt-wiping. The real American Dream right there!

  13. I collect Skymiles for their domestic “sweet spot” redemptions but I fly from SEA where they’re aggressive vs AS. Like 9000 miles nonstop to Cabo next week aggressive. This is free in relation to how easy it is to come by the currency right now. A blogger didn’t tell me about that deal. I found it on my own because I would rather do the research than yardwork. Point is, Reno Joe is right. You have to put in the work. Don’t rely on Gary or Ben to research your trips. Guidence, sure but YMMV. Also, pro tip: it’s easier to render positive judgement than negative. Better for your blood pressure too. Cheers Homey.

  14. So we’re clear, I never rely on Gary to research my trips. Who the heck is Ben?

    I rely on Gary for post titles that are accurate. I am let down a lot of the time. I defer to Axe from Billions (Showtime). Out of every 200 posts that Gary publishes, 1 is genius.

    “Delta flight for 40k points” but then it’s 40k of some other airline’s point currency? Get outta town. That’s deceptive and obviously meant for clicks. Pro tip: clicks don’t actually matter. That’s why advertisers no longer pay-per-click, but pay for incremental revenue. Which you don’t get from clickbait.

  16. Ben? He usually publishes miles & points articles too. Just one mile at a time.
    Another hot tip: If you sign up for an Amex Green card, you can get a sign up bonus worth 50,000 miles after spending $2,000 in 3 months. Then you can transfer those Membership Points to ANA or Virgin Atlantic & fly to Europe in Delta One pods!

  18. I’m still confused why after all of the renovations at JFK are done, AF, KLM and Delta still won’t be in the same terminals, and United, LH and Swiss won’t be in the same terminals.

  19. You gotta love us travel “hobbyists! Fighting over things like this…getting personal…yikes!

    I’ve been involved in hockey my whole life. Anyone out there know what a “lie” is? Or an “85 flex vs. a 110 flex”? Of course you don’t.

    My point? The average traveler doesn’t know “mileage run”, “premium cabin”, and they certainly have no clue what a “Skypeso” is or isn’t. You know what else they don’t do? They don’t use the airport call letters…EVER! No actual traveler (but us) says, “I’m out of LGA…thru MSP…and on to LAX”.

    Which is why ya gotta love…us. And ya gotta love the passion.

    Keep fightin’ folks…

  21. Rather disappointed to see all the sniping about Gary and others in the comments. I never thought of this blog as a vehicle to ridicule others. I think that Gary provides very high-quality information about premium air travel, and most comments typically add value to Gary’s post. If you find any of this upsetting, then just stop reading it.

  22. What Ferdinand Magellan said!
    Plus one!
    I stopped reading YMMV because of the high school level writing, the inane subject matter and the blocked comments section (praise only please!). I voted with my feet and walked away. Quite a few commentors on this site need to do that if they are so unsatisfied.
    Life’s too short…..

  23. This publication and its authors are so biased it is laughable. They’re either on United and American’s payroll or getting some type of kickback from each.

    They also should take a refresher course on English, as a first language.

    Garbage!

  24. I don’t see how regular readers could possibly see this site as biased in favor of American Airlines (or United, for that matter) let alone on the payroll of either – which I can assure you I am not !

  25. Sounds like any press release that Delta makes about the SkyMiles program offering any sort of tangible value. For being honest and transparent about what that value might be or what changes might be forthcoming. I don’t understand why they seem to be closer with their friends today than marriott. Clearly only partnering with Marriott for PR would make much more sense since they are both equally disingenuous about caring for customers and offering value and instead seeking out only good PR.

  26. So many ballers and twaffles commenting here. It feels like 2002 again. I’m expecting MrFurious to show up any day now.

  27. Would have been a good opportunity to provide the true shuttle product from NY to Europe… AA/BA’s 14x flights a day between NYC-LON including 2-3 morning eastbound daytime flights AND same day change privileges on AA metal options. That sounds a lot more like a “shuttle”…

Comments are closed.