After landing in Paris, I headed to customs and, as almost usual, no response to my good evening, thank you, never see you again. Yes you read well, this is what I said to the lady there. Never see you again can be translated by -adieu- in French. I hoped that this will lead to a reaction, but not, nothing. They don't even listen to you.
At least, the coach driver between 2G and 2E was nice.
I have a good hour before boarding, so I head to the K lounge that is overcrowded. That special evening, an A380 bound to JFK had to return to CDG due to severe turbulences and all Elite + and J class passengers are in the lounge for the rerouting, either tonight or tomorrow (those were easy to identify as they were screaming the most ^^)
I have a look at the buffet, which is more or less … empty. This is what I have been able to select:
Cheese: Empty, Salads: Empty, Cold Meats: Empty. There was a hot dish, a spinach - feta quiche that was disgusting. There was soup as well but one had to ask for a bowl first. There was blinis and tarama but it wasn't kept cool, so I didn't dare to try.
The lounge was dirty, with so many people around:
The staff tried their best to clean the mess up, but was not succeeding.
I sat down and watched the rebooking show that was quite funny to follow: complains, screams, crying, insults, and so on. A little comedia Del Arte.
I decided to board at the very last minute, as the flight was scheduled to take 12:15 (we ended at 12:30 due to a runway change).
Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, it was night already:
Then I discovered the new Air France J cabin, for which I specially changed the date of my flight:
At that moment I discover that I thought having boarded among the last passengers but in fact, I was with the first of business ^^. The cabin is clearly a very nice cabin. Some will find it a bit cramped with all the partitions, but not me. And once seated the living space is quite big.
As there was anybody yet in First I asked a cabin crew if I could have a look and take some pictures. She tells me to feel free to do what I want and asks me what I think about the product. I had seen it on FR already and found it just ok. But in live, it is really different. It's classy, warm and not bling bling at all. I really loved it. Sorry that my pictures are blurry but I switched my camera to the manual mode by accident.
Back to my seat:
The IFE has a very nice definition, and the moving map is great. You can virtually do what you want with it:
That's the locker were the headset is stored. You can store your camera, cell phone, mother in law, etc… ^^
I like this bin, it's handy and well thought. The mirror is a great addition.
Shortly after the welcome drink is offered. The cabin crew was really nice and asked each passenger no to hesitate should they have another wish. I take the opportunity to ask for a second pillow as I can hardly sleep with only one. I'll get it within a minute.
I took some Champagne and together we received a hot towel and the welcome kit:
The purser came through the cabin and greeting all passengers by name and by status if applicable. Very nice.
On time take off and the menus were handed over:
I don't like the concept to put advertisement, especially on premium cabin. Seems my camera did not like the concept as well as the picture was blurry ^^
Service started with a mini salmon bagel and cranberry nuts. It was really great. We had quite strong turbulences that would last until cheese service. Not very handy to eat.
That's the IFE and the tray table. The table itself is not great as you don't have to be big at all. Your belly would touch it. If you recline the seat, you can't eat at all.
The starter was great, but the foie gras portion was ways to small:
I took some Pomerol wine, which was not to write a home about. Anyway, if the wine is not sweet, it is not to my liking. And AF does not offer any sweet wines in J.
For the entree, I found it sad that the Chinese dish was chicken and the other meat choice chicken as well. I decided to take the seafood dish, as I saw it on a former FR, I knew how it would, at least, look like. Cheese is being served at the same time as the entree and the bread was warm.
This was followed by the usual dessert trio and a cooked apple ice cream.
Bed time with my two pillows:
After about 90 minutes of sleep, I am awaken by people speaking loudly next to me. The guy seated at the other side of the aisle was a staff member travelling on a staff ticket to Jakarta (I knew it as he kept repeating it to every single crew member coming to him). The whole crew already came to chat with him, and now, it starts again, the only problem is, it is middle of the night and they are quite loud. I was about to say something but at that time the purser came by and stops the discussion by asking a bit more consideration for fellow passengers and says to them to go to chat in the galley. That's a very good thing, but I don't like the fact that the staff needed the intervention of the boss to stop being that loud. Those are things that should definitively not happen.
Then I stood up as I was a bit thirsty and wanted as well something to nibble. I went to the galley and the bar was set up, but not the buffet with the food. There is a cabin attendant seated on the jump seat reading Paris - Match. I ask her if there is no food buffet on that flight. She gave me a very annoyed look and said:
- Once I finished to read my magazine, I'll do it.
I was speechless and gave her a WTF look that said more or less everything I was thinking together with a:
- Sorry??
She realized this was not the answer I was expecting and folds the newspaper to get the buffet ready.
This is an inexcusable attitude that should not happen. No passengers should be answered 'later' regardless if they travel in Y/J or F if a crew member is on duty and does something not related to work. I used to be a cabin crew member and I have never ever said later to a pax to be able to read a newspaper.
It's a shame because I had a wonderful flight to this point, and was still going to have an enjoyable flight, but those two small incidents with crews are the things that one will never forget. As I landed in Singapore, the first thing I told to my friends was that, and not how good the flight was.
Back to the food buffet, that was absolutely not appealing: cup noodles, curry pastillas, fruits, and Gü desserts, nothing to my taste. So I headed back to bed. This time I slept until breakfast.
Just before breakfast:
And for it, it was… chicken again, not bad, but not good either:
Two aerial shoots, the IFE and the moving map.
Final approach to SIN:
Pictures of the landing with the fwd. cam, I noticed a lag of around 3 secs between the actual events and the video.
Spotting at SIN:
See more
Verdict
Air France
8.8/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi10.0
Meal/catering8.0
Air france Lounge - 2E, Hall K
2.1/10
Comfort0.5
Meal/catering0.5
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Services0.5
Paris - CDG
10.0/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0
Singapore - SIN
9.2/10
Efficiency7.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0
Conclusion
That was a lovely flight, I really like that cabin. The crew was awesome apart from the Paris Match C/A and the standby passenger. The food was good but not excellent.
The lounge was absolutely crap, understaffed but very nice personnel. Food was subpar.
CDG nothing to say apart from the unfriendly police officer.
At Changi the controls took a bit of time (40 minutes) but a CX flight was just ahead of us. Otherwise nothing to say, the bags were on the belt before me.
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Thank you Esteban for sharing this beautiful report.
It seems that the customs officials at French airports are consistently stoic. Last Nov. when I arrived in CDG the agent said thank you and good bye after handing me my passport. I almost took a picture to celebrate this miraculous event.
What a shame that the AF lounge did not live up to expectations, but at least you were kept entertained with some drama unfolding in front of your eyes. That was a flight to JFK? Good luck! I feel bad for the poor agents.
The new J cabin is elegant with the dark fabric and much more convenient with every seat having aisle access. I noticed that there were hardly any publications in the bins for magazines, except for the inflight magazine. What a pity.
The amuse bouche with the beverage is a nice touch in addition to the package of nuts. When I flew AF J a couple of times in the past, it was just the box of nuts or cheese crackers from Fauchon. Also, the small salad and the warm bread are nice additions. I find that the cheese course should be served after the meal along with dessert. Speaking of dessert, I liked the old way in which they were offered from the cart along with some clementines, not this small sampler that seems frugal. Your main dish looks more like a soup.
Great report! A shame that the crew gave you a rather bitter service at some point during your flight. That's unacceptable.
As for the J cabin, i'm the people who thought it was a bit too tight. But since i wasn't flying on J at the time, can't say more other than my mere observation
Taking a break from your Alaskan adventures with this series in the middle, eh? It's nice to have variety I guess :-)
What a shame....if it hadn't been for the incident in the galley and the annoying non-rev it would've been a perfect flight! But at least you didn't let it ruin your experience and still enjoyed the flight. As you know I also used to work for an airline and I was always very discrete as a non-rev, 99.9% of non-revs are, but it just takes one inconsiderate douche bag like that to give non-revs a bad rap. It's good that the Purser intervened, but it should have been sooner! The 2E Hall K lounge is bad, maybe not as bad as your grades, but it's bad when you compare to the nice lounge in 2E Hall M. I was soooo disappointed when I went to that lounge the day it reopened after being closed for renovations and saw it was EXACTLY the same as before #FAIL. Thanks for sharing!
Wow I would've been absolutely livid if I had been spoken to like that. I would definitely complain to corporate. That behaviour is totally unacceptable, and especially so in a premium cabin.
Thank you guys for your great comments! I haven't complained to Air France about this flight as I try to only complain when it is really not good. Those incidents did not hit my time to complain bar :)
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5 Comments
It seems that the customs officials at French airports are consistently stoic. Last Nov. when I arrived in CDG the agent said thank you and good bye after handing me my passport. I almost took a picture to celebrate this miraculous event.
What a shame that the AF lounge did not live up to expectations, but at least you were kept entertained with some drama unfolding in front of your eyes. That was a flight to JFK? Good luck! I feel bad for the poor agents.
The new J cabin is elegant with the dark fabric and much more convenient with every seat having aisle access. I noticed that there were hardly any publications in the bins for magazines, except for the inflight magazine. What a pity.
The amuse bouche with the beverage is a nice touch in addition to the package of nuts. When I flew AF J a couple of times in the past, it was just the box of nuts or cheese crackers from Fauchon. Also, the small salad and the warm bread are nice additions. I find that the cheese course should be served after the meal along with dessert. Speaking of dessert, I liked the old way in which they were offered from the cart along with some clementines, not this small sampler that seems frugal. Your main dish looks more like a soup.
As for the J cabin, i'm the people who thought it was a bit too tight. But since i wasn't flying on J at the time, can't say more other than my mere observation
What a shame....if it hadn't been for the incident in the galley and the annoying non-rev it would've been a perfect flight! But at least you didn't let it ruin your experience and still enjoyed the flight. As you know I also used to work for an airline and I was always very discrete as a non-rev, 99.9% of non-revs are, but it just takes one inconsiderate douche bag like that to give non-revs a bad rap. It's good that the Purser intervened, but it should have been sooner! The 2E Hall K lounge is bad, maybe not as bad as your grades, but it's bad when you compare to the nice lounge in 2E Hall M. I was soooo disappointed when I went to that lounge the day it reopened after being closed for renovations and saw it was EXACTLY the same as before #FAIL. Thanks for sharing!
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