Report No: 2020-201E
Ladies and Gentleman,
After a long break not publishing flight reports, I'm back here in Flight-Report with this short series of two transatlantic flight onboard the European low-cost carrier LEVEL Airlines on a trip which I did take just because I found the prices extremely cheap and award myself an extra vacation.
The first flight of the series would be the eastbound one from Newark to Paris-Orly onboard their brand-new A330-200 aircraft. Obviously, as LEVEL is a LCC and I don't hold any lounge memberships, I wouldn't able to provide you a lounge report this time.
Also, a small reminder that I would continue posting recent trip reports, however, if I have time, I would share my trips from 2019 which I didn't have the time to write the respective flight reports.
The simple itinerary for this trip;
Flight routing
- 1LV 8010 Newark to Paris ORY ( Economy ), Airbus A330-200
- 2
OVErVIEW OF TRIP
As I found this super good €328 r/t deal from LEVEL, I have decided to give up from a weekend during my stay in the USA and go to Paris and a reminder that there was also r/t deals less than €250 but this combination was the only one that fit my schedule. All other carriers from the greater NY area ( including PHL, BWI, IAD ) were thrice the price of LEVEL for a weekend trip.
ONLINE CHECK-IN
As we started OLCI, I was asked to verify my information and enter my passport details.
As I didn't pay for the seat assignment for this specific flight, I was auto-assigned seat 39A for this flight which was not that bad as I could also end up with a middle seat on a transatlantic flight.
At the end of online check-in, I've got a boarding pass by e-mail but the header simply asked me to stop by a check-in counter due to technical reasons.
ON THE WAY TO NEWARK AIRPORT: FLIXBUS
As I was in Washington DC the day of the flight. I decided to take FlixBus to New York and then take the NJ Transit train to Newark Airport as it's significantly cheaper than taking Amtrak to Newark Airport. Obviously, I had time to do the long detour and I didn't have heavy baggage.
Our bus today
We have left Washington DC with a 10-15 minute delay.
Flixtainment was available onboard today so I had the chance to watch a movie on route.
And, due to traffic our arrival at New York is significantly delayed.
And, the driver decides to make an unscheduled fuel and dinner stop at a service station. At that time I was worried that if I could make the flight without getting an Uber or Lyft.
During the rest of the bus journey, I spotted the incoming flight of our aircraft; F-HLVN would be the one taking me to Paris
Luckily we have arrived to New York at 21:25 ( 9:25pm ).
And I had time to have a burrito as a quick dinner.
Later on, I headed to New York Penn Station to take the train to Newark Airport. The next train to the airport was at 21:54 ( 9:54pm )
My ticket for the day
The waiting area for the train
Our train started boarding 10 minutes before departure at Track 9.
A photo from the train
Newark Airport - EWR
I have arrived at Newark Airport 1h30min before the flight
And took the AirTrain to Terminal B.
FIDS for today, our flight is one of the last flights of the day.
The AirTrain journey from the Train Station to Terminal B takes around 10 minutes.
During the AirTrain journey, I was able to spot our aircraft which was parked at Gate 65.
After arriving at Terminal B, I've headed to the first floor to obtain my boarding pass
There was only a single counter open, however, there was no wait. After the agent entered my visa details into the system, she weighed my carry-on and handed my boarding pass.
Boarding Pass for tonight
And, it's time to head to security. Two lanes were open for two flights ( Emirates and us ) and the wait was less than 5 minutes. Pretty impressive for Newark.
After security, there are not many options but there were several restaurants and cafés open late in the evening.
GATE AREA & BOARDING
Our aircraft was ready when I arrived at the gate and boarding had started with Group 1 passengers
As I was located in Group 2, I waited for my turn.
LEVEL is little bit strict about the size and weight.
Soon, I have boarded with Group 2 and here is F-HLVN
LV 8010 Newark Airport TO Paris Orly AIRPORT
After being welcomed by the crew, I have headed towards my seat at the rear Economy cabin. Here is a shot of the middle Economy cabin.
My seat for tonight's flight. The seat was actually comfortable.
And had decent legroom
Each seat was equipped with an IFE screen
And power outlets, which is pretty impressive for a LCC.
The seat pocket for today
Here is the content of the menu. On tonight's flight I would not have anything from the BoB menu but on the return, I would try some of the selections.
Our neighbor was an Emirates 777-300ER with a special Expo 2020 livery, heading to Dubai via Athens.
Wi-Fi was available onboard and BoB/Duty-Free items could be pre-ordered from the IFE screens.
The IFE menu
Film selections
Music selections
The overhead panel
Boarding was finished 20-25 minutes before scheduled departure time and there was an announcement that upgrades were available for Premium Class, but I wasn't interested in this offer. Later on, the safety video was monitored.
After our pushback, this UA 757 which arrived from Miami appeared.
And a United Express jet just arrived from Kansas
Newark is the home of United
And more United aircraft at Terminal C
And a United 777-300ER with the new livery at a remote stand
And when it was our turn, we took off.
IKEA
Our flight time for tonight would be 6h20min.
Wi-Fi was available
And, here are the available packages. Not cheap but not expensive either.
A photo before I slept
I just woke up for a minute when we were here and we had exactly 2h1min left to Orly.
And, after I slept for another time, I woke up here while we were descending
And we had landed exactly 1 hour before our scheduled arrival time
A Corsair 747-400
RAM 737-800
Transavia 737 getting prepared for his flight to Djerba
Another RAM aircraft heading to Agadir
Corsair 330 heading to Montreal-Trudeau
EC-MMU at Orly since 3 days without any flights.
And we have parked to a remote stand. We have waited 20 minutes for the parking marshall to arrive so the seat belt signs were turned off 25 minutes after our arrival.
Paris Orly AIRPORT - ORY
And we waited another 15 minutes for the buses to arrive, however, only one bus did arrive and as I was seated at the rear cabin I needed to wait another extra 10 minutes for the second bus. Later on 45-50 minutes after our arrival, I left the aircraft.
After a 10 minute bus journey we were inside Orly 3.
After arriving at the terminal, I have cleared passport control within a minute, there was no wait at the non-EU line.
FIDS - Interesting fact that Pegasus Airlines is the only Non-EU carrier utilizing Orly 1-2-3.
And after leaving the baggage claim hall, I have went upstairs to the OrlyVal station to head to the city.
After 3 minutes, the car has arrived
And I was on my way to Antony RER station.
And, I took the RER B to the city.
This report has came to an end.
Thanks for reading and hope to see you another report.
Thanks for sharing! On the note of IKEA, the food court there is a fantastic plane spotting destination with sweeping views of the runways. I may or may not have spent hours there looking at planes on an occasion ;-).
Thanks for your comment JonathanL and thanks for the advice about IKEA. :)
Wooo Swedish meatballs and planespotting!!!! ✈
Thanks for this review.
The seat does look comfortable.
How was the load factor on this flight ?
Let's see what happens to LV after the current crisis.
Hi KL651 and thanks for your comment,
- The seat was much better than other full service carriers long-haul product. LEVEL is doing a great job for a decent price.
- Oops, I forgot to add the load factor, however, the Economy cabin was %50-55 full, however, I have no idea about the Premium cabin. The westbound flight was more crowded than this one.
- Who knows? For LV France, they continue to operate most of their flights as PTP and FDF are considered domestic, only the EWR route is canceled. However, I could not say the same thing for LV Spain. We'll all see...
Once again thanks for stopping by and hope to see you in another report.
Hi ISTFlyer, nice to see one of your reports again!
As I've said in other comments, these quarantine times where we frequent flyers are grounded is a good time to catch up on posting flight-reports! I'm going to try to catch up on my backlog myself.
That is a good deal--these kinds of deals were getting pretty common with so much TATL competition the last few years! We'll see if those kinds of prices stick around post Covid-19 crisis...somehow, I don't think so as I imagine not all carriers will make it out of this alive.
Wow, you really went the low-cost route throughout the trip, haha. I always took Amtrak because I always found it worth it for the convenience since it went right to EWR. Most of the time I could get tickets at $50, which is reasonable for the convenience and speed compared to bus/driving
I would love to try LEVEL...if I could earn AAdvantage miles on them! It's a shame that LEVEL is an IAG carrier, but you don't really have any oneworld benefits. An A330 in 2-4-2 configuration with AVOD, Power and USB is amazing for an LCC. Most LCCs have A330s in the awful 3-3-3 configuration. The only truly LCC aspect of this service seems to be the buy-on-board. Otherwise, it's a really nice non-low-cost experience.
Thanks for sharing and hope you enjoyed Paris...right before the lockdown!
Hi KévinDC and thanks for your comment,
- It seems like that :) I have many unwritten F-R's in my archive and probably they would all be here in a month or two if things don't get better. Probably around 20-30 flights.
- I hope these LCC's survive. They are budget savers. Especially on ex-USA trips which are considerably expensive than ex-Europe trips.
- As I booked this ticket last minute, Amtrak was $100ish on the way to EWR and no trains until 3 am on the way back so I didn't find it reasonable. However, when I have checked bags and travel from WAS to EWR, I prefer using the $59 deal of Amtrak which should be booked 21 days in advance.
- Yes, that's a huge disadvantage. Unless booked through the IB codeshare, which is slightly expensive than booking direct, no miles and points at all. It's super similar to how they treat Vueling flights.
- Yes, I agree, it's amazing and beyond my expectations. By the way, if you have checked baggage, there is a combo-pack worth $45 each direction that includes checked baggage, a full course dinner, and a snack before arrival with unlimited drinks ( including alcoholic beverages ). And, at least the BoB is much better than those menus of US carriers.
- Once again, thank you very much for your comment and hope to see you in another report.