Welcome to my first flight report for Air France 39 between Washington Dulles to Paris Charles De Gaulle!
As it was the beginning of Summer Holiday in the States, and Air France / KLM share the same check in counters at Dulles, the lines were immense and almost never ending. I stood in the baggage drop line for almost an hour while two counters handled an overbooked A330-300 bound for Amsterdam and another overbooked 777-300ER bound for Paris. After making my way through a quick security screening, I made my way to the gate in concourse A.
A quick shot of the concourse
Avianca A319 and two United 772s
A British 747-400
My Bird for the Day!
In the jetway used for all four classes
My seat, 23K, part of the first row of economy. The pitch was sufficient, and the arm rests were not too encroaching.
Dulles is clearly a big East Coast hub for United, with flights all across the globe.
A One World Qatar 777-300er arriving from Doha
Virgin A330, SAS A340, BA 747, and even a southwest 737
Take Off!
Menus were distributed quickly after take off
So were headphones, eye mask, and a packaged towel
Presentation for the meal was good, but the Beef was mediocre. It is also makes me very sad that AF has decided to serve brie flavored cheese.
Midflight, I changed seats so that a father could sit with his wife and baby who were using the basinet. He had an aisle seat.
IFE selection is good, but the two prong audio makes it compulsory to use the below average AF headphones. Thankfully i kept a splitter from a past delta flight.
Bar midflight
'Breakfast' was a muffin, Oj, and yogurt.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for sharing your first FR and welcome aboard
The beef is disappointing (and the cheese of course)
The breakfast is a shame : on par with any US company
Add a tight seat and you have a rather bad experience
Awesome first report! It's nice to see someone else from DC on here! Bad luck getting the 77W on flight 39, normally it's an A380 (except during winter schedule when some days are a 77W). I like AF, but I avoid their 777s like the plague if I'm flying in economy...the 3-4-3 configuration is just unbearable to me. And yet, I would still pick AF over UA any day. Looking forward to more reports!
Welcome to Flight-Report!
KevinDC / Community Manager & Mod
Welcome to the Community! Great first report. As Kévin said, I also avoid the AF 777 in any case, should I fly coach. About the cheese, this is everything but brie. Brie is not spreadable, it is more or less like camembert, but softer and not that smelly:)
Thanks for the warm welcome and comments! Check back later for my AF connection Paris - Bangalore, India!
I am aghast at the notion of Brie flavored cheese spread being served on an AF flight. It's made in Wisconsin; yes it is a dairy state, but they can do better than this thing !
That AF can reserve only one seat next to a bassinet is a common complaint. The notion that a baby could travel with its two parents has not reached AF yet.
This is an excellent first report (unlike the catering); thanks and welcome among the contributors !
Haha, I used to live in Wisconsin and I can definitely say they make some good cheese, in fact most Président products sold in the US (Camambert, Brie, etc) are made in Wisconsin...sadly this is not one of the good WI cheeses served here, LOL.
Thank you for sharing your first report with a great introductory cover picture and welcome.
It is truly sad and ironic to see the presence of bastardized Brie aboard an AF flight, and let's not forget about the pathetic breakfast, although to be honest breakfasts in France are not such an extravagant affair as in the U.S. Yet I can't believe that even U.S. carriers do a better job in this area. AA provides you a warm croissant and I believe DL still serves a hot muffin sandwich or something similar.
As others have said, the cabin configuration is not desirable for a long haul trip. A few things like champagne, free liquor with meals, printed menu, and the welcoming pack are nice touches that set AF apart from the competition.