one of the world's worst onboard business experience
Hello all and welcome to this last flight from my Warsaw trip.
Warning to all but European regular flyers: some of the pictures below might be difficult to watch, please have be seated and have a cold glass of water nearby.
Flying blue Miles claimed with this flight: 301
XP status points: 6
Enchainement de vols
- 1TGV Lyon Perrache - CDG
- 2
- 3
- 4AF CDG - LYS
I used the Air France app as always to check in. I must say the app is now quite robust and user-friendly.
The flight will be operated on this A321 featuring 212 seats, which is often the case on this domestic route.
PARIS - CHARLES DE GAULLE aiport
I left you at the 2F concourse where my next flight is also meant to depart from. I have enough time for a 2F lounge visit.
The entrance hall that we all know now (at least on the french speaking side of Flight Report)
at the AIR FRANCE 2F lounge
I have reported the lounge before but I am still very pleased with the effort Air France put in. The staircase is truely impressive. And it seems that Air France thought of the amount of space available when designing the Lounge: unlike my Delta Sky Club visit at JFK lately, even this lounge is crowded, you still have a nice feeling of space.
The buffets are always refilled, and since I have a sweet tooth, I am slowly heading towards the dessert section!
My lil afternoon snack.
Despite the grey and miserable weather, you see that there is a considerable amount of natural light.
The pastry trolley goes through the lounge regularly on the afternoon, and the staff never forget to offer you bubbles with pastries - a very nice touch that I can't refuse- I'd hate to be rude!
I am heading to the showers, you can just walk in as there are a good 20-30 of them in the lounge. They are clean and have all you want for. Air France keeps improving its lounge with the latest addition of an Hair Drier, a nice touch when you washed your hair.
Boarding
For once I dont turn up at the gate too late, which allows me to say that boarding priorities were respected.
The cute nose of the A321
onboard the A321
Aircraft: Airbus A321-212
Tail registration: F-GTAP
Engines: 2x CFM56
Age: 14 years
Layout: Y 212
Named: Epinal
Comments: Used for domestic flights but at least equipped with WiFi
The "door" moment
So here is what Air France very seriously calls a Business Class: the middle seat is left empty and the head rest is red don't look for any other differences with the eco seats; there aren't.
Nope
No pitch difference, No IFE, no diveder/curtain, nothing. To be fair the Smart and Beyound seats are better but still there are no differences.
Ah yes I have spotted a major difference: the price!!
A fellow gold member (Scorph) was heading back to Toulouse on an A321 next door.
We are pushing back with a 15 min - which is often the case when boarding an A321, Air France has a set time window for its A32X family, which is fine up to an A320 but not so much with the A321 and its 212 Pax.
A photo of my plane taken by Scorph from his A321 outbound to Toulouse..
The Lufthansa group was still at the 2D concourse, it has moved back to the Terminal 1 since.
not sure what ITA airways does at 2D when this airline is still part of Skyteam..
The different in terms of window sizes is striking between and A22X and an A32X, it feels very much dungeon-y on the A32X now!
Cloud surfing…
Are you ready for the ultimate French Haute Cuisine experience on this Business flight?
There you go, here is the extend of the service!
A box of biscuits
A glass of champagne
Refreshing towel
Pack of nuts
Seriously Air France, can we rename this premium economy please?
The approach to the 35R runway is above the Monts d'OR, offering a splendid view on Lyon, especially at this golden hour.
On the background you can see the Alps.
In terms of entertainments Air France still offers free messaging service on wifi and a free comprehensive digital press, and not only french as you can see with this very iconic front page of the Times, covering the passing of her Majesty QE2.
The onboard magazine is available to all as a digital copy and printed format at the Lounge where I got this one.
My favorite double page in that magazine - double pages are always a must - at least since Playboy existed!!
at lyon - saint-exupéry airport
The famous High Speed Train service station of the airport.
The Terminal is still closed for refurbishments, we arrive at the T1.
Thanks for reading my FR!
Uh oh...LOL...well this starts out on a positive note ?????
Yeah, as if Euro-biz isn't bad enough as it is, the trend of reducing pitch to be the same as Y in recent years to cram even more people in has really been a shame. I want to say it started with LH, but then BA and AF followed, because of course they always do. Luckily, KL, IB, TP, and a few others still offer better pitch in H rows.
Then again, in this particular situation, this "Metropole" fleet with the awful ironing boards was never configured to have a J cabin as they were meant to fly mostly domestic (though we all know they also do some short Intl flights). Domestic J within France is only a recent evolution, as you know, meant to offer a little more service for those who connect to regional airports from Intl destinations and vice-versa. So to be fair it's kind of an improvement over the previous situation where you had to sit in regular Y connecting off of a J flight in Paris. Now, that being said, the Domestic J experience is laaaaame and really a half-hearted attempt at trying to make J pax feel like they're still separated from Y...just barely.
Hah yep, that would actually make sense. This is exactly the same as LATAM's domestic Premium Economy service, minus the champagne in a plastic glass lol
Great views of Lyon on arrival at the golden hour! Always a good time for aerial shots. Though Lyon is a beautiful city in any light!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Kevin and thanks for stopping by !
Well I was trying to remain fair and objective in my comment.. right? :p
Just like it is for the cold meal on European J, BA and LH do do cold meals on Business too. It really makes you feel like that have a menage à trois sort of special hot line of cost cutting and downgrading the passenger experience!
And it is not always the case, I think the J is only sold from CDG, as there was no J at all on my LYS-BOD flights.
Yes exactly at least LATAM is more honest with their branding.
What do you need from me??? ahah