Review of Air France flight from Paris to New York in Economy

AFR

AF - Air France

Flight taken on 05 March 2014
AF 006
14:10 08h 15m 16:25
Class Economy
Seat 91A
Esteban
15,471 · 56 · 3 · 0

  • MLH CDG E190 : FOLLOW ME HERE
  • CDG JFK A380 : Immediate boarding
  • JFK CDG B772 : please wait more
  • CDG MLH E190 : won't be published as it is a copy paste of the inbound report ;)
I was happy to see that I will fly on the latest A380 that joined the AF fleet with the 80 Years logo. As my inbound flight landed late, I could not really pay a full visit to the lounge, it just left me enough time to enter, pick up a water bottle and a newspaper.


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The Sky Priority lane was very big, sure, with an A380 and so much business seats, as well as lots of FB Elite, it could not be else. The good thing was that boarding started with the SP lane, and only when the lane was almost empty, the general boarding started. I have spotted lots of boarding where both lanes were boarding at the same time, not giving any special privileges to be an Elite member.
I make my way upstairs to discover the little coach cabin, aft of the plane, small and nice:



Seat 91A offers unlimited legroom, but no window, and no little side rack. Another thing, the side luggage bins on the upper deck are much smaller than the one in the center. A standard trolley won't fit in. Be warned!


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My travel companion ;)


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Push back will be on time, but due to heavy head winds, our captain will expect landing some 10 minutes late. Once airborne the cabin crew will hand the headsets (together wih a sleeping mask and a wet towel) and the menues over. The IFE contains the menues for all classes. Here after what was on offer, sorry, in French only.



Three cameras are available for outside views, but only one will work:


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I managed to get this picture out of the tiny window at the door:


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Short after, the aperitive service is conducted, port wine for me, with some olive oil snacks (I love them !)


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I pre-ordered a tradition meal, that will be brought to me at the same time as all special meal. This was the bad point of the flight, as no drinks nor bread are provided with the tray. You got to wait until premium and the first rows of coach are served, and this takes a bare 20 minutes. I learnt later that this is not standard and that drinks should be offered with the meal. As been forgotten by my cabin crew :(



The foie gras was to die for, and the fig chutney lovely. The hot dish seemed dry but it wasn't. The duck was tasty, and together with the mushrooms and the potatoes a very good meal. The cheese was camembert, that was ok. The dessert was made with nuts and I don't like nuts. It was not very good though.
A coffee and digestive service was conduced afterwards:


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I streched my leg a bit and here some pictures of the plane:



Lavs:


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Moving-map :


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Mid flight I felt a bit hungry and asked the hostess at the galley if I could have something to munch, and the answer was: It's not on the flight protocol to serve snacks mid-flight. But don't worry, you'll get a refreshment in two hours. OK, but I am hungry now, and not in two hours :( Bad, very bad point.
I had to wait the two hours to get that:


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OK for the bread and the cheese, so far for the yaourth but it is not enough. And what I really hate, is that for this service, you only get coffee/tea or water. I'm sorry this isn't a breakfast, so why not offering a soft drink assortment?
Landing was, as promised, 10 minutes late. We had to wait a bit to be pushed in to the gate. I was expecting lots of people at immigration, but there was a 15 minutes waiting time. When I came to baggage claim, my bag was already waiting for me!
All in one, I was at my hotel in Brooklyn roughly 90 minutes after landing in JFK with the AirTrain. Quite good.

Product ratings

Airline

Air France 6.1

  • Cabin8.5 / 10
  • Cabin crew5.0 / 10
  • Entertainment/wifi5.0 / 10
  • Meal/catering6.0 / 10
Departure airport

Paris - CDG7.9

  • Efficiency10.0 / 10
  • Access7.5 / 10
  • Services9.0 / 10
  • Cleanliness5.0 / 10
Arrival Airport

New York - JFK9.2

  • Efficiency10.0 / 10
  • Access9.0 / 10
  • Services9.0 / 10
  • Cleanliness9.0 / 10

Conclusion

Being seated upper deck and emergency exit helps to maximize the comfort. The tradition menu was really good and I would rate it 5 of 6 points. The second meal I would rate it 1 out of 4 points, just because I did not get any snacks mid-flight. That gives a total of 6/10.
The IFE worked really well but there is no WIFI, that gives a 5/10
I leave a 10/10 for the on time performance dispite the 10 minutes delay, as this is nothing for a trans-atlantic flight.

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Comments (3)

  • Thanks for sharing this FR with very interesting pictures.

    Too bad attitude from the flight attendant (and the AF flight protocol). There weren't any cookies, peanuts or something like that available at the galley?

    Did you feel cold seating next to the door?

  • Thank you!

    There weren't anything. I went through the whole plane, through all galleys in coach and ... nothing.

    No, it wasn't cold at all near that specific exit. I know that on 767 planes, it can be very, very cold by emergency exits!

  • Thank you for sharing this wonderful report, catering looks good!

    I really need to find a way to try the A380 one day...

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