studiospotter
Jul 24, 08, 2:44 pm
I decided to take this trip as a treat to myself following completion of my first year of law school. I cashed in CO OnePass miles and HHonors Points for the flights and Istanbul hotel. My flights were booked beginning in March 2008, with subsequent modifications as my schedule finalized. Total cost: 100,000 OnePass miles, 100,000 HHonors points, and $276.51 (!) in flight taxes:
U.S. Security Service Fee: 2.50
U.S. Customs User Fee: 5.50
U.S. Immigration User Fee: 7.00
U.S. APHIS User Fee: 5.00
France Airport Tax: 48.13
Turkey Airport Service Charge: 15.00
U.K. Air Passenger Duty: 158.51
U.K . Passenger Service Charge: 34.87
Per Person Total: 276.51 USD
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AF 365 - PHL-CDG
Departs: 1845
Arrives: 0825 + 1
I arrived at PHL Terminal A around 1600, knowing that the flight was already delayed 30 minutes due to a late inbound aircraft from CDG. Although there was no one standing in line for business class check-in, I had to wait about 10 minutes due to a problem with the other passengers then being assisted by the agents. Eventually one of the Tempo agents was able to assist me, and got me checked in quickly, handing me my PHL-CDG and CDG-IST boarding passes, a card for the express security and immigration queues at CDG, and a pass to the US Airways envoy lounge. Oddly, the lounge card didn't actually state that the lounge was the US lounge, but rather just had a map directing one to 'Le Salon d'Affaires' on the third level of the terminal. There was no AF sign at the entrance to the US lounge, and if I didn't know in advance that this was actually the lounge that AF used, I would have been a little confused. In the US lounge, I was told I could use 'either side' (either the Envoy side, on the right, or the regular Chairman's side, on the left. Had I not known that the right side was the Envoy side, with food offerings and an open bar, I would have been very disappointed.
There was a buffet of light food - mostly breads and spreads. The bar had a good selection of bottled beers, but no drafts.
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Eventually, the AF A340 arrived from Paris. However, there were some thunderstorms which led to a groundstop for about an hour.
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Boarding commenced about an hour later than planned. Amenity kits, a pillow, woven blanket, headphones, and a bottle of water were waiting at each seat. Champagne was offered once all Affaires passengers were onboard. Once the flight left the gate, there were 20+ planes waiting to depart. The flights purser came around to all the Affaires passengers, apologized for the delay and gave assurances that CDG was aware of the delay and would assist as much as they could to protect connections, and informed us that the crew would begin the aperitif service and take dinner orders while we were awaiting departure. I was a little surprised that there were only two entrees on offer - a beef and the plat du jour, red snapper. I thought this was a great idea since it would ensure more rest once the flight did get underway. For the apéritif I had another glass of champagne, as well as a box of the cheese puffs. Serving the crackers in a ceramic ramekin instead of out of a cardboard box would be a nice touch.
Once we took off, dinner was promptly served. I chose the fish, which was fine, as well as the white burgundy, which was quite nice. With dessert I had a glass of the cognac and a cup of coffee. None of the video offerings interested me, so I chose to watch 'Who Shot Mr. Burns' during dinner (which was offered on my last AF flight 18 months ago – although granted it is a classic among Simpsons fans).
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This was my first experience with a lie-flat seat. I usually don't sleep well on planes because I sleep on my stomach, and thought I would do well on a lie-flat seat. Unfortunately, I rested fitfully, and gave up about two hours before landing. Breakfast was served about 90 minutes out.
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We landed around 10:00 and got a jetway in the old section of 2E. I was very glad that I had booked a long connection at CDG, and headed through immigration and to the arrivals lounge for a shower. The arrivals lounge in 2C was kind of tough to find - I didn't see any signs directing passengers to it and had to ask an agent. Inside, the receptionist offered me a shower room right away. Inside there was another amenity kit, as well as a kit of shampoos and shave gear, and a sealed plastic bag with two towels, a washcloth, and hand towel. Outside there was a spread of lounge food, but there didn't appear to be much that wasn't offered in the other lounge. The arrivals lounge itself was small - a small sitting/dining area, a separate room that looked like it could be used for meetings, and perhaps a dozen shower rooms. The lounge didn't appear used much. Had I known that showers were available in the terminal lounges I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of making a point of visiting the arrivals lounge.
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AF 1790 - CDG-IST
Departs: 1235
Arrives: 1655
After clearing security, I proceeded back to the old section of terminal 2E, checked on my flight gate, and headed up to the third floor Salon d'Affaires. The lounge seemed to be at the end of a secluded corridor, but was very large inside, with several food areas spread out and a computer area (with several iMacs).
This was my first Eurobiz flight. I had pretty low expectations, but was generally impressed with the 2x2 arrangement created by the fold-down seatback in the center seats, although I was in a bulkhead row. About 6 or 7 rows were curtained off for Affaires, and another several rows behind that for Tempo Challenge. Menus and amenity kits - downgraded versions of the transatlantic packs - were distributed (similar pouch with socks, eye mask, earplugs, and towelette). Unfortunately, the wrong menus were passed out (they were actually the menus for the return flight), but the 'surprise' lunch was still pretty good.
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The flight went by very quick, or at least it probably seemed to because I kept dozing off. Coming into IST was pleasant - we flew over a lot of new construction to the north and west of the city center. Taxi was pretty quick to the gate. Quickly obtained a tourist visa from the visa counter ($20) and passed through immigration. Changed some dollars and a 200 NOK note I had leftover from a previous trip into enough YTL to get me to my hotel. Bags came out within a few minutes, and I left the customs hall, found the Havaş bus to Taksim Square, and was on the way to my hotel, the Hilton Park SA near Kabataş.
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AF 1791 - IST-CDG
Departs: 1525
Arrives: 1805
Checked out of my hotel around 1100 and took a taxi to Taksim Square. From there I caught the 1130 Havaş bus to IST. The bus arrived about an hour later. I nearly got off at the first stop - IST's domestic terminal - but realized when most passengers remained seated that this was not what I wanted to do. A minute later the bus reached the international terminal. The bus drops passengers off at the airport's lower level - the arrivals area. I had read earlier that at IST passengers needed to go through security before entering the terminal. There were two entrances with X-ray machines on the lower level. I wasn't sure which to use - they weren't marked - so I went to the one nearest to the escalator I saw that must go to the upper level. There were a few people in the line, but when I got to the front, the guard, with much gesturing, indicated that my bag (carry-on size) was too large to go through the metal detector so I had to use the other entrance. Knowing no Turkish, and coming to this conclusion based only on the gestures the guard was making, I went back outside to the curb and to the other entrance. Fortunately, the security staff there let my bag through the machine. I crossed the terminal to the escalator and made my way to the ticketing hall.
The ticketing hall was very confusing. There were about five large, central counters. Counters were assigned on the departures display, and it being just 1230, my AF flight was not yet posted. There was no place to wait, and since all the counter signs were on monitors, I had no clear indication where AF might set up. The other Sky Team airlines were spread apart, so that was not the system being used. Finally, I did find some AF logo rope barriers, so I figured that must be the place to be. There were three lines set up - one long, snaking area which I concluded must be for Y, and two other short lines. There was one passenger waiting in one of those two areas. The hard-sided luggage made me guess that he wasn't American, so I hesitated to ask him what the protocol was (embarrassed about only speaking English) and waited in the other queue. A few minutes later a non-AF employee came with a cart filled with all the AF counter paraphernalia and started to set up for the flight. More passengers began arriving, randomly choosing lines since there was still no indication on how we should queue. At about 1315, four AF staff members came, spent a few minutes booting up the computers, and opened the flight for check in. The monitors instantly came to life, announcing that I had chosen the correct line (I was relieved). The other short line was for web check-in, so those passengers ended up having to requeue.
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The AF staff agent checked me in for the flight to CDG as well as my connection to LHR, tagged my checked bags, and gave me a pass to the Millennium lounge. Immigration move slowly, although I was through in about 20 seconds. Oddly, there was no security checkpoint after immigration, so I checked out the two large duty free shops, then headed to the lounge.
The lounges are clustered in an area above and below the departures level, to the right of immigration. The Millennium Lounge was up the escalator. The lounge wasn't all that large, but had several seating areas and a large buffet area running along one side. Oddly, the lounge didn't have its own restrooms, so one had to leave the lounge and go to the public facilities across the hall. The lounge was fairly busy when I arrived, but became quieter as the time passed. The only flight I remember hearing announced was a Qatar Airways flight. The buffet oddly featured lots of breads, rolls, and sandwiches - apparently Turks haven't bought into low-carb diets.
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Having not cleared security, I was eager to leave the lounge early in order to get to the gate on time. I left around 1430 and made my way to gate 203 in about 10 minutes, stopping along the way to take some photos. The gate had its own security checkpoint (as most of the gates did). As I approached one of the security staff checked my boarding pass against a passenger manifest. I thought this was odd, but I guess it was an easy way to preemptively identify stragglers. Security was quick, and I waited, standing, about 15 minutes in the gate area until the flight boarded.
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I don't usually get chatty with other passengers, especially not on international flights since I'm shy about my weak foreign language skills, so I was surprised when the passenger in 1C started conversing with me. Apparently he was a dermatologist from Spain, and was pointing out the sunburn on my arms from my boatride to Anadolu Kavaği the day before. Like the flight to IST, C took up the first six or seven rows, followed by a few rows of Tempo Challenge.
The flight appeared 80-90% full. The same amenity kits were distributed, as were lunch menus, which were different from the menus meant for the IST-CDG return of the flight I had taken a few days earlier. Champagne, O/J, and water were passed around. I found the small plastic champagne glasses amusing. Takeoff was on time, and the service began about 25 minutes into the flight. At first I was a little disappointed because of the menu change - I was looking forward to dried beef, melon, and black forest cake - but the chicken and ganache roulade (a very large slice) on offer was nice. With my lunch I had more of the white burgundy I had enjoyed on the earlier flight, but also tried the red languedoc - a very pleasant switch from the Charles Shaw. Served with each meal was a piece of Turkish Delight candy. I thought that was a very nice touch ex-IST.
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Unfortunately it was again overcast flying over southern Europe, so I didn't get much in the way of Alpine views flying to Paris. I was a little disappointed that the cabin crew didn't come through to offer beverages inflight. The drinks cart was set up in front of my window in the galley, but I wasn't sure if it was intended for self-service or not. Regardless, the crew seemed pleasant, but I think on such a long flight a run through the cabin would be welcome. Coming into CDG I did get a nice view of the Eiffel Tower from my seat. The flight landed without delay, and we taxied right up to 2E. Unfortunately, after about 5 minutes standing at the terminal it was concluded that the jetway was broken, but a set of stairs was quickly rolled over. Still better than a remote stand!
On the way to the train to the other half of 2E, I stopped at the transfer desk to check on my connecting flight. The boarding pass I was issued in IST said that the flight would leave out of gate E38, which didn't appear to exist in the AF magazine. I fed the boarding pass into a self-service machine and reprinted the flight information, and the LHR flight was still assigned to E38. Having heard that this part of CDG 2E had recently reopened, I concluded that I'd be getting an opportunity to fly out of the new terminal.
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AF 1980 - CDG-LHR
Departs: 2005
Arrives: 2025
I hopped on the train to the new part of 2E. Cleared security quick as CDG as a whole was very quiet this time of day. Many of the shops in the terminal had even closed by this point. I went downstairs to the AF lounge, had some juice, threw a few bottles of water into my bag for later, and checked my email on one of the iMacs. This lounge was smaller than the one in the high-number gate section of 2E, and being below the departures level seemed kind of dark. I only spent about a half hour in the lounge, then went for a walk around the terminal until my flight was ready to board. At the end of 2E there was a massive bank of windows with lounge chairs arranged with a view of the tarmac, down a flight of steps from the rest of the terminal. Definitely a nice oasis. The whole terminal design seemed really sleek; the long, winding hall appeared not unlike a great fuselage.
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Boarding was called a few minutes late. The agent ran my boarding pass through the machine, not remarking about the unusual card stock, but then the computer started beeping. She started frantically typing away, looked puzzled, stepped away from the console out of earshot, and radioed someone. I was afraid that something had gone terribly wrong with my booking, or my luggage had not made it from IST, or the AF police were hunting me down for pinching bottles of water from the lounge, but she came back, made a few keystrokes, and returned my boarding pass. I asked her if everything was alright, and she said "Oui" and smiled. Unconvinced, I proceeded down to the jet bridge (four jetbridges in a row at CDG!). Champagne, water, and O/J was again offered pre-departure. The flight to LHR took off about on schedule, without any taxi delays since the airport was so quiet. The crew (curiously all male) came through very soon after takeoff with a snack of smoked fish and grain salad, with a baguette and Toblerone chocolate (all on a one-hour flight - incredible!). At this point, being fairly liquored up and wanting to avoid any trouble with LHR immigration, I asked for some Fanta to drink. No Fanta. So I tried for Sprite. No Sprite. I saw a bottle of Coke on the cart, and it appeared that Coke was the only non-alcoholic bevarage onboard. I did settle with some still water, and enjoyed some breaks in the clouds over the Channel that afforded a nice view of the Dover cliffs.
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Landing at LHR was on schedule, and we pulled right up to T3. Bags came out after about 15 minutes - fortunately both mine had made it, so I am left unclear on what the fuss at CDG was about.
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CO 8221 / VS 001 - LHR-EWR
Departs: 1600
Arrives: 1840
Having heard so many great reviews about Virgin's Upper Class, I had high expectations for this flight - and Virgin performed very well (except for the aircraft - I had wanted to ride on the upper deck of a 747, but VS changed the schedule and put an A340 on the route). I arrived at T4 at 1045 in order to have plenty of time in the Clubhouse. Check-in and security were effortless, and by 1115, having been given a guided tour of the Clubhouse, I was sitting in the brasserie with a Pilsner Urquell ready for some lunch (although lunch didn't actually start being served until 1130). I tried the highly-praised (on v-flyer.net, at least) Clubhouse Burger, which was OK - the meat was heavily blended, almost like a meatloaf, and the french fries weren't at all crispy (I’ll let it slide since it was probably the first lunch order out that day). I wasn't able to get a booking at the Cowshed, so I spent most of the next few hours working my way through the drinks menu at the bar and in the library dealing with email. The whole Clubhouse crew was great.
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The flight was delayed about an hour. I left the Clubhouse before boarding was called to take a walk around the terminal. After waiting 20 minutes in the corralled boarding area, boarding was called, all at once apparently. I settled into 5A, but a mother and baby sat behind me in 6A. Fearing that my Upper Class Experience would be ruined by a screaming tot, I switched to empty 3A. Pre-departure champagne was offered, and it was a quick taxi and takeoff. The excellent V-Port was switched on a few minutes after takeoff, and drink orders and lunch orders were taken. I had the ham-wrapped asparagus, the chicken, and the ice cream. Enjoyed the rest of the flight watching episodes of Little Britain and Family Guy, Superbad, and I Am Legend. The F/As brought me a few cups of tea during the flight, and I made a trip aft to check out the bar. Sampled the bellini, but the F/A didn't seem to get the proportion of syrup-to-bubbly quite right.
Ice cream was served about halfway through the flight, and the F/A came around about 90 minutes before landing to see if I wanted any snacks (no separate afternoon tea service was offered on this flight, but there were some bar nibbles mentioned on the menu). Landing at EWR came all too soon.
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The crews on all the flights were very pleasant. AF up front was nice, but VS Upper Class was something very special. All in all, a very pleasant trip, and a satisfying use of 100,000 miles.
U.S. Security Service Fee: 2.50
U.S. Customs User Fee: 5.50
U.S. Immigration User Fee: 7.00
U.S. APHIS User Fee: 5.00
France Airport Tax: 48.13
Turkey Airport Service Charge: 15.00
U.K. Air Passenger Duty: 158.51
U.K . Passenger Service Charge: 34.87
Per Person Total: 276.51 USD
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AF 365 - PHL-CDG
Departs: 1845
Arrives: 0825 + 1
I arrived at PHL Terminal A around 1600, knowing that the flight was already delayed 30 minutes due to a late inbound aircraft from CDG. Although there was no one standing in line for business class check-in, I had to wait about 10 minutes due to a problem with the other passengers then being assisted by the agents. Eventually one of the Tempo agents was able to assist me, and got me checked in quickly, handing me my PHL-CDG and CDG-IST boarding passes, a card for the express security and immigration queues at CDG, and a pass to the US Airways envoy lounge. Oddly, the lounge card didn't actually state that the lounge was the US lounge, but rather just had a map directing one to 'Le Salon d'Affaires' on the third level of the terminal. There was no AF sign at the entrance to the US lounge, and if I didn't know in advance that this was actually the lounge that AF used, I would have been a little confused. In the US lounge, I was told I could use 'either side' (either the Envoy side, on the right, or the regular Chairman's side, on the left. Had I not known that the right side was the Envoy side, with food offerings and an open bar, I would have been very disappointed.
There was a buffet of light food - mostly breads and spreads. The bar had a good selection of bottled beers, but no drafts.
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Eventually, the AF A340 arrived from Paris. However, there were some thunderstorms which led to a groundstop for about an hour.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/studiospotter/SEVaSItK9WI/AAAAAAAAAK0/Fn2ilUpsyK0/s720/P5180005.JPG
Boarding commenced about an hour later than planned. Amenity kits, a pillow, woven blanket, headphones, and a bottle of water were waiting at each seat. Champagne was offered once all Affaires passengers were onboard. Once the flight left the gate, there were 20+ planes waiting to depart. The flights purser came around to all the Affaires passengers, apologized for the delay and gave assurances that CDG was aware of the delay and would assist as much as they could to protect connections, and informed us that the crew would begin the aperitif service and take dinner orders while we were awaiting departure. I was a little surprised that there were only two entrees on offer - a beef and the plat du jour, red snapper. I thought this was a great idea since it would ensure more rest once the flight did get underway. For the apéritif I had another glass of champagne, as well as a box of the cheese puffs. Serving the crackers in a ceramic ramekin instead of out of a cardboard box would be a nice touch.
Once we took off, dinner was promptly served. I chose the fish, which was fine, as well as the white burgundy, which was quite nice. With dessert I had a glass of the cognac and a cup of coffee. None of the video offerings interested me, so I chose to watch 'Who Shot Mr. Burns' during dinner (which was offered on my last AF flight 18 months ago – although granted it is a classic among Simpsons fans).
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This was my first experience with a lie-flat seat. I usually don't sleep well on planes because I sleep on my stomach, and thought I would do well on a lie-flat seat. Unfortunately, I rested fitfully, and gave up about two hours before landing. Breakfast was served about 90 minutes out.
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We landed around 10:00 and got a jetway in the old section of 2E. I was very glad that I had booked a long connection at CDG, and headed through immigration and to the arrivals lounge for a shower. The arrivals lounge in 2C was kind of tough to find - I didn't see any signs directing passengers to it and had to ask an agent. Inside, the receptionist offered me a shower room right away. Inside there was another amenity kit, as well as a kit of shampoos and shave gear, and a sealed plastic bag with two towels, a washcloth, and hand towel. Outside there was a spread of lounge food, but there didn't appear to be much that wasn't offered in the other lounge. The arrivals lounge itself was small - a small sitting/dining area, a separate room that looked like it could be used for meetings, and perhaps a dozen shower rooms. The lounge didn't appear used much. Had I known that showers were available in the terminal lounges I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of making a point of visiting the arrivals lounge.
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AF 1790 - CDG-IST
Departs: 1235
Arrives: 1655
After clearing security, I proceeded back to the old section of terminal 2E, checked on my flight gate, and headed up to the third floor Salon d'Affaires. The lounge seemed to be at the end of a secluded corridor, but was very large inside, with several food areas spread out and a computer area (with several iMacs).
This was my first Eurobiz flight. I had pretty low expectations, but was generally impressed with the 2x2 arrangement created by the fold-down seatback in the center seats, although I was in a bulkhead row. About 6 or 7 rows were curtained off for Affaires, and another several rows behind that for Tempo Challenge. Menus and amenity kits - downgraded versions of the transatlantic packs - were distributed (similar pouch with socks, eye mask, earplugs, and towelette). Unfortunately, the wrong menus were passed out (they were actually the menus for the return flight), but the 'surprise' lunch was still pretty good.
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The flight went by very quick, or at least it probably seemed to because I kept dozing off. Coming into IST was pleasant - we flew over a lot of new construction to the north and west of the city center. Taxi was pretty quick to the gate. Quickly obtained a tourist visa from the visa counter ($20) and passed through immigration. Changed some dollars and a 200 NOK note I had leftover from a previous trip into enough YTL to get me to my hotel. Bags came out within a few minutes, and I left the customs hall, found the Havaş bus to Taksim Square, and was on the way to my hotel, the Hilton Park SA near Kabataş.
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AF 1791 - IST-CDG
Departs: 1525
Arrives: 1805
Checked out of my hotel around 1100 and took a taxi to Taksim Square. From there I caught the 1130 Havaş bus to IST. The bus arrived about an hour later. I nearly got off at the first stop - IST's domestic terminal - but realized when most passengers remained seated that this was not what I wanted to do. A minute later the bus reached the international terminal. The bus drops passengers off at the airport's lower level - the arrivals area. I had read earlier that at IST passengers needed to go through security before entering the terminal. There were two entrances with X-ray machines on the lower level. I wasn't sure which to use - they weren't marked - so I went to the one nearest to the escalator I saw that must go to the upper level. There were a few people in the line, but when I got to the front, the guard, with much gesturing, indicated that my bag (carry-on size) was too large to go through the metal detector so I had to use the other entrance. Knowing no Turkish, and coming to this conclusion based only on the gestures the guard was making, I went back outside to the curb and to the other entrance. Fortunately, the security staff there let my bag through the machine. I crossed the terminal to the escalator and made my way to the ticketing hall.
The ticketing hall was very confusing. There were about five large, central counters. Counters were assigned on the departures display, and it being just 1230, my AF flight was not yet posted. There was no place to wait, and since all the counter signs were on monitors, I had no clear indication where AF might set up. The other Sky Team airlines were spread apart, so that was not the system being used. Finally, I did find some AF logo rope barriers, so I figured that must be the place to be. There were three lines set up - one long, snaking area which I concluded must be for Y, and two other short lines. There was one passenger waiting in one of those two areas. The hard-sided luggage made me guess that he wasn't American, so I hesitated to ask him what the protocol was (embarrassed about only speaking English) and waited in the other queue. A few minutes later a non-AF employee came with a cart filled with all the AF counter paraphernalia and started to set up for the flight. More passengers began arriving, randomly choosing lines since there was still no indication on how we should queue. At about 1315, four AF staff members came, spent a few minutes booting up the computers, and opened the flight for check in. The monitors instantly came to life, announcing that I had chosen the correct line (I was relieved). The other short line was for web check-in, so those passengers ended up having to requeue.
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The AF staff agent checked me in for the flight to CDG as well as my connection to LHR, tagged my checked bags, and gave me a pass to the Millennium lounge. Immigration move slowly, although I was through in about 20 seconds. Oddly, there was no security checkpoint after immigration, so I checked out the two large duty free shops, then headed to the lounge.
The lounges are clustered in an area above and below the departures level, to the right of immigration. The Millennium Lounge was up the escalator. The lounge wasn't all that large, but had several seating areas and a large buffet area running along one side. Oddly, the lounge didn't have its own restrooms, so one had to leave the lounge and go to the public facilities across the hall. The lounge was fairly busy when I arrived, but became quieter as the time passed. The only flight I remember hearing announced was a Qatar Airways flight. The buffet oddly featured lots of breads, rolls, and sandwiches - apparently Turks haven't bought into low-carb diets.
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Having not cleared security, I was eager to leave the lounge early in order to get to the gate on time. I left around 1430 and made my way to gate 203 in about 10 minutes, stopping along the way to take some photos. The gate had its own security checkpoint (as most of the gates did). As I approached one of the security staff checked my boarding pass against a passenger manifest. I thought this was odd, but I guess it was an easy way to preemptively identify stragglers. Security was quick, and I waited, standing, about 15 minutes in the gate area until the flight boarded.
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I don't usually get chatty with other passengers, especially not on international flights since I'm shy about my weak foreign language skills, so I was surprised when the passenger in 1C started conversing with me. Apparently he was a dermatologist from Spain, and was pointing out the sunburn on my arms from my boatride to Anadolu Kavaği the day before. Like the flight to IST, C took up the first six or seven rows, followed by a few rows of Tempo Challenge.
The flight appeared 80-90% full. The same amenity kits were distributed, as were lunch menus, which were different from the menus meant for the IST-CDG return of the flight I had taken a few days earlier. Champagne, O/J, and water were passed around. I found the small plastic champagne glasses amusing. Takeoff was on time, and the service began about 25 minutes into the flight. At first I was a little disappointed because of the menu change - I was looking forward to dried beef, melon, and black forest cake - but the chicken and ganache roulade (a very large slice) on offer was nice. With my lunch I had more of the white burgundy I had enjoyed on the earlier flight, but also tried the red languedoc - a very pleasant switch from the Charles Shaw. Served with each meal was a piece of Turkish Delight candy. I thought that was a very nice touch ex-IST.
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Unfortunately it was again overcast flying over southern Europe, so I didn't get much in the way of Alpine views flying to Paris. I was a little disappointed that the cabin crew didn't come through to offer beverages inflight. The drinks cart was set up in front of my window in the galley, but I wasn't sure if it was intended for self-service or not. Regardless, the crew seemed pleasant, but I think on such a long flight a run through the cabin would be welcome. Coming into CDG I did get a nice view of the Eiffel Tower from my seat. The flight landed without delay, and we taxied right up to 2E. Unfortunately, after about 5 minutes standing at the terminal it was concluded that the jetway was broken, but a set of stairs was quickly rolled over. Still better than a remote stand!
On the way to the train to the other half of 2E, I stopped at the transfer desk to check on my connecting flight. The boarding pass I was issued in IST said that the flight would leave out of gate E38, which didn't appear to exist in the AF magazine. I fed the boarding pass into a self-service machine and reprinted the flight information, and the LHR flight was still assigned to E38. Having heard that this part of CDG 2E had recently reopened, I concluded that I'd be getting an opportunity to fly out of the new terminal.
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AF 1980 - CDG-LHR
Departs: 2005
Arrives: 2025
I hopped on the train to the new part of 2E. Cleared security quick as CDG as a whole was very quiet this time of day. Many of the shops in the terminal had even closed by this point. I went downstairs to the AF lounge, had some juice, threw a few bottles of water into my bag for later, and checked my email on one of the iMacs. This lounge was smaller than the one in the high-number gate section of 2E, and being below the departures level seemed kind of dark. I only spent about a half hour in the lounge, then went for a walk around the terminal until my flight was ready to board. At the end of 2E there was a massive bank of windows with lounge chairs arranged with a view of the tarmac, down a flight of steps from the rest of the terminal. Definitely a nice oasis. The whole terminal design seemed really sleek; the long, winding hall appeared not unlike a great fuselage.
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Boarding was called a few minutes late. The agent ran my boarding pass through the machine, not remarking about the unusual card stock, but then the computer started beeping. She started frantically typing away, looked puzzled, stepped away from the console out of earshot, and radioed someone. I was afraid that something had gone terribly wrong with my booking, or my luggage had not made it from IST, or the AF police were hunting me down for pinching bottles of water from the lounge, but she came back, made a few keystrokes, and returned my boarding pass. I asked her if everything was alright, and she said "Oui" and smiled. Unconvinced, I proceeded down to the jet bridge (four jetbridges in a row at CDG!). Champagne, water, and O/J was again offered pre-departure. The flight to LHR took off about on schedule, without any taxi delays since the airport was so quiet. The crew (curiously all male) came through very soon after takeoff with a snack of smoked fish and grain salad, with a baguette and Toblerone chocolate (all on a one-hour flight - incredible!). At this point, being fairly liquored up and wanting to avoid any trouble with LHR immigration, I asked for some Fanta to drink. No Fanta. So I tried for Sprite. No Sprite. I saw a bottle of Coke on the cart, and it appeared that Coke was the only non-alcoholic bevarage onboard. I did settle with some still water, and enjoyed some breaks in the clouds over the Channel that afforded a nice view of the Dover cliffs.
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Landing at LHR was on schedule, and we pulled right up to T3. Bags came out after about 15 minutes - fortunately both mine had made it, so I am left unclear on what the fuss at CDG was about.
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CO 8221 / VS 001 - LHR-EWR
Departs: 1600
Arrives: 1840
Having heard so many great reviews about Virgin's Upper Class, I had high expectations for this flight - and Virgin performed very well (except for the aircraft - I had wanted to ride on the upper deck of a 747, but VS changed the schedule and put an A340 on the route). I arrived at T4 at 1045 in order to have plenty of time in the Clubhouse. Check-in and security were effortless, and by 1115, having been given a guided tour of the Clubhouse, I was sitting in the brasserie with a Pilsner Urquell ready for some lunch (although lunch didn't actually start being served until 1130). I tried the highly-praised (on v-flyer.net, at least) Clubhouse Burger, which was OK - the meat was heavily blended, almost like a meatloaf, and the french fries weren't at all crispy (I’ll let it slide since it was probably the first lunch order out that day). I wasn't able to get a booking at the Cowshed, so I spent most of the next few hours working my way through the drinks menu at the bar and in the library dealing with email. The whole Clubhouse crew was great.
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The flight was delayed about an hour. I left the Clubhouse before boarding was called to take a walk around the terminal. After waiting 20 minutes in the corralled boarding area, boarding was called, all at once apparently. I settled into 5A, but a mother and baby sat behind me in 6A. Fearing that my Upper Class Experience would be ruined by a screaming tot, I switched to empty 3A. Pre-departure champagne was offered, and it was a quick taxi and takeoff. The excellent V-Port was switched on a few minutes after takeoff, and drink orders and lunch orders were taken. I had the ham-wrapped asparagus, the chicken, and the ice cream. Enjoyed the rest of the flight watching episodes of Little Britain and Family Guy, Superbad, and I Am Legend. The F/As brought me a few cups of tea during the flight, and I made a trip aft to check out the bar. Sampled the bellini, but the F/A didn't seem to get the proportion of syrup-to-bubbly quite right.
Ice cream was served about halfway through the flight, and the F/A came around about 90 minutes before landing to see if I wanted any snacks (no separate afternoon tea service was offered on this flight, but there were some bar nibbles mentioned on the menu). Landing at EWR came all too soon.
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The crews on all the flights were very pleasant. AF up front was nice, but VS Upper Class was something very special. All in all, a very pleasant trip, and a satisfying use of 100,000 miles.