peteropny

This is my first attempt at writing a trip report so please bear with me and let me know if you have any specific questions.

We had originally scheduled this trip with award tickets using DL miles for the 7/4 weekend but moved it up with the recent announcement of the retirement of the Concordes from service. My partner had never been on the Concorde at all and I had only been on the BA Concorde several years ago. So fortunately we were able to change the ticket for an AF outbound in F and return on the Concorde with one week notice.

I will dispense with the domestic connection CVG-JFK-CVG on DL in J since this topic has been covered many times over.

Transfer at JFK – from DL terminal 3 to AF terminal 1
Upon arrival on DL 154 at 6PM, we asked several people how to transfer over to AF and was told the quickest way would be to walk over even though there are terminal shuttle buses available. Since we each only had a rollaboard and a tote bag, we decided to walk over. The walk is very confusing and goes up and down over several driveways and roadways and can be dangerous if the traffic was heavy.

AF Check-in, Lounge, and Boarding
We were originally scheduled on AF 9 at 10:55PM but knew that there was an earlier flight AF 7 at 7:45PM, so we decided to try to switch to the earlier flight if that was possible. Check-in was extremely slow and rather chaotic. We had gotten in the First Class check-in line behind two men who were apparently traveling on business while the agent was checking in a couple who had a total of 10 bags altogether. I’m not entirely sure what happened but the lady was sent to the ticketing line to apparently pay excess baggage fee while the agent continued checking the couple in. Subsequently, another check-in line was opened and the two men went to check-in there. Finally, the couple with 10 bags was completely checked in and it was our turn after almost 15 minutes. We then asked about the possibility to switch to the earlier flight if we could remain in F. The agent informed us that there were seats available but we would have to go over to the ticketing line to get our ticket changed. So, we went over to the First Class ticketing line where the agent there had been working with a man since we arrived in the area over 20 minutes earlier. Subsequently, another agent helped us and after consultation with her supervisor informed us that while there were seats available in F, the 7:45PM flight was oversold so she could not confirm us but could put us on the waitlist. She gave us seat request cards to get through security and then leave with the lounge attendants who would then notify us if they were able to clear us. Security line was moderate and we cleared in about 5 minutes.

The lounge located to the right of security had a larger lower area for J passengers and a smaller upper level for F passengers. Food selection was reasonable with hot puff pastry appetizers, cheese, and cookies. They also had a very nice beverage selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The lounge was uncomfortably warm however. Occasionally there would be a page for J passengers to the desk area but they would come up to find the F passengers if they needed to contact them. A few minutes later, they came up and gave us boarding passes in F for AF 7 . AF boards their passengers differently than the domestic airlines since they board Y first then the premium cabins last.

Comments: The inefficient separation of duties and some confusion appear to be part of the French culture since we faced this again and again on this trip. For example, in trying to purchase a 3-day museum pass and get tickets for a guided tour in the Louvre, we must have talked to almost 10 different people who kept giving conflicting information (not a language issue).

4/16/03
AF 7
JFK-CDG
7:45PM – 8:50AM
Boeing 777
First class cabin load was 10 out of 12 seats, configured 2-2-2. We were in the middle section in the first row. Cabin coloring was in soft greys, similar to the color scheme on US’s newer planes. The seats were the lie-flat type, similar to last generation F seats on SQ, with dividers between the rows but not suites. Shortly after boarding, champagne was presented followed by menus, amenity kits, and sleeper suits. Hot towels were also given out and meal choices were taken. The meal service seemed rushed compared to DL’s BE leisurely service, but there was a note in the menu that AF tries to allow as much time to rest as possible. After the meal service, the flight attendants asked if we would like a large pillow and/or a duvet for sleeping. About an hour before landing, lights were turned on and breakfast served. Clearing immigration was very quick and we were in a cab within 10 minutes of deplaning.

Dinner Menu
Hors D’Oeuvre
Caviar (Caviar House Oscetra)
And
Medallion of duck foie gras accompanied by onion marmalade

Choice of Main Courses
Pan-seared fillet of lamb with truffled vegetable julienne accompanied by sautéed black chanterelle mushrooms, tomato confit and chateau potatoes.
Or
Fillet of orange roughy with creamy ginger leek sauce accompanied by sautéed eggplant and a rice, corn, and Chinese cabbage galette.

Assorted Breads

Our Special Selection of Cheese

Dessert
Petit fours frais
And
Berry salad.

Wine List
Champagne – Laurent Perrier Cuvee Grand Siecle La Cuvee
White Bordeaux – Sauternes 1er Cru Classe 1995 Chateau Suduiraut
White Burgundy – Charles 1er Cru – Beauroy – 1999 Maison Chartron Et Trebuchet
Red Burgundy – Aloxe-Croton 1er Cru 2000 Maison Remoissenet
Red Bordeaux – Saint-Emillion Grand Cru Classe 1997 Chateau Faurie De Souchard

Breakfast
Fresh fruit juice
Coffee, tea, hot chocolate
Fruit salad featuring melon
Yogurt

Scrambled egg crepe with chives, bacon and hash-brown potatoes
Or
French toast with raisins and roasted pear

Fresh bakery selection and breakfast pastries
Butter, preserves, honey

Comments: I found the service very pleasant and warm. Dinner was excellent (I had the lamb - probably one of the best meals I’ve had on a plane, possibly better than on SQ in F). I’m not a wine expert but will say that the Champagne was good, White Bordeaux overly sweet, and Red Bordeaux was excellent. Breakfast was ok but not great (I had the egg crepe and it was barely edible). Meal service, while pleasant, felt like running a marathon (as soon as one course was finished, the next one would appear). I think there should be a balance between AF’s somewhat rushed service and DL’s leisurely service. From past comments here, I declined the duvet since cabin was slightly warm but it probably would have been more restful if I had the duvet. Overall, I would take AF F over DL BE any day. Note: seating in J was 2-3-2 on this 777.

4/17/03-4/20/03
Park Hyatt Vendome – Paris

I will be brief here since this hotel has had plenty of comments in the Hyatt forum. We arrived at the hotel and was able to check into our room around 10AM. I was “upgraded” to a Prestige Room (slightly larger room) since I am a Hyatt Diamond even though I was on a “deep discount” USAirways rate of 290 euros. I was a bit disappointed that I was not offered a Junior Suite but I didn’t request it either. Hotel did not appear to be busy during the stay.

The room was quite nice but on the small side compared to US hotels but the room was one of the larger ones according to the floor plan on the back of the door. The bathroom was spectacular and was about 2/3 the size of the main room. Two vanities, tub, separate shower, separate toilet compartment and clothes racks were in the bathroom. Continental breakfast, complimentary to Diamonds, was very nice but overpriced at 32 euros. Overall, the hotel was very pleasant and relaxing. Staff always greeted whenever seen.

A word of warning for travelers to Paris in general – be very careful of pickpockets. They are everywhere especially in the Metro. I got pickpocketed on Saturday, fortunately only lost about $100 equivalent in cash since I had that in my back pocket while wallet was in the front pocket with my hand on it.

4/20/03
AF 2
CDG-JFK
10:30AM-8:25AM
Concorde
Check-in took almost 20 minutes despite the fairly short line. They will wrap your suitcase in plastic if requested. We did not but had to check our rollaboards since the overhead storage on the plane is very small (even my fairly full tote bag would not fit – the flight attendants put it in a storage area on board).

After quickly clearing security, we proceeded to the lounge area. Business class is to the left and the Concorde (and F?) was a smaller area to the right. We had been assigned seats in row 18 and our request for seats in the front section of the plane entailed the same procedure as the outbound flight change with leaving the boarding passes at the desk. Load for this flight was 65 passengers which is fairly heavy. It was quite apparent from the buzz and picture taking that many, if not most, of the passengers on this flight were those who wanted to fly the Concorde prior to her retirement. At various times during the pre-flight, flight, and post-flight, I counted at least 6 people on DL award tickets. We joined in the excitement. There was a sign in book with many entries, including ours, expressing disappointment with the upcoming retirement of the planes. Keith Richards, of the Rolling Stones, had signed the book a few days earlier on 4/17/03. In the lounge area, AF had a display of Concorde mementos that supposedly could be purchased on board. I decided that I wanted several of the baggage tags and the Baccarat crystal clock with the Concorde logo on the crystal. Boarding started from the rear of the aircraft. Prior to this the attendants had paged us for our new boarding passes in row 1.

After boarding, menus were passed out along with offers of numerous newspapers and magazines. Champagne and hot towels were presented. After push back, we taxied and took off almost immediately. A slight nudge was felt when we crossed Mach 1, curiously we were still over land. Meal service was presented with a lot of style. However, it was a bit slow since the load of 65 passengers was fairly high for the plane. We had reached the cruising speed of Mach 2 by the time the appetizer was presented. Meal service continued for much of the short flight time of 3:23. At the end of the meal service, I inquired about purchasing the items, specifically the baggage tags. The flight attendant said that the purser was trying to decide whether or not to offer items for sale since we were getting close to JFK. A short time later, the baggage tags were brought to me but the clock apparently wasn’t available on the plane. At this point we had started our approach to JFK and speed dropped to Mach 0.8. A flurry of people visited the cockpit to see what it was like and to take photos. It should be noted that camera flashes went off almost constantly during the flight. Some of the passengers, who appeared to be regulars on the Concorde including the man seated across the aisle from us, seemed rather annoyed with all the commotion. We landed at JFK in an all to short time of 3:23, 30 minutes ahead of schedule. The captain informed us that we had to wait about a minute for the gate to clear since the JFK-CDG Concorde had just pushed back.

Deplaning was quick, and again many people took photos of the plane from the hallway leading to Immigration before an Immigration person came and told people to stop taking pictures although I think many continued. Bags were coming off the baggage carousel by the time we got through the quick Immigration line. We were out on the terminal curb, to wait for our friends in NY to pick us up since we had a lengthy layover, within about 5 minutes of deplaning.

Lunch Menu

Caviar (Caviar House – Oscetra)

Hors D’Oeuvre
Lobster served with potato salad
Or
Duck foie gras with figs and chutney

Hot Dishes
Pan-seared filet of beef with vegetable shavings serviced with celery puree
Or
Traditional blanquette of brill
Or
Vegetable brochettes served on a bed of artichoke bottoms and tomatoes

Selection of French Cheeses

Dessert Duet
Seasonal fruit timbale
And
Petit fours – miniature coffee éclair, lemon tartlet, apple with chocolate

Miniature 2-piece box of Fauchon chocolates

Coffee Tea Brandies Liqueurs


Wine List
Champagne – Dom Perignon 1993
White Bordeaux – Sauternes 1er Cru Classe 1995 Chateau Suduiraut
White Burgundy – Chablis 1er Cru Beauroy 1999 Maison Charton et Trebuchet
Red Burgundy – Aloxe Croton 1er Cru 2000 Maison Remoissenet
Red Bordeaux – Saint-Emillion Grand Cru Classe 1997 Chateau Faurie de Souchard

Comments: The flight was a great experience and exactly what I was hoping to do prior to the Concorde’s retirement. I’m very saddened by the retirement of the most advanced civilian aircraft. Instead, we are going to have the enormous A380. The Concorde in many ways represents the pinnacle of air travel (literally and figuratively). While it was certainly very exciting to be on the plane again (or for the first time), it is far less luxurious than the outbound in F on a 777. The service on the Concorde was excellent with the flight attendants working until about 15 seconds before landing. The food was good (I had the brill fish) but not outstanding. The only annoying part about the service was the constant opening and closing of the curtain between row 1, our seats, and the forward galley. I doubt that the curtain remained closed more than 30 seconds at any point of the flight. The seats are somewhat of a cross between domestic F, for pitch, and a CRJ, for seat width. Regrettably, it’s an experience that I shall never get to experience again. But I am thankful that I was able to experience the Concorde three times, a roundtrip on BA about 6 years ago and this flight. I wish that the sale of the mementos would have been more organized since I wanted to get the clock and possibly some of the other items. AF could have made a significant amount of money if they had offered the items for sale in the departure lounge.

zrs70

Thanks for the wonderful report.

I am curious...

Last year I was ticketed on the Concorde through DL. But AF cancelled their outbound flight two months in advance. I called DL and asked to be put on AF F instead. DL was adamant that I could only fly in either Concorde of J class, but not in F. Has this policy changed?

NYBanker

Yes. There was a change a few months back - I believe when the SkyTeam Concorde award become widely available (compared to the DL Concorde award). Prior to the ST award, you couldn't fly in AF F on a DL ticket. Now you can go in F (awards, only - no upgrades or paid F on DL ticket, tho).

IndyDavid

Great report, peteropny! Many thanks.

David

TMOTEE

I am taking AF 7 in FC at the end of May. I was surprised to see that the dinner menu consisted of only 2 entrees. Even DL BE gives you 3 or 4 choices. Is this normal for AF first ?

pallensf

Peter - -WOW is all I can say.

Congrats on your AF trip ...


Blessings...

------------------
Patrick A. Inouye, CMT
volunteer trip reports moderator

number_6

You can probably buy the Concorde souvenirs if you contact AF after your flight. I know BA offers this service. The wine you found too sweet is meant to complement the foie gras (cut its richness and fat with the Sauterne); AF should really also stock another dry white for those who don't want the Burgundy. The BA wine selection on the Concorde is considerably better (and more expensive) than the AF one (but BA no longer has caviar, at least on some flights).

catwood

Great Trip report, thanks for posting, your lucky to have had the concorde experience more then once.

makin'miles

Thanks for the trip report - I enjoyed reading it. Did you end up getting one of the clocks at JFK (or by mail)?

LH738

peteropny, thanks for the wonderful report. I especially enjoyed reading about your excellent experience on AF F (quite interesting that AF "only" offers wines from France).

peteropny

No Stuff is only available on board