BEY-CDG with Middle East Airlines, 18 July
Jul 25, 2004, 11:24 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2002
Location: YYZ
Posts: 389
BEY-CDG with Middle East Airlines, 18 July
My birthday started at 3h30, having to wake up for the 90min drive from the Beka'a Valley to BEY. We arrived just before 6 for the 8h05 flight to CDG. This was an AF codeshare (I had AF metal from CDG-BEY) so mile accumulation was possible, except that I left my AF card at home and had alraedy put my DL FF account into my PRN, so I think the miles will be lost on this one 
Check-in was a breeze but with a rather grumpy CSR...I was tempted to ask for a birthday upgrade, but didn't think that she was in the mood for it. My bag went only to CDG, my cousin's all the way back to YUL.
After going through passport control, there was duty free abound with AMAZING prices. Carton of Marlboros for 11$ USD and a litre of Absolut vodka for 9$ USD. There were samples of some 12-year old scotch being handed out, and seeing as it was my birthday, 7h00 wasn't too early to start drinking
We waited at the gate for a while before boarding where passports were checked once again. The MEA plane was an A330-300, seating 2-4-2 in Economy. The plane seemed brand new, very nice seats and pitch. There was an AVOD system as well, headphones handed out quickly after being seated. The map tracker thing was also playing at all times on the overhead screens. Flight time was announced as 4h10 to CDG in Arabic, French and English.
Menus were handed out in a stiff card type thing, very nice touch for Economy. Food was as follows:
BRUNCH
Juice
Parsley Omelette
Cooked Vegetables -- Almond Potato
Sauteed Pimento
or
Knafeh
Galettes
Dessert
Croissant - Bread
Butter - Cheese - Jam
Coffee - Tea
I took the knafeh, a sweet cheese and bread type of thing. Hard to explain, but quite good.
Movies included Welcome to Mooseport and Mona Lisa Smile, among others. The inflight mag was also trilingual and had some interesting articles, one all about the history and sociocultural impact of ice cream; another announcing the codeshare agreement with Qatar Airways.
Arrival at CDG was to Terminal 2F, we parked at a remote stand and were bussed to the terminal, albeit with some congestion. Passports were checked again when exiting the busses by the Surete.
Overall a great flight, I got some needed sleep and watched a movie. I wouldn't hesitate to take MEA again, making sure that I get my points this time. They have their own programme, Cedar Miles, with quite a few partners, but I'd most likely use my AF account.
Any other questions are welcome...I realize this was a brief report, and I imagine there are curious FT-ers about this little-flown (by North Americans)airline.
Check-in was a breeze but with a rather grumpy CSR...I was tempted to ask for a birthday upgrade, but didn't think that she was in the mood for it. My bag went only to CDG, my cousin's all the way back to YUL.
After going through passport control, there was duty free abound with AMAZING prices. Carton of Marlboros for 11$ USD and a litre of Absolut vodka for 9$ USD. There were samples of some 12-year old scotch being handed out, and seeing as it was my birthday, 7h00 wasn't too early to start drinking
We waited at the gate for a while before boarding where passports were checked once again. The MEA plane was an A330-300, seating 2-4-2 in Economy. The plane seemed brand new, very nice seats and pitch. There was an AVOD system as well, headphones handed out quickly after being seated. The map tracker thing was also playing at all times on the overhead screens. Flight time was announced as 4h10 to CDG in Arabic, French and English.
Menus were handed out in a stiff card type thing, very nice touch for Economy. Food was as follows:
BRUNCH
Juice
Parsley Omelette
Cooked Vegetables -- Almond Potato
Sauteed Pimento
or
Knafeh
Galettes
Dessert
Croissant - Bread
Butter - Cheese - Jam
Coffee - Tea
I took the knafeh, a sweet cheese and bread type of thing. Hard to explain, but quite good.
Movies included Welcome to Mooseport and Mona Lisa Smile, among others. The inflight mag was also trilingual and had some interesting articles, one all about the history and sociocultural impact of ice cream; another announcing the codeshare agreement with Qatar Airways.
Arrival at CDG was to Terminal 2F, we parked at a remote stand and were bussed to the terminal, albeit with some congestion. Passports were checked again when exiting the busses by the Surete.
Overall a great flight, I got some needed sleep and watched a movie. I wouldn't hesitate to take MEA again, making sure that I get my points this time. They have their own programme, Cedar Miles, with quite a few partners, but I'd most likely use my AF account.
Any other questions are welcome...I realize this was a brief report, and I imagine there are curious FT-ers about this little-flown (by North Americans)airline.
Jul 25, 2004, 2:27 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Montreal
Programs: FB Gold; PC Plat.
Posts: 419
Great trip report, and a belated happy birthday. I made the exact same trip with them last April, and I was very pleasantly surprised - actually felt that they were offering better service than Air France. Following your comments, I now regret that I didn't have a better look at the duty free shop...