My girlfriend and I just returned from a great holiday trip to Paris. Flew TW's nonstop STL-CDG service in their Trans World One cabin- a premium business class.

TW 818 STL-CDG 767-200

Arrived at Lambert to find that TWA had reconfigured some of its check-in areas, and for some reason, no separate line for TWOne was to be found, just an international checkin area. The board was showing 3 flights, CDG, LGW and YVR. There was a short line, but it moved quickly, and we were checked in by an efficient and friendly agent. After passing through security, we headed up to the Ambassadors Club, located between the B and C concourses at STL.

The flight was scheduled for a 655pm departure, and began boarding around 615. The plane was a 767-200, still painted in TWA's old livery. The airline is returning a couple of its -200s to the lessor this month, so this may have been one of those planes. TW configures its TWOne cabin on the -200s with 24 seats in 4 rows. The front cabin was about half full for this flight, with economy being almost 100% full. Each seat had a pillow and wool blanket on it for the overnight flight, as well as an amenity kit with a few basic items.

Seats are comfortable, if a bit on the narrow side. We had one of the bulkhead rows, which means less legroom than the rest of the rows, but no one reclining into one. On course, another disadvantage on the overnight flights is the traffic and light due to the proximity to the galley.

The seats have a lot of recline and a fair amount of legroom. When fully reclined, the seats are nearly flat- in fact, too steeply reclined for me to sleep comfortably. Each seat is equipped with an individual video monitor that plays small cassettes- a choice of 14 or 15 is provided.

Upon boarding, we were greeted warmly by several flight attendants, and jackets immediately taken. Pre-flight champagne and orange juice was served, menus distributed, and pre-flight drink orders taken. Due to a slight delay in leaving the gate area, meal orders were also taken prior to takeoff.

Hot towels were distributed immediately after takeoff, followed by a snack of smoked salmon, artichokes and olives with a drink.

Dinner service then followed. Appetizer choices were a Chicken "Napolean" and a Warmed Maryland Crab Cake. A baby spinach salad was served seat-side, with a variety of garnishings available.

Wine selections- Stevenot Merlot 1996, Chateau Trebiac 1996- Graves, Arciero Central Coast Chardonnay 1997, Chateau de la Guice 1998- Montagny, and Domaine V. Sauvestre 1998, Chablis.

Main course choices were a Chateaubriand, Breast of Chicken, Pan-seared Sea Bass and a Braised Shank of Lamb. Both the Chateau and the Sea Bass were excellent.

Dessert consisted of a variety of cheese selections or a pumpkin cheesecake, followed by coffee service.

Everything that we tasted was very good, and attractively served on individual settings. On this flight, with only 11 or 12 passengers and 3 Flight Attendants, things moved at a very good pace.

Service throughout the flight was excellent, and passengers were addressed by name throughout. The F/As were friendly and geniunely seemed to value our business. They circulated frequently around the cabin to make sure that no one needed anything. It also happened that I had met our Captain before on some previous TWA flights, and he came back to say hello.

I got a couple hours of sleep, and had a fresh hot towel to wake me up and a quick continental breakfast before landing at CDG. Despite taking off about 30 minutes late, we pulled into the gate at CDG about 10 minutes behind schedule. Immigration was quick, and we proceeded to the baggage area in Aerogare 1. After about 10 minutes, the first set of bags from our flight came out, but none of the TWOne bags. They followed in the second batch, after another 10 minutes or so.

This was my first true TWOne experience, and I came away quite pleasantly surprised. The shortcomings of a 6-across 767 cabin aside, TW puts out a very competitive product. It may not have all of the bells and whistles of a DL or CO Premium Business product, but the smaller, more intimate cabin and the friendliness of the crew was more than enough for me.

After a terrific week over the Christmas Holiday in Paris, we returned to STL this morning, which I'll cover later.


[This message has been edited by socalterp (edited 12-27-2000).]