Originally Posted by
sony2012
Just about the AA seats between JFK & Paris. I flew this route several times, some recent as well. Some flights are upgraded to full flat beds but some not. You can easily check that on AA website.
For open sky flights, I couldn't find any lounge at Orly(?) when I was flying out of Paris. And the service and seats on Open Sky were not that impressive either, so I would say AA's new flat seat from CDG would be better.
AA has a tendency to switch out aircraft in the last minute. You will never know for sure whether their Business class has full flat beds or not and there is a good chance you will end up with angled seat. With Open Skies, you are guaranteed to get full flat beds and turndown / sleeper service closer to that of BA First than BA Club World.
Service is highly contingent on the crew you get, but one thing for sure is that Open Skies has a smaller business class cabin so it will feel more intimate and that means the service should be more personalized based on lower pax per FA ratios. Food should be better as well since it's more a hybrid between BA First and Club World.
Admiral Club in CDG vs. Iberia VIP Lounge in Orly - neither worth spending significant amount of time.
Not saying flying AA out of CDG is not a good idea, it comes down to the fact that you can fly AA Business to/from so many other areas but Open Skies only travels between Paris and New York so in that sense, why not take this opportunity to fly a unique airline? I could always fly AA Business to places with lesser competition, like to South America where AA doesn't need to compete with a bunch of European and Asian carriers, therefore, make choosing AA more easily justifiable in premium cabin.