Was on AF63 in J yesterday. The lounge used at EWR was the BA lounge. Nice lounge, lots of seating options and not that busy (except maybe the last 20minutes before boarding). Food options were decent and there is a full (manned) bar available. 2 showers available (didn’t used them).
The global experience at EWR is indeed not bad. Compared to JFK it appeared much airy and modern. Security lines weren’t long, new machines were used so no need of sorting out liquids/electronics, AND they were apparently working well (sometimes these new machines send 1/3 bags on secondary screening). To me EWR wins towards JFK (arrival flight on P last weekend showed me the usual old, hot and gloomy terminal, with huge construction works that currently make road and train access much complicate).
On the other hand timing of AF63 is the more red that a red-eye can be! With a 18:00-ish departure it is quite hard to decide to sleep immediately after take off, but with only 6 hours in the air it would be the only solution to get some rest if you want the day after to be a bit productive. I skipped the dinner and the breakfast and was able to have almost a decent rest.
However the service was longer than on later flights from JFK since almost all passengers had their meal onflight. Cabin was then very noisy with lights on.
With this akward timing, service was finally like an hybrid between “day time” and “expedite sleeper service”. I caught a conversation between FA’s in the galley : some of them were quite confused of what protocole to follow (especially regarding aperitif service, considering the absence of welcome drink and some demands of a quick service). They finally still served a separate quick aperitif with Champagne before beginning bringing the trolleys/trays.
Breakfast started really early (like 1:30 h before landing) which again brought a lot of noise into the cabin, but it was still offered to me even if I was back in seating position only 30min before landing.
All in all an EWR departure at 19:00 would be my go-to!