LY777

It seems that there are still some available seats

http://www.airfrance.fr/FR/fr/local/...rance-B787.htm

brunos

Frankly, I fail to see the interest in such flight.

Well over 30 airlines have now taken deliveries of 787s. I have flown it many, many times on different airlines and this is just another small wide-body ac. I could understand the excitement for the A380 in the early months as it is indeed a very differnt plane. But the 787 was first delivered over five years ago. The A350 is more novel as it has been first delivered only 2 years ago. But I have flown it and it is just another ac, nothing special like the big whale.

I guess that I am blasé by now.

irishguy28

When I last checked a few days ago, there were literally only 2 seats available on the "Tour de France" flight.

Now there are 17.

irishguy28

True, but still does not seem like "better value" to me. I wasn't interested in the KLM offer either.

6 years ago, I got a weekend in London, including 2 trips in the J cabin of the brand new AF A380, and the award miles/level sectors, for €379 (which sounds like a bargain in comparison to these rates!) on one of those training/familiarity flights scheduled throughout the summer. Of course, a much shorter flight, but it actually got me to somewhere I wanted to go, and made an interesting way of getting there - and there actually still was a genuine buzz about the "new" aircraft type, even if it had been in the skies for several years and I had already had several A380 sectors under my belt by then.

At the time, I justified the extravagance of the expense on the basis that it would probably be the one and only chance I would ever get - or take - to set foot on an AF A380. Back then, I was still finding ways to fly on an A380 by each new operator that introduced them into their fleet, though in the intervening years the novelty wore off and I haven't kept up.

orbitmic

No, I totally share your feeling and your differentiation between the A380 which is indeed something unique and very different and the 787 which frankly deserves none of the buzz that it created and the A350.

What is more, bar JL which uses the originally intended 2-4-2 config on their 787s, other airlines all having fit 9 seats across in Y makes the 787 the worst long haul aircraft to fly in Y by a margin (except shortly followed by 10-across 777s) and is nothing special in J. I find the A350 far more comfortable in both classes but like you nothing like the A380s, which still has a wow factor for me after dozens of flights.

bodory

+1

The A350 is really nice to fly (specially on SQ...). So quiet!

+1 on the A380 effect as well.

ijgordon

Silly/random question. How does one pronounce 787 in French?

In English it's either "seven-eight-seven" or "seven-eighty-seven"

So in French is it "sept-huit-sept" or "sept-quatre vingt sept"?
Or do they go whole hog with "sept cent quatre vingt sept"?

Merci!

BA6501

Personally I'd go for sept cent quatre-vingt sept.

orbitmic

correct - all plane model numbers fully read in French with the occasional 'triple sept' exception for the 777.

Goldorak

Correct, but the airline staff, especially the pilots are calling the Airbus planes "trois vingt" for the A320, "trois quarante" for the A340, etc.
For the boeing fleet, it is different depending on the type : 737 = sept trente sept, but 747 was sept quatre sept. I believe it is because it was too long to say sept quarante set. So for the 787, I think the pilots will call it sept huit sept because it's too long to say quatre vingt sept.

ijgordon

I was thinking about that, but even the shortest "seven eight seven" is five syllables, only one less than the complete "sept cent quatre vingt sept". Though as an American, I still think the former is much easier to pronounce.

orbitmic

Actually I've heard pilots speak of a sept trois sept too though they will say a sept cinquante sept or sept soixante sept ans triple sept. I don't it has anything to do with length: the pilots merely translate literally from the English habit, which they've got to use at the immense majority of atc points.

If pilots needed to be literarily skilled, ca se saurait!

bodory

At AF they also used to call the 747 "le gros".

irishguy28

The first one has arrived!

NickB

It looks like the first LHR morning rotation (AF1680/AF1681) will be on the 787 this winter/spring with fares starting from £69 in Y and £249 in J.

I did one of these in J when they introduced the A380. I do not plan to do the same for the 787. However, I am wondering whether to switch to it for some flights. I would normally have gone for a later flight but could switch to the AF1681 on a couple of occasions. Not sure whether it is worth it, though. As a FB Plat (before April) or Gold (afterwards), am I likely to be able to sit in W rather than plain vanilla Y (bearing in mind that PE is not sold on this route) and would that still be the case if I bought a cheap-as-chips X-class mini fare?

If sat in plain Y, I really do not see the point since it seems that it would be less comfortable than in a bog standard A319/320. If sat in PE, that would be better.