physicsdude

They didn’t even offer a wine list on my JFK-CDG flight. Didn’t show the champagne bottle but pretty sure it’s Comte’s because they didn’t even offer a wines list on my flight. However the service was impeccable despite being a full LP flight.

NYC1

Service is usually perfect and not the crew’s fault that AF is trying to save some $$$.

Flying_Duck

Part 1: SLC-LAX-CDG

So Mrs. Duck and myself went on a week's vacation to Rome to meet up with our close friends from Provence and had a great time. This post is to provide an update on traveling in LP through LAX and CDG, This time we connected two tickets, SLC-LAX in F on DL and LAX-FCO in LP on AF through CDG and J from CDG to FCO (saved us thousand of dollars, rather than buying the ticket from SLC-LAX-FCO through AF - and with the DL/AF making this seamless as to function as a single ticket with all boarding cards and luggage tagged to FCO in SLC, though the transition in LAX (not unexpectedly) being a little less seamless than last time where we had a single AF ticket.

On arrival in LAX, no personal escort meeting us (and we did not expect any) making our way to the Bradley Terminal without exiting security. On arrival, we found out from the information, that AF still does not have an open lounge, with LP and J paxes being sent to the Korean Air lounge (later found out that paxes could go the One World as well. The Korean Air lounge was pleasant enough, pretty basic and limited food and drinks selection, but clean, spacey and with only few paxes at the time (12:30 to 14:20). With no help from the KA agent (but pleasant enough), I went out of security and 'checked in' at AF in the dedicated LP counter. This prompted new boarding cards being issued, and escort called. She escorted my back to the KA lounge, informed me about the One World lounge access, but stated that we would trade off food selection (better in the OW lounge), but for quiet and space (better in KA) - we were fine staying in the KA lounge. She told us when she would be back to escort us the long way to the AF gate - which would be by walking, did so on time, introduced us to the designated LP FA, and helped us settle in. Absolutely no concerns or complaints about the ground product in LAX given the reality that there still is no AF lounge or access to a 'real' first class lounge or area

The LP cabin was full, and we noticed that there was no beverage or snack offering prior to doors closing, with it being explained to us that this was not permitted due to regulation. This was new to us, as on prior LP travels out of LAX we got treated to champagne or other beverages from the minute we sat down in our seats. The result was that we got what turned out to be a rushed glass when the boarding doors closed, unable to really enjoy or finish before the glass was whisked away in preparation for take-off.

Our two co-paxes were part of a family of 3, where what appeared to be a wife and young adult son were in the two left hand seats and the husband in the business cabin behind us, and the ducks in the two right hand seats. This was by design (by us) as we find it is much easier to interact with one of us in the middle seat and the other in the window seat rather than physically being separated by the partition between the middle seats (i.e. when chatting and playing cards, having our meals together etc.). As soon as the seat belt sign was off, the husband/father to our two co-paxes literally moved into the FC cabin and stayed there until the seat belt sign went on before landing in CDG. In other words, the cabin now had 5 paxes instead of 4, with this apparently being allowed as he was offered the same services and amenities as the rest of us. This did not sit entirely well with us, as it seemed our FA was overly busy catering to these 3, so that at one point 20-30m into the flight, I almost headed back to the BC cabin to get a drink, as it was not all forthcoming, however finally delivered. We had to ask for nuts as none were forthcoming on their own. We had the dinner set up in the window seat while playing a game in the middle seat, and thoroughly enjoyed the ability to have a meal together like in a restaurant. The food, unfortunately, also appeared to have been downgraded, with the tiniest can of 'American Lumpfish Caviar' as the appetizer, with I for one not considering Lumpfish eggs 'caviar' but the inexpensive fish eggs they are, with nothing being like the taste or texture of 'real' sturgeon caviar. The Fois Gras was fine, but for some reason we were not offered the soup on the menu. The main course was luke warm, overcooked lamb, with a bland taste, and resembling (a not very good) BC meal, unable to finish. The LP FA continuing to be busy with the other 3 paxes making me actually at one point go back to the BC cabin to get some drinks and snacks., After dinner finished, we did not see much of our FA other than across the cabin catering to the paxes there, and eventually we asked another FA to make our bed and we went to sleep, waking up 1h before landing and spend the rest our time getting ready for landing, not having time for a breakfast (apparently).
I was thinking with the BC pax who became the fifth passenger in the LP cabin, that the way to save money may be for a couple to buy one LP and one BC ticket, and then join in the LP cabin after take-off, and also thought that technically with this appearing to be allowed, there may be up to 8 paxes in the cabin!! I don't know if our co-paxes were 'special', but the impact I believed it had on our service made this experience not sit well with me
Overall, a somewhat disappointing experience compared to our previous flights out of LAX, I will give it 3* out of 5*, did not come across to me to be much different that a business class experience except for the space and ground service

Next: Ground, and lounge service in CDG, ground service in FCO (spoiler alert: Surprisingly good and comprehensive - making up from our flight experience)

NYC1

Sounds like a very disappointing experience on all fronts and not even remotely justifying the cost. This business of allowing passengers from Y/J into P needs to stop. If I were you, I’d put in a complaint to AF as your case seems to be extreme (passenger allowed in P for entire flight except for take off and landing).

Buster CT1K

Sorry, Duck for your experience. I would have very quickly requested that the chef de cabine rectify the situation promptly. Thank you for writing up your trip report!

carnarvon

You seem not to realise how selfish the Ducks have been. THEY spoilt the first class experience of this family of three, not the way around.

Had the Ducks not had the audacity to buy first class tickets, the BC class passenger would have been using one of the Ducks' seats and travel 100% in the first class cabin.

Those people were likely F&F, maybe flying for free or upgraded from the Y cabin. Because it happened in the LP cabin, very likely related to the captain.

Had M. Duck complained, he could have had to endure the reprimands of the captain, who would have sided with his friends, asking in an authoritative manner what his issue was.

sfvoyage

That's why I was thinking as well.

BTW, how old was the "young adult son"? So they managed to fit 3 adults in 2 F seats for pretty much the whole flight? Why was that allowed, no safety regulations prohibiting the practice?

Buster CT1K

Aha! I had not thought of this possibility. Very sad that AF would allow such a practice.

Flying_Duck

The husband was sitting in the 'ottoman' seat across the main seat (1A), being part of the bed when the main seat is reclined. The seat is wide and with the back extending up to cover most of the lumbar part of the back. We use that seat ourselves without problems in turbulence, when we eat and play games. Can I say that he was there through the entire flight while I was sleeping for about 5 hours? 'no', but he was there when I went to sleep, and was there when I woke up, and he partook in all the meal and drink services, even getting his own red menu. He seemed fine working on a laptop/reading when not interacting with his wife. it was the lack of service to the point of several times not having any staff in the front galley, so that with no self-serve, I then had to walk back in the BC cabin's self-serve area to get some drinks and snacks that really bothered me, as it was so different from my other flights in LP where an FA always was readily available, with the LP FA being replaced with a BC FA when taking a break!

sfvoyage

This is the part that I don't understand. While the ottoman seat is big and comfortable for the husband to sit and work on, it doesn't have a dedicated seat belt, does it? In that case, how on earth is he allowed to sit there for long periods in flight; what happens during turbulence when all passengers are obliged to fasten their seat belt? I guess that ottoman must have its own seat belt?

Flying_Duck

When disembarking in CDG, the Ducks were as before met by an escort and taken to the tarmac and driven to the LP lounge. Pleasant, seamless and wonderful, as I understand CDG is a Zoo these days. Circumventing any security screening and arriving 'home' to the wonderful LP lounge. It was fairly full, but still arranged to provide lots of space wherever you sat down. Our escort was very apologetic about not having a border control agent in the lounge meaning, that we had to go out of security to officially be entered into the Schengen area. She told us to leave 'everything' in the lounge, and took charge of our passports (using our EU passports being dual citizens) and took us to the back of one of the passport control booths, knocked on the door of the booth, and handing our papers to the officer when opening, quickly getting a nod after screening our passports and then to the front of the security line, walking right through and back in the lounge, all in less than 5-10m. With a 2:15 layover, took a shower and managed to book a 30m massage, before which we sat down to get some breakfast, being given the lunch menu (it was Noon), but having no problems an giving a breakfast order, with Mrs. Duck getting her favorite, 'French toast', Picked up when boarding started on the flight to Rome, with our escort making sure to give me 'instructions' to pre-order a spa-treatment prior to my return when coming through on a trip to CPH July 1. She introduced us to the FAs in the front of the A220, made sure our luggage was onboard, and said her goodbyes. The cabin crew definitely gave us special attention, frequently coming by and asking if we needed anything - and Oh Gosh, I do like this kind of attention when traveling with Mrs. Duck! -. When we disembarked in Rome, an Alitalia greeted us on exit with a sign with our names, led us to the baggage area, got carts, and helped us retrieve our 3 pieces of luggage, then took us through customs and into the arrival hall where we had arrangerd from a meet-and-greet transfer, though did not see anyone with our names. Our escort asked if we had a contact number, which we gave him, and he called the driver, who was 5m late, and told the driver where to find us, stayed with us until the driver arrived to take over our cart. Truly first class service, making this part of our travel and absolute breeze.

On the return, after a wonderful week in Rome we were back at FCO, and again on check-in was escorted by an Alitalia escort through security and to the lounge (not Alitalia, didn't get the name) having an excellent food selection (full American breakfast) with the quirk of the food area being cordoned off, and with you having to point and say what you wanted to a staff member inside the area. When the time came to go to the gate, our very nice escort returned, introduced us to the front FAs, again getting more attention on the flight back to CDG. There we were taken to the LP lounge, but this time having only 1h layover, and thus just time for a drink, and then off to the tripple-7. The cabin was again full, and to the delight of Mrs. Duck with the other 2 paxes being her favorite Jazz basketball player and what appeared to be his manager. We greeted each other and reminisced that it probably was the first time the entire LP cabin was headed from CDG to SLC - and then settled in, not really interacting with our co-paxes, making sure they got the peace and quiet they undoubtedly sought. The LP FA was great and personable, the food much better, but still not at the level on our prior return LP flights from CDG. Being a sucker for 'green chartreuse' and never passing up getting it with desert on the LP flights where it is available, often, as this time, to the Suprise of the FA, I am always told that I am the only non-French asking for this for me delicatesse. Given the length of the flight, we decided to sleep about 3-4 hours, and during the awake time had an excellent time together, and constant checking on, quite different from the outbound flight

On arrival in LAX, met by our escort, with whom we breezed through using our Global Entry, helping us retrieve our luggage, and this time followed us to the Delta terminal and introduced us to the SC staff as 'AF FC passengers' (neither of having to use the SC membership we both have) and said his goodbye

So in summary, except for a lackluster LAX-CDG flight experience per the first part of this chapter, overall as pleasant an experience as one hopes for when traveling in LP. I was especially impressed by the rock solid ground experience and personal attention on the ground, as well as the total integration of the AF/DL ST computers making the travel as if we had one ticket only, rather than the two separate tickets (SLC-LAX-SLC and LAX-FCO-LAX) - working just like you hope a skyteam alliance would. I am looking forward to my next travel in LP on July 1, again a full cabin both ways, and in looking on Experflyer, it does seem AF is quite successful in filling the LP cabin these days.

If there is anything new or different to bring forth after my next travel, which will be SLC-SFO-CDG-CPH-CDG-SFO, I will continue to report - because of the hardship of finding tangible info about Lounge experiences at the US departure cities, I probably will let you know about the ground experience in SFO

Flying_Duck

It does have a seatbelt indistinguishable from that in the main seat. I believe that is how they can promote (with pictures) how you can have a dinner together as a couple.

buckeye91

Duck, assuming you flew AF and not ITA from CDG-FCO?

Also, was the escort you received at FCO typical for LP when arriving at destination as I will be arriving at LHR on AF from CDG after my JFK-CDG LP flight in the next couple of months and was wondering what to expect

Flying_Duck

Indeed, flew on AF metal CDG-FCO-CDG, no such service when arriving in LP to C via CDG when going to CPH or DBV. Was not totally surprised, as I had read someone else describing the same experience when arriving at FCO after an LP flight

ranskis

I remember the days when they had Yellow Chartreuse in C and systematically I was handing over a feedback form to the FA (last page of the AF magazine) stating that they should offer the real Green Chartreuse instead... until it finally happened, I could hardly believe it. Glad it is still there, also a must have for me together with a Chamomile tea after dessert.