AF & DL launch “Shuttle” service between Paris and New York-JFK
Jun 28, 22, 2:47 pm
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Paris, France
Programs: AF/KL Flying Blue Platinum for life/Club2000 Ultimate, Accor ALL Diamond
Posts: 19,905
Originally Posted by pascalgr
Is the Fast lane for security open for Platinum member flying in Y ?
Otherwise to answer your other question, I would recommend to arrive 3hrs before if you want no stress and have little time in the lounge.
Jun 28, 22, 2:47 pm
#32
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: FB Plat; AS 75K; UA Gold MM; AA ExecPlat; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott Amb; Hilton Diamond; National EE
Posts: 5,793
Originally Posted by af fp
Thanks all, we left home earlier on your advice and it helped.
So our experience was overall pretty bad indeed, and I can see it could have been even worse.
- nasty traffic to JFK, no choice for us with heavy bulky luggage.
- over twenty minutes wait for SkyPriority check-in. The agent tried to not connect our luggage (flying JFK-ORY-Corsica), saying it is impossible in Orly… I had him bring the supervisor and it was solved. He did not even say anything, I had to check the luggage tags he printed and then he came up with that lame excuse.
- pretty quick security check, but only because we have TSA Pre and were lucky. Hell for others.
- indifferent staff in the lounge, very poor shape (see picture of the seats, a complete shame in fact), food offering atrocious, it could have been an American Airlines lounge, that bad…
- still no champagne before takeoff, no aperitif before meal, minimal service by the staff (hot dish served without wine nor water refill, service generally rushed).
- good foie gras, beef and crépinette, on time arrival.
- one immigration officer, yes one, and all Parafe gates closed, the other officers trickled in indifferently over 10 minutes while their colleague was still processing the first two passengers.
- connection security gate closed, we had to pass customs and re-enter through the regular boarding circuit.
Overall, a not very pleasant experience, once again. The staff do not care and are giving up.
So our experience was overall pretty bad indeed, and I can see it could have been even worse.
- nasty traffic to JFK, no choice for us with heavy bulky luggage.
- over twenty minutes wait for SkyPriority check-in. The agent tried to not connect our luggage (flying JFK-ORY-Corsica), saying it is impossible in Orly… I had him bring the supervisor and it was solved. He did not even say anything, I had to check the luggage tags he printed and then he came up with that lame excuse.
- pretty quick security check, but only because we have TSA Pre and were lucky. Hell for others.
- indifferent staff in the lounge, very poor shape (see picture of the seats, a complete shame in fact), food offering atrocious, it could have been an American Airlines lounge, that bad…
- still no champagne before takeoff, no aperitif before meal, minimal service by the staff (hot dish served without wine nor water refill, service generally rushed).
- good foie gras, beef and crépinette, on time arrival.
- one immigration officer, yes one, and all Parafe gates closed, the other officers trickled in indifferently over 10 minutes while their colleague was still processing the first two passengers.
- connection security gate closed, we had to pass customs and re-enter through the regular boarding circuit.
Overall, a not very pleasant experience, once again. The staff do not care and are giving up.
Jun 28, 22, 3:12 pm
#33
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: Flying Blue Platinum For Life; ALL Platinum
Posts: 191
I will fly a sunday night hoping that as it is a very late flight , there will be some less people in JFK T1 than around the 6-9 pm departure bank. I will plan to leave Manhattan at 7.30 pm so I should be fine.
Thanks everyone for your contribution
Thanks everyone for your contribution
Jun 28, 22, 7:57 pm
#34
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: NYC -- UA 1K; SPG Platinum; HH Diamond.
Posts: 2,306
Since you’re on the 11:50 pm flight, you’ll have a lot of time to spare, arguably too much and it’s not a great terminal/lounge to hang out at. And yes, T1 is a lot less crazy at that time than in the afternoon/early evening but still plenty busy.
Jun 29, 22, 9:47 am
#35
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Eurostar Carte Blanche, SBB-CFF-FFS GA-AG, SNCF Grand Voyageur LeClub
Posts: 7,369
Only had hand luggage. From entering the terminal to lounge about 20 minutes. A combination of being smart in where to stand in line and of sheer luck.
TSAPre line was almost empty, only one person in front of me. The TSA agent called many people in the normal line forward before calling us Pre-people out of the line. Smart: figured out quickly which line was the shortest and just went with a lot of self-confidence, ignoring where the TSA agent had told me to go. Luck: people in front of me knew what they were doing, no slowed down process at X-ray machines from people unpacking their bags, having water bottles in their backpack, etc.
Lounge: dragon escorted me from the welcome desk to one of the reserved ULTI tables on the first floor, but the waiters there first ignored me and then refused to serve me, insisting that I had a coaster from the reception desk. Went down again, the receptionist told me that I didn't need one (but still gave it to me), went up again...
T1 is not glorious, it's crowded inside the terminal where people are and outside where planes are. Lounges not great, but good enough. The problem is security: not enough capacity, no proper TSA Pre, all lines mixing up, no escorting from AF except for P passengers. I was on the ORY flight, so no P class. I sometimes, when all lines are very busy, I buy a ticket on LH/LX/OS just for them to escort me through the special security room, and then cancel the ticket again.
TSAPre line was almost empty, only one person in front of me. The TSA agent called many people in the normal line forward before calling us Pre-people out of the line. Smart: figured out quickly which line was the shortest and just went with a lot of self-confidence, ignoring where the TSA agent had told me to go. Luck: people in front of me knew what they were doing, no slowed down process at X-ray machines from people unpacking their bags, having water bottles in their backpack, etc.
Lounge: dragon escorted me from the welcome desk to one of the reserved ULTI tables on the first floor, but the waiters there first ignored me and then refused to serve me, insisting that I had a coaster from the reception desk. Went down again, the receptionist told me that I didn't need one (but still gave it to me), went up again...
T1 is not glorious, it's crowded inside the terminal where people are and outside where planes are. Lounges not great, but good enough. The problem is security: not enough capacity, no proper TSA Pre, all lines mixing up, no escorting from AF except for P passengers. I was on the ORY flight, so no P class. I sometimes, when all lines are very busy, I buy a ticket on LH/LX/OS just for them to escort me through the special security room, and then cancel the ticket again.
Jun 29, 22, 12:30 pm
#37
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: NYC -- UA 1K; SPG Platinum; HH Diamond.
Posts: 2,306
Originally Posted by San Gottardo
Only had hand luggage. From entering the terminal to lounge about 20 minutes. A combination of being smart in where to stand in line and of sheer luck.
TSAPre line was almost empty, only one person in front of me. The TSA agent called many people in the normal line forward before calling us Pre-people out of the line. Smart: figured out quickly which line was the shortest and just went with a lot of self-confidence, ignoring where the TSA agent had told me to go. Luck: people in front of me knew what they were doing, no slowed down process at X-ray machines from people unpacking their bags, having water bottles in their backpack, etc.
Lounge: dragon escorted me from the welcome desk to one of the reserved ULTI tables on the first floor, but the waiters there first ignored me and then refused to serve me, insisting that I had a coaster from the reception desk. Went down again, the receptionist told me that I didn't need one (but still gave it to me), went up again...
T1 is not glorious, it's crowded inside the terminal where people are and outside where planes are. Lounges not great, but good enough. The problem is security: not enough capacity, no proper TSA Pre, all lines mixing up, no escorting from AF except for P passengers. I was on the ORY flight, so no P class. I sometimes, when all lines are very busy, I buy a ticket on LH/LX/OS just for them to escort me through the special security room, and then cancel the ticket again.
TSAPre line was almost empty, only one person in front of me. The TSA agent called many people in the normal line forward before calling us Pre-people out of the line. Smart: figured out quickly which line was the shortest and just went with a lot of self-confidence, ignoring where the TSA agent had told me to go. Luck: people in front of me knew what they were doing, no slowed down process at X-ray machines from people unpacking their bags, having water bottles in their backpack, etc.
Lounge: dragon escorted me from the welcome desk to one of the reserved ULTI tables on the first floor, but the waiters there first ignored me and then refused to serve me, insisting that I had a coaster from the reception desk. Went down again, the receptionist told me that I didn't need one (but still gave it to me), went up again...
T1 is not glorious, it's crowded inside the terminal where people are and outside where planes are. Lounges not great, but good enough. The problem is security: not enough capacity, no proper TSA Pre, all lines mixing up, no escorting from AF except for P passengers. I was on the ORY flight, so no P class. I sometimes, when all lines are very busy, I buy a ticket on LH/LX/OS just for them to escort me through the special security room, and then cancel the ticket again.
Re your last sentence -- wow. You can also pay $35 for that service with the company that runs that room.
Jun 30, 22, 12:29 am
#38
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: Mileage Plus Life Platinum
Posts: 1,510
Referring to lounge staff as Dragons always negates to me anything else a poster may say. For all of the high fliers I would be very curious to hear your opinions if you slipped into the “dragons” shoes for one hour.
Jun 30, 22, 2:53 am
#39
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: PAR, TYO, SEL, SIN, SYD
Programs: AF/KLM Platinum Ultimate, VA Velocity Gold
Posts: 501
Originally Posted by Fluhalp
Referring to lounge staff as Dragons always negates to me anything else a poster may say. For all of the high fliers I would be very curious to hear your opinions if you slipped into the “dragons” shoes for one hour.
Understanding everything can’t be easy, I’ve seen some lounges just have a folder with prints of each card, no print, no access and that’s really not their fault.
Jun 30, 22, 5:45 am
#40
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: HAG
Programs: ST E+, *G, some hotel gold...
Posts: 4,830
Originally Posted by Fluhalp
Referring to lounge staff as Dragons always negates to me anything else a poster may say. For all of the high fliers I would be very curious to hear your opinions if you slipped into the “dragons” shoes for one hour.
Jun 30, 22, 7:45 am
#41
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Eurostar Carte Blanche, SBB-CFF-FFS GA-AG, SNCF Grand Voyageur LeClub
Posts: 7,369
Originally Posted by NYC1
Good summary of the mess that T1 usually is.
Re your last sentence -- wow. You can also pay $35 for that service with the company that runs that room.
Re your last sentence -- wow. You can also pay $35 for that service with the company that runs that room.
Originally Posted by Fluhalp
Referring to lounge staff as Dragons always negates to me anything else a poster may say. For all of the high fliers I would be very curious to hear your opinions if you slipped into the “dragons” shoes for one hour.
PS: great username. Is that the Fluhalp I think about (a common name for high altitude pastures in the Alps,true. But there is one that is quite well known, in the Swiss Alps, just below the Rothorn, with a view on the Matterhorn/Mont Cervin)?
Jun 30, 22, 8:23 am
#42
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: NYC -- UA 1K; SPG Platinum; HH Diamond.
Posts: 2,306
Originally Posted by San Gottardo
Really? How and where can I do that? Happily pay that. Heck, I have bought an « Airport Pass » for Blade to save time, so 35 USD is definitely something I’d be happy to part with save time. Buying a cancelling a ticket is even less expensive, but much more of a hassle, and in fact I do believe that AF should actually offer an escort service to its ULTI pax.
If you click “reserve” it opens another page and shows you the options, including the $35 one. I have not bought it separately since LH/LX/AF offer it in F but seems like a no-brainer compared to buying and cancelling a ticket.
Jun 30, 22, 8:58 am
#43
Join Date: May 2021
Programs: Flying Blue Platinum, Ex-skywards Platnium
Posts: 462
Originally Posted by NYC1
Yes. Here is the link. https://flyvipone.com
If you click “reserve” it opens another page and shows you the options, including the $35 one. I have not bought it separately since LH/LX/AF offer it in F but seems like a no-brainer compared to buying and cancelling a ticket.
If you click “reserve” it opens another page and shows you the options, including the $35 one. I have not bought it separately since LH/LX/AF offer it in F but seems like a no-brainer compared to buying and cancelling a ticket.
I've used it for a midday flight to ICN recently as traffic made me get to the airport at 12:50 pm when my flight was at 1:40 pm. The queues aren't usually that long that time of day for JFK T1, but I'm pretty sure they only opened one lane for security and caused the backlog. Also VIP one can be used only between 12pm-8pm.
Jun 30, 22, 11:05 am
#44
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: Mileage Plus Life Platinum
Posts: 1,510
I just recently changed my account name due to all the negative airline news and notification from management about being careful on posting on social media. Currently can't quote posts on FT until I reach 10 posts. Or maybe posts with attachments? In any case work has been super tough this summer so apologies San Gottardo if I was a grump. And yes due to my benefits I get to Zermatt for a week (or two) of skiing every year. Nothing like the restaurant reached via the Rothorn on a sunny spring day 
