flyer16

The ex-L'AVION metal will not get openskies proper biz seat apparently and all work that needed doing on the planes has been done. A small biz bed 9 seats? section has been added at the front of these planes but the biz seats will remain the same. Once AMS goes they could really cope with just the two ex BA mainline planes and sell the ex-L'AVION planes for more cash or ground/store them untill future expansion plans can take off again.

2Ruse

so is the issue re: ex-L'Avion aircraft no longer in play (I'll probably be travelling around my birthday in October)? any way to know if a particular flight number/routing has the old L'Avion config?

what is the benefit of exit row? I'm 5'2 (about 160 cm) and usually give up those seats to those with longer legs - but if it means being able to sleep on the overnight flight to Europe and not being so likely to do so in other rows, I may be selfish for once!

as a born-and-reared New Yorker, I'll do a lot to avoid JFK - with the buses t/f midtown that let us off right outside the terminal at EWR, or the trains t/f Penn Station, there's no reason to deal with expensive cabs and JFK's crazy layout - even with the train to Jamaica (Queens), I think only those in Queens and Brooklyn would still choose JFK

CyBeR

I flew EC AMS-JFK (and back) this month, going there on the 9th (originally the 8th) and back on the 23rd. They cancelled the original 8th of july flight and booked me on the next one instead. Apparently there was a 47 euro fare difference so after some poking they gave me a voucher for that. I find this slightly odd because originally I wanted to leave on the 9th but that was slightly more expensive when I booked. I'm not complaining. Of course being rebooked is a bit of a hindrance but hey, it happens.

I flew both flights on original EC metal (G-BPEK to and G-BPEJ from). The seat (16F) on the flight to JFK was slightly broken in that it wouldn't stay reclined or unreclined if I shifted myself-- it would unrecline if I sat up and recline if I leaned on it too much. Not a big deal really (I recline my αss off anyway), but to be sure I changed my seat to 16A on the way back in case I'd get the same aircraft Originally I had 16F both ways. These are the last seats in the plane, btw. Only the galley comes after them.

While the crew were pleasant both ways, I could still tell there was a slight difference between the l'Avion crew and the 'real' OpenSkies crew. The flight to jfk was operated by a combination of both, whereas the flight back home was entirely EC. They seemed a bit more chatty, especially when due to weather and us being number five million in line to take off there was a rather long period of taxiing. I guess it's just because the l'Avion crew are french and they just have a certain way about things.

I thought the experience was great though, especially for the price paid which was the same as CO and KL were asking for cattle class on the same dates. I'd love to fly them again but alas they're not doing anymore flights to AMS soon

2Ruse: The benefit of the exit row isn't extra legroom. You'll have more legroom than you'll know what to do with in any seat. The benefit is that there's no seat in front, so if you're in an A or F seat you can get up to go to the lav without having to consult with your neighbour. With the seat in front reclined, this is otherwise still necessary. On the other hand, the exit row seats are right behind the lavs so there's that to consider when taking them.

rfrost

Congratulations!

As a BizSeat passenger, you would apparently have lounge access at EWR but not at JFK. The EWR EC lounge, which is BEFORE security, is not very large, and tends to get crowded While this would militate towards choosing an ex-EWR departure, I think it's only a slight advantage given the location and size of the lounge. (It DOES have champagne, however.)
I'm not sure what impact the dropping of the AMS
route will have on the equipment used, but I'd vote for anything that maximized the chance of getting a "real" EC plane, as I found the BizSeats on the l'Avion plane markedly inferior. (I'd also vote for an EC, rather than l'Avion, crew.) So on that basis alone, I'd vote for JFK. I'd also vote for JFK on the basis of, depending on where you're coming from of course, its generally better, and cheaper, public transportation. The EWR Airtrain (aka the monorail) has been torturously slow everytime I've taken it. Security at JFK should be much better than at EWR--as an EC passenger, you can use the BA F/J security line, which is always quick; at EWR, though there's a premium line, it feeds into the regular line too early and you are likely to get caught in a long and slow-moving line. As to terminal layout, I think Terminal 7 is fine.

henkybaby

EC BizSeat pax do not have lounge access. Sorry.

David-A

No OpenSkies experience myself, but according to the website BizSeat *do* get lounge access - at Paris Orly and Newark. But do *not* at JFK or AMS. Don't know if that is where the confusion is coming from...

henkybaby

That could very well be true.

whoareyou

OpenSkies is to suspend its service between Amsterdam and New York from August 16 and will refocus its efforts on the Paris to New York route.

rfrost

I apologize for the original misstatement. Source of confusion was an EC telephone rep who told me that all EC pax get lounge access. Probably another l'Avion artifact.

I've corrected my recommendation above so that no one else is misled. I still think JFK is a better choice for the reasons stated, but if you want to drink a lot of free champers, YMMV.

2Ruse

faxed my notarized reply on Saturday 7/25 and mailed it by priority mail yesterday 7/27 - just got an email that they've received my eligibility form and i "will either be contacted or receive (my) prize within the guidelines outlined within the official rules."

seanp7

Same situation here, and it said 'eligibility has been approved'. I'll let you know if I receive anything else as soon as I do.

2Ruse

we really should be carrying on this discussion at the dedicated thread at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...tickets-2.html

i just added a reply there on the latest correspondence from openskies

vinnyc

Hi everybody,

I called OpenSkies yesterday, and the representative told me that all flights from and to JFK would be with the BA/OpenSkies aircraft and configuration while the flights from and to EWR would be with the ex-L'Avion.

Although things can change at the last minute, can you someone confirm this "general" rule?

Thanks for your help.

-vinnyc

JAXBA

I was at JFK in May - I saw a G reg aircraft one day and an F reg aircraft a couple of days later. Not scientific of course.