Twenty years ago, my company used to pay for a round trip to Athens, in Tempo Challenge 1,700€. I was accustomed to paying 300€ to 600€ out of my own pocket, to upgrade to a real flex business ticket, endorsable without any discussion to any IATA airline. Today, I target refundable but non endorsable tickets in business ranging from 500€ to 700€. How can I expect to have the same level of services as at that time, with a purser transforming my flight into a delightful wine tasting experience?

Update on BoB: trials will start on AF in April now. Free offering will include coffee, tea, water and juice as well as a biscuit or a snack.

Same formula as on now defunct Flyniki.

I remember air fares on Air France being much higher, up until around 2004-5. But at least you got proper service and there was none of this carry-on luggage nonsense. I'm one of those who doesn't see the sustainability of 10 Euro tickets and would prefer fares to be higher, but with service commensurate with what you have paid. I am not a fan of BoB and never will be. Originally, the LCCs positioned themselves differently, offering only point to point travel, so the BoB thing was more justifiable.

I believe Niki had full bar, at least for most of their existence. Also, the snack on Niki was a sandwich similar to what Air France offers nowadays.

I have no recollection of a full bar and am not sure what it included.

Isn't this what AF will offer if I read correctly? So it looks quite like what Flyniki was offering, which I kind of used to enjoy. I could order warm food from a renowned Vienna chef when flying during lunch or dinner time.

An article appeared on the website of de labour union SNGAF: https://www.sngaf.com/article/protoc...ntation-lancee
It mentions shortly said the following:
* Test from April till May
* Destinations: HEL and LIS
* Free offer: Tea/coffee, water, orange juice and Coke, accompanied by a biscuit (savoury or sweet depending on the schedule).
* Paid offer: ground staff will place a card with offers for sale in the seat pockets
* Payment only by credit card using a payment terminal.
* A 10% sales incentive will be distributed among cabin crew
* Only with volunteers

It said biscuit or snack and the later post says just biscuit, so I assume the sandwich will be enhanced away. The offering seems much less substantial than what I recall from Niki. Btw, Niki used to also have very good hot meal preorders.

Ouch. Perfect to turn pax-pnc interactions from social to economic.

Then they better make darn sure the offer is worth every penny, because customers will compare all alternatives.

Basically like the US legacies then (free non-alcoholic drinks and a small snack with alcohol and maybe something more substantial for sale), though without a means of giving FB Platinums something for free.

Does anyone know whether the KL trial is being pushed back too?

I love the bold "n’alourdit pas la charge de travail" in the document—it really stands out. Regarding HEL & LIS, both are 2h+ flights. Have they operated these routes before?

As a frequent flyer on the CMN-CDG route (2.5–3 hours), I think it's well known that after service, crew members aren’t exactly overwhelmed with Customer Relationship Management. More often than not, they’re just hanging around, having their meal, chatting, etc.

On a side note, I personally don’t mind BOB as long as the pricing is reasonable and the selection is decent. However, the decision to remove ovens from regular service due to the A220 lacking them (even though some crew still use them in C to warm pastries or bread in the A3xx) likely means no warm meals will be available. That’s a real shame.

you can forget any warm BoB meals or sandwiches. AF deliberately installed 1 oven in its A220 instead of 3 hence that poor business class service.

judging by my few trips with BA, OS or LH, the amount of real food loaded is really low and most of the time, I never get what I want.

so it will definitely be a subpar experience.

Probably not the same origin, definitely not the same quality. LO meals are very good.

Similar story here in AMS. There are some places where it's still possible, but it's getting to a point that anything under or even around 200EUR either means I'm on easyJet, or stupid timings like arrive 11pm and leave at 6am.

BoB food without a preorder option is just stupid.

I personally predict that this will be a complete flop... In many ways, I hope that it will be.