kimbb

On a sleepless flight in business class with SAS from Dubai to Copenhagen in January, returning home to Oslo after a fantastic holiday in Oman and UAE, I had a chat with one of the flight attendants. He told me his favourite destination was Tokyo. I had been thinking about visiting Japan for years, but it had never happened. But right there and then I decided to go to Japan in September. And I do not regret. I had a lovely time in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Only four months ago I changed work location from Oslo to Johannesburg. By that the distance to the destination doubled. But I guess it makes for a more interesting trip report.

I hold gold cards with two FF-programs: EuroBonus and Flying Blue, but it is fair to say that I have never really been to conscious about with whom I fly as long as the routing has been short and the tickets reasonably priced. This time none of those criterias were followed.

I have been flying a lot with SAS and KLM. SAS because I have been based in Norway and they have a good network from Scandinavia. KLM because I work for a Dutch company and often need to fly to or via Amsterdam. I am however not faithful to any of the alliances, and have flown many other interesting airlines over the last few years without getting any miles. Among the most interesting being Turkmenistan Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Ethiopian Airways and TAAG - Linhas Aereas de Angola Airlines. Some of the flights have provided memorable experiences.

This time I also hoped for a memorable experience. Air France operate the A380 on both CDG-JNB and CDG-NRT. Even though flying via CDG would make my flight much longer than flying with Emirates via Dubai (shortest option between JNB and NRT), I decided on AF because of the A380. I did however hesitate for a moment when seeing that a return ticket on business class with Air France JNB-CDG-NRT was twise the price of a business class ticket with Emirates (JNB-DBX-NRT). But I decided to go for it anyway.

I returned from Japan only a few days ago. Will write this TR in stages instead of writing everything in one go. Feel free to comment.

kimbb

With departure time being 19:30 and latest check in at 18:30 I was actually quite impressed with AF. Some airlines require check in way too early to my taste. But then JNB is normally an efficient airport.

I arrived at the airport at 18:00. The check in area was a bit chaotic. Only two business class counters for a flight with more than 90 business class seats is perhaps not enough, especially when most of the passengers seemed to be checking in at the same time.



Perhaps this says something about the service the airliner want to provide their passengers? I was not overly impressed. But I did not really mind waiting. The personnel at the counter were nice enough and even remembered to invite me to the lounge, which does not always happen flying other airlines. Not that that ever stopped me from visiting a lounge, but nice to be invited anyway.

Emigration and security was quick, and I soon found myself in the Air France/KLM lounge. I have visited this lounge before and did not have high expectations. The lounge is small and often crowded.



The food served is not tasty.



The selection of drinks is OK but nothing to write home about.





The WI-Fi speed is not too bad (to South African standard I might ad) and this was the only reason I spent time in the lounge to be honest. If I was hungry I would rather buy food from one of the many restaurants in the departure hall. This day the lounge was way to full and staff could not catch up with keeping it clean and tidy.

Boarding started 50 minutes prior to departure. I arrived at the gate soon thereafter. Well-organised gate area and the priority boarding worked really well.

The A380 is an impressing plane. Huge! Business class passengers boarded directly on the upper deck and I was shown my seat by a polite and pleasant FA. I had seat 62A (window).



As I waited for other passengers to board, I had a chat with one of the FA´s. I told him I had heard Air France was to launch a new business class seat later in September. He was not aware of that. When I said I hoped we would finally see a fully flat bed on business class he just laughed and said “no, no, I don´t think so”. Well, he proved to be right, but that is a topic for a different thread.

This was obviously a new plane and had very nice interior.



First impression of the seat was good. And having a window seat I really appreciated the window stowage area, which is huge. For the first time ever I found plenty of room for my book, private head set, IPod and magazines. Nice also to be able to stow the pillow and blanket away within easy reach.

I was seated in the forward part of the business class cabin which feels more private than the rear part. Definitely more quiet. Not many people passing by during the flight. The “bar area” in the front of the upper deck is not very “bar”-like. But a nice quiet place to go if one want to have a discussion with someone during the flight.

This was a full flight. The person sitting next to me smelled like the last thing he did before boarding was smoking a pack of cigarettes. I don’t mind people who smoke, but this guy smelled really bad. Well, what could I do…

We got offered drinks only after the doors had been closed. I had a glass of Champagne. The safety demonstration was good enough but I still do not know where the life vests are located. The video and the brochure said it was in the centre arm rest. I did certainly not find it. Wanted to ask the FA about it but they did not seem to be available for me before take off, and then I forgot about it. But I have since this done several flights with the A380 and still do not know where it is. Should really have asked…

After take off we were given the menu. “Discover a great wine or try one of the best from France’s regions as chosen by our expert…” they write. There should have been a full stop after “Discover a great wine”, because there was no selection except from the Champagne, a white and two reds chosen by their expert. Which was fine enough with me anyway but no need to raise expectations when writing the introduction to the menu.

The menu:


The highlight was the foie gras, which was delicious. Had champagne with the starter.
Had “today’s suggestion” for main. Was OK, but not very tasty. Had the white wine with the chicken. Very good. Did not have dessert and drank water during the rest of the flight.

The private screen on these planes is the biggest I have ever seen in business class. It is located in the back of the seat in front rather than in the arm rest. Works well as the seats are not too far apart from each other, perhaps even too close...

The seat is very good to sit in when reclined to the resting position. It does not recline to a fully flat position. I did however sleep well on this flight, which was a great surprise, because I normally do not sleep well in anything else than fully flats seats. Must have been the wine… One of the armrests goes down when the seat is completely reclined which makes it wider.

The A380 is very quiet which I really appreciate. And another nice feature was that the cabin light was not suddenly turned on in the morning but a blue light was gradually dimmed up which I liked a lot.

I found the service from the cabin crew good on this flight. They were attentive and polite. Did not address me by name at any point, but not a big deal for me.

Overall a nice flight.
Likes:

• The quiet A380
• Nice cabin interior
• Storage area by window seat
• OK food
• Good in-flight entertainment system with good functionality

Dislikes:

• Amenity kit not very impressive
• Not flat bed
• Seat not very private

Overall a nice flight but nothing special. Service and food was OK but far from top notch. Nothing with the service feels unique or exclusive. Got a feeling AF is operating a big fast bus that flies, rather than a travel experience. But, I really liked the super quiet A380.

When arriving on CDG I had a 7 hour stopover with a few interesting experiences. Details in my next posting in a few days.

TomToronto

Thank you for the report. AF’s business class product continues to underwhelm (inferior seats, indifferent service and mediocre food) even with the introduction of the A380. SQ, EK and QF would seem to offer a far superior J class on their A380’s (not sure about LH yet).

not a lot of room between rows

snod08

Very nice TR!

Also, my thoughts were the same as TomToronto!!
I have flown EK A380 J and the seats seem far superior than this one (if interested see my TR ...link in signature line0.

grabaflyer

I do imagine, however, with the size of business class in the a380 compared to other aircraft, makes it increasingly hard to remember many names

chanp

Thanks. Sad to see such a nice plane with non lay flat seats.

SFflyer123

Seems awfully similar to UA's new C, only tighter. Plus, the seats are angled, not true lie-fats, which makes them somewhat inferior to UA's. Although UA's food has historically been bad, I get the sense from this TR and others that AF's food is no shining beacon of gastronomic delight either. To me, just from reading many TR's, there does not appear to be a compelling reason to fly AF over UA C.

GodAtum

My thoughts exactly, theres no reason for anyone to fly Air France if they can avoid it!

kimbb

We landed with the big Airbus at CDG at around 7 am, 50 minutes late. Had to take a short detour when over Kongo DRC because of bad turbulence. The CDG terminal 2E is quite new. My next flight was to depart from the same terminal at 13.30. I therefore had plenty of time. I made my way to the AF lounge, which is huge. A nice and quiet lounge, but I did not intend to stay. As a FB Petroleum member I had already planned to take advantage of their offers at CDG:

Access to the private Flying Blue Petroleum lounge at the Pullman Hotel at Paris-Charles de Gaulle
With transfers between 3 and 6 hours: we offer you a meal in one of our partner restaurants,
Transfers over 6 hours: we offer you a second meal as well as day-use accommodation in a 4-star hotel at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.

I told the lounge staff I would like to take advantage of these offers. It was still more than 6 hours to my next flight. The lounge staff seemed to know this offer very well and asked me to have a seat in the lounge while they made the necessary arrangements. 10 minutes later I was given a voucher for day use of a room and for lunch at the hotel. I gladly excepted, but then noticed the voucher was not for the Pullman, but the Millenium Hotel. I was told I needed to take a shuttle bus to get to the hotel. But first I had to go through immigration. I only found the shuttle bus area after walking for what felt like several miles, and asking a number of people where to go. They all answered in the well known French fashion, giving the impression I was stupid not to know that I first needed to go left, left again, then right and finally to the second floor… When finally at the shuttle bus terminal everyone there seemed to be as confused as me with all the different busses passing without letting anyone on. I eventually got to the hotel after a 20 min drive with the shuttle bus.

I checked in. Was told lunch would only be served after 12. I told them that would be too late for me and asked if I could rather have a late breakfast. But no, the voucher said lunch, not breakfast, so that would not be possible. I argued with them for a while, even asked them to call the AF lounge, but no…

I made my way to the room. Already when in the reception area it was clear to me that this was nowhere near a four star hotel. When entering the room I rated it a low two star hotel. The room size was OK, but it must have been 20 years since it was last renovated. The toilet was disgusting and I considered leaving. But then told myself to calm down and not to be too fussy. I am very surprised Air France will offer something like this to their most valued customers!

I had a few hours sleep, took a shower and went back to terminal 2E. Took me almost an hour from when I left the hotel until I was walking through security in the terminal. I should rather have stayed in the lounge. Since I did not get anything to eat at the hotel, and the selection of food in the AF lounge is limited, I had something to eat at a café in the terminal shopping area before having a drink in the lounge just before boarding.

Sorry I did not take any photos of the room and the lounge.

kimbb

not a lot of room between rows [/QUOTE]


Its actually not as bad as it looks on this photos. There is plenty of room under the seat in front. Only problem is when at a window seat and you want to leave your seat and the isle seat is reclined, then you need to climb over. Impossible without disturbing the other passenger, or doing an acrobatic manouvre...

SFflyer123

Many other airlines have this feature also. You have to climb over the other passenger when they're laying flat. It's usually not so bad.

kimbb

Boarding started 50 minutes before departure. The boarding area was a bit chaotic. The gate personnel did not seem to be familiar enough with the boarding rutines for the A380. Probably because they only do it a couple of times per day and do not have all the routines in place yet. But they were very polite and made announcements in French, English and Japanese. The Boarding was done from a number of small counters allocated to the class of travel and different boarding areas for passengers seated on the upper and lower deck. Efficient system, and will probably be even better when the staff get more used to it.

The configuration of the business class on the A380 is not 2-3-2 as on other AF planes, but 2-2-2. The cabin is slightly narrower on the upper deck. I had a seat 62F on this flight. Wanted a window seat again, but when the Air France online seat allocation system did not work I did not bother calling and was OK with whatever the seat allocated to me, even though not as private as a window seat would be. The flight FA’s were nice, but perhaps a bit too polite? Well, the plane was after all bound for Tokyo… The Japanese woman sitting next to me refused to talk to any of the French FA’s. It was quite amusing to watch her tell one of the Japanese FA’s off in Japanese. At least that’s what I think she did. The whole cabin listened in to the conversation. I was probably the only one that did not understand. And the FA said “hai, hai, hai”, nodded, agreed, apologized and was probably going to solve whatever problem as soon as possible. I have no idea what that whole thing was all about, but it anyway led to the FA’s being very polite and careful whenever getting close to my seat row.

The amenity kit on AF is nothing out of the ordinary. Miss quality toothpaste though.



The flight was nice. Unfortunately I lost the menu, but they served both European and Japanese dishes for dinner. I had a Japanese noodle and seafood dish which was very tasty. The same wine selection as on the JNB-CDG flight. The selection of movies was also the same.

I went for a walk through the whole plane as soon as the servings had ended. Only when walking through the plane do one really realize how enormous it really is. Half the upper deck is allocated for business class, 2-2-2 configuration. The other half of the upper deck is economy class, 2-4-2 configuration. The majority of the main deck is economy class, 3-4-3 configuration, and a small first class cabin in the front of the main deck. Amazing to walk down the stairs in the back, and up the stairs in the front. The flight was full.

Before landing I had a few hours sleep. The light was dimmed up with a blue light which I liked. Breakfast was then served. I had the cheese and cold cuts. OK, but nothing special.

It is very strange touching down with the A380 sitting on the upper deck. I am always looking out the widow when landing, and it feels like we have a few more meters to go before touching ground when suddenly landing.

We landed and I quickly went through immigration and customs, collected my baggage and jumped on the Airport Express buss to the hotel. Quick and easy.

jacob_m

Thanks for the report Kimbb!

I also think the seat pitch looks a bit tight for a rather new business class product, even though there is space below the seat in front.

kimbb

After 80 minutes on the Airport Express buss, I checked in to the Hilton Tokyo in Shinjuku. A nice business hotel with excellent service. I had booked an ordinary room but was upgraded to a junior suite on the 27th floor. A nice spacious room with a sofa and a big flat screen TV.





The view was also nice.



I did not spend much time in the room, but appreciated the extra space anyway. The concierge service at the hotel was excellent. They gave me lots of help during my stay.

After almost a week in Tokyo I took the fast train to Kyoto. A faboulus train. Fast, clean, on time.



I stayed at the Tawaraya, a ryokan (traditional guest house) dating back more than 300 years.



This place is famous for being different, and it is indeed different. A Japanese wonderland of winding passageways, magically sliding doors, and private gardens. I slept on futon bedding and had a staff member dedicated to me during my stay.



Royalties from all over the world have stayed at this 19 room guest house. The room rate (it is indeed very expensive…) include traditional Japanese dinner and breakfast. My stay in Kyoto was truly amazing. Tawaraya contributed to that. As Baron Hilton once wrote in their guest book about the place: “A lesson to hotelmen on what service is all about”.

kimbb

I decided to leave Japan one day early in order to have a day in Paris before returning to Johannesburg. I called the AF office in Tokyo who changed my booking. AF did not operate the A380 on the day I was now scheduled to leave, but a 777-300.

Departure was scheduled for 11h50. I arrived at the airport at 10 and checked in my luggage. Apparently my suitcase was 25 kg, and with the new baggage rules no baggage can be more than 23 kg. One can however bring three pieces, but they cannot be more than 23kg. Think it has to do with health and safety for the baggage handlers in Europe. I quickly shifted a few items from my suitcase to my hand luggage. The check in at NRT was quick as there was no queue at the business check in counters.

I proceeded through security and immigration and directly to the lounge. The AF lounge at NRT is the same style as the one in JNB.





Selection of food and drinks not impressive, but there was a nice view. I quite like watching the planes being prepared for departure.

I also used the opportunity to visit the Delta lounge. The lounge staffs were a bit hesitant to let me in, but I was eventually allowed access with my Flying Blue gold card since Delta is a Sky Team member. This lounge was truly amazing compared to the AF one. It was big, with plenty of Mac computers, nice couches and a good selection of drinks. Not much to eat, but that might have to do with the fact that it was still many hours until the next Delta flight.





Boarding started 50 min prior to scheduled departure. Well organized gate area. Priority boarding was quick. I had seat 4A. I was very surprised when I saw the business class cabin. The interior was really due for replacement, and had an old look over it. Did not look nice at all. The upholstery of my seat was loose and very worn. I was seated in the forward part of the business class cabin with only two seat rows. This part of the cabin is divided from the rest of the business class and therefore pretty quiet. First class in the front.

The screen, located in the back of the seat in front, was significantly smaller than the one on the A380. The photo under is of the first seat row in business which obviously has significantly more leg room and a longer centre arm rest than the other seats. The video screens for these seats are located in the armrests. I was seated on the row behind this.



I was offered a pre departure drink, and after what felt like endless announcements over the PA-system (in three languages) the safety video was shown. After take off the Purser, who seemed to be on a Flying Blue recruitment mission, had a short chat with all the passengers in business. She was either thanking us for being a Flying Blue member and ensuring the card was registered, or for those not a member, telling them about the benefits from being a member. The passenger sitting next to me signed up for a membership. Don’t know what to think about that. Perhaps not the right place too push memberships?

Menu:


Menu very similar to what I had on my two previous flights. I had the fish for main and a glass of white wine. The fish was good. But I missed the foie gras… Meal serving was not very quick unfortunately. I skipped the desert again.



By now I started to really miss the A380, and by comparison the 777 was very noisy. The in-flight entertainment system had the same selection of movies as on the A380. There was by now not much more I wanted to watch so I ended up reading most of the time.

Even though this was a day flight, most passengers wanted to sleep, and I decided to do the same. Slept well, but this seat felt really cramped compared to the one I had on the A380. There was no footrest and the room underneath the seat in front of me was smaller than on the Airbus. I am 181 cm tall (which I guess is about average in Europe) and did not have much room for my legs underneath that seat. Not good enough on business class.

The seat is only partially reclined on this photo. Imagine how cramped it was when fully reclined...



I am sorry AF, but there was not much I liked on this flight. I am disappointed. And the service was so-so.

We arrived in Paris on time. There was a general strike due later that evening and I was eager to get through immigration and get my luggage as soon as possible. But had to wait in line for 30 min at immigration. Only two boots open and lots of flights arriving. Incredible.
I got my luggage and was quickly on my way to my hotel in town.

Only one leg left now. CDG-JNB will follow.