jmgriffin

First stop on our whirlwind, nostalgia-inspired tour of All about our France and Italy trip! (index here) was our flight from New York-JFK to Paris-CDG. I was able to find low-level award space using Delta SkyMiles for the flight (which is a feat in and of itself),.but throw in the fact that I found Air France Business Class low-level award space using SkyMiles and it was downright impossible.

Nearly missing the flight

The trip really started for me about 2 or 3 days before takeoff as a winter storm was pummeling the Northeast. You see, because of Delta's horrible award space availabilty, I booked the JFK-CDG, CDG-FLR and then VCE-JFK legs on the award ticket. To get from CHS-JFK-CHS, I bought cheap flights on JetBlue, which I would not recommend doing because of the anxiety it caused. We were scheduled to depart New York-JFK on March 7, and by March 5/6, the storm was pummeling the DC area and 1,800+ flights had been cancelled -- mostly regional domestic flights. The problem with my booking is that if my JetBlue flight from CHS is cancelled but the Air France flight takes off as.scheduled,.then I'm left hanging high and dry..Similarly,. if the JetBlue flight makes it but the Air France flight is canceled, then I'm stuck at JFK for at least 1-night. I called Delta to explore changing my flights, but they had not yet issued waivers for changes/cancellations so I was just stuck riding it out. If, however, I had booked it all on Delta and the CHS-JFK leg was cancelled, they would just auto rebook me on the next JFK-CDG flight--no big deal. I probably updated FlightAware 5 times/minute on our day of departure.....--> link to continue

There were 3 separate check-in lanes for the different classes of service: La Première/First.with one counter, Business with 5 counters and Economy with 10+ counters. The one perk of being really late to the party is that we cruised up to the Business/SkyPriority lane and were off to security in no time.



Air France Lounge, JFK Terminal 1


Featuring multilevel seating, the lounge had a very quiet, low-lit, comfortable atmosphere... --> Full post here

Air France Flight 9 - JFK to CDG - Boeing 777-200

At about 10:45pm, we made our way towards the boarding gate, hopped in the SkyPriority/Premium cabin lane and headed off to our seats!


Boarding was quick and painless. We boarded at the 1st door along with First, Business and Premium economy, although in practice we could have boarded at the second door because Business class row 6 - 9 are aft of the galley.


Making our way back, we passed by the small.La Première cabin--with just 4 seats total. To be honest, it didn't look all that much better than Business (but maybe I'm just jealous since it's unattainable with Delta SkyMiles).


The Business cabin has a total of 49 seats, 7 x 7 but divided by the galley and lavatory with 3 rows forward and 4 aft. The seats are angled lie-flat with a 61" pitch. Here's a poorly shot video of around our seat:


Settling in, there was more than enough space for all personal belongings thanks to the generously sized cubbies by our feet along with decent-sized LCD screens.


There was power at all seats in Business although it never seemed operational.


The Seat: While a good design, everything was feeling a little dated and.rickety--the cabin had seen better days and it was starting to show. The "angled lie-flat" seats was just barely, hardly angled resulting in a very comfortable, nearly flat sleeping experience.

Eagerly awaiting our champagne (c'mon we paid good....points for this flight), the flight crew prepared the cabin for departure as we pushed back from the gate right on time at 11:30pm. We taxied back a few hundred feet and then stopped and waited for a few minutes. As trucks approached our plane, it became evident that we were about to be de-iced--if you'll remember from the beginning of this post, we almost didn't make it out of the US due to a grueling winter storm. It was my first flight experiencing a de-icing and it was pretty cool!

This little detour took about 1.5 hours from start to finish and we were airborne by 1am. The cabin crew wasted no time and quickly made their way through the cabin distributing menus and offering us pre-poured juice or champagne (is that a question?!).


According to the menu, dinner would consist of a Gourmet appetizer, choice of main course and a special selection of cheese and dessert. They also had a "Sur le pouce" selection which featured everything but the main course--an express meal of sorts. And, although that was advertised to be the exception, it was shaping up to be more of the rule on this flight as the flight crew quickly.distributed.food trays.

The Food: Overall, the food was excellent: a nice selection of cheeses, quality beef and good wines--what more could you ask for?

I accidentally ordered just the "Meal Express" which featured the gourmet appetizer of "Serrano ham, fish terrine, cream mayonaise with herbs." The fish terrine and cream mayonaise tasted just like McDonald's Filet-o-Fish (an all too frequent memory from childhood) but was good otherwise. I blame my taste aversion to McDonald's for disliking it more than anything.


McCown (successfully) ordered off the real menu and got the "Pan seared.tournedos.of beef with Cafe de Paris butter, Bordeaux-style cepe mushrooms, mashed potatoes with basil." The meat, served with traditional French multi-grain mustard, was amply salted and had a good flavor. Certainly better than anything in United's transatlantic Business cabin.


Service: Despite seeming a bit rushed at times, the cabin crew did a great job. They were attentive, polite and very helpful. When I hesitated about which wine to order, one of the flight attendants poured me 3 glasses, insisting I sample each one as he described them--nothing like a wine tasting at 35k feet! I settled on the Burgundy, although they also had a delicious Bordeaux.

After a very quick and enjoyable meal, we prepared for a quick snooze:


About an hour before landing (and wayyy too soon after finally falling asleep), the cabin lights were back on for the Breakfast meal service.


We deplaned quickly and headed off to make our connection at the train station.

BOTTOM LINE: The quality of service in Air France's Business class was superb. Even on a short flight like JFK-CDG (appx 6.5 hrs flying time), they don't cut corners and provide a high quality meal and service. The flight was all the sweeter knowing that we had booked it with Delta SkyMiles.

For more photos, videos and details of the trip check out the full post here: Weekend Blitz - Air France Business Class Review – AF #9 JFK-CDG

FlyerTalker7654

Good TR!!! I wouldnt mind trying out their First class product and see how their First class lounge is in CDG!! Did you get to sample their business class lounge at all?

jmgriffin

Thanks! No, didn't get a chance to see the CDG lounge. We were connecting in Paris via the train and already had a very tight connection. Hopefully next time!

scejas

Great review !

mbarreto

Great TR! I booked an AF business flight for my parents next week, so it was nice to get a glimpse of what they're about to experience!

Question: was that a real espresso?

porsche911

Great review

offerendum

Great report! In general I don´t fly AF, because I don´t like flying with apes on their way to death. Also I must say, I don´t miss very much.

NA-Flyer

How was sleeping experience on AF business class seat?

jmgriffin

Tasted like the real deal but I didn't actually see the actual machine to confirm. Might be hard to imagine they'd wasted galley space on serving a handful of passengers an espresso. Maybe on the A380 where there's more space?

Thanks!

The sleeping experience was fine. Again, with it being such a short flight you're lucky to get 3-4 hours of solid sleep but I had no problem getting comfortable and snoozing. It's worth noting again that this wasn't the newest version of Business Class seats so they're still angled lie flat. They're far from the best in the industry but plenty comfortable for a short flight.

rodjune

You are strong willed: I would always take the complete meal and decide which parts I don't want later. I always end up eating everything.

6P&E

Nice job on the description of AF "Affaires". I do think their meal service is quite good. However, it still annoys me that there is a middle seat in J (I've yet to be exiled to one!) and the airport at the end of the trip (CDG) remains my nemesis, although the AF Salons there are generally very nice-- much better than the LH J lounge I recently experienced at FRA, for example. But even at CDG they are not all created equally.

pigx5

Don't you feel the beef is overcooked?
Every time I order the beef dish on AF, it's hard and dry although the sauce is good.

tentseller

Those La Premiere seats look like DL's lie flat BE seats on the 764/777/747.

The Business reminded me of the NW BE cabin.

I did business on AF and the meal and service was not that much superior to Delta's TATL offering with the exception of the wine list and je parle le français canadien.

jmgriffin

Don't remember it being terrible, again quite better than anything DL or UA has tried to feed me on TATL.

Agree, and those BE cabins aren't too impressive. Too bad we didn't get an aircraft with the newest configuration.

jmgriffin

I thought I might share a few of the other posts of this same trip report on this thread, if anyone happens to be interested:

Attached is my review of the Park Hyatt Vendôme on a recent trip to Paris. Truly a great and memorable stay, well worth it for anyone visiting Paris (and especially those with Hyatt Gold Passport points). Review with proper formatting and more pictures can be found here: Weekend Blitz - Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme Hotel Review – Paris, France. Hope some find it useful!

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On a recent visit to Paris, we wanted to splurge for a night and found some pretty superb value in using Hyatt points. Because I had no hotel points, I knew I wanted to transfer points from either Chase or AMEX-- check this guide on the best value hotel in Paris using points in either of those programs: Paris, France: Best Hotels for Free Using Points. This was my first time transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to a hotel partner and, in fact, my first ever stay at a Hyatt.


Booking/Check-in

We booked about 2 months out for 22,000 Hyatt Gold Passport Points transferred from Chase at a 1:1 ratio. Since then, however, this property has gone up to 30k points/night, but it's generally still an awesome value. At the time of my booking, rates were near 850€ (or ~$1,111) for a "Park Queen" room, so we squeezed a return of ~5 cents/Chase point ($1,111 ÷ 22k)-- a pretty amazing return. That being said, I would have never forked over $1,000+ for a 1-night stay in a Parisian hotel but, with it being a special occasion, I was quite happy with the booking.

At the time of booking, I checked "Honeymoon Couple" under the additional requests area. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to get us anywhere but, hey, it's worth a shot.


Another thing I tried on this booking was the "eStandby Upgrade® program" that Hyatt (and Marriott + others?) participate in. I've seen it a few times but always thought it to be gimmicky and never tried it. The minimum room upgrade offered was to a "Park Deluxe King" for 50 € (~$69), nothing that really interested me. I did, however, impulsively click on the "Complimentary mini-bar" option for 25 € / night. I got an email about a week out: "We are sorry, but we are unable to confirm your eStandby Upgrade® for your arrival date." No big deal.


Given the past 2 things, we were pleasantly surprised at check-in when they delivered three great pieces of news: we had been upgraded from a "Park Queen" to a "Park Deluxe King," the eStandby minibar request had been confirmed and, because it was our first time at the property, we'd be given free breakfast (more details to follow). It's worth stating again that all of this was without having any status with Hyatt (just "member" status in the Gold Passport program).

• Park Queen/Twin - 26 to 30-sq-meters - BOOKED
• Park Deluxe King/Queen/Twin - 30 to 40-sq-meters - UPGRADED TO
• Park Suite King/Twin - 40-50-sq-metres
• Park Executive Suite - 50-60-sq-metre
• Diplomatic Suite - 100-sq-metre
• Residence Suite - 100-sq-metre
• Ambassador Suite - 110-sq-metre
• Vendôme Suite - 220-sq-metre
• Presidential Suite - 210-sq-metre
• Imperial Suite - 230-sq-metre

The Room

From here, we were led up to our room by the check-in agent and given a tour of all of the amenities (don't you love hotel rooms that require a "tour" of all of the features?). The bellman followed a few minutes after with our luggage.

So, the rooms are pretty awesome, especially with the knowledge that it was free. If the Park Hyatt Vendôme were said to have a theme, that theme would be gold. Most of these pictures had the flash on, which way overstates the brightness of the rooms and the property in general. Everything is very low lighting and the gold carpet, trim and dark wood spread all about tended to soak up what light was present. I wouldn't say it was dark, but more elegant and stately.


For better or worse, our room overlooked the courtyard:


All rooms also have complimentary Nespresso, tea and Evian water. All empty Nespresso pods were gone and water refilled during turndown service and we were given extra water bottles.


We also had the largest closet any room this size has ever been graced with having:


eStandby Free Minibar option

As I mentioned above, I wanted to try an eStandby option on this booking. Not so much because I wanted something they were offering, but more for the novelty of trying the program, I clicked the "Complimentary mini-bar" option for 25 € / night. It entailed...

Complimentary water, juices, beer and wine. Everything but the food and liquor. Considering a beer will run you 7€+ in a large city like Paris, this isn't a terrible deal at all for 25 €.


The Bathroom

Just like the room, the bathroom is not spared any awesomeness.


Lobby/Bars/Restaurants/Room-service

We checked in pretty early in the morning, dropped our things and left for the day. When we returned late in the afternoon, we found a bottle of champagne on ice and a note, congratulations and happy honeymoon! This was a pleasant surprise and really the only "interaction" I had with "room service."


Breakfast at Les Orchidées

In reading reviews about the property, I had heard that the breakfast was first class but also enormously expensive-- a 44€ charge per person (or ~$122 for the 2 of us) for the buffet. That is impossible to justify. In addition to the rave reviews online, I had also read that people have had success in emailing the property that it is their first time staying at the PH Vendôme and often times would be offered complimentary breakfast. I didn't bother with this but instead hoped the "Honeymoon" status might get us somewhere. Sure enough, when checking in, the agent offered us the breakfast buffet compliments of the hotel. They thanked me for being a Hyatt Gold Passport member and said that, because it was my first time visiting, they wanted to extend the offer of free breakfast at Les Orchidées. I was somewhat surprised. I know that it is standard for Hyatt Diamond members to get complimentary breakfast and maybe it would be extended to Hyatt Platinum members, but this was my first ever stay at a Hyatt and I had no status, just a Gold Passport account that I had opened a few weeks before so that I could transfer points and make the award booking.


Service

Again, the service was superb. From the bellman to the front desk agent and onward to the wait staff at the restaurant, the Park Hyatt Vendôme provided 5 star service at every turn. Everyone showed superior attention to detail. I guess when the typical guest is paying $1000+ USD/night, this should be expected.

BOTTOM LINE: The Park Hyatt Vendôme remains the best value in points of any major chain in Paris. Couple this with a great location, world class service and quality and I can't imagine staying anywhere else on a visit to Paris (especially on points).
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Review with proper formatting and more pictures can be found here: Weekend Blitz - Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme Hotel Review – Paris, France. Hope some find it useful!