nycflyer75

Compared to KLM and Air France which I fly on revenue and reward tickets Finnair definitely has a superior product in soft and hard product, though compared to US Domestic First class /Business class it's quite poor. Since Finnair is not apart of Skyteam I can't use them on revenue tickets, but only on reward tickets, ticketed by AirFrance which code shares with them. I would love to try their Business class longhaul one day.

nycflyer75

part 1 Virgin Atlantic Club House & Virgin Atlantic JFK-LHR
part 2 Air France LHR-CDG
part 3 Air France CDG-VIE
part 4 Le Meriden Vienna
part 5 KLM VIE-AMS
part 6 KLM AMS-HEL
part 7 Helsinki
part 8 Finnair HEL-CDG
part 9 Paris Sheraton CDG
part 10 Paris, France
part 11 Air France CDG-LHR
part 12 Virgin Clubhouse LHR & Virgin Atlantic LHR-JFK

After a few minute walk I arrived at the Sheraton hotel CDG. When I booked this hotel for the night it was 299€ a few day later it was 199€. I was pretty pissed that there was such a huge drop in price and since I had prepaid there was no way getting around it. Grrr, such is life!
Normally I am quite savvy but this time I was definitely taken for a ride. No matter I had to suck it up and I was mainly only staying there since I would be flight out the next day to London then onto New York.

Since I am a delta airlines Diamond Medallion, there is Crossover rewards with SPG. Now interestingly the upgrades and service is pretty good in the US but as of late traveling international, they seem to automatically say there is no upgrades available, no late check out and conveniently forget to offer free wifi which is apart of the crossover rewards I had to mention this to the checkin clerk. As for this stay, this was no different, there was no upgrades available (did not even check). But being able to check in early at 11:50am was the only plus (Since writing this report - I was indeed charged 19€ for one day's use of the internet, So I have had to contact SPG and the hotel to rectify this) .



Check-in was quite cold but nevertheless I didn't really care, all I wanted to do was freshen up and head into Paris for the day. To enter the elevator, you have to use your key card. Once inside you simply put the floor you request. I headed to my room on the 3rd floor. The room is nice, with lovely lighting and a nice view over terminal 2F or was it 2D, not sure. The lighting is soft and the room feels spacious.

View tarmac


The bed was 2 doubles put together like a California king. The bathroom was nice with a separate shower. The toiletries were minimal which is normal for the Sheraton. About 10 mins of entering my room, I had a knock on my door, a gentleman was offering bottles of Evian water and coffee supplies which I gladly accepted,

After about an hour of relaxing in my room and charging up my phone and camera it was time to set off into Paris for the day. A report on my travels to Paris will be in the next post.

View from the 3rd floor inside atrium




Bed


Bath


Shower


Mini bar


After spending a long day in Paris, I arrived back at the hotel. I decided to use the Gym on the 2nd floor though small, was well equipped for an excellent workout. An hour later I headed back to the room to order some room service.





I opted for the hearty spaghetti Bolognese and some ice cream. On the menu it starts delivery in 30 mins or it's free... All right, lets see how long it really takes, Sure enough 20mins later the food was on my desk, wow thats impressive!





After a good nights sleep and what I thought would be a long sleep in, alas I was wide awake at 7am, so I decided to head to the gym and have a major work, besides so much rich food in the last few days has given me an everlasting food baby! My flight would be at 1:25pm I hung out in my room till check-out time of 12pm then strolled to check in for my flight to London. Overall I found the front desk cold but at least the room service attendant was friendly and so too the guy offering Evian water.

nycflyer75

part 1 Virgin Atlantic Club House & Virgin Atlantic JFK-LHR
part 2 Air France LHR-CDG
part 3 Air France CDG-VIE
part 4 Le Meriden Vienna
part 5 KLM VIE-AMS
part 6 KLM AMS-HEL
part 7 Helsinki
part 8 Finnair HEL-CDG
part 9 Paris Sheraton CDG
part 10 Paris, France
part 11 Air France CDG-LHR
part 12 Virgin Clubhouse LHR & Virgin Atlantic LHR-JFK

After freshening up, I headed downstairs to buy a ticket to Paris. Now unfortunately as someone from the United States, my credit cards do not have a pin with a chip. One card has the chip but unfortunately does not have a pin which means I was unable to use the automatic machines and to top it off, the machines only take coins, to which I did not have enough. So I had to join the long line to see an agent to buy a ticket. Only while waiting in line did I notice there is a change machine, but it was too late and besides I wanted to buy an all day pass which you could not get from the machine.

Once I arrived at the window, the agent was extremely friendly when I asked for a round trip and a all day pass for the Metro in Paris, she suggested the all day pass which came to 22€, and that included the train, buses, metro for the day.
I am so used to non-contact with people now when it comes to buying things, but honestly it was quite refreshing to speak to someone and whom actually helped me and gave me more information then I would have actually found out for myself, so indeed it truly was worth it to stand in line for 10mins.

Ticket machines to head into Paris


Little ticket in hand I headed down to the station and luck would have it, I just made it onboard just as the doors were closing. This train was going to run express, which was awesome. The train car, was a little dated and somehow reminded me of NYC in the late 90's with all the graffiti in the subway cars.

It was such a warm gorgeous day and the window wide open I enjoyed the view heading to downtown.

I spent the rest of the day walking, sightseeing and taking the metro as much as possible, to get as much as I could down in a few hours. One thing I did notice which I have seen in other cities in France is there doesn't seem to be a lot of food places, bakeries, cake stores etc. I mean there was a lots of sit down cafes but I could not find anywhere to grab a bit or a baguette while strolling. I found lots of food carts next to the Eiffel Tower but of course at tourist prices!!!

Nevertheless, there were lots of vending machines in the metro, and Evian water bottles for 2€ and not so healthy snacks, but I was on the go go go.

It was a stunning day to be outside, with the sun beating down on a glorious day, I came alive just like so many people enjoying the outdoors. I know in NYC when it gets to 65F we are all out and about sitting in central park enjoying the weather and smiling at each other. We actually become friendlier people after a harsh winter. Well in NYC it was still a harsh winter, but for one day I was enjoy the sun, the warmth and Joie de vivre with the rest of the Parisiens.

After a long day of fun and wonderment, I headed back to the metro at rushhour which like NYC is crazy busy with people rushing in a million directions, it was the first time I had a moment to people watch. I never get to do that in NYC since I too am rushing crazy. In that moment of stillness I found a minimart which was fantastic, I bought what I was looking for, fresh baguette and chocolates and I could have even bought at a bargain price, a bottle of Dom Pérignon...for a moment I thought about it but then decided against it, Did I make a mistake....eeek.

Sandwich and baguette in hand I boarded the train back to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport, this time the train ran local all the way. As the sun was setting it was a beautiful view across the city. I am so happy I was able to spend a full day in Paris.

Trains to Paris



express train





Metro


Metro entrance




Place de charles de Gaulle


Eiffel tower


luxury sports rental


Cafe life - 68F in winter



Louvre


Louvre


Louvre


Louvre


Louvre


Champs elysee














Parisiens enjoying the warm weather

nycflyer75

part 1 Virgin Atlantic Club House & Virgin Atlantic JFK-LHR
part 2 Air France LHR-CDG
part 3 Air France CDG-VIE
part 4 Le Meriden Vienna
part 5 KLM VIE-AMS
part 6 KLM AMS-HEL
part 7 Helsinki
part 8 Finnair HEL-CDG
part 9 Paris Sheraton CDG
part 10 Paris, France
part 11 Air France CDG-LHR
part 12 Virgin Clubhouse LHR & Virgin Atlantic LHR-JFK


AIR FRANCE
AF1780
Aircraft: AIRBUS 321
Actual seat:3C
Depart: CDG Paris Charles De Gaulle
Arrive: LHR London Heathrow
Sched.Departure: 1:25pm Actual Departure : 1:40pm
Sched.Arrival: 1:45pm Actual arrival: 1:29pm

After a morning workout and some work, I checked out of the Sheraton and walked over to terminal 2E to check in for my flight to London. I was greeted at the entrance to the Sky Priority check-in area and escorted to one of the counters. I was promptly checked through to LHR and handed my boarding pass. Through a little archway I turned left to to the sky priority Immigration and security check. There was absolutely no one in the immigration line, the officer was waiting for me to step up to the window, handed my passport and quickly exit stamp out of the the country and the EU. I headed towards the empty priority security, shoes stayed on. I am so happy that Skyteam has made it uniform across their alliance on using SkyPriority in red and not their own individual elite lanes. Air France had No1 or something like that as their elite lane, which I did not know when I first went via CDG.

Sky priority - Business class check-in


Sky priority - Business class check-in



Post security and Immigration


It was less than 10mins from walking out of the Sheraton, checkin, immigration and then security. So simple, so easy! Once through I headed down the elevator to -1 floor to the Air France Salon. The Salon was busy today. The lounge is ok but nothing like the lounge in 2E - Hall L. A glass of mandatory champagne, and some coffee, I had a look at the offerings and really nothing appetizing. They had cup of noodles so went with that, and sat down for about 20mins relaxing in the lounge.











champagne!!!

Air France Lounge 2E hall K


Lounge


Lounge


I decided to head to the gate, since it would be at the far end of 2E and when I got there, it literally was the last gate of 2E. Boarding had already commenced with Business class and Elite plus members. It was going to be a completely full flight. As I boarded the plane I could see that Business class was 90% full and interestingly, I was sitting in the last row of Business, row 3 and behind me were almost another 5-8 rows before the curtain. Later on before closing of the door, I looked back and saw every seat (including middle seat) occupied before the curtain, behind that I couldn't really see anything.

Doors closed we head out to the runway for take off. Once airborne within a minute, the crew began preparing for service on this short flight across the channel. Moments later the flight attendants were handing out lunch and I asked for some champagne which again was poured into a plastic cup, not even into the fake plastic champagne flute.

Now curiously the same tray of food for business class was handed out to the folks behind me and so on, but not all the way to the curtain. These passengers were not in Business class since every middle seat was taken, but why were they handing out trays to everyone, well until they ran out of trays??? Did the flight attendant make a mistake? The guys behind me looked surprised and were eager to cobble it up, me on the other hand did not find the food appealing, so I just ate the macaron and drank one glass of champagne, since I was not offered anymore after that. I applaud Air France for serving a meal on such a short flight, 38mins compared to airlines in the US but other than that, Air France in Business is below standard, especially compared to Finnair and even KLM.

Lunch



Even before trays were removed we were already on decent to LHR. 10mins later we were on the ground. A quick short flight, nothing special but excited for adventure to the Virgin Atlantic clubhouse and then on VS to JFK.

nycflyer75

part 1 Virgin Atlantic Club House & Virgin Atlantic JFK-LHR
part 2 Air France LHR-CDG
part 3 Air France CDG-VIE
part 4 Le Meriden Vienna
part 5 KLM VIE-AMS
part 6 KLM AMS-HEL
part 7 Helsinki
part 8 Finnair HEL-CDG
part 9 Paris Sheraton CDG
part 10 Paris, France
part 11 Air France CDG-LHR
part 12 Virgin Clubhouse LHR & Virgin Atlantic LHR-JFK


VIRGIN ATLANTIC
VS09
Aircraft: AIRBUS 330-300
Actual seat:9A
Depart: LHR London Heathrow
Arrive: JFK John F. Kennedy International
Sched.Departure: 5:40pm Actual Departure : 6:05pm
Sched.Arrival: 9:45pm Actual arrival: 9:27pm

I arrived from Air France flight from Paris which landed at terminal 4, I had to transfer to terminal 3, and lucky enough our flight had a gate which was a short walk ( I have arrived and had to walk the entire length of the terminal to get to the transfer area). Down the escalators, I waited no more than 3 mins for a bus to take me to terminal 3, which winds around the terminal passing by airplanes from exotic lands, to a tunnel then arriving at terminal 3. It takes about 8 mins to get between terminals. Once through, I headed to security. There is a fasttrack lane but Virgin Atlantic, does not pay for it, so I joined the few people from my bus to go through security.

Once through I headed to straight to the lounge, passing some very high end stores.

Bvlgari


entrance Virgin Atlantic the Clubhouse


I was warmly greeted at the podium, with my details taped into a screen where my name appeared. Since this was my first time at the lounge, I was giving a tour of the lounge and the amenities available.

I headed straight over to the spa area to book in a 15min complimentary massage and booked a 1 hour full facial at £50. I had just a little over an hour, so I put my bags into the coat room area (which is manned) and headed downstairs for some quick duty free shopping. I love Molten Brown bath products and bought a 4 bottles. They are far cheaper in the UK then they are in the US even with the exchange rate.

Back up to the lounge I hurried, (is it me or most European airports so stuff and hot, I am always sweating) and sat down at the dining table, ready to feast. Politely waiting, I started to wonder when I will be served, I didn't want to be pushy I wanted to wait for them to see how attentive they were, well lets just say I became a typical New Yorker and called the waiter, I need a menu please and a Cosmo. There were two eastern European waiters serving the dining room, and by the time the Cosmo was served to me, it was just me fine dining in a completely empty dining room, so I am sure the waiters will be attentive...far from it!

Cosmo placed, he began to walk away, but I mentioned I would like to order, with a surprise look on his face, he said, oh. Oh? hmmm. He walked away to the station picked up a pad and came back. I asked to start with the onion soup and my main course, the chicken curry with naan bread. That I was excited about. My favorite food, is Indian, love it! The hotter the better! I knew I had 35mins to eat and I decided on just those courses and would not have dessert, which for me is unheard of!

Enjoying the view and the gorgeous clubhouse, my soup arrived by a different waiter, he was English, he poured the soup and wished Bon Appetit. The soup looked, and smelled delicious. There was only one problem, I did not have a spoon??? There was no wait staff to be seen, it took almost 5 mins before I saw anyone and the female waiter walked straight past me to her station, to check her phone. I had to be a bit abrupt and ask for a spoon, to which he she apologized and handed me a spoon.

This was not looking good, The service in the dining room was abysmal. The staff at JFK were far better with the 2 times I had been there, this for a first time visit was not looking good.

Once finished I had to call on the girl to clear my plate after it had been sitting there for another 10 mins empty. With 10mins to go I was a little panicked that my main course would not come. I asked the male server and he didn't know! That was his answer, he didn't know! But 3mins to my appointment, I gave up and left. I was extremely disappointed with the service, they were awful and not to mention I was hungry for my curry, like a child waiting for christmas morning. Frustrated I headed over to the spa, and right away their soothing voices and positive vibe put me at ease.

Long table




bar


view


Dining area


Cosmo


pool table


Red booths


table


Menu


Menu





onion soup



Deli


lounge area


Lounge




relaxation area


Lounge view - from the spa area


I sat for a moment, filling out the card I was introduced to my attendant who moved me over to the massage chair. She asked me if I would like something calming, or invigorating, I went with the lemongrass oil she put on my hands and on my neck. It was an awesome 15 min thorough back, lower back and neck massage. Excellent! I was so relaxed. I love that Virgin has a spa in their lounge, so amazing.

Next she walked me over to one of the room and asked to lay down. It was an awesome facial, relaxing, rejuvenating and honestly so happy I had booked it. If I had more time, I would have booked more.

About 1.5hours later I was feeling great, I headed to sit down and order some dessert and a glass of champagne. Before I even sat down, I had a lovely cute English guy offer me something to eat or drink. He came back with a glass of champagne and as he put it down, he said, he would be right back with some ice-cream but before he could finish the word, they were announcing my flight. grrr, asked him to cancel my order and he said, enjoy the champagne before you go.

I headed over to the coat check area, and the attendant who showed me around when I first entered, told me to relax there was no rush, they had not made final call and they allowed for the time to walk to the gate which was about a 12 min walk.

I decided to hang for a moment a take some more pics, and this time there were two older British ladies serving in the dining room and wanted it if I would like anything to eat, but told them I am about to head out, she gleefully mention, I would have an excellent dinner onboard. Now why couldn't I have had these two ladies serve me before! It goes to show that a huge opinion of a product does come down to the staff on their presentation. The JKF club was so exceptional in their delivery, approach and professionalism, that it really stayed with me after leaving the JFK clubhouse.

A moment later, Final call was made and the attendant came up to me, Mr. Flyertalk75 its time to make your way. I was the last one in the lounge for VS09.

Hair salon


spa


spa room


bowl club house



I headed off to the gate, which was truly 12-15 min walk. Yet again I was starting to sweat as I hurried, I always have this feeling of them shutting the doors as I look on as the jet bridge retracts from the aircraft.

At the Gate I was beeped for extra "cavity" search. The gentleman was polite but he was thorough in touching every crevice of my body. What no wooing as you do it? Lol My bags were checked and I was free to enter the aircraft.

I was greeted by an American male VS flight attendant and shown to my seat directly left of the bar. I chose seat 9A since it had a little enclave like 7A on Delta Airlines 777, but not as large. This was VS new plane and it sure looked like it. One gripe I did have was, there was not a lot of stowage for my bags. My carry-on had to be moved to galley closet.
I was a little dumbfounded on how this could be when the cabin was not very full. A moment later a women came over my overhead space and grabbed a few things then moved back to her seat which was in the middle section of the center aisle seats, Now why would she put her stuff above me. As I looked up above her, there was no overhead bins. Thats why, VS has gone for a more open space feel but that leaves a lot of seats in the center with no space. The seats are singles in the widow sides and doubles in middle, so on a full flight what do they do with all the luggage?

I was promptly giving a glass of champagne, which is so Devine. We waited for one more passenger which seems to take a while, I had already finished my glass of champagne and since the bar was right next to me and I was standing, the american flight attendant smiled to take another. (he has lived in London for 5 years, great guy chatted to him for a while during the flight). I asked for a sleep suit, and changed. This time I stretched out the thigh area of the pants like the hulk and sure enough it was very comfortable and roomy.

Finally we were ready to depart. As always when out of wifi range I always seem to have a moment of bewilderment but soon started to relax and enjoy the surroundings. One day I would love to go away on vacation for a few days without any connection to the world. But how would I write my travel reports lol

A smooth take off, the seatbelt signs were turned off and we were free to roam around. I decided to wait till after dinner to roam and sit at the bar. I like the new seats compared to the old seats on the A340-600 and the glass gives a little bit of privacy but I definitely prefer that no one is behind me and I have a wall. The seat in front was empty. The seats a more comfortable than the A340 and have outlets below the seat and also a usb port.


Pre-departure Champagne


Upper Class Cabin


Upper class - no overhead center bins


Seat area




Empty seat


Overall the meal service was fantastic, attentive and fun. The best part of the meal was the bread pudding, so scrumptious I had to have another!! The flight attendant laughed and said you don't get bread-pudding like this in the US, of course you need to have another lol

I truly enjoy the fun yet professionalism of the VS crew. One mention by the purser, those who seem to be intoxicated will not be served any more alcohol, now thats I first I have heard it out loud on a flight. Do a lot of people on VS drink heavy? Maybe because of the bar area? Interesting!

champagne and chips (crisps)



Table setting


Minestrone soup


Main Course


Bread pudding with a hint of orange



After the meal service, I decided to go for a walk around the aircraft. Upfront was about 80% full while Premium Economy was 10% full and the back, well it was 10% full. Crazy there were more people up front then perhaps the rest of the plane.

When I returned, The bar area was in full swing. I hung out for a while, mainly listening to peoples conversations, most of them investment bankers, and since this is far from my field of expertise, I remained silent and only once in while chatting when it came to travel etc. It was great to stand up for a bit, then sit down on the bar stool or against the wall which had a little leather half butt seat.

There was one russian man who was flirting like crazy with the female flight attendants. He seemed a little drunk but he was trying his best to woo them. There was a male bar attendant but many of the female flight attendants chatted with the some of the handsome investment bankers, gaily laughing at their jokes. I could really enjoy flying more on VS. I would love to travel with a friend or two and sit at the bar and hang out for most of the flight!

Bar area


Premium economy


Bar area getting used



engine


view down to premium Economy


Bar


After a while, I became tired and asked to have my bed made, and proceeded to watch a movie or two. Finally had the chance to watch 12 years a slave. What a powerful movie!

Bed made up



TV screen


After the movie, I put in the ear plugs, and my bose headphone and nodded off to sleep. The seat does get some of the noise from the bar, but not enough to annoy, well at least me. I would definitely pick 9A again.

I was woken to prepare for landing, while I ventured to the bathroom to freshen up and change, I cam back to my seat already made up.

Flight attendants were seated ready for landing, sure enough Mr drunk Russian gets up and walked towards the front of the cabin (the wheel were already deployed) and spoke to the purser who seem to usher the passenger politely back to his seat. If we were on an American Airline, they passenger would have been served some hell to return to his seat, but without any drama it was resolved. But once we touched down and began taxiing the guy got up out of his seat and walked past me, to which the american flight attendant told him to return to his seat immediately and sit down. I think Russian guy was desperate for the bathroom. He looked wasted! How do I know, because thats the look I give when I go out with my friends to Arriba Arriba in NYC and drink mama margaritas!

As we taxied across the active runway, the flight attendants got up and began handing out coats and putting carry on in the bar area for passengers to pick up. As this was happening, the purser escorted the guy to the bathroom.

Doors open, I was first off the plane and booked it down to immigration, last time I flew in on Delta from London, there was a A380 Singapore airlines flight and 3 other planes trying to get through immigration.

Luckily it was pretty empty. Quick pleasantries with the IO officer I was headed through customs and on my way home. JFK terminal 4 can be a nightmare, and with that said arriving home, I have now applied for Global Entry. I know I should have done it earlier, but never had an issue coming home, but of late it is getting worse. So lets hope I am approved and get to use it on my next international trip.

Thanks for reading

Flyingfox

Thanks for the report and the great pics. The newer cabin looks much improved. Their food has certainly gotten better in presentation.

That said, the people in the lounge and the boy (man?) in the bar with his underwear visible onboard look like slobs! The hooded sweatshirt and jeans lot. Looks as though they've been lounging in their bedrooms and then just drive to the airport. Too much bother to look presentable. "I want to feel comfortable, I don't care how I look as long as I'm pleased, it's the "me" show, only I matter", etc.

I reckon this is what travel for most people has come to!

I think the women do a better job than the men in this regard.

nordic

Thanks for the wonderful trip report. Just two comments.

The Aspire lounge at Helsinki has nothing to do with Finnair. It is used by a few airlines like KLM and Air France op by AY.

The business class section on AF short haul flights include two classes, genuine business class with free middle seat and a kind of Y+ class with occupied middle seats.

carsnoceans

Maybe its just me but I can't see any pics using IE.

Digital01

Excellent report, glad you enjoyed your trip! Looks like a decent use of 100k err, 120k skymiles! Can't wait for our trip to europe that is coming up!

camsean

Great trip report. Thanks for posting. Highlights for me:

1) interesting that you found Finnair to be the best J. I have flown them in Y and it was pretty crap.

2) Excellent photos. Especially of the guy scratching his a**.....

Andriyko

Fantastic trip report!

Thanks for sharing!

nycflyer75

You would hope their J was much better than their Y. Compared to other European intra continental flights in J they surpass Air France and KLM greatly.

FernandoGO

Do you know by any chance if Business class check-in is separated from premium economy? I notice that the SkyPriority check-in area is divided into 2. And are Business passengers invited to board before those in premium economy?

Thanks in advance

sheevac

Great report, thanks for sharing & writing!

themapelligroup

Wonderful report! Thanks for sharing.