Trip Report-Spain
Jan 17, 2004 | 10:16 am
#1
Original Poster
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 2,685
Trip Report-Spain
My 40th b'day awaited, and I had big plans. Originally was headed to South Africa using my BA pre-devaluation miles (125k for FC--what a deal). Reserved dates surrounding my birthday in December, anticipating that my employment contract would conclude 12/1, so I'd have a leisurely 2 weeks in ZA.
As it turned out, 2 weeks turns into 10 days (I'm still working, which is a GREAT thing), into 9 days (my neighborhood Christmas party). This, combined with BA futzing around with the flights, made me throw in the towel on ZA and figure out somewhere in Europe to go (literally 4 days before I was scheduled to leave).
Looked at the various airfare sites--all prices were in the $900 range for anywhere interesting, so no ability to focus the mind with price. Had wanted to visit Spain (good things heard from many) so called DL to burn some miles (I'm frustrated with them after they devalued me GM--nothing in one year).
Came up with flights in biz ATL-CDG-LYS-BCN (all AF), then BCN-MAD-ATL (DL). Then slipped in a ATL-ORD-CDG at the start to have lunch with a friend! Appx $80 all told!
Sunday 12/7
I hate MARTA on the weekends. I hate driving during the week. I can't win! End up electing to take MARTA, but with 15 minute headways between trains, you can get in a pickle pretty quickly. I wait, and wait, and finally hit the BusElite line 45 mins before flight time, then wait behind several people with rather complex issues...end up approaching right at 30 mins pre-flight and (to her credit) the agent doesn't say anything. Quick checkin, luggage checked to CDG, off to the gate for ORD
Utterly standard flight ATL-ORD, arrive in maybe 10 mins early. Sit next to a guy off to MXP on AZ from Chicago (which was also a possibility for me but I chose to stay with AF)
CTA out to meet with my friend, he drops me back at T5
Although I've got a DL boarding pass, I've got time to kill so get a re-printed AF one. They take the bag tag information, confirm that I'm to p/u the bag in CDG, give me one of the AF "from here to there" folders and send me through security.
Off to the AF lounge--it hasn't changed in the 3 years since I'd been there last. They announce boarding, so off I go...
AF 51 A340
Only other widebody AF plane I've been on is a 767, so was interesting to see the differences. This has the one row of FC. We board through 2d door, I go to 4K. Few more people board--2 pax in FC, about 1/2 full in biz. Amenity kit, slipcovers for headsets, menu, takeoff, meal starts
Biz and First menus same size, Biz has advert for Le Meridien hotels on the inside back cover...
Hors d'Oeuvre
Medallion of Foie Gras (or) Parisian style Maine Lobster
(Champagne: De Venoge Brut Select Cordon Bleu)
Interesting, the Americans chose the lobster, the French/Europeans chose the foie gras
Choice of main courses
Grilled tournedos of beef, with 4 peppercorn butter, Mediterranean style vegetable confit, mashed potatoes with fennel, and chanterelle mushrooms
Filet of sea bass Duglere, wild rice and sugar snap peas
Had the beef--perfectly fine
Our special selection of cheeses--nothing memorable
Dessert--caramel pear mousse (turned out to be chocolate) or sherbet served with cookies (sherbet was good--cookies were Danish butter cookies right from the cupcake papers
Breakfast was standard cold continental.
Also snagged FC menu: "Dine when you like"
Hors d'Oeuvre
Fresh duck foie gras served over duck confit or crab cake with ginger and cream sauce
Pan seared fillet of lamb with truffled vegetable julienne accompanied by tomato confit, chateau potatoes and sauteed black chanterelle mushrooms
or
Fillet of sea bass a la barigoule with wild mushroom ravioli
Our special selection of cheese/Fresh bakery selection
Truffled chocolate charlotte, sherbet, fruit
Breakfast also offered 2 hot selections--crepe with egg/bacon/potatoes or french toast
Taittinger blanc de blancs 1995
I really like the seats on AF better than DL--I'm fairly wide and the width fits me better, and the recline works fine for me. DL is too narrow on the 767!
Verdict: Good flight--helped by only being 1/2 full. They didn't make much of the stand-up bar--it was a fast flight due to the jetstream so folks wanted to snooze.
Arrived on time into CDG. Longish (15 mins) waits at immigration--a delayed New York flight had people pushing and shoving through...
Long walk to the AF arrivals lounge, but had a nice shower and leisurely breakfast. Nice facility kind of tucked away behind some ticketing areas. I do find the layout of CDG to be very confusing--it doesn't seem that flights to specific areas go to certain areas (that I've figured out...)
Tried to get the lounge attendant to change my flight to an earlier one to LYS--she said I needed to go to ticketing.
Off I went to ticketing, where they stickered the ticket in no time at all. Then walked over to the departure hall for Lyon. Decided to try the automated machine (which was a mistake). As you probably know, European machines take paper tickets, so I put in my ticket (not tearing off the stub). Suffice to say, this stub caught in the machine and it jammed. Of course, there was no nearby attendant, so I walked up and down the hall to find someone...20 mins later (20 mins before flight time!) finally found someone who got me taken care of and escorted me through security. Good recovery, AF!
CDG-LYS--quick shuttle flight, single class. They hand around a half sandwich and plum tart with your drink...what a concept!
Off at LYS for overnight to explore. LYS airport is beautiful (actually the train station is the beautiful part of it) but is a bit out in the country. Made me realize how sensible the SNCF connections at CDG are--really only takes 30 more minutes than the flight, plus you're in downtown.
Blown away by Lyon--I want to go back with more time. They were having their winter carnival/festival so really had fun strolling the booths.
Had some trouble finding a place to stay (football tournament) so ended up at the Mercure near the train station. Big room, expensive and not worth the price.
LYS-BCN--I didn't realize how identical CRJs were...at least on Brit Air you get your choice of "biscuits sales o biscuits sucrees"...
BCN--I wasn't impressed, which surprised me. Had trouble finding my hotel (Ibis) the first night---ended up checking into the wrong one! That will teach the lesson of doing more research about where to stay on these fast trips.
BCN-MAD DL flies this as a tag-end to their MAD-JFK service. It's a strange flight in that it doesn't connect to the MAD-ATL flight... I was staying 3 nights in Madrid, so was kind of surprised I was able to book the flight at all, as they don't really handle local traffic.
Got to the airport via cab (had originally booked only to the train but decided to go all the way)...and got in the Bus Elite line (one person ahead). The security agent saw my ticket and got very excited:"You can't fly this!". She walked over to ticketing to check and came back saying "go right ahead"...checked in, checked my bag (the agent was most concerned that it would stay on the plane at MAD so put a bunch of stickers on it). Off to the AF lounge (very nice quiet lounge with a good computer--found a place to stay in MAD). Off to the gate--went right on board to the 767.
Biz was about 30% full on this flight--I snagged an amenity kit (!), and they actually served a snack on the 45 minute flight (jamon on croissant, fruit, chocolate) and full beverages.
I and one other customer got off in MAD--apparently quite strange that anyone gets off (it is required that the through pax stay on board). Made our way through the immigration gates. My bag had been immediately pulled off and was behind the DL counter.
Took metro to hotel--TRYP All-Suites Escultor (much better choice of location and hotel than BCN). Good tapas in the neighborhood, blown away by the Prado, a very good visit.
Back to MAD for flight home--DL is kind of tucked away in the terminal but get checked in fine--off to lounge (shared lounge--rather bustling but clean). Off to gate--onto plane--lunch and snack--realize I really prefer AF--squirm around on the 767 seat...back to ATL on time.
Verdict: I'll take AF over DL anytime in bus, ready for another trip to MAD and LYS, done with BCN, looking forward (still) to South Africa later this spring!
Safe travels.
As it turned out, 2 weeks turns into 10 days (I'm still working, which is a GREAT thing), into 9 days (my neighborhood Christmas party). This, combined with BA futzing around with the flights, made me throw in the towel on ZA and figure out somewhere in Europe to go (literally 4 days before I was scheduled to leave).
Looked at the various airfare sites--all prices were in the $900 range for anywhere interesting, so no ability to focus the mind with price. Had wanted to visit Spain (good things heard from many) so called DL to burn some miles (I'm frustrated with them after they devalued me GM--nothing in one year).
Came up with flights in biz ATL-CDG-LYS-BCN (all AF), then BCN-MAD-ATL (DL). Then slipped in a ATL-ORD-CDG at the start to have lunch with a friend! Appx $80 all told!
Sunday 12/7
I hate MARTA on the weekends. I hate driving during the week. I can't win! End up electing to take MARTA, but with 15 minute headways between trains, you can get in a pickle pretty quickly. I wait, and wait, and finally hit the BusElite line 45 mins before flight time, then wait behind several people with rather complex issues...end up approaching right at 30 mins pre-flight and (to her credit) the agent doesn't say anything. Quick checkin, luggage checked to CDG, off to the gate for ORD
Utterly standard flight ATL-ORD, arrive in maybe 10 mins early. Sit next to a guy off to MXP on AZ from Chicago (which was also a possibility for me but I chose to stay with AF)
CTA out to meet with my friend, he drops me back at T5
Although I've got a DL boarding pass, I've got time to kill so get a re-printed AF one. They take the bag tag information, confirm that I'm to p/u the bag in CDG, give me one of the AF "from here to there" folders and send me through security.
Off to the AF lounge--it hasn't changed in the 3 years since I'd been there last. They announce boarding, so off I go...
AF 51 A340
Only other widebody AF plane I've been on is a 767, so was interesting to see the differences. This has the one row of FC. We board through 2d door, I go to 4K. Few more people board--2 pax in FC, about 1/2 full in biz. Amenity kit, slipcovers for headsets, menu, takeoff, meal starts
Biz and First menus same size, Biz has advert for Le Meridien hotels on the inside back cover...
Hors d'Oeuvre
Medallion of Foie Gras (or) Parisian style Maine Lobster
(Champagne: De Venoge Brut Select Cordon Bleu)
Interesting, the Americans chose the lobster, the French/Europeans chose the foie gras
Choice of main courses
Grilled tournedos of beef, with 4 peppercorn butter, Mediterranean style vegetable confit, mashed potatoes with fennel, and chanterelle mushrooms
Filet of sea bass Duglere, wild rice and sugar snap peas
Had the beef--perfectly fine
Our special selection of cheeses--nothing memorable
Dessert--caramel pear mousse (turned out to be chocolate) or sherbet served with cookies (sherbet was good--cookies were Danish butter cookies right from the cupcake papers
Breakfast was standard cold continental.
Also snagged FC menu: "Dine when you like"
Hors d'Oeuvre
Fresh duck foie gras served over duck confit or crab cake with ginger and cream sauce
Pan seared fillet of lamb with truffled vegetable julienne accompanied by tomato confit, chateau potatoes and sauteed black chanterelle mushrooms
or
Fillet of sea bass a la barigoule with wild mushroom ravioli
Our special selection of cheese/Fresh bakery selection
Truffled chocolate charlotte, sherbet, fruit
Breakfast also offered 2 hot selections--crepe with egg/bacon/potatoes or french toast
Taittinger blanc de blancs 1995
I really like the seats on AF better than DL--I'm fairly wide and the width fits me better, and the recline works fine for me. DL is too narrow on the 767!
Verdict: Good flight--helped by only being 1/2 full. They didn't make much of the stand-up bar--it was a fast flight due to the jetstream so folks wanted to snooze.
Arrived on time into CDG. Longish (15 mins) waits at immigration--a delayed New York flight had people pushing and shoving through...
Long walk to the AF arrivals lounge, but had a nice shower and leisurely breakfast. Nice facility kind of tucked away behind some ticketing areas. I do find the layout of CDG to be very confusing--it doesn't seem that flights to specific areas go to certain areas (that I've figured out...)
Tried to get the lounge attendant to change my flight to an earlier one to LYS--she said I needed to go to ticketing.
Off I went to ticketing, where they stickered the ticket in no time at all. Then walked over to the departure hall for Lyon. Decided to try the automated machine (which was a mistake). As you probably know, European machines take paper tickets, so I put in my ticket (not tearing off the stub). Suffice to say, this stub caught in the machine and it jammed. Of course, there was no nearby attendant, so I walked up and down the hall to find someone...20 mins later (20 mins before flight time!) finally found someone who got me taken care of and escorted me through security. Good recovery, AF!
CDG-LYS--quick shuttle flight, single class. They hand around a half sandwich and plum tart with your drink...what a concept!
Off at LYS for overnight to explore. LYS airport is beautiful (actually the train station is the beautiful part of it) but is a bit out in the country. Made me realize how sensible the SNCF connections at CDG are--really only takes 30 more minutes than the flight, plus you're in downtown.
Blown away by Lyon--I want to go back with more time. They were having their winter carnival/festival so really had fun strolling the booths.
Had some trouble finding a place to stay (football tournament) so ended up at the Mercure near the train station. Big room, expensive and not worth the price.
LYS-BCN--I didn't realize how identical CRJs were...at least on Brit Air you get your choice of "biscuits sales o biscuits sucrees"...
BCN--I wasn't impressed, which surprised me. Had trouble finding my hotel (Ibis) the first night---ended up checking into the wrong one! That will teach the lesson of doing more research about where to stay on these fast trips.
BCN-MAD DL flies this as a tag-end to their MAD-JFK service. It's a strange flight in that it doesn't connect to the MAD-ATL flight... I was staying 3 nights in Madrid, so was kind of surprised I was able to book the flight at all, as they don't really handle local traffic.
Got to the airport via cab (had originally booked only to the train but decided to go all the way)...and got in the Bus Elite line (one person ahead). The security agent saw my ticket and got very excited:"You can't fly this!". She walked over to ticketing to check and came back saying "go right ahead"...checked in, checked my bag (the agent was most concerned that it would stay on the plane at MAD so put a bunch of stickers on it). Off to the AF lounge (very nice quiet lounge with a good computer--found a place to stay in MAD). Off to the gate--went right on board to the 767.
Biz was about 30% full on this flight--I snagged an amenity kit (!), and they actually served a snack on the 45 minute flight (jamon on croissant, fruit, chocolate) and full beverages.
I and one other customer got off in MAD--apparently quite strange that anyone gets off (it is required that the through pax stay on board). Made our way through the immigration gates. My bag had been immediately pulled off and was behind the DL counter.
Took metro to hotel--TRYP All-Suites Escultor (much better choice of location and hotel than BCN). Good tapas in the neighborhood, blown away by the Prado, a very good visit.
Back to MAD for flight home--DL is kind of tucked away in the terminal but get checked in fine--off to lounge (shared lounge--rather bustling but clean). Off to gate--onto plane--lunch and snack--realize I really prefer AF--squirm around on the 767 seat...back to ATL on time.
Verdict: I'll take AF over DL anytime in bus, ready for another trip to MAD and LYS, done with BCN, looking forward (still) to South Africa later this spring!
Safe travels.
Jan 17, 2004 | 3:53 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: BCN
Programs: BA Silver VY apologist IB up and coming
Posts: 8,706
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jamiel:
BCN--I wasn't impressed, which surprised me. Had trouble finding my hotel (Ibis) the first night---ended up checking into the wrong one! That will teach the lesson of doing more research about where to stay on these fast trips.
</font>
BCN--I wasn't impressed, which surprised me. Had trouble finding my hotel (Ibis) the first night---ended up checking into the wrong one! That will teach the lesson of doing more research about where to stay on these fast trips.
</font>
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