This is the finality of a cheap SkyTeam biz flight I booked last December originating in Helsinki and terminating in Houston for 600 Euros. The outbound I wrote about previously. This is the return journey with Air France Business Class.

Since I visited Helsinki in July I had no intention of returning, instead packing a carry on and terminating my journey in Paris rather than taking the onward connection back to Scandinavia.

The timing of the journey was coincidentally poor given Hurricane Harvey's impact on Houston. Luckily Air France resumed service Friday September 1st and my flight would be Saturday September 2nd.

I will not bore you with the details of my return trip with Norwegian Economy. The bulkhead seat on the 787 is the most tolerable seat in economy on the plane and for $180 one way hard to beat. However, the 10 hour flight felt like 10 hours of Spirit Airlines in terms of service or lack thereof.


Some plane spotting and Amex Centurion Lounge in Houston. The airport was about as dead as one would expect on a Saturday after a major hurricane. I was very impressed with the new United Terminal C, arguably one of the nicest terminals I have visited in a US airport. Terminal D where Air France and the majority of international departures commence feels like a time portal to the early 1990's.











I chose the bulkhead seat 3L in the mini front cabin directly behind La Premiere. Was hopeful that Mr. and Mrs. SFO 777 were occupants of the front cabin but it was not to be on this flight. La Premier was occupied by one lady who was escorted ahead of the zoo of people waiting to board and was similarly lead off the plane in Paris and whisked to a private jetway and car.

In terms of cabin I do prefer the mini-front section and bulkhead. As you can see the cut out for your feet is significant (albeit with the plastic piece of cabin jutting out in my photos). I was actually surprised with the amount of flight attendant foot traffic to the front of the plane and pass La Premier throughout the flight.

Other than the cabin crew there was no foot traffic. The mini-biz class cabin was approximately 50% full on this flight. Luckily, I was able to grab a couple of extra pillows for the night flight from the vacant seats.





















PDB choice of Champagne (did not get the brand), Orange Juice or Water.



Service really threw me off on this flight. There was no menu and I was surprised by the large English language barrier between the French flight attendant and my non-francophone self.

Service commenced with a warm towel, drink from cart service and pre-packaged nuts.

The IFE had a limited selection of 30 English film titles, however that was offset by offering arguably my favorite classic film of all time: North by Northwest!







The meal service was served on a tray with no explanation from the flight attendant. What threw me off was the appetizer was served on the same tray as the dessert. At first, I thought this would be the entire meal.

AF does a great warm bread service from the basket and gourmet butter. The food on AF J in general was of a much higher caliber than you would find on KLM or the big-3 Americanos.

Main meal service was a choice between Chicken, Beef and Pasta. I wish I had a menu of choices but it was not to be.





Service was complete about 2.5 hours into the 9 hour transatlantic crossing. I declined breakfast service which was served exactly 90 minutes prior to touchdown. The toilets were stocked with Clarins amenities.

The hard product on this flight was exceptional while the soft product left something to be desired.









Up next: Out and About in Paris.

This was my first time in Paris and 2 days on the ground did not begin to do the city justice. I happened to luck out with weather in the 70F range and cloudy as well as being the first Sunday of the month with admission to the majority of Paris's fascinating museums free of charge.

I will let the pics do the majority of the talking. I will say the Mona Lisa was over rated while Vincent Van Gogh's collection at the Musee d'Orsay blew me away.



I had to do a double take of this pic when I took it as it gave me a tingle in my spine. It was the exact spot where Hitler stood in his post-conquer photo of Paris in 1940.






















































































Thanks for following my trans-Atlantic adventure. Stay tuned for my 30,000+ mile journey in business/first class to Hong Kong and Singapore during American Thanksgiving.

Great pics tennislover9!
Try to book a trip during the French Open next year

Very nice pics!

Paris for me remains the most beautiful city in the world.

I never thought that J service in AF would be like this, given many positive reviews I read about AF in F. No menu is odd. Do you know if this is common in AF or it's just occasionally?

Thanks, your report raise anticipation

thanks for the TR. definitely good plane spotting from the lounge. the chicken looks dreadful.

Nice, TR ^ Thanks for sharing!

Outstanding photos of Paris - thanks so much for sharing

The service on the flight sounds like it fulfilled all stereotypes of incredibly rude Parisian waiters. I don't require much fawning over but I'd be pissed off with what sounds like Economy grade service from the crew.
I agree the Mona Lisa is overrated, I also agree the Musee d'Orsay has a fabulous collection.