Travelling the world for 6 months... My sabbatical leave experience
Nov 9, 2018, 1:38 pm
#33
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: In between BRU, AMS, DUS and LUX...
Programs: AF/KL Plat, BA Gold, A3 Gold, IHG Diamond, MR Gold, HH Diamond, ALL Platinum
Posts: 1,044
Moving to warmer seas... (Part 2)
After several days remaining silent due to poor internet connection in Namibia and South Africa, it looks like I am having a decent internet connection in Zambia... So I will continue my story now...
After a nice evening in my hometown of Lyon with my family (and a much smaller laundry than expected due to my luggage issues), I took the high speed train (called TGV) to CDG airport the next morning. I am glad I booked a couple months ago the 8 Oclock train as this would allow me to get plenty of connection time to collect my luggage, repack and check it again for my flight to Dubai.
The train ride was pretty much uneventful, I had a window seat inside the first class compartiment of the duplex train. As usual on French trains, there was no service, besides the restaurant car located at the center of the train. Wifi was working surpringly well (free of charge), and I was able to upload quite some picture during the 2-journey to CDG airport.
We arrived on time, and headed towards the Air France luggage counter in terminal 2F, where I was able to collect my luggage after 10 minutes talking with an agent to try locating the bag.
Waiting for the train...
Inside the first class compartment of the TGV duplex (lower level)
WiFi worked surprisingly very well...
My mom insisted so I take breakfast...
Will they have good news for me ?
A post office (finally) opened right above the train station of the airport and I was able to send some of my stuff back to my parents.
Afterwards, I went to check-in my bag in terminal 2E, using the Sky Priority counter, which was quite crowded. It took about 30 minutes to check the bag. They really need to put extra efforts on this part, although almost all check-in desks were staffed and open.
Sky Priority ???
Clearing passport control in the main terminal, and later clearing security at the L gates were a simple formality as it only took a few minutes to complete those actions.The terminal 2E, L gates of CDG is currently under renovation, but the Air France lounge was finished being renovated a few months ago. As it was my first time I was going there, I was quite impressed by the new furniture and like the design of this lounge a lot. The catering was quite good and the detox bar was a nice addition.
Boarding started a bit later than expected, about 20 minutes before departure time, and the departure area was organized in 5 different zones, with SkyPriority customers in zones 1 and 2.
Waiting for the boarding...
F-GSQJ to DXB
Air France AF662, October 25th 2018
CDG Paris Charles de Gaulle 13:40
DXB Dubai Intl 22:35
Boeing 777-300 F-GSQJ Seat 3A, Business class, window.
After booking this flight, I selected the seat 3A, located in the front section of the business class cabin, just behind the First class where I still managed to get a sneak peak before the first class passengers boarded the aircraft :-). The cabin configuration is 1-2-1 (in Ŧ herringbone ŧ), meaning that all the seats have direct aisle access, like many airlines nowadays. I personally like this configuration, especially when travelling solo.
Air France markets this cabin as the Ŧ new ŧ business class cabin (as the old one is still configured in 2-2-2), although my seat showed already some signs of damage, with duct tape placed in different areas. Anyway, the seat was quite comfortable in seated position and is equipped with a wide screen with the new inflight entertainment, a small cabinet where the noise cancelling head phones are located, together with some personal storage, and the remote controller, with one USB and one power plug.
Shortly after boarding, the flight attendant in front of this section, Alexis, came to me to ask if I wanted to place my jacket in the wardrobe and quickly noticed I was taking pictures of the cabin, so we started to discuss about my trip. Later, the captain introduced hisself at the speaker, and informed us that we will depart slightly late due to some delays with the cargo loading.
Sneak peek in the first class cabin (which was full that day)
Seat 3A
The menus were distributed together with the amenity kits, available in different colors. Sleepers, a pillow and a blanket were also available at the seat. A welcome drink, consisting of champagne, water or juice was offered and I opted for a glass of bubbly (since AF gives real champagne, I could not miss this opportunity). It was a Charles Heidseck, the same to the one displayed on the menu. As usual, magazines and newspapers were proposed.
Cheers !
Amenity kit available in different colors...
Amenity kit contents
Next time... :-)
The Ŧ new ŧ safety movie was shown on the screens prior to take off. I personally find it incredibly dumb, and almost annoying to watch (and I usually enjoy funny safety movies), but thats my personal opinion. We took off from CDG sligthly late and the cabin service began about 40 minutes later with a mise en bouche (salmon), and another drink.
I was trying to make a small time-lapse movie of the take off and it looks like this, for the ones interested.
The starter was some foie gras with a quinoa salad and it was quite good. It came with bread, some good butter and an uneventful green salad.
For the main course, I choose the fish and it was good, although the presentation was not so exciting. (The best fish dish I ever had on a plane was surprisingly on Iberia between MAD and SCL two years ago !). I opted for a glass of white wine and Alexis, my FA, was willing to make me taste both whites. Both were very good, but I opted for the Pouilly fumé.
The dessert consisted in a choice of 3 desserts, served on the cart : One small dessert Ŧ trio ŧ, ice cream or a fruit salad. I opted for the ice cream (3 flavors available, I choose Rasberry) and asked if I could get the fruit salad too.
Mise en bouche
Peanuts and champagne... I don't think they should serve peanuts in a small bag like this.
Lunch over the alps
Starter with Foie Gras and Quinoa salad
Main dish was the fish
Trying to find the good wine to pair the fish with...
Dessert. Pretty uneventful
It was ok, but honestly, I would expect something better and more exciting flying Air France. I later asked for some coffee and it came with a Valrhona dark chocolate cube.The seat can recline fully to make a flat bed, which is nice, and I managed to get a good hour of sleep somewhere above the south of Turkey. As I said before, the seated position is also comfortable, but unlike other business class seats on the market, I could not find a Ŧ lounge ŧ position, something intermediate between a bed and a straight seat. I find this to be an important missing feature of this seat. This can be explained by the fact there is no leg rest available. Quite a disappointment in that respect.The inflight entertainment was responsive and has a wide selection of music, series and movies. There was however, no wifi available on board this flight. I counted 3 lavatories for the business class cabin located next to the second galley but one was inoperative before take off.Two small bars are available in the second galley, but during this 6 hour flight, the selection consisted only in drinks and peanuts.
I found the crew to be professional and friedly most of the time.
Galley snacks (mostly drinks)
One out of 3 lavatories was out of service
Plenty of table space to work on
Looks like there is a new romance in the air...
About an hour before landing a snack was offered and consisted in a trio of Ŧ bites ŧ sweet and savory. I honestly dont know whats going wrong with airlines and their second meals but this was a disappointment and well below expectations of what one could expect from a business class snack. It was not bad, but just looked like a joke.
Pre-arrival snack. Very average.
The captain made the pre landing announcement about 40 min before landing (also in perfect English) and informed us that we will be landing 20 minutes before schedule and thanked us for choosing Air France Ŧ considering the large choice available for air travel between Europe and the Emirates ŧ.
Total route
We arrived at the gate in DXB Terminal 1 around 22.20 local time and parked between and Air Canada dreamliner and a Sri Lankan Airbus 330 (I did not know btw that AC was flying to DXB nowadays).
It was quite a trek to the arrivals area of Terminal 1 but Immigration and customs clearance were quite smooth, we just had to wait for a few minutes for the luggage to arrive on the belt.
To conclude, the flight was ok. The lounge in CDG was nice and given the price paid, I would do this again. However, I missed the Ŧ wow ŧ effect of flying business class after that flight. Perhaps I got used to it, but I was expected something more from AF, in terms of catering for instance. Note that I havent flown AF long-haul since 2010, as I moved most of my long-haul flights to Star Alliance (Lufthansa and Swiss mostly) in the past and OneWorld (British Airways, American, Qatar and Iberia) nowadays, and never flew with them in Business class.Being French myself, I really hate to say that, but I feel that the new BA catering does not look Ŧ that bad ŧ after trying Air France.This flight allowed me to get enough tier points to increase my AF/KLM Flying blue status from Gold to Platinum, and the miles posted barely 24 hours after the flight.
After a nice evening in my hometown of Lyon with my family (and a much smaller laundry than expected due to my luggage issues), I took the high speed train (called TGV) to CDG airport the next morning. I am glad I booked a couple months ago the 8 Oclock train as this would allow me to get plenty of connection time to collect my luggage, repack and check it again for my flight to Dubai.
The train ride was pretty much uneventful, I had a window seat inside the first class compartiment of the duplex train. As usual on French trains, there was no service, besides the restaurant car located at the center of the train. Wifi was working surpringly well (free of charge), and I was able to upload quite some picture during the 2-journey to CDG airport.
We arrived on time, and headed towards the Air France luggage counter in terminal 2F, where I was able to collect my luggage after 10 minutes talking with an agent to try locating the bag.
Waiting for the train...
Inside the first class compartment of the TGV duplex (lower level)
WiFi worked surprisingly very well...
My mom insisted so I take breakfast...
Will they have good news for me ?
A post office (finally) opened right above the train station of the airport and I was able to send some of my stuff back to my parents.
Afterwards, I went to check-in my bag in terminal 2E, using the Sky Priority counter, which was quite crowded. It took about 30 minutes to check the bag. They really need to put extra efforts on this part, although almost all check-in desks were staffed and open.
Sky Priority ???
Clearing passport control in the main terminal, and later clearing security at the L gates were a simple formality as it only took a few minutes to complete those actions.The terminal 2E, L gates of CDG is currently under renovation, but the Air France lounge was finished being renovated a few months ago. As it was my first time I was going there, I was quite impressed by the new furniture and like the design of this lounge a lot. The catering was quite good and the detox bar was a nice addition.
Boarding started a bit later than expected, about 20 minutes before departure time, and the departure area was organized in 5 different zones, with SkyPriority customers in zones 1 and 2.
Waiting for the boarding...
F-GSQJ to DXB
Air France AF662, October 25th 2018
CDG Paris Charles de Gaulle 13:40
DXB Dubai Intl 22:35
Boeing 777-300 F-GSQJ Seat 3A, Business class, window.
After booking this flight, I selected the seat 3A, located in the front section of the business class cabin, just behind the First class where I still managed to get a sneak peak before the first class passengers boarded the aircraft :-). The cabin configuration is 1-2-1 (in Ŧ herringbone ŧ), meaning that all the seats have direct aisle access, like many airlines nowadays. I personally like this configuration, especially when travelling solo.
Air France markets this cabin as the Ŧ new ŧ business class cabin (as the old one is still configured in 2-2-2), although my seat showed already some signs of damage, with duct tape placed in different areas. Anyway, the seat was quite comfortable in seated position and is equipped with a wide screen with the new inflight entertainment, a small cabinet where the noise cancelling head phones are located, together with some personal storage, and the remote controller, with one USB and one power plug.
Shortly after boarding, the flight attendant in front of this section, Alexis, came to me to ask if I wanted to place my jacket in the wardrobe and quickly noticed I was taking pictures of the cabin, so we started to discuss about my trip. Later, the captain introduced hisself at the speaker, and informed us that we will depart slightly late due to some delays with the cargo loading.
Sneak peek in the first class cabin (which was full that day)
Seat 3A
The menus were distributed together with the amenity kits, available in different colors. Sleepers, a pillow and a blanket were also available at the seat. A welcome drink, consisting of champagne, water or juice was offered and I opted for a glass of bubbly (since AF gives real champagne, I could not miss this opportunity). It was a Charles Heidseck, the same to the one displayed on the menu. As usual, magazines and newspapers were proposed.
Cheers !
Amenity kit available in different colors...
Amenity kit contents
Next time... :-)
The Ŧ new ŧ safety movie was shown on the screens prior to take off. I personally find it incredibly dumb, and almost annoying to watch (and I usually enjoy funny safety movies), but thats my personal opinion. We took off from CDG sligthly late and the cabin service began about 40 minutes later with a mise en bouche (salmon), and another drink.I was trying to make a small time-lapse movie of the take off and it looks like this, for the ones interested.
The starter was some foie gras with a quinoa salad and it was quite good. It came with bread, some good butter and an uneventful green salad.
For the main course, I choose the fish and it was good, although the presentation was not so exciting. (The best fish dish I ever had on a plane was surprisingly on Iberia between MAD and SCL two years ago !). I opted for a glass of white wine and Alexis, my FA, was willing to make me taste both whites. Both were very good, but I opted for the Pouilly fumé.
The dessert consisted in a choice of 3 desserts, served on the cart : One small dessert Ŧ trio ŧ, ice cream or a fruit salad. I opted for the ice cream (3 flavors available, I choose Rasberry) and asked if I could get the fruit salad too.
Mise en bouche
Peanuts and champagne... I don't think they should serve peanuts in a small bag like this.
Lunch over the alps
Starter with Foie Gras and Quinoa salad
Main dish was the fish
Trying to find the good wine to pair the fish with...
Dessert. Pretty uneventful
It was ok, but honestly, I would expect something better and more exciting flying Air France. I later asked for some coffee and it came with a Valrhona dark chocolate cube.The seat can recline fully to make a flat bed, which is nice, and I managed to get a good hour of sleep somewhere above the south of Turkey. As I said before, the seated position is also comfortable, but unlike other business class seats on the market, I could not find a Ŧ lounge ŧ position, something intermediate between a bed and a straight seat. I find this to be an important missing feature of this seat. This can be explained by the fact there is no leg rest available. Quite a disappointment in that respect.The inflight entertainment was responsive and has a wide selection of music, series and movies. There was however, no wifi available on board this flight. I counted 3 lavatories for the business class cabin located next to the second galley but one was inoperative before take off.Two small bars are available in the second galley, but during this 6 hour flight, the selection consisted only in drinks and peanuts.
I found the crew to be professional and friedly most of the time.
Galley snacks (mostly drinks)
One out of 3 lavatories was out of service
Plenty of table space to work on
Looks like there is a new romance in the air...
About an hour before landing a snack was offered and consisted in a trio of Ŧ bites ŧ sweet and savory. I honestly dont know whats going wrong with airlines and their second meals but this was a disappointment and well below expectations of what one could expect from a business class snack. It was not bad, but just looked like a joke.
Pre-arrival snack. Very average.
The captain made the pre landing announcement about 40 min before landing (also in perfect English) and informed us that we will be landing 20 minutes before schedule and thanked us for choosing Air France Ŧ considering the large choice available for air travel between Europe and the Emirates ŧ.
Total route
We arrived at the gate in DXB Terminal 1 around 22.20 local time and parked between and Air Canada dreamliner and a Sri Lankan Airbus 330 (I did not know btw that AC was flying to DXB nowadays).
It was quite a trek to the arrivals area of Terminal 1 but Immigration and customs clearance were quite smooth, we just had to wait for a few minutes for the luggage to arrive on the belt.
To conclude, the flight was ok. The lounge in CDG was nice and given the price paid, I would do this again. However, I missed the Ŧ wow ŧ effect of flying business class after that flight. Perhaps I got used to it, but I was expected something more from AF, in terms of catering for instance. Note that I havent flown AF long-haul since 2010, as I moved most of my long-haul flights to Star Alliance (Lufthansa and Swiss mostly) in the past and OneWorld (British Airways, American, Qatar and Iberia) nowadays, and never flew with them in Business class.Being French myself, I really hate to say that, but I feel that the new BA catering does not look Ŧ that bad ŧ after trying Air France.This flight allowed me to get enough tier points to increase my AF/KLM Flying blue status from Gold to Platinum, and the miles posted barely 24 hours after the flight.
Nov 13, 2018, 3:24 am
#35
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: In between BRU, AMS, DUS and LUX...
Programs: AF/KL Plat, BA Gold, A3 Gold, IHG Diamond, MR Gold, HH Diamond, ALL Platinum
Posts: 1,044
Heading to Africa on Kenya Airways...
Out of all the continents, Africa (and to some extent... Antartica) are the two places I haven't been yet. After a few days in Dubai where my best friend, who met me there, and I mostly saw aseptized malls, I was even more looking forward to visit the African continent, especially South Africa, Namibia and the Victoria Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Because I found for her a reasonably priced ticket on Emirates between France and Johannesburg which could include two stop overs in Dubai, She flew direct from Dubai to Johannesburg while I flew at approximatively the same time via Nairobi, on Kenya airways. As it was also my first time on this airline, the price being very reasonable (using my 150 Euros Amex travel voucher to decrease the price of a business class round trip ticket DXB-JNB to 500 Euros-ish) and Kenya airways being a Sky Team member such as Air France or KLM, I was also happy to test a new airline and their long-haul business class product on their Boeing 787-800 dreamliner as it was in operation that day on both flights between Dubai and Nairobi and between Nairobi and Johannesburg. Unfortunately, KQ decided to do a schedule change on the way back a couple months ago and instead of departing JNB at noon with a 2 hour connection in NBO to DXB, they decided to depart at 2 am (!!!) with a 7 hour layover in Nairobi. (I am actually writing those lanes on the way back from JNB live from the Pride lounge in Nairobi, pretty tired...). Anyway, this part of the story will be the subject of a separate post...
The way between Dubai and Johannesburg was as expected and we both landed approximatively at the same time in JNB to start our African journey...
Checking in Dubai was fast and my boarding passes were issued on the spot. Clearing immigration and security in Terminal 1 was a breeze and I was airside minutes after checking in.
Check-in
Security screening was not very crowded
Meet the crew !
Departure hall DXB T1
Kenya airways uses the SkyTeam lounge in Dubai. Unfortunately the lounge was very crowded when I arrived due to some other SkyTeam flights departing to Paris, Amsterdam, China and Saudi Arabia.The lounge, like the other skyteam lounges i was able to visit in the past in Sydney and London was ok. Nothing exceptional but with food and beverages from the different regions the alliance airlines are flying to.
Skyteam lounge DXB
Due to the crowd, I did not stay there very long and decided to visit the lounge across this one, the Ahlan lounge, which is accessible with Priority pass membership. This lounge looked much larger than the SkyTeam lounge and with good food and beverages offerings, but was way less crowded than the former. As my flight was boarding using one of the bus gates, I stayed there only 5 minutes but managed to snap a few pictures.
Ahlan lounge DXB T1 - Priority Pass lounge
The flight to Nairobi boarded using the bus gates (which I think is happening everyday and could be due to the fact that flight lands about 6 hours before).While there was a priority line to board the buses, everybody was packed in the same buses and it took in total 20 minutes or so to reach our aircraft, with buses packed to the brim. Certainly not the greatest business class experience ever but we eventually reached the aircraft, a dreamliner registered as 5Y-KZC Moment I was told by the ground staff that I was not allowed to take pictures of the aircraft (for "security" reasons... - One reason fits all !)
I just hate boarding by bus...
Kenya Airways flight KQ311, October 29th 2018
DXB Dubai Intl 01:45
NBO Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Intl 05:50
Boeing 787-800 5Y-KZC Seat 1A, Business class, window.
I was informed earlier that day during the check-in that the seat next to me should remain empty for both segments, so while the business class on board Kenya Airways dreamliner is configured in a 2-2-2 configuration, which is not always the best when flying solo, my experience on that trip was better than it is supposed to be as I had the luxury to have 2 seats just for me.The cabin was in pretty good condition when I entered the aircraft and the business class loading was maybe about 50% that day. The business class cabin on Kenya airways is divided in two sections, with the second galley separating the two sections. The Front section has 3 rows of 6 seats, while the smaller section behind the second galley has 2 rows of 6 seats.
Each seat has one USB and one universal power plug, but not much stowage for computers or ipads for instance, those would have to be placed with the magazines in front of the seat. Note that for the first row seats, like the one I had, the inflight entertainment screen is located in the arm rest. A small privacy divider can also be operated between the two seats.A welcome drink was offered before departure and consisted in water or fruit juice (more like a fruit cocktail) and newspapers were proposed. The amenity kit was also given at that time. A pillow and a nice blanket are also available at the seat.
Amenity kit contents - Kenya airways
I slept most of the flight so cannot really comment more the service onboard, but I dont think there was much service on this night flight as most of the passengers did like me. When I woke up mid-flight to use the lavatories, most of the crew was in the galley reading magazines or talking to each other.I slept quite well (almost 4 hours in total out of a 5 hour flight) and woke up about 30 minutes before landing, when a flight attendant asked me if I wanted something to drink and brought me a fruit plate at the same time.
We landed ontime and another bus brought us to the main terminal where I had to clear security one more time, although there was no queue at all, so this was an easy formality.
Security was fast to clear that morning...
Departure board
Need to catch my flight to Dubai now. Will finish that part later !
Because I found for her a reasonably priced ticket on Emirates between France and Johannesburg which could include two stop overs in Dubai, She flew direct from Dubai to Johannesburg while I flew at approximatively the same time via Nairobi, on Kenya airways. As it was also my first time on this airline, the price being very reasonable (using my 150 Euros Amex travel voucher to decrease the price of a business class round trip ticket DXB-JNB to 500 Euros-ish) and Kenya airways being a Sky Team member such as Air France or KLM, I was also happy to test a new airline and their long-haul business class product on their Boeing 787-800 dreamliner as it was in operation that day on both flights between Dubai and Nairobi and between Nairobi and Johannesburg. Unfortunately, KQ decided to do a schedule change on the way back a couple months ago and instead of departing JNB at noon with a 2 hour connection in NBO to DXB, they decided to depart at 2 am (!!!) with a 7 hour layover in Nairobi. (I am actually writing those lanes on the way back from JNB live from the Pride lounge in Nairobi, pretty tired...). Anyway, this part of the story will be the subject of a separate post...
The way between Dubai and Johannesburg was as expected and we both landed approximatively at the same time in JNB to start our African journey...
Checking in Dubai was fast and my boarding passes were issued on the spot. Clearing immigration and security in Terminal 1 was a breeze and I was airside minutes after checking in.
Check-in
Security screening was not very crowded
Meet the crew !
Departure hall DXB T1
Kenya airways uses the SkyTeam lounge in Dubai. Unfortunately the lounge was very crowded when I arrived due to some other SkyTeam flights departing to Paris, Amsterdam, China and Saudi Arabia.The lounge, like the other skyteam lounges i was able to visit in the past in Sydney and London was ok. Nothing exceptional but with food and beverages from the different regions the alliance airlines are flying to.
Skyteam lounge DXB
Due to the crowd, I did not stay there very long and decided to visit the lounge across this one, the Ahlan lounge, which is accessible with Priority pass membership. This lounge looked much larger than the SkyTeam lounge and with good food and beverages offerings, but was way less crowded than the former. As my flight was boarding using one of the bus gates, I stayed there only 5 minutes but managed to snap a few pictures.
Ahlan lounge DXB T1 - Priority Pass lounge
The flight to Nairobi boarded using the bus gates (which I think is happening everyday and could be due to the fact that flight lands about 6 hours before).While there was a priority line to board the buses, everybody was packed in the same buses and it took in total 20 minutes or so to reach our aircraft, with buses packed to the brim. Certainly not the greatest business class experience ever but we eventually reached the aircraft, a dreamliner registered as 5Y-KZC Moment I was told by the ground staff that I was not allowed to take pictures of the aircraft (for "security" reasons... - One reason fits all !)
I just hate boarding by bus...
Kenya Airways flight KQ311, October 29th 2018
DXB Dubai Intl 01:45
NBO Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Intl 05:50
Boeing 787-800 5Y-KZC Seat 1A, Business class, window.
I was informed earlier that day during the check-in that the seat next to me should remain empty for both segments, so while the business class on board Kenya Airways dreamliner is configured in a 2-2-2 configuration, which is not always the best when flying solo, my experience on that trip was better than it is supposed to be as I had the luxury to have 2 seats just for me.The cabin was in pretty good condition when I entered the aircraft and the business class loading was maybe about 50% that day. The business class cabin on Kenya airways is divided in two sections, with the second galley separating the two sections. The Front section has 3 rows of 6 seats, while the smaller section behind the second galley has 2 rows of 6 seats.
Each seat has one USB and one universal power plug, but not much stowage for computers or ipads for instance, those would have to be placed with the magazines in front of the seat. Note that for the first row seats, like the one I had, the inflight entertainment screen is located in the arm rest. A small privacy divider can also be operated between the two seats.A welcome drink was offered before departure and consisted in water or fruit juice (more like a fruit cocktail) and newspapers were proposed. The amenity kit was also given at that time. A pillow and a nice blanket are also available at the seat.Amenity kit contents - Kenya airways
I slept most of the flight so cannot really comment more the service onboard, but I dont think there was much service on this night flight as most of the passengers did like me. When I woke up mid-flight to use the lavatories, most of the crew was in the galley reading magazines or talking to each other.I slept quite well (almost 4 hours in total out of a 5 hour flight) and woke up about 30 minutes before landing, when a flight attendant asked me if I wanted something to drink and brought me a fruit plate at the same time.
We landed ontime and another bus brought us to the main terminal where I had to clear security one more time, although there was no queue at all, so this was an easy formality.
Security was fast to clear that morning...
Departure board
Need to catch my flight to Dubai now. Will finish that part later !
Last edited by palmanfr; Nov 13, 2018 at 12:01 pm
Nov 18, 2018, 12:38 pm
#37
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: In between BRU, AMS, DUS and LUX...
Programs: AF/KL Plat, BA Gold, A3 Gold, IHG Diamond, MR Gold, HH Diamond, ALL Platinum
Posts: 1,044
I had about 2 hours in Nairobi and since there is really not much to see in this airport I decided to spend most of the transit time in one of the two lounges Kenya airways offer. I choose the Pride lounge located in the terminal, around gate 17 if I remember correctly (the other lounge is located right after security and will be tested on my return trip when I will have plenty of time to transfer
).
The lounge is better than what I expected. It is clean, and the seating is comfortable, with a good WiFi connection. The buffet is quite minimal but sufficient for what I needed that day. The breakfast buffet consisted in a few hot dishes such as scrambled eggs or tomato beans. Although there was a shortage of cups, glasses, and cutlery, the staff was friendly and efficient to provide me some upon request (as long as you are nice to them, as a few Ŧ gentlemens ŧ were not very nice with the staff).
Finally, the lounge has a smoking area, a shower and some outside views.
Nice tarmac views from the lounge...
My flight to Johannesburg was a bit delayed and I waited about 10 minutes at the gate before the boarding began around 07.55, with priority boarding being enforced. I can confirm that there is definitely not much to see in Nairobi airport !
The clock on this screen is obvisously wrong !
5Y-KZA, the first dreamliner received by Kenya Airways will be the ride to JNB
Kenya Airways flight KQ760, October 29th 2018
NBO Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Intl 08:15
JNB Johannesburg O.R.Tambo Intl 10:55
Boeing 787-800 5Y-KZA Seat 1A, Business class, window.
The business class cabin was about half full on that flight too, and I could enjoy the pair of seats 1A/1B just for me. A different type of juice than on the previous flight was offered, but no amenity kit, nor blankets were available. (Blankets are however stored onboard as I asked for one mid-flight). Noise reducing headphones were also provided.
Welcome drink...
View from my seat on the AF dreamliner just arrving from CDG.
We took off about 40 minutes later than scheduled, and the cabin windows were automatically dimmed after 30 minutes, with nice views on the Kilimanjaro on the left side of the aircraft
Taking off from NBO
Great view on the Kilimanjaro
The menus were distributed at that time, with a choice of 3 breakfast options, and I choose the vegetarian dish which was very good. It came with freshly cutted fruits, corn flakes with yogurt and a selection of pastries and danishes. I liked the fact the table was properly dressed for this breakfast, unlike other airlines who just bring you a tray with your meal on it. Most of the service was done from the galley, and the drinks with the main courses brought on a cart. I opted for Kenyan tea to come with my breakfast, and later, Kenyan coffee.
Considering the duration of the flight (about 4 hours) and the light loading of the cabin, I took a few pictures of the second section of the business class.
Sneak peek on the second business class cabin
The seat 1A in relax position.
There was no wifi onboard and found the inflight entertainment to be quite limited in terms of movies and series, but had a decent audio selection. Since I was planning to Ŧ work ŧ anyway during this flight, I was fine just listening to some music.
Time to work a bit !
Oppossum was reminded that just like smoking, having a barbecue is forbidden onboard, even in Business class... Rookie mistake!
Power nap before landing...
Approaching JNB...
Total flight route
We landed about 30 minutes late and taxied for a good 10 minutes before reaching our gate.
I love the reflexion on the terminal glass
While I cannot comment a lot about the first flight, (but certainly do not think the bus transfers are appropriate for long haul aircrafts like this one), I think the second flight was good, again considering the space I had with the second seat available (there is a lack of storage for your personal items otherwise). I was pretty satisfied with the catering provided on board and the quality of the seating.
Immigration took about 20-30 minutes to clear and the luggage was already there by the time I reached the carroussel (actually, my best friend who arrived with the direct Emirates flight 30 minutes before me catched my luggage for me J)
The lounge is better than what I expected. It is clean, and the seating is comfortable, with a good WiFi connection. The buffet is quite minimal but sufficient for what I needed that day. The breakfast buffet consisted in a few hot dishes such as scrambled eggs or tomato beans. Although there was a shortage of cups, glasses, and cutlery, the staff was friendly and efficient to provide me some upon request (as long as you are nice to them, as a few Ŧ gentlemens ŧ were not very nice with the staff).
Finally, the lounge has a smoking area, a shower and some outside views.
Nice tarmac views from the lounge...
My flight to Johannesburg was a bit delayed and I waited about 10 minutes at the gate before the boarding began around 07.55, with priority boarding being enforced. I can confirm that there is definitely not much to see in Nairobi airport !
The clock on this screen is obvisously wrong !
5Y-KZA, the first dreamliner received by Kenya Airways will be the ride to JNB
Kenya Airways flight KQ760, October 29th 2018
NBO Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Intl 08:15
JNB Johannesburg O.R.Tambo Intl 10:55
Boeing 787-800 5Y-KZA Seat 1A, Business class, window.
The business class cabin was about half full on that flight too, and I could enjoy the pair of seats 1A/1B just for me. A different type of juice than on the previous flight was offered, but no amenity kit, nor blankets were available. (Blankets are however stored onboard as I asked for one mid-flight). Noise reducing headphones were also provided.
Welcome drink...
View from my seat on the AF dreamliner just arrving from CDG.
We took off about 40 minutes later than scheduled, and the cabin windows were automatically dimmed after 30 minutes, with nice views on the Kilimanjaro on the left side of the aircraft
Taking off from NBO
Great view on the Kilimanjaro
The menus were distributed at that time, with a choice of 3 breakfast options, and I choose the vegetarian dish which was very good. It came with freshly cutted fruits, corn flakes with yogurt and a selection of pastries and danishes. I liked the fact the table was properly dressed for this breakfast, unlike other airlines who just bring you a tray with your meal on it. Most of the service was done from the galley, and the drinks with the main courses brought on a cart. I opted for Kenyan tea to come with my breakfast, and later, Kenyan coffee.
Considering the duration of the flight (about 4 hours) and the light loading of the cabin, I took a few pictures of the second section of the business class.
Sneak peek on the second business class cabin
The seat 1A in relax position.
There was no wifi onboard and found the inflight entertainment to be quite limited in terms of movies and series, but had a decent audio selection. Since I was planning to Ŧ work ŧ anyway during this flight, I was fine just listening to some music.
Time to work a bit !
Oppossum was reminded that just like smoking, having a barbecue is forbidden onboard, even in Business class... Rookie mistake!
Power nap before landing...
Approaching JNB...
Total flight route
We landed about 30 minutes late and taxied for a good 10 minutes before reaching our gate.
I love the reflexion on the terminal glass
While I cannot comment a lot about the first flight, (but certainly do not think the bus transfers are appropriate for long haul aircrafts like this one), I think the second flight was good, again considering the space I had with the second seat available (there is a lack of storage for your personal items otherwise). I was pretty satisfied with the catering provided on board and the quality of the seating.
Immigration took about 20-30 minutes to clear and the luggage was already there by the time I reached the carroussel (actually, my best friend who arrived with the direct Emirates flight 30 minutes before me catched my luggage for me J)
Nov 18, 2018, 4:42 pm
#38
Join Date: Nov 2008
Programs: Flying Blue, Diamond Club
Posts: 782
Great TR overall Palmanfr and nice experience aboard The Pride Of Africa.
The drawback with bulkhead seats (row 1&4) with foldable screen is that you can't keep watching your movie during taxiings, takes off and landings!
These new PDBs look original tasty, did you like them?
Also, the new leather menu cover is a big improvement and very stylish.
Ermm... no, quite the opposite actually! Like you at that time, she is about to leave
Obviously, looking forward to reading more
Many thanks for sharing
The drawback with bulkhead seats (row 1&4) with foldable screen is that you can't keep watching your movie during taxiings, takes off and landings!
These new PDBs look original tasty, did you like them?
Also, the new leather menu cover is a big improvement and very stylish.
Ermm... no, quite the opposite actually! Like you at that time, she is about to leave
Obviously, looking forward to reading more
Many thanks for sharing
Nov 19, 2018, 11:59 am
#39
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: In between BRU, AMS, DUS and LUX...
Programs: AF/KL Plat, BA Gold, A3 Gold, IHG Diamond, MR Gold, HH Diamond, ALL Platinum
Posts: 1,044
Great TR overall Palmanfr and nice experience aboard The Pride Of Africa.
The drawback with bulkhead seats (row 1&4) with foldable screen is that you can't keep watching your movie during taxiings, takes off and landings!
These new PDBs look original tasty, did you like them?
Also, the new leather menu cover is a big improvement and very stylish.
Ermm... no, quite the opposite actually! Like you at that time, she is about to leave
Obviously, looking forward to reading more
Many thanks for sharing
The drawback with bulkhead seats (row 1&4) with foldable screen is that you can't keep watching your movie during taxiings, takes off and landings!
These new PDBs look original tasty, did you like them?
Also, the new leather menu cover is a big improvement and very stylish.
Ermm... no, quite the opposite actually! Like you at that time, she is about to leave
Obviously, looking forward to reading more
Many thanks for sharing
I actually like row 1 and did not mind having the foldable screen as I did not watch any movies on that flight. What do you call PDB ?
I found the catering service and the table set very nice on that second flight. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the meal as much on the way back. But that's for later, I am very late reporting all those flights, it's quite complicated to do this when the internet connection is so inefficient at the hotels I am staying at...
Nov 20, 2018, 7:36 am
#40
Join Date: Nov 2008
Programs: Flying Blue, Diamond Club
Posts: 782
My bad - sorry, these are Pre-Departure Beverages or welcome drinks, so do you remember how did they taste/flavour?
Catering has not been "enhanced" much since August announcement by KQ.
By the way, I thought that barbecues were prohibited onboard because of the smoke they produce...
Catering has not been "enhanced" much since August announcement by KQ.
By the way, I thought that barbecues were prohibited onboard because of the smoke they produce...
Nov 20, 2018, 11:44 am
#41
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: In between BRU, AMS, DUS and LUX...
Programs: AF/KL Plat, BA Gold, A3 Gold, IHG Diamond, MR Gold, HH Diamond, ALL Platinum
Posts: 1,044
My bad - sorry, these are Pre-Departure Beverages or welcome drinks, so do you remember how did they taste/flavour?
Catering has not been "enhanced" much since August announcement by KQ.
By the way, I thought that barbecues were prohibited onboard because of the smoke they produce...
Catering has not been "enhanced" much since August announcement by KQ.
By the way, I thought that barbecues were prohibited onboard because of the smoke they produce...
I was also surprised on the evening flight to also see no alcholic PDB served, like sparkling wine (but some other airlines do the same)
Nov 20, 2018, 11:07 pm
#43
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: In between BRU, AMS, DUS and LUX...
Programs: AF/KL Plat, BA Gold, A3 Gold, IHG Diamond, MR Gold, HH Diamond, ALL Platinum
Posts: 1,044
Thanks ! Well... I violated no later than yesterday evening one my basic rules for that trip... I looked at my work emails. And after that, felt even better to be on extended holidays ! :-D
Nov 21, 2018, 6:00 am
#44
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: In between BRU, AMS, DUS and LUX...
Programs: AF/KL Plat, BA Gold, A3 Gold, IHG Diamond, MR Gold, HH Diamond, ALL Platinum
Posts: 1,044
BA/Comair business class JNB-WDH
After a day and a night in Johannesburg (big thanks for roadwarrior for all his precious advices !), we took back the Gautrain to get to O.R.Tambo airport to fly to Windhoek, Namibia. For this itinerary, I decided to use some Avios to book the daily BA flight, operated by Comair, between JNB and WDH. The check-in was swift although the BA/Comair counters are located quite far away from the international terminal. Clearing security and immigration took less than 15 minutes combined and since the agent at the desk did not inform us about the lounge to use, we went towards the BA Galleries lounge to find it
closed !
The International terminal has several lounges available, including 3 accessible with Priority Pass. This was the case for the lounge located next to the BA lounge (Mashonzha lounge) and after the friendly agent saw our Comair boarding passes, she invited us to go to the SLOW lounge, located a bit futher away in the terminal.
The SLOW lounge entrance JNB International terminal
A good initiative that was ! This is one of the nicest business lounges I visited. The furniture is elegant and sober, a la Cathay Pacific, the catering is excellent and creative and the food opulent. The restrooms were very well equipped and maintained, and cherry on the cake, the WiFi worked very well ! An excellent lounge overall divided in different areas to work, eat, play, chat, rest in the middle of the international terminal. Here below are a few pictures to support my statements.
Pancake machine !
Even the restrooms are nice !
Note that this lounge is used by Comair but Also by Air France and KLM.Time flew while we were in the lounge and it was time to go back to the reality of the boarding by bus, downstairs the terminal.
And here is a pet peeve of mine : The boarding was organized in a sense that business class and status passengers could board first, via the left side of the bus gate. So far, so good. The problem is that you are then staying in a bus (no big deal) which has the engine on and so do the other buses around. The exhausts of the other buses were just facing the open door of our bus. This is just disgusting. IF the bus stands idle for 20 minutes just stop the engine ! Especially that no AC was working that day.After a 5 minute nauseous bus ride, we eventually reached our Boeing 737-800 parked at large, registered ZS-ZWU.
British Airways (operated by Comair) flight BA6275, October 30th 2018
JNB Johannesburg O.R.Tambo Intl 12:20
WDH Windhoek H.Kotako 14:20
Boeing 737-800 ZS-ZWU Seat 1F, Business class, window.
We were greeted by the purser and the FA during the boarding process and promptly offered a welcome drink (water, cranberry juice or sparkling wine) together with the immigration forms for entry in Namibia. The business class cabin was equipped with older type seats (which I personally prefer as they typically have more padding) and configured in a 2-3 fashion, except the first row where were sitting which is in a 2-2 configuration. While on this particular aircraft the leg room on bulkhead seats 1A-1C was ok, it was much greater on our seats 1D-1F. I discovered later that the cabin configuration varies a bit across the BA/Comair fleet and almost each aircraft has small differences.
Business class cabin configuration on board this old-style 737
Plenty of legroom
Cheers !
That day, the business class was about half full, and the economy class almost full, with mostly European tourists, most likely coming from one of the BA, AF or KL flights from Europe (This flight has codeshares with those airlines).
We taxied for 5 to 10 minutes to the departure runway and took off at 12:35.
The service began about 20 minutes later with another drink service, where the purser also asked if we would prefer havng a bottle of still or sparkling water during our meal, and some packaged nuts, and later, the meal tray was brought to us (the purser confirmed before take-off that the special meal of my friend was loaded on board). For me, the starter consisted in a small salad, served together with a piece of cheese and a fudge acting as dessert. Then, the FA came with a choice of 3 main courses, including beef, a vegetarian wrap and a vegetarian couscous, and I opted for the latter. Subtlety of BA/Comair, some garlic bread was warmed up and served before the main course.
"Special meal" salad
"Regular meal" salad
Garlic bread
"Special meal" main course (chicken based)
"Regular meal" couscous with chickpeas
I found the main course to be tasty, although the presentation could have been better.This was followed by a tea/coffee service shortly before the captain started a (bumpy) descent towards Windhoek.
Some turbulences in the area...
We landed in WDH at 14:15, slightly ahead of schedule and parked on an apron position as there are no gates with a jet bridge at this airport. Walking to the terminal allowed me to take some good Ŧ AVporn ŧ pictures !
#AVporn !
Windhoek airport being quite small and certainly way too small given the recent surge in number of tourists in the country, immigration took a good 30 minutes to be cleared although we were the first ones to leave the aircraft. The good thing is that we did not have to wait for our luggage on the only belt this airport has !
For 12500 BA avios and 36 Euros of taxes, this flight was a good deal !
The International terminal has several lounges available, including 3 accessible with Priority Pass. This was the case for the lounge located next to the BA lounge (Mashonzha lounge) and after the friendly agent saw our Comair boarding passes, she invited us to go to the SLOW lounge, located a bit futher away in the terminal.
The SLOW lounge entrance JNB International terminal
A good initiative that was ! This is one of the nicest business lounges I visited. The furniture is elegant and sober, a la Cathay Pacific, the catering is excellent and creative and the food opulent. The restrooms were very well equipped and maintained, and cherry on the cake, the WiFi worked very well ! An excellent lounge overall divided in different areas to work, eat, play, chat, rest in the middle of the international terminal. Here below are a few pictures to support my statements.
Pancake machine !
Even the restrooms are nice !
Note that this lounge is used by Comair but Also by Air France and KLM.Time flew while we were in the lounge and it was time to go back to the reality of the boarding by bus, downstairs the terminal.
And here is a pet peeve of mine : The boarding was organized in a sense that business class and status passengers could board first, via the left side of the bus gate. So far, so good. The problem is that you are then staying in a bus (no big deal) which has the engine on and so do the other buses around. The exhausts of the other buses were just facing the open door of our bus. This is just disgusting. IF the bus stands idle for 20 minutes just stop the engine ! Especially that no AC was working that day.After a 5 minute nauseous bus ride, we eventually reached our Boeing 737-800 parked at large, registered ZS-ZWU.
British Airways (operated by Comair) flight BA6275, October 30th 2018
JNB Johannesburg O.R.Tambo Intl 12:20
WDH Windhoek H.Kotako 14:20
Boeing 737-800 ZS-ZWU Seat 1F, Business class, window.
We were greeted by the purser and the FA during the boarding process and promptly offered a welcome drink (water, cranberry juice or sparkling wine) together with the immigration forms for entry in Namibia. The business class cabin was equipped with older type seats (which I personally prefer as they typically have more padding) and configured in a 2-3 fashion, except the first row where were sitting which is in a 2-2 configuration. While on this particular aircraft the leg room on bulkhead seats 1A-1C was ok, it was much greater on our seats 1D-1F. I discovered later that the cabin configuration varies a bit across the BA/Comair fleet and almost each aircraft has small differences.
Business class cabin configuration on board this old-style 737
Plenty of legroom
Cheers !
That day, the business class was about half full, and the economy class almost full, with mostly European tourists, most likely coming from one of the BA, AF or KL flights from Europe (This flight has codeshares with those airlines).
We taxied for 5 to 10 minutes to the departure runway and took off at 12:35.
The service began about 20 minutes later with another drink service, where the purser also asked if we would prefer havng a bottle of still or sparkling water during our meal, and some packaged nuts, and later, the meal tray was brought to us (the purser confirmed before take-off that the special meal of my friend was loaded on board). For me, the starter consisted in a small salad, served together with a piece of cheese and a fudge acting as dessert. Then, the FA came with a choice of 3 main courses, including beef, a vegetarian wrap and a vegetarian couscous, and I opted for the latter. Subtlety of BA/Comair, some garlic bread was warmed up and served before the main course.
"Special meal" salad
"Regular meal" salad
Garlic bread
"Special meal" main course (chicken based)
"Regular meal" couscous with chickpeas
I found the main course to be tasty, although the presentation could have been better.This was followed by a tea/coffee service shortly before the captain started a (bumpy) descent towards Windhoek.
Some turbulences in the area...
We landed in WDH at 14:15, slightly ahead of schedule and parked on an apron position as there are no gates with a jet bridge at this airport. Walking to the terminal allowed me to take some good Ŧ AVporn ŧ pictures !
#AVporn !
Windhoek airport being quite small and certainly way too small given the recent surge in number of tourists in the country, immigration took a good 30 minutes to be cleared although we were the first ones to leave the aircraft. The good thing is that we did not have to wait for our luggage on the only belt this airport has !
For 12500 BA avios and 36 Euros of taxes, this flight was a good deal !
