Hello everybody this is my first trip report. This summer I decided to have an ATH-CDG flight with LX, with a connection in Zurich. This was really worth trying as the ticket price was really low. I used to take AF and OA on this route, but : AF was very, very expensive, and on my last trip with OA I found the latter to be quite lousy (very old planes, discourteous FA...). Therefore I decided to try LX.

First part : ATH-ZRH-CDG

There we go. The LX flight departed at around 7:00 am (quite early therefore). The planed used was a brand new A321, with the new thin recaro seats. While I found them quite practical, they were not the most comfortable I had ever experienced. The service was just okay for this two-hour flight, with some breakfast snacks served such as rolls, yoghurts, and so on. There was also some IFE, with cartoons and informations about the Zurich airport. I found the FAs and stewards to be pleasant and efficient, at least much more than on OA. Then we landed at ZRH on schedule and took our connection to Paris. We had only an hour to go from one plane to another, and I was asking myself wether they had time to transfer our luggage or not. The plane was an Avro RJ 100, quite a small aircraft. I found the seats to be much more comfortable than those on the A321, even thought they were older, and thus I slept a little bit. On this flight they served again some snacks and tea. Again, very helpful and efficient cabin crew. When we began our descent, my ears became very painfull, as they are quite sensitive. A young FA gave me therefore some towels with hot water in a glass, and told me to apply it on me ears, and it worked ! When we arrived at the airport, we had the pleasant surprise to find our luggage immediatly. This because I had been on trips with AZ and either the luggage was broken, either they did not put it on the plane...

Overall, taking LX instead of OA seemed to be a very good choice ^. LX is a very serious airline (typically swiss ) The return leg (which I did not make yet) will confirm these good impressions. Next part: CDG-JFK with AF in Y.

At Roissy CDG airport

Now the second part. We took flight 022 from AF to NYC. We had to come very early in the morning as it departed at 9:00 am. Before boarding, I visited a bit the brand new section of CDG airport, the S3 terminal. It was really magnificent, compared to the other parts of CDG airport (especially the awful Terminal 1). It had loads of shops (luxury ones for most of the time), comfortable seating, and a nice architecture.

boarding,seats, kits

Now the flight. We boarded a bit behind of schedule (I guess due to rainy conditions at CDG), but what I found strange is that at the security section I was the only one who was asked to remove his shoes (and we were 3), and this once during the security check, once prior boarding ! I didn't understand why. Today's aircraft was a B777-200ER, registration F-GSPK (built in 2000). Once onboard, I had the bad surprise to find that they put at the very last row. This meant that during they entire flight, the seats would not recline, and that every single turbulence would shaken us. Seating was a 3-3-3 arrangement. Soon after boarding we were distributes small amenity kits and there were already blankets on the seats. The kits were spartan, but adequate, as they contained some eyeshades, ear plugs and earphones. Still better than OA, which does not provide any, even in business class.

In-flight

Quite soon after take-off, we were distibuted some small menu cards, which indicated us today's selection. There was a brunch and a light meal prior landing, the brunch's main course having two choices, caramelised apples with pancake, or an omelette with ratatouille. I took the pancakes, which were pretty good. This meal was quite comprehensive, with also a yoghurt and other breakfast items and thus filling. I was somewhat astonished to see that they provided us with real cuttlery. The inflight magazine was quite good also. There was also the IFE screen which provided some entertainment. It was not AVOD, and I found the screen pretty small (not that I was expecting a 23in one) but there were some interesting features nevertheless, such as connecting flights info, movies, news in french and english, music, games, and so on. I saw the Zodiac and Michou d'auber. During the flight, they left some bottles opened near the galleys with ice and glasses, which was a good idea. As for the FA, they were good in general; only one stewart had a mediocre english. The flight was uneventful in general, but I noticed some turbulences over the atlantic. Around an hour before landing we were served the second meal, which was supposed to be a lunch. I found it to be very disappointing compared to the previous meal. It was a tiny couscous with a small salad and a drink. For an almost 8 hour flight, some more generous portions would have been welcomed !

Landing and JFK airport

Landing was not too hard, and soon we found ourselves in Terminal 1. To be honest, I was disappointed not to see more aircraft rather than just some Delta MD80s, and the Terminal itself could have been a little more arranged and decorated.

conclusion

This flight was ok, but I do not recommend taking it, because I found the meal service too light on this morning flight. There are many other flights from CDG to NYC later in the day, I recommend taking those instead.

BOS-CDG flight

Here we go again. This is about the BOS-CDG leg. We booked flight AF 337, which departed in the afternoon, at 5:40.

Boston Logan airport and boarding

I found the airport (Terminal E) to be much more pleasant than JFK (although I admit only have seen the arrivals section), with some wood and blue lighting around the walls in the check in area. To my surprise, the security line was not that big, even though the controls were strict. There were many places where to eat after the security check, such as Starbucks, Mcdonald, Sbarro, as well as many shops.I also made some aircraft spotting; there was an LX A332, a BA 744, a IB A343, and some A332c from Aer Lingus. We ate a little bit, and then they called for boarding, 10 rows per 10 rows. As they put us at row 19 (because following the JFK flight, we requested not to be seated at the rear of the aircraft), we had therefore to wait. At least, it was well organized.

In-flight

Our aircraft was an A343, with a two-class layout (unlike the 772ER, which had also first class). Both aircraft had the new seats in business class ("l'espace affaires"), as well as in economy ("tempo"). I felt that the preparation of the flight was better than the other flight, with special magazines given to youngsters under the age of 15, special meals marks (on the seats). IFE was the same as the other flight, with the small touch-screens, although the movie selection was different. The A343 is known for its lethargic take-off, and this was no exception. I felt this flight had fewer turbulences than the previous one. There were also some small kits given, as well as blankets. Well, they made a mistake and gave me the business class one, which was actually smoother ! Then we were served dinner. Again, two choices : fish with vegetables, or beef with rice. I took the later, it was good. We also had a chocolate cream, a small cake and a salmon salad. All in all it was adequate. But then my IFE struck and wouldn't work. But it didn't bother me, as I wanted to sleep. I slept for 3 hours before they finally open the cabin lights again. The FA's were good, I'd say better than the previous flight, more sympathic. The second meal was lighter than the previous one, but was correct. It was sufficient due to the fact the we arrived early in the morning.


Overall impressions

I found both flights to be quite good, with the second overall better than the first. Both times the planes were clean, and seats were ok but a little more legroom would have been enjoyed. AF is a serious airline (generally) and it showes it. Only complaint was the so-so catering during the first flight (in quantity especially) .

This report is not yet ended, as I still have the CDG-ZRH-ATH leg to complete. I hope there won't be too many english mistakes (I'm french-greek...), and hope it will be pleasant to read.

Food on Af is good. Great that on the AF 9AM flight they serve "breakfast" unlike Continental who serve "lunch" on the 9AM flight from GVA to EWR.

Nice report Jul89. I last flew AF Y some years ago when we had our Dog on the flight (in the pressurized forward hold). The crew was great, the food was ok, and the captain even came back to reassure us that our dog was ok. BUT, the 3-3-3 seating was truly painful. This was well before my FT and FF days, but I clearly remember four things about the AF flight:

1. Really bad seat pitch -- as bad as Virgin Atlantic on another flight

2. A small card in the amenity kit that said, in english and french: "Relax." Was this a joke? "Yeah, you're in a crappy seat for 8 hours, so just relax!"

3. CDG must have been designed to INCREASE the chance of missing one's connections. Absolute worst airport design I've ever encountered.

4. A firm desire never to fly across an ocean in coach, ever again.


A later AF flight in C was much much nicer.

One other small note -- again I'm amazed at the difference between US Domestic catering (ie, nothing in Y and precious little in C or F) and European Y catering -- always at least a small snack, and almost always not bad (speaking from experience on LH and OS/Lauda).

Anyway, thanks again for the informative report.

-C

Always good to see Y reports!

Here we are back again. I had some problems with internet, and thus I can only finish my TR now. The return flights CDG-ZRH-ATH were good, typical swiss efficiency. Very short flight from CDG to ZRH, lasting only 45 min. Again, painless transfert at ZRH, even though there was a slight delay for the flight to ATH. Apart from that, it was around the same as the previous flights, except that we were served a hot snack instead of a cold one. The landing was very hard, something rather unusual for this airline.

That was it for this TR. But I decided to include my flight from ATH to CDG with Malev, which will follow.

Now with Malev. I decided to take this airline because of the low price, and the fact it had better reputation than OA.

The first leg was on a small Fokker F70. It was somehow old, but ok in general. The fact that all the seats had an in-flight phone was quite surprising. The service was courteous, everything was correct. Only thing is that the overhead bins were small. Landing was smooth, and transfert services are correct at BUD (which is a medium-sized airport); it is very easy to get a connecting flight in fact.

Now the problems will start. Initially the flight to Paris was on-time, there was no particular problem. But then...A delay of 1h25 min was announced. That was not that catastrophic. But then...it became a 2 hour one, and half an hour then a 3 hour and a half one. And all this without any notice from the ground staff. Very disappointing. You would wait this from OA, but not from Malev. They didn't give us any informations, nothing. When I went to ask the ground staff, they weren't even aware that the flight was delayed !! Incredible. I chatted with a couple thessaloniki, and they said it was the first time such a delay had happened with Malev, they had take it numerous times.

And it was disappointing, because everything else was good : the planes (F70 and 736) were clean and well kept, onboard service was correct, there was nothing to complain about. It was my first and last time with Malev anyway, at least for flights between ATH and CDG.

hope you enjoyed it, cheers.