Air France: A Surprising Ride
Written: Jan 10 '05 (Updated Jan 10 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice Aircraft, Nice Cabin Interiors
Cons: Charles De Gaul Airport
The Bottom Line: Air France: Give 'em a try
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| royalcrowncola's Full Review: Air France |
When it became obvious to me that I would need to travel from Dubai to LAX and back to Dubai on business, I quickly called Josee, my long suffering and capable travel agent. "Book me on Emirates to LAX." ... At least that is how I REMEMBER the conversation. About a week before the trip I was emailing someone in L.A. and needed to verify the exact flight arrival time and flight number for them...so, I pulled out my "Emirates" tickets and made a huge discovery: Josee had booked me on to Air France. I hate flying on Air France ... and, I have studiously avoided that experience for about 15 years. Later, I would come to appreciate Josee's mistake. (You can read about The Dubai Story here on epinions.)
So, it was with some reservations that I boarded the Air France flight in Dubai. I was pleasantly surprised by what happened! It is actually a very decent airline.
On the Dubai/Paris leg Air France flies the Boeing 777 aircraft. I got assigned to the LAST ROW of economy class cabin by the window. I sat there grumbling to myself about the absolute bad luck of "having to fly Air France." But, I began to see something: The seats were very nicely padded and the upholstery was actually quite nice. The had the "ear wings" on the seats (a big plus in my book) ... and, the cabin temperature was nicely adjusted as well. The overhead bins were spacious and there was plenty of room for my backpack and coat. Turning to the in-seat entertainment system I saw that Air France had spared no coin in providing cabin entertainment: The "T.V. Comedy" channel offered a continous loop of: "The Streets of San Francisco" with Karl Malden; "Happy Days"; and, another 1970's "shoot em up" series. The Movies offered were French movies with English sub-titles...but, I can deal with that.
When the meal cart came around finally (at 3:30 AM!) I got another pleasant surprise. I was anticipating something more "French" ... something like Miniscule of Duck Lung Swimming In Tasteless White Sauce but...found the dinner to be generous portions of some good food (I had the pasta, but veal was also offered). Nice!
A colleague of mine--the proud owner, I believe, of a Puegot 505--once confided to me that it was his firm and unswavering belief that the French should NEVER be allowed to do any engineering. Charles de Gaul airport in Paris is proof positive of the truth of my colleague's long held belief. It is a confusing mess! But, I found my way around to the Air France business class louge...it was nice and well stocked with pastry/coffee/tea/soft drinks/wine...etc. And, I found my way without too much difficulty to my gate for the Paris/LAX leg of the journey as well. You may find the passageways from the aircraft to the initial entry area a bit crowded...and, there is yet another security screening before you are admited to the upstairs transit area. But, you can circumvent some of that confusion if you have an EU or American/Canadian passport by going through passport control and going up the escalator to the departure area and entering into the appropriate gate area through passport control again from there.
The Paris/LAX leg was on board the venerable Boeing 747-400; one of my favorite planes to fly. Again, the seats were much more comfortable than the usual KLM interior..and, again, the entertainment system didn't really offer all that much entertainment....but, I did manage to kill a couple of hours playing solitare on the screen. Leg room on both flights was very comfortable.
On the 747 they kept the interior of the plane cold enough to also serve as a meat locker...and, that required me to retrieve my heavy coat from the overhead bin; but I did get a couple of hours of much needed sleep after I finally got warm. The food cart came around a couple of times on this leg...and, I found--again--that the food was very good, and the flight attendants were quite pleasant. They also had "self serve" snacks available in between meals...snack choices that included some wonderful sandwiches and ice cream.
Arrival in Los Angeles was a bit behind schedule but reasonable all the same. Luggage appeared quickly at the luggage claim area...and, clearing customs and immigration at the Delta LAX terminal wasn't too bad either. (I think that entire process only took about 30 minutes).
With the new partnership between KLM and Air France you can access the Air France lounges with your Flying Dutchman card, and you get the usual KLM Flying Dutchman "perks" as well...like using the business class lounge...preferred check-in desk...and, pre-boarding priviledges. It all worked smoothly and seamlessly through out the entire flight.
And, THAT is when I really appreciated Josee's initiative: It dawned on me that I am also getting KLM/Kenya Airways Flying Dutchman miles for my Air France flight.
Hey! I think I'm going to like this partnership.
You can read more about the trails and tribulations of airline travel in my Kenya Airways review.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
royalcrowncola
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Location: Albuquerque, NM
Reviews written: 69
Trusted by: 38 members
About Me:
Travel has expanded my "horizons". Diet NOW! My body shouts.
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