Fito28 From Venezuela, joined Nov 2007, 24 posts, RR: 0 Posted (5 years 4 months 2 weeks 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 18527 times:
Well, this is my first Trip Report on Airliners.net and what a flight!
AF 461
CCS-CDG (Caracas "Simon Bolívar" - Paris "Charles de Gaulle 2C")
747-428
F-GITF
EDT 17:35 / ADT 18:25 (Caracas time)
EAT 07:30 / AAT 08:25 (Paris time)
PREVIOUS
To start I must say that this trip was a very special one because it was our honey moon trip. It wasn't my first trip to Europe (thanks God I went a lot of times being a kid) but it was for my wife, as well as her first long haul flight experience. And what a better way than to do it on board the 747!
We had planned the trip since January and I made the reservations on May. At the time of the reservation at airfrance.com.ve they asked me to select a seat for each passenger, i selected the first left-side rows of the lower deck not only to have a clean view of the engines but a nice view of the sunset in the outbound flight. Thanks to a tip given by a fellow forumer at SSC I managed to change that selection at the e-check in time as I selected the upper deck seats which I've never been on. So, as soon as I could (30 hours before boarding) I logged on AF's site and checked us, printed our Boarding Passes and waited for the moment to come.
AT THE AIRPORT
We arrived at 13:30 and AF's check in area was crowded. To make things a little bit rushy and annoying some officers of the Guardia Nacional (military unit in charge of the airport security) "randomly" picked us to ask us some questions and check our baggage since they where curious about a young student married couple going for like a month to Paris :S lol. We lost a lot of time on that and the queue was now bigger than when we arrived. They said their actions where in name of the national security... blah... We presented in the first desk and the AF dispatcher told us that since we had our boarding pass printed we only needed to check our baggage. We had like 40 mins to board and the emigration lines were huge! All european carriers (TP, LH, AF, AZ) take off form CCS late afternoon and each one takes at least 250 passengers which is a lot for a modest airport like this. So, after emigration, we splitted up to quickly buy a memory card for the camera and phone cards. There was time to grab an Italian snack and we were already boarding.
Caracas Airport
IN FLIGHT
We boarded the F-GITF on time (16:40), the crew welcomed us, and told us to go upstairs to take our seats. We went up and the steward (always smiling) leaded us to our row and helped us with the hand bag. The storage space in the upper deck is small but is compensated with a side storage. We waited taxied for 30 mins, my wife even slept a little bit. The thing was the crew had problems counting passengers on board. Finally the Cabin Chief offered excuses for the delay due to counting passengers and said we were ready to take off.
We were pushed back and headed to the runway watching the safety instructions, turning low the cabin lights, acceleration and Take Off...!!! Smooth turn to the left and climbing. We were heading to Paris!
As soon as we were out of the turbulence and above the clouds, the crew started serving an appetizer with a drink. We chose the champagne. Amenities kits and menus were distributed by both male FA's.
The choice in the Menu was between "Pates Tagliarini aux crevettes" (Tagliarini Pasta with shrimps and Tomato) and "Boeuf Bourguignon, riz safrané et carrottes" (Burgundy Beef with saffron rice and carrots). To drink a selection of White Wine, Red Wine, Champagne, Heineken Beer, Coke, Granini and Nescafé.
The pasta with shrimps and white wine:
As a "digestive liquor" the offer was a Cognac, kindly brought by the FA.
After that wonderfull dinner we went downstairs to look for a friend of us -who was travelling with his family- to have a drink at the galley. While looking for him, we found out that the lower deck had NO PTVs!!! Just a big screen showing an arranged list of films, news and documentaries. We thanked God for choosing those seats in the upper deck!
Time to look at a Newsweek and go to sleep a little bit.
One hour and half after landing breakfast was served. A croissant with cereal yogurt, coffee and orange juice.
Arriving to Paris at the GeoVisión channel.
Sunrise over south east.
The engine views in wanted
CDG's Concorde
Our arrival gate. It took them a lot of time to place and lock the bridge to the aircraft
Upper deck Tempo Cabin
747 stairs.
MY AFTERMATH
This flight was spectacular! The AF crew, despite what I've read here, was very kind at every moment (boarding, meals , etc) -my wife says it's because i speak french.
Meals were good
IFE was "OK" (it could have been better with movies)
Immigration and customs at CDG where fast. And we moved on to the RER to go to Paris.
We stayed there for about two weeks before going to London by Eurostar. I'll post my TR for the inbound flight CDG-CCS.
Abrelosojos From Venezuela, joined May 2005, 4919 posts, RR: 55 Reply 1, posted (5 years 4 months 2 weeks 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 18175 times:
Quoting Fito28 (Thread starter): This flight was spectacular! The AF crew, despite what I've read here, was very kind at every moment (boarding, meals , etc) -my wife says it's because i speak french.
= You have a very intelligent wife . Thanks for sharing this report on AF and congratulations on the marriage.
B747forever From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16598 posts, RR: 11 Reply 3, posted (5 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 17100 times:
MIAspotter From Spain, joined Nov 2001, 2289 posts, RR: 25 Reply 4, posted (5 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 16996 times:
Hola Fito!
First of all congratulations on your marriage and I wish you many many years of happiness to you and your wife, good choice for a honeymoon as well!
Watching your pictures reminded me of my flight on AF from MIA to CDG now almost 6 years ago (2002) It was my first flight on a 747 and to be honest it was not very pleasant, legroom was a bit tight, F/A's were a bit rude and snotty but the food was indeed good!
Interesting to note the flying time being 14hrs.... in reality is 9:30ish.
Good to see 747's at CCS nowadays, I remember in the good ole days when AZ, LH, AF, and BA used to fly the jumbos to CCS.
Rleiro From Venezuela, joined Jan 2006, 491 posts, RR: 7 Reply 6, posted (5 years 4 months 1 week 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 16749 times:
Hola Fito:
Congratulations on your wedding and hope that this new stage in your life will be joyful as well. Nice trip report. It's a shame that AF will change the 744 to CCS for 773 soon. It's the sole 747 operating to CCS (some years ago we had AZ, LH, KL and BA).
I have always wondered why can't AF standardise their YCL offerings on this 744? PTVs on the upper deck but not the lower one?
Yes, a long taxi for take off. And about the standarisation on that B747 PTV's, i read a press article on October that they would introduce this feature progresively and what i think is that this aircraft isn't quite done with the update.
I'll post it beetween today and tomorrow, the inbound flight was better because the IFE included games, geovision, radio and different movies.
Quoting MIAspotter (Reply 4):
Good to see 747's at CCS nowadays, I remember in the good ole days when AZ, LH, AF, and BA used to fly the jumbos to CCS.
Quoting Rleiro (Reply 6):
Congratulations on your wedding and hope that this new stage in your life will be joyful as well. Nice trip report. It's a shame that AF will change the 744 to CCS for 773 soon. It's the sole 747 operating to CCS (some years ago we had AZ, LH, KL and BA).
Yes you both are right! We used to see B 747s in Caracas. BA, KL, LH and AF in absolutely sure, but didn't know about AZ.
Right now BA doesn't fly anymore, LH comes with an A340, AZ B767, KL doesn't come here anymore, and AF 747
Rleiro From Venezuela, joined Jan 2006, 491 posts, RR: 7 Reply 9, posted (5 years 4 months 1 week 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 16538 times:
Quote: Yes you both are right! We used to see B 747s in Caracas. BA, KL, LH and AF in absolutely sure, but didn't know about AZ.
AZ used to bring its -200's to CCS, (Personally I remember to see the Baci and Bulgari ones from the viewing deck (now gone) parked next to KL and BA). And in peak season you could even see the 747's from IB too (in the 80's I took the Cervantes to MAD). And back in the 80's the PA Clippers were also a common sight here. AV used to make BOG - CCS - MAD in 742 too!
Quote: Really? then that will be cool! first 773 operator in CCS!
Yes, the first and sole 777 visit to CCS! (Really looking forward to see her here).
Cybergus From Venezuela, joined Mar 2006, 448 posts, RR: 10 Reply 10, posted (5 years 4 months 1 week 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 16304 times:
Fito! awesome TR!. AF is one of the best ways to cross the pond from CCS. I traveled to MAD on Aug in IB (The TR is somewhere here in the Data Base) and it was a nice experience but it wasn't spectacular. Congratulations for your wedding.
Goldorak From France, joined Sep 2006, 1677 posts, RR: 3 Reply 11, posted (5 years 4 months 1 week 4 days 22 hours ago) and read 16038 times:
Thank you for your very nice TR and congratulations for your wedding. I hope you had a wonderful time in Paris.
I love the upper deck of the 747 too. As I'm flying blue platinum, I can pre-book a seat there and never forget to do it !!
Quoting Ryanair!!! (Reply 2): I have always wondered why can't AF standardise their YCL offerings on this 744? PTVs on the upper deck but not the lower one?
Quoting Fito28 (Reply 7): And about the standarisation on that B747 PTV's, i read a press article on October that they would introduce this feature progresively and what i think is that this aircraft isn't quite done with the update.
Among AF's 744 fleet, only 3 (the "youngest" ones) have PTV at all Y seats (there have been many threads about that on A.net). All the other ones have PTV in J (of course) and in upper deck Y. The history of that situation is that, a few years ago, the upper deck was J class (so, with PTV). When AF installed their new J seats (and removed the first class from their B747), the upper deck became Y and, as the cables for PTV were already existing upstairs, these Y seats have PTV. AFAIK, there is no plan to install PTV at the lower deck for cost reasons linked to the fact that these B747 are becoming "old" and are due to leave AF fleet in a few years. They will be replaced by 777 equipped with 2 classes of service (J/Y, as opposed to 3 for the current B777 AF fleet). These new 777 have been ordered by AF to Boeing in 2006 or early 2007 (can't remember exactly but this can be found in the search forum)
Fito28 From Venezuela, joined Nov 2007, 24 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (5 years 4 months 1 week 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 15948 times:
Quoting Rleiro (Reply 9): AZ used to bring its -200's to CCS, (Personally I remember to see the Baci and Bulgari ones from the viewing deck (now gone) parked next to KL and BA). And in peak season you could even see the 747's from IB too (in the 80's I took the Cervantes to MAD). And back in the 80's the PA Clippers were also a common sight here. AV used to make BOG - CCS - MAD in 742 too!
Good to know! By the way, now that you mention the names of those birds, I noticed that AF doesn't have a name for each plane like other airlines, I didn't see it.
Quoting Cybergus (Reply 10): Fito! awesome TR!. AF is one of the best ways to cross the pond from CCS. I traveled to MAD on Aug in IB (The TR is somewhere here in the Data Base) and it was a nice experience but it wasn't spectacular. Congratulations for your wedding.
Yes, for me it is. And I'll search for your TR, I'm very interested on TR's from CCS and Latin America.
Quoting Goldorak (Reply 11): Among AF's 744 fleet, only 3 (the "youngest" ones) have PTV at all Y seats (there have been many threads about that on A.net). All the other ones have PTV in J (of course) and in upper deck Y.
Well the inbound flight was on board the F-GITI and it had PTVs all over the plane, Tempo and L'Espace.
And, thanks for all those best wishes to our marriage.
Rleiro From Venezuela, joined Jan 2006, 491 posts, RR: 7 Reply 13, posted (5 years 4 months 1 week 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 15699 times:
Quote: Good to know! By the way, now that you mention the names of those birds, I noticed that AF doesn't have a name for each plane like other airlines, I didn't see it.
AZ 747's had names of Italian cities or provinces (not too sure about this). The Bulgari and the Baci were special liveries:
GSPSPOT From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 2756 posts, RR: 2 Reply 14, posted (5 years 4 months 1 week 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 15615 times:
Hello Fito,
Congrats (a bit late)! Wonderful TR. Thanks for taking the time. I hope things between US and Venezuela improve soon, as I'd love to visit CCS. Best wishes!
Rleiro From Venezuela, joined Jan 2006, 491 posts, RR: 7 Reply 15, posted (5 years 4 months 1 week 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 15587 times:
Quote: I hope things between US and Venezuela improve soon, as I'd love to visit CCS. Best wishes!
I've had the pleasure to receive here many Americans and Europeans. Be sure if you visit CCS anytime you will not be feel threatened due to Venezuela-US politics. Feel free to come anytime and have a nice time here
Congrats (a bit late)! Wonderful TR. Thanks for taking the time. I hope things between US and Venezuela improve soon, as I'd love to visit CCS. Best wishes!
Hey!
Well, you would welcomed. I know as Rleiro says that's just a matter of politicians, people here doesn´t take that seriously, only the presid....
Anyway, we are planning a trip on December to Orlando, NYC and Philadelphia, I've never been to the US. It should be quite an experience.
GSPSPOT From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 2756 posts, RR: 2 Reply 17, posted (5 years 4 months 1 week 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 15485 times:
Quoting Rleiro (Reply 15): I've had the pleasure to receive here many Americans and Europeans. Be sure if you visit CCS anytime you will not be feel threatened due to Venezuela-US politics. Feel free to come anytime and have a nice time here
Quoting Fito28 (Reply 16): Well, you would welcomed. I know as Rleiro says that's just a matter of politicians, people here doesn´t take that seriously, only the presid....
Well, if you guys are any indication, the Venezuelan people must be a very friendly lot! I hope we can arrange a trip soon to your beautiful country.
Fito: Except for Orlando, you're likely to be quite chilly in December on your visit! Enjoy your first visit to the States!
We arrived at 13:30 and AF's check in area was crowded. To make things a little bit rushy and annoying some officers of the Guardia Nacional (military unit in charge of the airport security) "randomly" picked us to ask us some questions and check our baggage since they where curious about a young student married couple going for like a month to Paris
I have to say I hate CCS aiport, its always a nightmare, crouded and full with stupid Guardia Nacional ... I think they are curious about every traveller.
Acompanied today a a.netter to the airport (he was booked CCS-FRA) he waited over 2,5 hours at check-inn (LH) what a caos...
797 From Venezuela, joined Aug 2005, 1824 posts, RR: 26 Reply 19, posted (5 years 3 months 2 weeks 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 14326 times:
Fito!
Excellent report and congrats on this new phase of your life! I wish you the best man!
Quoting Rleiro (Reply 6): It's a shame that AF will change the 744 to CCS for 773 soon.
Say what!? That's fantastic! I didn't know that, I hope they send it with the good configuration and not the crappy one. When is this going to happen?
Quoting Rleiro (Reply 9): AZ used to bring its -200's to CCS, (Personally I remember to see the Baci and Bulgari ones from the viewing deck (now gone) parked next to KL and BA). And in peak season you could even see the 747's from IB too (in the 80's I took the Cervantes to MAD). And back in the 80's the PA Clippers were also a common sight here. AV used to make BOG - CCS - MAD in 742 too!
I do remember when I used to go to the viewing deck and watch the AZ LH AF BA KL and IB 747s parked all next to the other... that's when I realized aviation was my thing, what an amazing sight.
Quoting Rleiro (Reply 13): AZ 747's had names of Italian cities or provinces (not too sure about this). The Bulgari and the Baci were special liveries:
Yes, all AZ planes have names of Italian cities and symbolic places. Actually, the heavies have city names and the regional have symbolic places.
Congrats
Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous!
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. Thanks for sharing this report on AF and congratulations on the marriage.
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