Milesaddict From Singapore, joined Dec 2007, 100 posts, RR: 0 Posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 17247 times:
Hi all,
I flew from JNB to MRS via CDG. I was in First.
I used to have some bad trips (awful catering in first and unfriendly crew) and I was about to leave AF but my last trip was so nice that I might reconsider my position.
Practical informations :
Route : JNB-CDG
Flight number : AF 997
Schedule : 00h30 – Push back : 00h37
Aircraft : B 772
Booking Class : F
Seat : 1A
Load factor :
La Première : 1/4
l'Espace Affaires : 6/49
Tempo : 35/211
The lowest load I've ever seen.
Pre-boarding :
I checked in online and then got my BP from the counter, he was very friendly as well as the lounge attendants.
Here is some shots of the new lounge the same lounge is in NRT. More foods would have been great.
Rating : 6,5/10
I- Comfort and equipments.
A) Seat : I’ve already experienced this seat several times, it's a great one, a huge asset for AF. I slept 6 h straight.
Rating : 08/10 (only SQ will have 10/10)
B) IFE : The IFE was working and featured the new in-flight entertainment. Good but outdated compared to EK, SQ or even CO...
Rating : 6/10
II- Service :
A) Crew service : one word : WOW !!!!!
They were fantactic ! I really mean it ! The lady in charge of me did a job a la SQ !! A real pleasure ! I used to complain a lot on FAs (AF), however on that flight they made everything to achieve my requests. It's funny I thought I was flying another airline... before landing I tkank them all and gave a draft to the chief purser about my flight.
Too bad the service is not always like that.. On my previous flight (outbound), the FAs were arrogant...
I've been informed AF will hire 100 FAs for First class only.
Rating : 9/10
B) The menu:
To begin : brook trout tartare served with shrimp ans horseradish sauce.
Main :
Breast of duck à l'orange served with tagliatelle (lacking) and tomato brunoise
The duck was untasty so I opted for the lobster.
Grilled rock lobster with lemon butter complemented by turned pumpkin, buttered zucchini ans rice with baby vegetables.
Cheese:
Dessert:
Before landing breakast:
Despite the presentation, it was quite good, tough not outstanding.
The LOUNGE:
First of all I was welcome by a LA when I step out of the plane with a sign LA PREMIERE with name on it. I then followed her down the jetway, a car was waiting for me...
MaverickM11 From United States of America, joined Apr 2000, 15742 posts, RR: 48 Reply 1, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 17103 times:
Great report. The NRT lounge looks like something VS would design though.
FCA767 From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2006, 1720 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 17050 times:
Cest Magnifique! I'm going on 19th April with Air France on the A340 so I can't wait...They say economy is really good too...service etc...I love france too and can't wait to overnight there
Enjoyed the pics
RoseFlyer From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 8755 posts, RR: 52 Reply 5, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 16407 times:
Quoting Milesaddict (Thread starter): A) Crew service : one word : WOW !!!!!
They were fantactic ! I really mean it ! The lady in charge of me did a job a la SQ !! A real pleasure ! I used to complain a lot on FAs (AF), however on that flight they made everything to achieve my requests. It's funny I thought I was flying another airline... before landing I tkank them all and gave a draft to the chief purser about my flight.
Wonderful report. It is good to hear you had good service on board. I've been alone in First Class on Lufthansa before on the upperdeck of a 747 and found the service worse than normal since the FAs were rather lazy. Sometimes when the load is light you get extra attention while others, they take the flight off since they don't have to worry much about service.
If you have never designed an airplane part before, let the real designers do the work!
744 From United States of America, joined Aug 2001, 443 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 16393 times:
WOW!!! Fantastic Trip Report. Thank you so much for sharing.
Rgds,
744
BA319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 8267 posts, RR: 56 Reply 7, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 16194 times:
Nice report & pictures, thanks for sharing.
Best AF TR i've read for a while, still not sure about them though........
Quoting Milesaddict (Thread starter): Load factor :
La Première : 1/4
l'Espace Affaires : 6/49
Tempo : 35/211
The lowest load I've ever seen.
- Yies, that's not good.
Quoting Milesaddict (Thread starter): Seat : I’ve already experienced this seat several times, it's a great one, a huge asset for AF. I slept 6 h straight
DELTA7478 From United States of America, joined Dec 2008, 173 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 15387 times:
Did you have to pay for the ground transportation?? Nice report buy the way, I like the pictures.You must had to pay a bundle for that F class on AF.
Globetraveller From Germany, joined Apr 2008, 379 posts, RR: 21 Reply 9, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 14641 times:
Thank you for giving us a rare glimpse into Air France's First Class product Milesaddict.
Some great pictures and interesting detail. I did not know that AF also provided a car pick-up service for First Class passengers - I guess they got the idea from LH.
NZ107 From New Zealand, joined Jul 2005, 5672 posts, RR: 40 Reply 10, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 14160 times:
Thanks for the report! It seems to deviate a long way from other AF reports and it's nice to know that your flight was enjoyable. I'd need to see a few more with consistent reports before I look to flying on them. Pretty good transfer service too and that lounge looks great.
Marco From United Arab Emirates, joined Jul 2000, 4161 posts, RR: 17 Reply 11, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 14120 times:
Excellent report.
Flew AF F CDG-YUL last summer and it was definately a great experience.
Still below the likes of SQ or MH, but nonetheless very pleasant flights.
My only major issue is the food, they should offer a more relaxed, eat when you want service and improve the variety! The spirits and wines were great!
Mindscape From United States of America, joined Apr 2004, 314 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 12788 times:
Thanks for this great report !
Very nice what AF did to improve their PREMIERE ground service. It is not very much advertised.
Interesting information, hopefully this will bring consistency in service level.
Quoting NZ107 (Reply 10): I'd need to see a few more with consistent reports before I look to flying on them
AF PREMIERE trip reports are quite rare and will remain like this since AF reward policy for PREMIERE upgrade are tighter now.
On A.Net there are several recent AF trip reports on Y that show the consistency good Y product...
Milesaddict From Singapore, joined Dec 2007, 100 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 12714 times:
Thanks a lot for all your comments.
Quoting Semsem (Reply 4): It's funny about the crew in F. In Y I have consistently found the crew friendly.
FAs on that flight were really great but I won't forget what I've undergone in the past...
I have a chance to fly a lot in J and F but when I take AF I really wonder what's gonna happen:
- 70% to get arrogant crew in J (worse than that, they are convinced they do a great job).
- 80% to get miserable catering in F
- 50% to get Miss pilot in First in F
I'd like to highlight on the third point.
On another report made here last year (jan 08) when I flew LAX-CDG in First, Miss pilot was sat in 1E. Her behaviour was unacceptable.
A few months ago, the F cabin was free on CDG-BEY and the crew operating on the flight sat on the First class seats to take their lunch !!
A friend flew in F to IAH same issue July 08.
My dad was the luckiest... dec 08 CDG-LAX in F, he sat 1L and all the 2 row were occupied by kid's pilot !!!!!
And to conclude the same friend flew to JNB in fev 09 and got Miss pilot AGAIN.
Damn it ! Why AF is not doing something to erase this behavior that kills AF improvement.
As many pax noticed AF FFP is changing to almost useless. No more "classic award", now if you wanna fly to china from europe it will cost you 400.000 miles !!!!
I don't want to pay for first class and redeem my ticket in coach ! No way !
Directorguy From Egypt, joined Jul 2008, 1569 posts, RR: 12 Reply 14, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 12293 times:
Great TR. Well-written, informative and gives a clear insight into AF's F product.
Quoting Mindscape (Reply 12): On A.Net there are several recent AF trip reports on Y that show the consistency good Y product...
Quoting Semsem (Reply 4): It's funny about the crew in F. In Y I have consistently found the crew friendly
Interesting, I was just thinking the same thing. Feedback on F/J is consistently less than stellar whereas those in Y always recommend AF. It seems that AF has a solid Y service but a very hit-and-miss premium product.
I'll finally be able to judge for myself next month when I fly AF since I was a toddler.
Quoting Milesaddict (Reply 13): My dad was the luckiest... dec 08 CDG-LAX in F, he sat 1L and all the 2 row were occupied by kid's pilot
You mean the pilot's kid or was a kid actually flying the 777 ?
SA7700 From South Africa, joined Dec 2003, 2918 posts, RR: 20 Reply 15, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 14 hours ago) and read 11221 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW HEAD MODERATOR
Great trip report Milesaddict!
Quoting Milesaddict (Thread starter): Here is some shots of the new lounge the same lounge is in NRT. More foods would have been great.
I'm sorry, but the AF lounge in JNB looks absolutely horrible. The decor seems cheap. The fact that a large bottle of ultra cheap "Dawn" moisturiser is on display in the shower room, cheapens the AF Premium product image even further. Just my
Rgds
SA7700
When you are doing stuff that nobody has done before, there is no manual – Kevin McCloud
B707forever From United States of America, joined Dec 2007, 459 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (4 years 2 months 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 10095 times:
Nice trip report. As an X-AF staffer it's nice to see they've improved the Premiere experience.
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