I heard this funny remake on The Travel Commons podcast a few days ago, and thought some might get a kick out of it. It’s a remake of “Leaving on a Jet Plane” involving the flying experience nowadays (especially TSA experience). The Bar and Grille Singers, a group of practicing attorneys, perform this. Enjoy!

As I posted about a few days ago, today is a My Coke Rewards double points day for fridge packs. I entered 10 codes before noon and will enter another 10 soon, so it’s a 400 point day for me! So in case you forgot, start entering all those codes, or if Coke products are on sale at your local supermarket, stock up!

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

I’d like to share a few impressions of Orly. It’s the neglected step-child of Charles DeGaulle, and has all the airlines you really don’t want to f$%& with, from the massive charter 747’s of Corsair to the airlines that are from countries you’ve never heard of, to the airlines you’ve heard of but wouldn’t fly if your life depended on it. The people in the terminal are an eclectic combination of all of the above, which made it an interesting airport to navigate. As luck would have it (or not) we entered the terminal at the totally opposite end of where the check-in was for OpenSkies. We entered at check-in counter 100, and had to go all the way to check-in counter 2.

After navigating our way through the crowds we reached the check-in counter, where there was no wait. Of course it couldn’t be that simple, being as security is very important to OpenSkies.;) Before getting to the check-in counter an OpenSkies agent scanned my boarding pass and asked me a series of questions. What I found most comical was the way the questions were asked (as if the content wasn’t dumb enough), and I had a very difficult time keeping a straight face. This lady clearly wasn’t a behavior detection officer, but she took her job damn seriously.

The agent said something like “I have three very important questions I will ask you, and I need you to answer me please.” Her English was very broken, and she proceeded to ask her questions. The questions were along the lines of “Who packed your bags for you?” and similarly pointless questions. After getting her seal of approval I proceeded to the check-in counter, where the agents were friendly. Within about a minute I had a boarding pass as well as a lounge invitation to the iCare lounge, which seems to be the contracted lounge at Orly.Those in PREM+ also got invitations, unlike at JFK where PREM+ passengers don’t get lounge access.

We proceeded up the escalator and towards passport control, where the agent was very friendly. We then got in the security line, which was quite painless. I could leave my shoes and belt on, but was patted down, as my belt set the metal detector off. One of my bags got hand searched, as I had forgotten that I had a bottle of water from the hotel in the bag. I apologized and the agent even asked if I wanted to drink the water before continuing. At that point I pictured a similar situation with the TSA, whereby I’d probably be scolded for my threat to our national security, and maybe even be added to the no fly list for my dangerous attempt.

Past security we headed to the lounge, where we handed in our invitations and went inside. While the lounge was by no means world class, it wasn’t bad at all. It had a very good beverage selection including bottles of Evian water, champagne, etc, as well as some decent snacks such as delicious chocolate cookies. Yum!

iCare lounge

Sitting area in iCare lounge

The cookies in the center top in blue packaging were especially good

About 10 of us met in the lounge and discussed what we all did during our stay in Paris. At around 10AM we proceeded to the gate, which was near the lounge. We once again had to show our passports and were asked three similar questions by the same agent that asked the questions at check-in, which I found funny. I approached her with “hello again,” and she asked three equally stupid question, one of which was the same. The repeat question was whether or not anyone packed my bags for me, and one of the other ones involved where I was since checking-in. I found the one about where I’ve been since checking-in funny, since I imagined some of the more creative responses I could come up with, but just said I was at the lounge.

While I can see the point of these questions on a flight to/from Israel where the agents are actually experts, this lady seemed about as passionate about the answers as a flight attendant asking whether someone is willing and able to assist in the case of an emergency when in the exit row.

As many of us learned the hard way, there was another security checkpoint after the questioning, whereby we had to put everything through the x-ray and walk through the metal detector again. They were a lot stricter, and confiscated several items from our group. Fortunately I wasn’t one of the “victims,” and walked away with all of my stuff intact.

We were then in the gate holding area, but they were only boarding Economy, so we waited. Eventually they called BIZ and PREM+, so we headed down the jetway.

Our plane

EC001 ORY-JFK
Sunday, June 22
10:55AM-1:25PM
BIZ, seat 3B
Boeing 757-200

At door 1L I was welcomed aboard by an older French gentlemen, Chris, who directed me towards the mid-business class flight attendant, Raquel, who directed me towards my seat, 6B. The BIZ cabin is separated into two cabins, each of which has three rows. I was in the last row of the last cabin, which is the area where many of the FlyerTalkers were sitting. As it turned out all the people in the rear BIZ cabin were FlyerTalkers, which worked out very well. The Captain announced our flight time to be 8hr2min, every minute of which I was thoroughly looking forward to.

Rows five and six

Quick shot of the PREM+ cabin

Legrest and seat in front of me

After settling in and snapping a few pictures we were offered pre-departure beverages, with choices including champagne, orange juice, water, and strawberry smoothies. I went with a strawberry smoothie, which was delicious.

One of our awesome FA’s, Sonja

Starwberry smoothie

Shortly thereafter menus were distributed and we started to talk to the crew a little bit. Since OpenSkies’ marketing department seems to love the phrase “This is not _____,” including the menus clearly stating “This is not a menu,” I decided to have some fun with the flight attendant. As Raquel handed me the menu I said with near disgust “What’s this?” She responded “That’s your menu for the flight, sir.” I quickly responded, “No, this is NOT a menu.” She laughed and said “you got me,” so let’s hope she doesn’t make that grave mistake again.;) I find the advertising to not make a whole lot of sense. As FlyerTalker Canarsie suggested during the flight, it might be better for the marketing department to use a phrase like “This is not just _____,” since ultimately everything that they say isn’t something really is.

As we learned, four of the five flight attendants aboard were ex-Maxjet, so it was interesting to hear their stories. It seemed like they were a lot more polished than the outbound crew, which only makes sense considering they came from a premium airline so the product isn’t an entirely foreign concept, compared for example to the FA’s from NW and US.

While I was assigned 6B I moved to 5F for the takeoff, since I wanted to experience the takeoff and landing backwards. I’ve never done it before, so figured it was a good opportunity since only six seats were taken in our cabin.

It’s very odd to be going forwards when pushing back and backwards when taxiing, taking off, and doing everything else, but was fun. We taxied to the runway past all kinds of traffic, including many Air France heavies and other airlines I’ve never even heard of (probably for the better). We had a powerful takeoff and a few minutes later the seatbelt sign was turned off. I headed back to my assigned seat, 6B, and played with the seat a little.

Air France 777 during taxi

On the runway, almost ready to takeoff

Shortly after takeoff

View as the seatbelt sign is turned off

View from 5F, a backwards facing seat

I found the seat to be very good and quite functional. The PTV, much like in PREM+, is a separate unit from the seat but fits in a holder, so you can hardly tell the difference. On this flight the PTV’s were already placed in the holders for the occupied seats, so one could start enjoying the entertainment immediately after takeoff. The headsets were also much larger in BIZ.

PTV

The seat has a small cup holder which folds out and can hold two glasses. The seat itself is more firm than most business class seats, but I found it to be pretty comfortable.

The one thing you’ll either love or hate is the fact that the seats are facing both forwards and backwards. One person sitting forwards while the seatmate sits backwards might not sound that bad, but it can be very awkward when traveling alone. While there’s a partition, it’s not practical to put up during the meal service since the flight attendant would have trouble serving the window seat. For people traveling together it’s excellent, since it’s truly conducive to conversation. You can actually have a conversation with almost everyone in any row with the way it’s set up. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem during non-meal times, since you can pull out the partition and have a bit more privacy.

View of 5A from my seat

Privacy with partition extended

Note the art located on the bulkhead of both New York and Paris

The seat controls are located on the left side of the seat, and include the ability to recline, sit upright, get into takeoff position, or choose any of the four directions individually. The light (which, by the way, is very weak) is also controlled from there.

Seat controls

Now, let me get back to the flight itself. Here is the menu in BIZ:

Lunch

To Start
Hors-D’eouvre
Carrot and cumin soup with mixed vegetable crisps
Smoked duck rillettee on fresh mixed leaf salad with a raspberry and walnut vinairgrette
Chicken and artichoke pate with a beetroot and fig salsa
Seafood sushi with crab maki, salmon fillet with nori, sautéed prawn and scallop, wasabi and soy dressing

Main Course
Seared fillet of beef with green peppercorn sauce, garlic roast potatoes and French beans
Pan-fried chicken in a rich red wine sauce, sautéed potatoes and rosemary-infused vegetables
Grilled red snapper with Malaysian spiced quinoa and stir-fried vegetables
Mushroom-stuffed ravioli with a morel sauce, buttered spinach and Parmesan tuile
All offered with freshly baked bread.

Dessert
Fresh summer berries with vanilla sauce
Apricot tart with fresh cream
French farmhouse cheeses served with seasonal fruit
Tea or coffee and chocolates

Light Meal
A selection of filled sandwiches and the famous macaroons from the Parisian tea salon ’Laduree’

And here is the beverage list:

BEERS & SPIRITS
Carlsberg
Heineken
Campari
Martini Dry
Warre’s LBV Port
Massenez Crème de Cassis
Tio Pepe
Glenlivet 12 Year Old Malt Whisky
Glenlivet 15 Year Old Malt Whisky
Johnnie Walker Red
Johnnie Walker Black
Jack Daniel’s American Whiskey
Tanqueray
Gordon’s
Camus VS Elegance Cognac
Camus VSOP Cognac
Drambuie
Cointreau
Tia Maria
Baileys
Southern Comfort
Bacardi Carta Blanca
Smirnoff Red Label
Smirnoff Blue

SOFT DRINKS
Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta Orange
5 Alive Juice
Bitter Lemon
Tonic/Diet Tonic Water
Canada Dry
Still/sparkling mineral water
Fruit juices
Orange, Apple, Cranberry, Tomato

WINE

WHITE

Marmesa Edna Valley Chardonnay 2005
Bright and fresh with a powerful core of fruit, this is an outstanding Central Coast wine.

Chateau Thieuley Francis Courselle 2006
It retains the clean purity of the Sauvignon Blanc but the addition of a generous dollop of Semillon gives the wine a lot more weight and richness on the mid-palate.

RED

Wattle Creek Shiraz 2003
This wine has a vibrant colour, opulent fruit on the nose with support oak in the background and a hint of cracked black pepper on a very long finish.

Corona de Castilla Prestigio 2004
It’s powerful and full bodied, but made in a fresh, fruit-driven modern style.

CHAMPAGNE

Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve
There are classic toasty, ripe fruit aromas with a complex, mouth-filling flavor lifted by firm acidity. The finish is long and rich but also beautifully refreshing.

The meal orders were taken about 15 minutes into the flight (and we were addressed by name), and I went with the soup as the appetizer and beef as the main course.

Shortly thereafter another flight attendant, Sonja, came around offering drinks. I went with a Fanta Orange, which made my day. I was concerned it would be the crappy, sweet American version, but it was the European version, in full Fanta glory. It’s one of my favorite drinks, so I overindulged on that a bit during the flight. Sonja also delivered a little tray with warm nuts as well as some kind of melted mozzarella cheese and small chunks of tomatoes. Sonja was honest to us (huh, since when is anyone in the airline industry honest?!?!?!) and said they were still working on perfecting the use of the oven, so asked us to pardon the fact that it seemed more like melted cheese than warm cheese. Nonetheless, it was delicious.

Nuts, cheese, and Fanta… yum!

Within another 15 minutes or so tablecloths were placed on the trays, shortly followed by the soup. The soup was perfect, and this time around the bread was served only a few seconds after the delivery of the soup. One odd thing about my setup was that I got two pepper grinders instead of a salt and pepper grinder, a detail I’m surprised slipped past this detail-oriented crew.

Amazing soup

baccarat_king’s appetizer– chicken pate and sushi

As soon as the soup was finished my bowl was taken, shortly followed by my main course. The beef was once again excellent, as were the sides. The service was also at a very good pace and drinks were continuously being topped off.

My main course– beef

Pat’s main course– chicken

baccarat_king’s main course– snapper

Once my main course plate was cleared my dessert order was taken, and I decided to go for both the tart and berries. Raquel obliged, and within minutes I had both plates. The dessert was especially good, as the berries tasted fresh and the tart was flavorful.

My ridiculously amazing dessert

baccarat_king’s dessert (he loved the variety of “proper” glassware)

Lastly I asked for a cup of coffee, and Raquel brought coffee, milk, and a whole box of chocolates. I really liked the glassware on the flight, especially for the coffee. Most of the cutlery/glasses/napkins were from BA, many even from First.

Coffee, milk, and chocolate

BA First napkin

Functionality of the drink tray

After lunch I reclined into a more comfortable position, to test out the lounging capabilities of the seat.

The flight attendants were very friendly and were walking through the cabin continuously to see if anyone wanted anything, and also came around with a basket including a toothbrush and toothpaste, earplugs, combs, and moisturizer. All of it came with a TSA allowable bag, which was very practical.

Amenities

We also had the opportunity to talk to the crew for a bit. The purser, Chris, is a retired Air France FA, where he flew the Concorde! He shared some fun stories, especially about a few celebrities (I wish I could post the details as they were pretty damn funny, but that wouldn’t be fair to him), and just about his collective experience there. The other FA’s spoke a bit about Maxjet and how the product and workload there compared to OpenSkies. One interesting thing to note is that on OpenSkies the FA’s have to plate the food, while on Maxjet it came pre-plated.

Picture of FA Raquel taking a picture

baccarat_king showing the Chris and Raquel his TWA book

Post-lunch look at the PREM+ cabin

Eventually the Captain made an appearance, although we didn’t know at first who he was since he wasn’t wearing his “stripes.” FlyerTalker baccarat_king asked him if he was the first officer, and he responded he was the Captain. He said he didn’t wear his stripes in the cabin, and also mentioned that OpenSkies’ chief pilot was aboard and that it was his check ride. He signed baccarat_king’s menu and even showed us his stripes so that we’d believe he really was the Captain (of course in a joking way).

Great Captain

I tested out the bed for a few minutes by reclining the seat into the fully flat position, and even asked for a duvet from the FA. It was promptly brought by Chris, the purser, and was very cozy. The bed as a whole was excellent, in my opinion. The only slight complaint I have is that the bed is a bit too short. I believe it is 72 inches, and at six feet tall my feet were firmly planted against the seat in front of me (as expected). I can imagine it would be somewhat uncomfortable for someone taller that wants to sleep without bending their knees. Still, it was one of the most comfortable beds I’ve tried in the sky, especially in Business.

BIZ seat fully reclined

A little over an hour out of JFK the pre-arrival snack service began. First tablecloths were placed on the tray tables, followed quickly by a box, much like we saw on the outbound for breakfast. For a moment I was shocked to get a boxed snack in business class, but as it turns out it was from “Laduree,” a famous French tea saloon (or so I’m told). While I’m no fan of seafood, the fishy sandwich was pretty good, and the cake and macaroons were amazing! I would suggest they offer an alternative type of sandwich (maybe chicken or vegetable), but overall I give it two thumbs up. Most of the people in BIZ were beyond impressed by the fact that they were serving this, but once I caught on I was quite pleased as well.

Another reason this is very practical is that you can really take the box with you if you don’t feel like eating on the plane.

Box

Contents of box

 
Sandwich

 
Chocolaty brownieish thing

Macaroons!

After lunch I repacked all of my bags, put away the menus, and took a backwards facing seat for the approach. The seatbelt sign was turned on early, and we had a bumpy approach into NY. We had one particularly large pocket of turbulence which nearly took one of the FA’s off her feet.

We landed at JFK a few minutes early and as we approached T7 I saw a BA747 approaching on the same taxiway in the other direction. I was hoping we’d get to go to our gate first, but we didn’t. As a result we had to wait for about 15 more minutes as they taxied in, as an ANA 777 taxied out, and as another plane taxied out. We ended up being about ten minutes late, which wasn’t too bad. We bid farewell to the great crew, and headed into the arrivals area.

At JFK:

I was in shock when I entered the terminal and found a line snaking nearly to our jetway! As it turns out that was the foreigner line, which must have had 1,000 people in it, while the US citizen line had a five minute wait at most.

For the first time ever I wasn’t asked a single question by the immigration officer, and said “thank you very much,” to which he responded “you’re welcome very much.” I handed the agent my form as I was exiting, and I heard him asking his colleague “What’s EC001?”

I walked towards the AirTrain, which seemed to be on vacation since it took forever. Fortunately the AirTrain was going the “right” direction, so T8, the AA terminal, was the first stop. I got off, found a check-in kiosk, and printed my boarding pass.

I went towards security, where they had the new TSA lanes where you choose what kind of a flyer you are (casual, expert, family, or whatever it is), and I didn’t see the expert lane open, so went towards the casual lane, which was shorter than the elite lane, as it turned out.

Once again the TSA agents here were a perfect example of why this workforce gets ZERO respect. It was clear that almost no one in the line spoke a word of English (they all had foreign passports and seemed very confused), and the TSA agents kept yelling “HAVE YOUR PASSPORT OPEN TO YOUR PICTURE PAGE!” Basically no one did it, and the agent scolded basically everyone that didn’t. The people had a confused look on their face, and I shook my head out of embarrassment of these guys (TSA agents) representing our country.

Thanks to my AMEX Plat I was able to use the AAdmirals Club, which was nice for a US lounge. It had veggies and pretzels, so was a little better than my DFW experience. After about 30 minutes I headed to the gate.

The club

View of the tarmac

Snack bar

The gate was a complete mess, and while the flight still showed on time there wasn’t a plane at the gate and we were schedule to board in five minutes. I asked the gate agent whether they were overbooked and needed volunteers and he responded “Nope, we’re full but not oversold today, but thanks for asking, we always appreciate it.” I also asked about the delay, and he said we’d probably be about 30 minutes late, as the inbound aircraft was late.

As it turned out we were about an hour late. I worked on my trip report a bit, so didn’t mind the delay too much, although I really wanted to get home.

AA1787 JFK-TPA
Sunday, June 22
3:40PM-6:25PM
Economy, seat 20D
MD80

As I settled in a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said “You doing a mileage run, Ben?” As it turns out it was a teacher I had a few years ago, and in his class we always talked about mileage runs (he kind of understood them by the end of the year). It was pretty funny to run into him of all people on a plane.

The flight itself was uneventful. It was pretty long, 2hr30min in the air, and the seatbelt sign wasn’t turned off once. The Captain announced a very rough ride down the coast, and despite having smooth air for at least half the flight, it was never turned off. The two people across the aisle from me talked about flying for most of the flight, and were surprisingly knowledgeable. They even talked about OpenSkies, and as I was writing my report aboard and looking at pictures of the flight, she noticed them so we started talking about them.

We talked about travel patterns and airline loyalty (she was DL Gold and AA Plat), and laughed when I said I was loyal to UA/Ted. We debated the merits of the various airlines up until deplaning, which at least made the flight pass a little quicker.

I got home about an hour late, and was happy to get to bed after a long and exciting weekend.

Thanks so much for all that have read the report and commented, I really appreciate it! I had an amazing weekend, and can only hope to return to Paris and fly OpenSkies again in the near future!

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

We got to the IC Le Grand Paris at around 8:30AM. As I’ve mentioned before, I booked this hotel on points, for 40,000 points/night. At first I was a bit hesitant about booking this hotel, because technically InterContinental as a chain doesn’t honor Royal Ambassador benefits on award stays, which means the hotels are not required to give room upgrades, club access, or free minibar consumption, and the basic room (Classic Room) is about 200 square feet at the IC Le Grand! Also, I love modern hotels, and am usually not a fan of 100 year hotels, even if they are classics. Nonetheless I’ve heard nothing but stellar reviews of this property, including from Royal Ambassadors on award stays, and my experience couldn’t have been better!

Hotel entrance

I went to the reception desk and was greeted by a very charming lady. First let me start with my bad stereotype. Based on my experience in Paris, there are three types of customer service personalities: those that don’t care one way or another, those that have what many of us would consider an anti-customer attitude, and those that have an attitude in a positive way with incredible charm. The lady checking me in without a doubt fit in the last category. She was nothing short of amazing, and was a great start to my stay.

For example, one gripe I always have about hotels as an elite is when they don’t recognize status, so you’re left wondering whether or not you should ask for an upgrade. The lady checking me in said with a smile, “Mr. Lucky, as you are a Royal Ambassador with InterContinental we have taken the liberty of upgrading your accommodations to an Executive Room, and you’ll also have access to our exclusive club on the fifth floor.” She went on to explain all the details of the club, asked me whether I would like late check-out on Sunday, and asked me if I had any questions. Never have I had such a professional check-in experience, and from that moment on it was clear to me that this hotel was nothing short of “Grand,” as the name suggests.

I walked around the lobby for a bit to snap some pictures, and found it to be very nice.

Lobby

Café de la Paix

I then headed to my room, and while it wasn’t a massive suite, I couldn’t have liked it more. It had high ceilings, probably around 20 feet, and was extremely elegant and aged, yet still felt “fresh.” The room was the perfect size, and thanks to the high ceiling felt huge. I’m pretty sure my bathroom was about as big as the standard room here, as it was also a very good size. The bathroom amenities were L’Occitane, my favorite. Lastly, and most importantly, the minibar was impressive, with great champagne, white wine, beer, all kinds of soft drinks, and snacks. Best of all, everything, including the snacks (which usually isn’t the case at IC’s) were free!

My room

Another room picture

Bathroom

Bathroom

Toiletries

Dresser

Minibar

I then headed up to the club floor, where my friend was waiting since his room wasn’t ready (although he was promised a nice suite, so it all worked out in the end). The club lounge is also fantastic. While small, it’s never crowded and is very elegant. The buffet is on the main club floor, along with the club concierge and a small seating area, and then there’s additional seating along with computers on the floor above. The offerings were excellent. As the letter I received states, here are the club offerings:
Buffet Breakfast 0:700-11:30hrs
Lunch with sweets and savouries 12:00-14:30hrs
Tea time with French home made pastries 15:00-17:30hrs
Cocktail with Open Bar, sweets and savouries 18:00-20:00hrs
Soft drinks, champagne, and wine with sweets 20:00-22:00hrs

Top club floor

Business center/top of club floor

View from the club

Afternoon lounge nibbles and drinks

Later on I went back to my room, only to find out on the way that OpenSkies’ office is located in the IC. When I got to my room I found the Royal Ambassador welcome gift, consisting of two bottles of Vittel mineral water in nice glass bottles, a plate of fruit, a nice card from the managing director of the hotel, and a box of chocolates from Café de la Paix. Seriously, I can’t say enough good things about this hotel. Every employee I interacted with was sincere, friendly, warm, gracious, welcoming, and beyond professional.

I am convinced this hotel is the single best use of points in the whole Priority Club system for Royal Ambassador members, since they don’t treat award stays any different than revenue stays.

OpenSkies sign

Staircase

One of the two bottles of water

Welcome gift

I took a shower, and at around 11:30AM the other FlyerTalker (Sev) and I staying at the InterContinental started walking towards the Hilton Paris, where we were meeting up with other FlyerTalkers. Sev is in Paris a lot, so was able to basically provide a guided tour along the way, which was great. Nothing beats having someone that’s basically a local in a foreign city.

During our walk to the Hilton Paris we had three people try the “ring trick” on us, which Sev explained to me. They drop a ring right by your feet which they claim to have just found, and talk about how valuable it is (it might say 18K on the inside, for example). They convince you to take the ring, say they’re in a rush, and just ask for a little bit of money so that you split the profits somewhat. Of course the ring is totally worthless, but I guess some people actually fall for it.

After a brisk 45 minute walk we made it to the Hilton Paris, which was quite underwhelming, or at least the lobby was. Only one FlyerTalker decided to join us, and we started walking. Since I’m not really an expert and would prefer not to butcher any names, I’ll let the pictures do the talking here. As was a recurring theme during the weekend, we stopped at street cafes frequently, a quintessential part of experiencing Paris, in my opinion.

Near IC

Forgot what this is called, but apparently it’s famous

*Scratches head*

FlyerTalker Canarsie taking pictures on the Champs Elysees

Seine River

Looking across the Seine

By 5PM we were back at the IC and enjoyed the club for a while. Shortly thereafter we had a few more FT’ers join us for a mini-minibar party. The others went to dinner, but I decided to go to bed since I didn’t sleep at all on the flight and was dead tired.

Next day:

I woke up at the delightful hour of 4AM, something I enjoy doing when outside the country, believe it or not. I was able to get three quality hours of “trip reporting” done before going to the club lounge at 7AM for breakfast. The breakfast selection was superb, including pastries, cheese, meat, fruit, scrambled eggs, crepes, hash browns, yogurt, many juices, and much more. The InterContinental Le Grand consistently delivered, especially in the club lounge when it came to offerings.

At around 11AM we hit the town and headed towards the Notre Dame, which was quite a walk. Eventually we sat down at a street café, which was in a great area, including live entertainment in the “square” the café overlooked. We sat there for a good few hours, joined by several other FlyerTalkers, and eventually I headed back to the hotel as I was getting sunburned.

Notre Dame

Advertisement on the side of a taxi

Lively area where we sat down

I was convinced I could find my way back to the hotel, but after wandering for about an hour, realized I couldn’t find it. My mind wasn’t all there, and even though I had a map I couldn’t figure it out. I got in a cab and said where I was going, and as it turns out my hotel was only two blocks away. Oh well, at least I saved a few Euro!

I took a shower when I got to the hotel and went to the club lounge to check my email and enjoy some snacks. FlyerTalkers contacted me regarding dinner, which we’d have at Pershing Hall at around 9:30PM. Unlike the night before, I was wide awake and ready to enjoy the evening. The FlyerTalkers came to the IC to pick me up, and we shared a cab to the restaurant, being driven by the peppiest Parisian I interacted with during the trip. This lady tried to speak English, was hitting the side of her car with her hand when she was annoyed at other drivers, and tried to entertain us. Very funny lady.

While Pershing Hall is by no means a quaint French bistro, I’m pretty sure it was my favorite restaurant ever (although my palate is quite unsophisticated). It’s located in a chic boutique hotel with Ferrari’s and Porsche’s parked in front, and the restaurant itself is in the courtyard of the hotel. I had a hamburger for 25 Euro, which was probably the best hamburger I’ve ever had. The quality of the restaurant went beyond that though, and in my opinion the food wasn’t what totally set the restaurant apart from anywhere else I’ve been. I really loved the ambiance. Think W Hotel (and anyone that knows me knows I’m really not a fan of W hotels), minus the obnoxiousness. The music was just the perfect volume and beat, the restaurant was beautiful (I’m working on getting a picture), and the wait staff was equally so. Seriously, if you’re in Paris, GO HERE!!!

We wrapped up dinner at around 12:30AM, at which point we tried to find a cab back to the hotel. Being as it was Saturday night and they had music festivals all over, this proved to be quite a task. There were hardly any cabs available, and it took nearly half an hour until we got one. Regardless, it was interesting to watch Parisians at the early hour (for them) of 1AM, as we saw exotic cars pull up, drunk people walk by, and everything else you’d expect in Paris.

I requested a wake-up call for 7AM as we’d leave to the airport at around 8:30AM the next morning, and slept like the ultimate baby.

Upon waking up I showered, had breakfast, and met with Sev and Pat (two FlyerTalkers) downstairs to share a cab to the airport. We got to the airport by around 9AM and entered what was an absolute zoo, making US airports look like an oasis of comfort.

More to come…

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Howdy folks!

I have the pleasure of reporting on the inaugural flight of a start-up airline, an awesome weekend in Paris with great people, a five star hotel, and a great business class product. Best of all, I had no clue any of this would happen just over a week ago! I’m going to write this report in a few installments, just to keep it easy to read.

First of all, I’ve posted background information on the trip in this post and my pre-flight thoughts of OpenSkies in this post, for those interested. I should also note that I’m trying to restrict the number of pictures I post so that this page doesn’t take forever to load. For those that want more pictures, check out my full photo album from the trip, which is located here.

The first installment (this one) will be about the outbound travel, the second installment about my stay in Paris, and the third installment about the return journey. I will include the positioning portions of the trip, namely TPA-JFK and JFK-TPA on AA. Just one note: ultimately the flights were free thanks to the generosity of OpenSkies and Randy. While I could just post “everything was perfect,” I think I’d be doing OpenSkies a disservice. That’s not to say they didn’t have a great product, but just that I’ll pick up both on the positive aspects of the in-flight experience, as well as the negative aspects, so please keep that in mind.

Outbound journey:

I had class until 10:45AM and my flight was at noon, so I rushed to the airport to catch my flight. I got to the airport and checked the status of my flight, noticing that the departures board displayed the departure time for all flights except mine. That worried me a bit considering that this was a flight I needed to be on, and I couldn’t afford a big delay, so my worries came at the expense of not playing the ID game one last time with the TSA.

Security was a breeze, except for this one absolutely evil TSA agent who I didn’t even interact with. Never have I seen such an angry, bipolar looking TSA agent. Out of nowhere he decided he wanted to check ID’s (he was working the security line before), so he goes to the counter, yells “next,” doesn’t get an immediate response, and rolls his eyes as if someone pepper sprayed the inside of his eyelids.

I got past security right as boarding began, and was relieved to see that the flight was on-time and that whatever was displaying before security was a glitch. As first class finished boarding, a guy comes up to me and asked “Are they boarding anyone yet?” I told him first class was boarding, and almost as if he were trying to impress the boarding area responds “Good, that’s all I need to know,” with a massive grin on his face. Jeez, I certainly hope I don’t rub off as such a jackass when flying up front. Eventually they called seating area one.

AA1785 TPA-JFK
Friday, June 19
12:00PM-2:50PM
Economy, seat 20B
MD80

Boarding took forever, since there seemed to be a family of around eight people in first class, most of which were small children, and they didn’t seem to want to sit down. I eventually got to my seat and squeezed my US-size (aka massive) carry-on in the overhead, which took quite a bit of energy, but eventually worked.

I enjoyed watching the boarding process, since it was an interesting crowd. Not a single passenger looked like a business traveler, and it seemed like a mix of NY’ers coming to FL to visit family and an equal number of FL’ers visiting NY, as well as connecting traffic. On my left was a British lady that read and ate nuts most of the flight, and across the aisle from me was a lady that didn’t once put down her Barack Obama book. Behind me were two Germans that were finding something negative to say about nearly everyone that was boarding, some of which was comical to me since I could understand every word they were saying.

As boarding finished up a very nice flight attendant came to the exit rows and provided one of the most thorough and professional exit row briefings I’ve ever witnessed. She explained exactly how to open the exit, what should be done with the door, and how to get off the plane, all in a friendly manner.

As she finished up, the male flight attendant jokingly came up to her and stood there glaring at her. She jokingly said to everyone that saw his strange look that he was her husband (and for a few seconds I thought she was serious, which surprised me since he didn’t seem like husband material, if you know what I mean), at which point a teenager about two seats away from me asked if he was the co-pilot. She then said “Well, no. He’s my airplane husband, at least for three days, and he’s also a flight attendant.” The kid then responded “Airplane husband? Does that mean you do it in the bathroom?” Hmm, that’s probably the oddest thing I’ve heard on an airplane in a while, but it did make her laugh.

The safety video started a little bit late, and finished right as we made it to the runway. We rocketed off for our 2hr4min flight. The flight itself was very uneventful. I was bored stiff without any entertainment aboard. Since I didn’t have time to grab lunch and hadn’t had breakfast I purchased some chips for $3. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why AA sells the chips in such massive quantities, where you get a full sized “stack.” If for nothing else, the looks other passengers give you when you get a massive stack of chips can make anyone feel pretty shameful.

We got to JFK about 15 minutes early. On the way out the captain was standing at the door and as he said goodbye he gave me an odd look, probably because I was wearing a UA pin on an AA flight. I thanked him for the safe ride, and had to remind myself not to mention Channel 9.

AA’s terminal at JFK is quite nice, with a spacious feeling to it, but takes forever to get through. It must have taken at least 15 minutes to get to the AirTrain to transfer to Terminal 7. To be on the safe side I took the intra-terminal AirTrain, which made the long loop around the terminal instead of just going one terminal over to T7. That meant it would be a 15 minute ride, but that was fine by me, as I was happy to have landed early.

I got to T7 at around 3PM, and headed to OpenSkies check-in. Originally I thought their check-in was with BA, but I was happy to find two separate OpenSkies counters in the very left of the terminal, by future ticketing for BA. I saw several “suits” standing around, as well as several OpenSkies agents, all smiling. I snapped a few pictures of the check-in area, including one of me with the agents, and then gave them my passport to check in.

I requested a second boarding pass to keep as a memory, and the agent mentioned I wasn’t the first one to ask, but that I could keep my original one. I explained that the original boarding pass would be all scribbled up by the TSA, and I’d prefer a “fresh one,” and she chuckled and obliged. She also mentioned that we’d be receiving something aboard to acknowledge that we were on the inaugural flight. The check-in process was quick, efficient, and most importantly professional.

Check-in area

Me with the OpenSkies agents

There’s a seating area near the check-in counter where I spotted a few FlyerTalkers. We talked for a few minutes, and eventually Randy Petersen showed up. He checked in, and at around 3:45PM we headed towards security, which was also surprisingly quick.

We headed towards the gate that the OpenSkies flight was leaving from, gate one, fully expecting some kind of a gate party. Whenever I see reports of the inaugural flight on a new route, even on an existing airline, I always see mention of a huge party at the gate. We were disappointed to see nothing special at the gate at all, so headed to the RCC.

Gate one at JFK

Since I was in PREM+ on the way out, I didn’t have access to the BA Terraces lounge, but fortunately I had access to the Red Carpet Club since I’m a member, which is conveniently located immediately down the corridor. I took two guests with me that were also in PREM+, and we had a mini-inaugural party in the very back room, my secret corner at the JFK RCC. I made a few phone calls, checked my email, and did all that fun stuff, and before we knew it 5PM rolled around. We headed to the gate for boarding, and this time around found a few more “suits” standing around, as well as the monitor reading “Inaugural.” Still, no party.

At least the monitor acknowledged it was the inaugural flight…

Gate prior to boarding

Based on what I saw, boarding started backwards, with Economy, then PREM+, then BIZ.

EC002 JFK-ORY
Thursday, June 19
5:30PM-7:25AM (next day)
PREM+, seat 9E
Boeing 757-200

Upon boarding I was asked by one of the two FA’s standing at the door for my boarding pass, which was in my pocket. Considering that I had my camera out as well as about thirteen carry-ons, it was a bit more problematic than it would seem. I then proceeded through BIZ, which looked very nice. The forward BIZ cabin had about three rows, while the next BIZ cabin had three more rows. Overall the cabin struck me as very “fresh,” and it seemed like the BIZ product was very impressive. As I walked through the cabin I snapped tons of pictures, which was a bit of a challenge while still dragging along my bags.

Rear part of the forward BIZ cabin

I then got to the PREM+ cabin, and was pleasantly surprised. The seats were massive and looked very comfortable.

Impressive PREM+ cabin

My seat

I stowed my bags and headed back to Economy quickly to snap a few pictures. It didn’t take long to see that this flight wasn’t going to be full. BIZ looked about half full, PREM+ had several empty seats, and economy was nearly empty. I think without FlyerTalkers this flight would have had maybe 10 passengers total. The PREM+ cabin has 24 seats, and has four rows in the front, then two restrooms in the center of the cabin, and again two more rows behind that. While the row immediately behind the restrooms has a lot of legroom, the stowage space seems lacking.

Rear PREM+ cabin

Economy cabin with only 30 seats

Within seconds of settling down we were offered pre-departure beverages, consisting of champagne, orange juice, and water, by a very youngish looking male FA. I went with orange juice, which had an excellent flavor and texture to it. Shortly thereafter menus were distributed (or as these menus read, and as something that seems to be a consistent theme in OpenSkies marketing, “This is not a menu”). I thought the selection was pretty impressive, and was quite looking forward to the presentation aspect of the meals. Following shortly were amenity kits. Meal orders were also taken.

Pre-departure beverages

Seatback with bottle of Evian and safety card

Every seatback has a coat hanger

Water, safety card, amenity kit, and menu

The menu

OpenSkies marketing at work…

OpenSkies marketing at work… again

The door closed shortly after the Captain made his announcements, which were nearly inaudible. All I could hear was the spitting noise which comes from talking too close into the mic, but I could make out that he welcomed everyone aboard the inaugural and he seemed sincerely welcoming. The purser’s announcements followed shortly thereafter, also welcoming us aboard the inaugural flight. The purser announced the names of all the flight attendants, and shortly thereafter began the safety demo.

By the time the safety demo was finished (which, by the way, was done twice, once in the forward direction and once backwards for those passengers seated backwards, as well as once in the forward PREM+ cabin and once in the rear PREM+ cabin), we were taxiing to the runway. The Captain came on the PA for another announcement, this time apologizing for the delay, saying we would be number 20 or so for takeoff. I kind of chuckled, because knowing Kennedy, number 20 for takeoff is not a delay. He provided constant updates throughout our wait, and the flight attendants were constantly through the cabin.

As we began our taxi…

One of the many reasons you have to love JFK…

One of the FA’s stopped by our row to chat for a few minutes, and I was able to get answers to some of the questions I had about OpenSkies. From her I found out that all of the FA’s are based out of JFK, and they’re all US citizens. She explained that their experience in the industry ranged anywhere from plenty of experience (she mentioned she has been in the industry for 22 years, working for PanAm and USAir, and certainly didn’t look like it), to being brand new in the industry, but none of the FA’s came from BA. She also said that the first graduating class of OpenSkies FA’s consists of 20 people, while there was another one that just graduated, so right now there are a total of 40 FA’s. Each flight is staffed with five FA’s.

Another thing I was curious about was the pilots. As it turns out they’re based in Brussels. I know that OpenSkies will probably add Brussels as a destination soon, but that they have to commute in order to fly seems odd. Who knows, maybe that’ll change over time.

By the time we were done talking we were further up in the queue, and before we knew it were airborne. The climb out was pretty smooth and steep, and the seatbelt sign came off within minutes. I went to use the lavatory and noticed just how steep the angle still was, which reminded me a bit of how Singapore Airlines turns off the seatbelt sign quickly and how the FA’s are running around the plane, almost as if they’re mountain climbing.

I had a chance to play with the seat a little bit at this point. This seat is hands down better than the United Business seat, which isn’t saying a lot if this were business class, but is saying a lot of a premium coach product. While the pitch was slightly less, the seat had ample storage space, sturdy tray tables, massive center consoles, easy to use controls (although manual), much better seatback storage, and overall a more comfortable feel to it.

The seat was much wider, at least around the shoulders, which made it easy to get comfortable. I also found the leather to be non-sticky and easy to find a comfortable position in, which is a big plus. Each seat included a very stylish OpenSkies pillow and comfortable blanket. Overall I can’t find one thing to fault the seats for, and would find them easy to sleep in. It’s also worth noting that between the seats is what looks like PTV’s, except they’re only the holders, as pictured below. The FA’s ”installed” the portable entertainment systems shortly after takeoff, which fit in the holder easily.

Comfy pillow and blanket

PREM+ cabin, filled mostly with FlyerTalkers shortly after takeoff

PTV holders

About an hour after takeoff the meal service began, starting with drinks. I took a Diet Coke, and almost died of laughter at the size of the cans. They are FIVE ounce cans. That’s right, FIVE ounces, like less than half the size of a normal can. The glassware OpenSkies has is very classy but also small, so drinks run out frequently, and mostly has BA logos

While the crew couldn’t have been any nicer, it was clear that they didn’t quite have the system down yet. The whole drink/meal service took forever, but I’m not necessarily blaming them for that. Oftentimes no matter how much training you go through, actually doing it for the first time in front of customers can be a challenge, so I’m confident they’ll improve in that aspect over time.

Service begins

Another 30 minutes or so after the first round of drinks the meal service began. The PREM+ menu read as follows:

Dinner

To Start
Hors-D’eouvre
Mixed baby leaf salad with mozzarella cheese, grape tomatoes, and shaved fennel

Main Course
Fillet of beef “Café de Paris’ with potato gratin and fresh asparagus
Chicken Chasseur with celeriac potatoes, broccoli and new baby carrots
Orecchiette pasta with summer tomatoes, broccolini and Parmesan shavings
All offered with freshly baked bread.

Dessert
Baked New York cheesecake with berry compote
Camembert cheese with crackers and seasonal grapes
Tea or coffee and a chocolate

Light Meal
Continental Breakfast

Also, for those interested, the BIZ menu (which an FA provided me with) read as follows:

Dinner

To Start
Hors-D’eouvre
Summer tomato and lavender soup with crème fraiche
Grilled foie gras with apple tart, apple and celery salad and blood orange glaze
Sesame-crusted Ahi tuna with Asian salad, pea shoots and miso dressing
Vegetable antipasto with balsamic dressing

Main Course
Braised short rib of beef with wasabi mashed potato, bok choy and fried crispy noodles
Confit of duck with country-style potatoes and cherry port glaze
Crab-crusted seabass with dauphinoise potatoes, wilted spinach and baby tomato
Fava bean and summer pea risotto with sweet pea puree
All offered with freshly baked bread.

Dessert
Baked New York baked cheesecake with berry compote
Warm plum tart with ginger ice cream
West Coast cheeses served with Kilchurn Estate rhubarb ginger preserve
Tea or coffee with chocolates

Light Meal
A selection of Epicurean breakfast treats

Snacks
A range of snacks available at any time

To my surprise, everything was served on a tray. At first I was a bit shocked by the fact that it was all served at once, but my sentiment quickly changed. The food was truly delicious. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a good salad on a plane, and the main course and dessert were excellent as well. Sadly my beef was only lukewarm (probably because it took so long to serve), my glass empty most of the meal service, and bread was only served with dessert in my row (I think they forgot about it). Again, their intentions were very good and they were extremely friendly, but they just didn’t have the pattern down yet. During the meal service we hit a good bit of turbulence, and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the crew, as they were obviously struggling with trying to prepare meals while rockin’ and rollin’ at 37,000 feet.

It’s also interesting to note that those in Economy get the same meal, so they’re in for a real treat.

Dinner

When I thought about it I actually understand why they serve the meal all at once, and also appreciate it because I know that most people want to sleep on a redeye to Europe. I spent most of the first part of the flight chatting with my seatmate, Michael.

After dinner the lights were dimmed and instead of sleeping like most of the other passengers I decided to test out the entertainment system. I watched several sitcoms, including The Simpsons, Frasier, 30 Rock, and a few more. While I ultimately prefer a built-in personal entertainment system with flight tracking capabilities, I thought this one was great! It was functional, easy to use, had plenty of options, and fit in the convenient holder so didn’t really get in the way. The quality of the programming was good as well, so no complaints there. The entertainment system also comes with noise canceling headsets, which are small but very good.

Main screen on the entertainment system

Sample of video selection

About an hour out of Paris breakfast was served, which started with hot towel service (oddly enough, no hot towels before dinner, I guess they forgot), followed quickly by breakfast. My seatmate and I were worried when they told us breakfast would be served an hour out, since we couldn’t see how they’d be able to complete the service so quickly. It was no surprise when they plopped down boxes in front of us (all of a sudden I wanted to use their own marketing campaign against them and say “This is not a breakfast”;)), consisting of orange juice and a danish. They also offered tea and coffee.

I found it interesting that they served coffee and tea in plastic cups, although they’re larger ones, probably similar in size to a medium coffee at a gas station/coffee shop. I found that to be pretty practical, because as nice as china is, a little bit of turbulence can totally empty out the saucer.

Breakfast

Contents of the box

The more I thought about the offering, the more I liked it. The fact that it’s in a box would make it easy to take with you if you prefer to sleep in, not to mention is plenty filling after such a short redeye, in my opinion. The danish was tasty, as was the orange juice, the same one as the pre-departure offering.

After breakfast the entertainment devices were collected, and at the same time the immigration cards were handed out by the purser. They were some of the simplest forms I’ve ever seen.

As we began our descent the Captain came on the PA again to give us some arrival information, announcing we’d be just a few minutes late. He seemed to have the clarity issue worked out. Once we began our descent the seatbelt sign was turned on. We descended through the clouds in what looked like a cloudy day, and touched down right around 7:40AM.

We taxied to the gate, and the Captain made yet another announcement thanking us for joining OpenSkies for the inaugural flight. The purser didn’t mention the fact that it was the inaugural flight at all with his last announcements. We disembarked and headed towards customs/immigrations. Once we were outside we all met up for a few minutes and bid farewell to Randy, who was turning around right back to JFK, being OpenSkies’ first mileage runner! He even gave out a few shirts to FlyerTalkers, and as always couldn’t have been a more gracious or generous host.

We then discussed plans for our stay in Paris, and eventually all headed towards our hotels. I shared a cab with another FlyerTalker to the InterContinental Le Grand, and about 30 minutes later we were there.

More to come in my next installment (the actual stay in Paris, followed by the return journey), but I’d just like to wrap up this installment by summing up my OpenSkies experience on the outbound. Overall I was very impressed by the product. The seat is amazing and is an excellent value at the price they charge for PREM+, the entertainment is good, the food is good, and the employees are friendly. I am convinced that with time they’ll continue to improve their efficiency and maintain their friendliness, and have the ability to be by far the best carrier on this route.

The one thing which surprised me was the fact that this didn’t at all seem like an inaugural flight. Maybe my perception was off, but I thought there would have been a party at the gate at JFK, gift bags aboard (including inaugural flight certificates), and executives onboard. None of this was the case, which was a bit disappointing purely in terms of an inaugural flight experience, especially from an airline like OpenSkies, which is part of a company that isn’t exactly short on funding in this regard.

Still, overall two thumbs up!

More to come…

As everyone should know by now, I love visiting the UAL ALPA website, both for the entertainment value as well as to see what they’re thinking. They just posted a new “5 Questions With…” interview, which I always enjoy because they’re consistently the most poorly produced and poorly acted out interviews out there (well, perhaps with the exception of this one). This one made me laugh out loud, especially with question five. This captain really gets right to the point!

United Airline told its pilots, Monday, that it intends to eliminate about 950 pilot jobs, starting at summers’ end, when the Chicago-based carrier will begin grounding aircraft in large numbers.United, the nation’s second-largest carrier, intends to send furlough notices to about 1,450 pilots with the least seniority, including those already on military or personal leaves of absence.

(full article here)

Ouch, this is going to sting, especially for passengers, in my opinion. I’m not so sure if UA took the right approach here, but I’m no expert. It would seem to me to make more sense to offer the senior pilots some kind of a buy-out option, which could not only make the pilots as a whole less bitter, but potentially save UA money. The more senior pilots are often paid more due to the fact that they’re maxing out their pay scale, so a more junior pilot flying the same plane could actually be quite a bit cheaper.

Regardless, I don’t even want to think of the implications here. I’m sure we’ll see less Channel 9, more cancellations due to deferrable maintenance items, and less announcements/updates from the flight deck. Many captains will be downgraded to first officers, many will go from large aircraft to smaller aircraft, and many will lose their job. This one’s gonna really hurt, in my opinion.

DENVER – A woman faces federal charges after she allegedly lit up a cigarette on a flight and then assaulted a flight attendant, forcing the plane to land in Denver.

JetBlue flight 643 was on its way from JFK airport in New York City to San Francisco when the pilot had to make an unexpected landing at Denver International Airport Tuesday afternoon.

According to an arrest affidavit filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office, 35-year-old Christina Szele of Woodside, NY, “smoked in her seat; yelled obscenities and racial epithets” and later punched a male flight attendant in the face.

(full article here)

Simply amazing. You’d think people would have heard about being arrested as a result of actions on a plane in the past and would learn from that, but I guess that doesn’t stop some people.

Whew, just landed at JFK and am in the Admirals Club. I’m bound for TPA in a bit, at which point the fun task of uploading, resizing, and posting 200+ pictures happens. Add to that nearly 20 word pages worth of text, and it looks like it might take me a few days to get the full report up.

All I can say is WOW, on so many levels! Stay tuned.:)

Just wanted to say hello from Paris! I went to bed last night at 7PM and woke up at 4AM, which worked out well since I had a solid three hours to work on my trip report before heading to the club for breakfast. So far I’ve taken 120 pictures and my trip report is about ten word pages so far, so as promised it’ll be detail filled. I’m having a great time in Paris and will try to get the trip report up as soon as possible.