This is the 2nd part of my trip on Air France’s inaugural AirbusA380 flight from JFK to Paris.  There were so many special aspects and features to this trip that I broke the post in two parts.  The first part is HERE and covers the pre-departure festivities as well as the actual flight.  The second part, below, will cover the arrival in Paris and focus more on the airplane itself.

Here are some highlights of Air France’s A380

upper floor forward door

rear stairwell

door

mid galley

front stairs; directly across from these stairs are the stairs up to the cockpit

economy class cabin; very similar to other Air France cabins

the curve of the fuselage makes for a large gap between window seats and the wall of the plane on the first floor, in economy

Upper Deck, Business Class

first class

Each passenger was given this tote bag which included a model of the A380 (the stand commemorates the date and occasion) some cologne and perfume by Marcisco Rodriguez (on top of bag in picture) and a certificate.

After de-planning, there was this 2 piece “orchestra” and the jet bridge was lined with Air France employees greeting passengers

A few fleeting shots

Even after 12 hours of being submersed in everything that is the A380, I still had some adrenaline pumping as I walked away from the gate and the experience.  At first, second and third glance, I did not find the A380 much of an aesthetic pleasure, but having flown in it, I have a new appreciation for this magnificent airplane and the saying “beauty is only skin deep”

From Paris, I connected to Heathrow, flew American Airlines to JFK, then connected to a Mexicana Airlines flight to Mexico City.  I will post those trips within the next few days.  Thanks for coming by!

Air France Flight 380 On the 380 - Part I

Last week, Air France flew its first Airbus A380 route from Paris to JFK and then back to Paris.  As you may know, Air France is the first European carrier to fly the A380.  Instead of simply selling the tickets for the inaugural flights, Air France auctioned tickets via eBay and donated the majority, if not all, of the proceeds to several charities that help impoverished children.  Each winning bid was awarded travel on the A380 from either Paris to New York or vice versa, dependent upon which segment you were bidding on.  Also included was a return flight on the day of your choice on Air France.  Hotel and shopping discounts in either Paris or New York were also made available to winners of the auction.

With one day left in the auction, I decided to look at the range of bids.  Mind you, I have never bought or sold anything on eBay so I was somewhat unfamiliar with the process.  To my surprise, the bids for the JFK-Paris A380 trip were around $355 US dollars.  The bidding was intense in the last moments, primarily because bids were quoted in Euros.  When the auction was over, I had won a trip on the A380 for a mere $388 (give or take a few bucks) and it was for a great cause: Planereality.com!!  No….  Really the cause was to help the Air France Foundation support the following charities:

Francois Xavier Bagnoud Association: http://www.fxb.org

Arts Et development Association: http://www.artsetdeveloppement.com

Association Plan: http://plan-international.org

Like I mentioned, the price included return airfare, but JFK-Paris-JFK was way too simple of an itinerary for me so I threw in a couple of other legs for good measure…more on that in other posts.  Below is the first part of the experience.  I will cover the arrival in Paris and give you a brief tour of the A380 in Part II.

Each passenger was asked to bring a wrapped gift for a child to be donated to the Boys & Girls Club of Kips Bay.

Air France served champagne to anyone in this wing of Terminal 1, regardless of what airline one was flying.

It was a bit tricky getting photos of the plane in New York, but here are a few:

I was told by the gate agent there were over 500 passengers on the flight.  Getting evryone on the plane is an acheivment it itself.

This tote bag was placed at each seat.  Included in it, among other things, was a model of the A380.

The plane is equipped with 3 cameras:1 on the tail and 1 each on the nose and belly of the plane.

from the tail camera just after pushback from gate

dinner & breakfast menu for economy class

A few times throughout the flight, this 3 piece band made their way through the cabin.

I did manage at least 90 minutes of sleep, but was woken by some odd occurences.  The first time I woke, the band had arrived once again, this time right next time, playing Happy Birthday for someone in the row across from me.  Oddly, the second time I woke, there were several crew members gathered at that same row helping someone elevate their feet and fanning the person.  I could not figure out what was happening so I went back to sleep.  When I woke for good, I went and checked out the bar and snacks that had been set up for anyone’s enjoyment.  When I drew the curtain at the galley I found a small party of Frenchmen.  They all made fun of me because I was serving myself water and not champagne.  I got a big kick out of them and I too chuckled at myself.

Air France certainly made this flight memorable and special, pulling out all the stops for all passengers.  As mentioned, I will cover the arrival and give you a brief tour of the A380 in Part II.  Thank you for reading this post.

breakfast

Virgin America Ft. Lauderdale-San Francisco Inaugural
Departing From Terminal 1

Well, I knew there would be some type of celebration in true Branson form, but I thought it odd that only the SFO-FLL leg of this new route was celebrated. There was no mention of a new route on the flight I took. There wasn’t even a Virgin America agent greeting the flight in SFO…just like they had been flying this route for decades. I guess they did not realize I was coming.
I did find a suaree taking place at a remote tarmac spot in FLL. The two planes (the one that came from LAX and the one that came from SFO) faced each other. And there were some tents set up as well.

At check in, Virgin America staff came out from behind the desk to greet and assist passengers. Gates C1-C9 are separate from the main part of Terminal 1 and are assigned a separate security line. Chilis, Dunkin Donuts and a Continental President’s Club, which already had the Virgina America placard on its signage, (indicting a share agreement) line the terminal. There was tremendous communication between ramp/tarmac crew and gate agents.

Many ramp crew members came inside and chatted enthusiastically with gate agents. There was not a mob scene at the gate because the plane used is an Airbus A319 which only accommodates 116 passengers.

I felt like I was stepping into a club on South Beach upon boarding. I was surprised the flight attendant didn’t hand me some glow sticks. The whole plane was lit up with black lights, the seats were black leather and the backs of the seats were shiny, hard shell white plastic. The interior looked pretty funky indeed.

Headsets wrapped in plastic were given to all economy passengers.  The headsets were of the international business class caliber and the entertainment system was most impressive.

 Unless the captain or flight attnedant was making an announcement, you are free to use the in flight entertainment on the ground and even during takeoff and landing. The music had breadth and depth, definitely handpicked by someone who knows their music. I counted 51 pages of music x 5 artists per page; and not just albums, a compilation from each artist. There are also at least 10 “radio” channels categorized by genre for non-stop music listening.  Audio fades back in after an announcement interruption and the TV goes to picture in picture if you want to order food while watching TV or a movie. In addition, 2 dozen channels of satellite TV were offered.

The entertainment system, or Red as Virgin America calls it, also serves as the order portal for all food and beverages. All orders are placed and paid at your personal television.

My chicken warp, very fresh and tasty, was delivered in less than 5 minutes. 

No complimentary snacks were offered, only what was ordered, including water, was delivred to you.  Cocktails are $6, and the standard stuff is free: soft drinks, coffee etc…. Amenity kits, aspirin and sleep aids are also available for purchase through the one’s TV.

The comfort of the seat is comparable to any domestic economy seat, but the amount of recline seemed to be a bit less than other airline’s coach.

First Class Seats:

I’ve heard dreamy stories of beautiful, young super-model looking flight attendants on Virgin flights, regardless of the country. We had an all male cabin crew. You can take that comment however you like…
$99 fares can tend to attract a demographic looking for $99 fares, you can also take that comment any way you like …and while I am on a roll, there were a ton of blue hairs on this flight that were getting up every 20 minutes, grasping every seat for support as they moved about the cabin.  The three people in front of me got up a total of 7 times combined with the first 90 minutes of flight.

Why is Virgin America so much different than other U.S. based carriers? They execute  on the big AND little stuff very well. New interiors, top notch entertainment, A/C power at each seat. As for the little stuff: music in the bathrooms, special lighting, hard plastic holder on the seat back for stuff you don’t want to get crushed in addition to the regular mesh seat back pocket.
My guess is that it’s only a matter of time before legacy carriers adapt some of Virgin America’s best practices.

Next up, Air France’s A380 Inaugural JFK-Paris flight…should have plenty of puctures.  Have an excellent weekend!

1) We have a very/extremely/incredibly/totally/completely/entirely full flight today

• I think that would be a good thing for the airline, not an annoyance
• Your behavior, attitude, procedures should not change based upon the number of passengers

2) A description of what a roller bag is and instructions on how to place it in an overhead bin

3) Please hurry up and sit down so we can have on time departure

• Unless they are stockholders, and maybe not even then, passengers do not have a vested interest in an airline’s on-time performance rating

4) Flight attendants are here for your safety, if you need something, please ask

5) Making a mockery of pre-departure announcements: please see the Southwest rap video

6) People…at this point, just take any available seat so we can get out of here

• this one was new to me and barely made the list, but it is destined to become a classic

did I miss any?

• Asiana Airlines (OZ) #204 Seoul to LAX
• Boeing 777 2 class configuration
• Scheduled flying time: 11 hours

This report is from the 2^nd leg of a trip from Taipei to LAX with a connection in Seoul.  The first part of the report is here.  As much as possible, I would like to let the pictures do the talking for this post.  I do want to share a few aspects of my experience that came as a surprise to me when I crossed the Pacific with Asiana Airlines from Seoul to LAX.

I spent about twenty minutes in Asiana’s business class lounge, but did not notice anything terribly impressive.  There was a line to enter the lounge, even though there were 3 agents working the desk.  The lounge is huge with a ton of seating, but empty seats were few and far between.  There was a massive crowd around the hot pot used to boil water for instant noodles.  Available food consisted of pretzels, finger sandwiches, a salad bar, bread and of course, plenty of instant noodles.

Seoul’s Incheon Airport has free shower rooms which are cleaned very regularly.  I recommend utilizing them for bathroom trips or if you just want to freshen up.  They are very private and include a sink, toilet, shower and mirror.  The rooms are large enough for passengers to bring all of their luggage (including a luggage cart) into the actual shower room.

tonight's departures

Our 777 to LAX

After an orderly and on-time boarding, we departed close to schedule.  The first item that caught my attention was that there was no AVOD (Audio Video on Demand) available but rather 6 or 7 streaming movies, of which, only two were bearable.  I watched parts of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” intermittently throughout the flight.

The seats were almost identical to the ones on Asiana’s regional 767 service: business class seats that don’t even come close to 180 degree recline but do recline  further than old style business recliner seats.  My foot rest was not secured and was jarred out of place a few times.  Only half my seat controls were functional.  There were preset seat positions (landing, reading, sleeping) and those worked, but I could not tweak the seat position from there, although there were controls to do so.  I did manage about 2 hours sleep.

Seats 1H&K Bulkhead

forward galley

The tray table at the seat next to mine was broken and unsturdy, making for precarious eating for the guy next to me.  We were flying for 1 hour before passengers were served drinks, as Asiana serves drinks while  simultaneously serving meals.  Not an uncommon practice on international flights, but I would prefer separate services.

This all sounds pretty lousy right? Well, it actually wasn’t because Asina’s impeccable service and gourmet food made up for all of the cabin’s shortcomings.  See below.

My first meal consisted of surf and turf, which, admitantdly, I was too exhausted to get through.  My eyes were closing as I was attempting to savor the tender lobster tail.  Embarrassing, I know.

dinner appetizer

Incredible Surf & Turf

southerly routing

amenities in bathroom

Well before breakfast, I asked one of the flight attendants for something to eat.  Within minutes, she was back with a hot roast beef sandwich on a roll with fresh tomatoes and fruit on the side.  Above and beyond my expectations.  This is the second meal service:

delicious pumpkin cream soup

ahh...breakfast, spicy stir fried chicken

fruit and coffee to finish

business class cabin after arrival at LAX

amenity kit

The entire crew smiled the whole flight and if the service was not perfect, it was damn near close.  There was no request that was an inconvienice regardless of the hour.  I would, without hesitation, fly Asiana again, but I would be sure to look at this chart to determine which planes have on-demand entertainment.

Asiana: Awarded Airline of the Year 2009 by Air Transport World

There were a few restaurants on the second floor of the terminal, before security, and I was able to grab a late breakfast consisting of egg & beef in sauce over rice.  I was at the Asiana check-in counter when it opened, roughly 3 hours before departure.  A few shots of the terminal:

Just before the staff began checking in passengers, they all came out from behind the desk, lined up and sang a song in Chinese and then bowed.  You know, just like they do in the United States….

I was checked in through to Los Angeles and given lounge passes for Taipei and Seoul.  There was a long line at security and I did not see a first or business class dedicated check in line, but the line moved quickly, as passengers were not required to remove laptops or shoes nor were they required to show their toiletries in plastic bags.  Here is a write up about the Eva Airways Lounge, where I spent about an hour.

Asiana flies once daily from Taipei to Seoul using an Airbus A330-300 with the exception of Thursdays when a Boeing 767-300ER is used for the service.Because I was flying on a Thursday, the Boeing 767 was used for the short 1 hour 55 minute flight.  Our ride to Seoul:

 The 2-1-2  business class cabin configuration was 80% full.  After being seated, water and juice were offered, but I did notice that champagne was offered to the other aisle in business class.

I used the bathroom just before the meal service began and when I returned to my seat, I noticed that hot towels had been distributed.  I was sure they would give me one when I returned to my seat, but they didn’t and I had to ask.  Now, you might say, “gee, what kind of high maintenance passenger are you?”

In my defense, this is Asiana, known world-wide for spectacular service and I had very lofty expectitions for them.  It’s like when the Yankees don’t win a World Series, there are 29 teams that don’t win the World Series and their fans are not overly dissapointed, but for Yankee fans, the bar is set higher.  The Yankees are not evaluated on a relative basis (against other teams) rather on an absolute basis: themselves.  Between the champagne (or lack thereof) and the hot towel, Asiana, already had 2 strikes against them…pun intended.

Anyway, what a treat to be served a full hot meal on what amounted to be less than a 2 hour flight.  The beef was delicious and even the bread was soft.  Menu:

Post dinner drinks were refilled often and accompanied by a gourmet bag of nuts each time.  While the seats have plenty of legroom, I found them somewhat uncomfortable.  They recline more than typical domestic first class seats but do not go fully flat or even almost fully flat.  The seats are indeed comfortable but I just found them to be a bit awkward in the full recline position.  This is the seat in “full” recline:

All of the on-demand movies were in Korean, which is a problem if you do not speak Korean.  Luckily, the music selection was vast and I did enjoy flipping through a bunch of songs I had not heard in a while.  Slippers and headphones were placed at each business class seat before we had boarded.

The flight attendants were friendly as could be and very attentive, despite a few minor oversights.  What impressed me the most about Asiana was that, even on a short flight, they bring all the amenities to the table.  It seems they have one service mode: do everything in their power to please passengers, REGARDLESS of the length of flight. Well done Asiana!

Occasionally, if I find some interesting sites, I will post some photos or write about the locations I visit.  The locations are the OBW (oh, by the way) of Planereality.  Where I go is determined by which airlines I am interested in checking out and what the fares look like.  Rarely do I stay in a city for more than 3 nights.  Trip planning starts with airline tickets and I work backwards from there.  Anyway, below are some pictures from Taipei.  I stayed at the Riviera Hotel, which I found to have outstanding service, all the amenities and in a central location, all at a very reasonable price.

I stand out like a sore thumb in most foreign countries.  I scream “American” with my running shoes and blue jeans, but people in Taipei did not even give me a thought versus some places where folks do a second and third take; which is fine.  I don’t try to stand out or try to hard to fit in…I am what I am

Ching-Fu Temple

The Grand Hotel

Quingguong Night Market

Quingguong Night Market

city street

flying above military police headquarters

Thanks for coming by!

Well, I did not eat all three meals at the Eva Airways Lounge in Taipei, although with the abundance of food, I sure could have.  The day I visited the lounge, I was flying on Asiana Airlines from Taipei to Seoul.  Asiana premium customers enjoy access to the Eva Airways Lounge at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Terminal 2 (formerly known as Chiang Kai-shek International Airport).  One of many escalators brought me to the second floor, directly above security and customs, where the lounge entrance is located:

 The friendly desk attendant stood up, cheerfully greeted me and checked my boarding pass.   She pointed me to the right, towards what is called the “Club”.  I noticed there was some type of facility on the opposite side of the “Club” called “Lounge”.  I asked the desk agent what the difference was, and she explained that Asiana customers only have access to the Club.

The inside of the club was paneled with dark and light woods, complimented (or not) by two different tones of green leather …or at least something that was made to resemble leather.

The whole club is accented with Asian art pieces in glass display cases.  Towards the front of the lounge is a separate game room with a t least 4 flat screen televisions all of which had an XBOX 360 hooked up to them.  What a great feature to kill time or at least procrastinate.  Game room:

 The bathrooms were clean and there was some type of shower facility.  Toward the front of the lounge was the business center.  It was empty but looked to be very well appointed.  Business Center:

 O.K.-best part…the food!  There was a large U shaped, self service area and a separate dining area with seats for at least 25 people.  Anything (soda, water, milk, juice) you wanted to drink was available, but the liquor section was limited to 4 or 5 choices.  There were all types of noodles, fired rice with various sauces and toppings.  A separate section contained salads, rice and sweet cakes.  The most popular item seemed to be the steamer that contained all types of buns a.k.a. giant dumplings- stuffed with vegetables, pork or beef and they were outstanding!  There was even a desert bun that contained caramel or something of the sort.

japaneese curry chicken :

noodles:

very popular item? hot dogs, of course

 cold noodles, shredded pork, vegetable bun & spicy raddish:

An above average airport lounge, uh… club, made that much better by the quantity and quality of food choices.

I am curious as to how the Lounge section differs from the Club.  Guess I will have to go back to Taoyuan International and check it out.  Thanks for reading!