Air France A330-200 Business Class CDG-ORD
This trip went through a million changes as is typical with me. It had settled as an Air France R/T to Europe. Then Lufthansa got in the way. I canceled the outbound which was on an Air France 787-9. I would have canceled this return for Lufthansa back, but I bought a non-refundable Promo reward. It’s one thing to give up the points, but with these promo rewards, you give up the taxes and fees as well. Those were around $325 for this flight.
I was excited to try Air France so I arrived a little early to check out their new international lounge in Terminal 2. They did a beautiful job in my opinion. Lounge entry is granted by a kiosk.
A wall map shows how expansive this lounge is.
Various seating areas with a view of a taxiway.
The food was lounge typical. At lunch time it was mostly salad items and a few soups.
I headed out of the lounge towards the gate to check out Terminal 2. It’s a beautiful terminal, like a shopping mall.
With Air France A380 views.
My first impression of the A330 business class cabin is, dense.
Air France on this A330-200 with the new business class seats has 6 rows of 6 across seating. Rows 1-4 are in the front, while 5 and 6 are in a mini cabin behind the galley. I was never able to get back to the mini cabin to take a photo.
Center seats with a sliding partition.
Window seats, with a sliding partition. Notice how narrow the shared center table is. At one point when hot towels were distributed my neighbor and I both took off our glasses. I picked his when putting them back on! We had a laugh. Other than that he snored most of the time.
My seat, 4K, stains and all.
Space of course is at a premium. A nifty idea was to have a small cabinet with the door acting as a shelf for stuff underneath the monitor. Below is a cubby hole for your feet and below that shoes can be stored.
The footwell is very narrow.
Charging ports without a true space to place the device that is being charged.
Unless it’s a phone or a mini tablet, you can put it next to the headphones and break the rules.
Small slot to store a small bottle of water next to the seat.
In addition to the show you are watching, you can watch at least 2 others. It’s like being at a sports bar watching multiple games.
The lavatories are fairly good size on these A330s.
Waiting at the seat were today’s amenities. What is the saying? Waste not, want not?
I will say the 18.5 inch touch screen monitor is excellent.
With an onboard camera, excellent!
And this touch panel for monitor control as well as lighting was well thought out.
In the photos of the cabin you probably saw the blue menus. Turns out they were the wrong menus and there wasn’t enough time to find the right menus. So when the FA (who’s name I never got) came by for ordering it was chicken or beef, I think. Very heavy french accent.
Pass on these.
Canapé which was tasty. Can’t tell you what it was tho other than a roasted red pepper.
Wine service by cart.
Air France serves a dual appetizer and salad with cheese on the initial tray.
These items were delicious. The middle plate is some kind of quinoa salad with butternut squash. The other is a fish tartar. And of course delicious french bread. And a nice portion of cheese.
Unfortunately the party ended there. This was probably the worst beef I’ve ever had anywhere. And what came with it wasn’t any better.
Amends were partially made.
Upon arrival another meal was served. It was a potato rosti I believe. It was quite good.
This however would make me come back. I think it was a rhubarb salad, whatever it was it was incredible.
As we taxied out caught a glimpse of an Air France 787.
Redemption
As mentioned I got this flight on a promo sale, which are great if you can get one. Only 43,500 points and the taxes. But again, if you have any chance of not taking the flight you lose the points AND the taxes, so buyer beware.
Carrier: Air France
Date: August, 2019
Route: Paris (CDG) - Chicago
Flight #: 136
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300 (F-GZCK)
Configuration: C36 / W21 / Y167
Seat(s): 1K
On Time: Yes
Reward Flying Rating: 6.4 out of 10 ✈
Cabin: ✔︎ It is surprising to me that Air France would spend millions euros for another type of business class seat that doesn’t have all aisle access on an international aircraft . It is not possible to exit a window seat without asking your neighbor to move. And on an overnight flight that is a problem. This was a day flight and not such an issue, but I would never fly this aircraft overnight.
Cabin/Seats Rating: 5 out of 10 ✈
Food/Amenities: ✔︎ The food was actually good with the exception of the main course which was beyond terrible.
IFE/WiFi: ✔︎ The IFE system was quite good. Great size monitor, good content and easy to use. Unfortunately you can see too many of them.
Amenity/Food rating: 6 out of 10 ✈
Flight Attendants: ✔︎ This was an above average crew with the exception of having a bit of a language barrier. But then again, this is a French airline so who’s fault is that!
Flight Attendant rating: 7.5 out of 10 ✈
Aircraft: ✔︎Airbus A330. The A330 is my least favorite long haul aircraft. I find them to be very loud.
Aircraft rating: 5 out of 10 ✈
Air France #136 ranking against other Reward Flying international business class flights.
