Web Resources

Printable Version of Full Newsletter.

Page 1 | 2 | 3

AIR FRANCE
It was time to hit the road again and I was back at LAX Terminal 2 checking in for my Air France flight. It took a total of two minutes to get my boarding pass and the majority of that time was spent waiting for the agent to find out if it was okay if I brought two carry-ons on board. According to the Air France website, passengers are only allowed one carry-on but since both my bags were small, they cut me a break. Though, I'm not sure how much of a break I got because I saw a lot of other passengers, including those flying economy, with the same amount of luggage as me.

TERMINAL 2
Flight 69 was due to depart at 7:25pm but was delayed 45 minutes. That wasn't too bad especially since the 4:30pm flight had been delayed six hours. Yikes! There was a long line to get up to security but I saw a guy out of the corner of my eye walk to a not-so-visible elevator. Naturally I followed him. Sure enough, it was secret way to bypass the long line. The moment we stepped off the elevator, a TSA agent got out of his chair and checked our boarding passes and IDs. "This sure beats waiting in the line below," I said. "It sure does," he replied. "But hardly anyone knows about it." Now you do.

LOUNGE
Air France's business class passengers get to use Northwest Airlines' (their Skyteam partner) lounge. This has to be one of LAX's worst lounges. It's small, dark, old and in dire need of an upgrade. However, it does offer free wireless; no wonder so many people were sitting out front with their laptops. But across the hall is Air New Zealand's lounge, which just so happens to be one of the nicest lounges at LAX. It's only available to Air New Zealand, Virgin Atlantic and Air France first class passengers. Inside, it's bright, airy, has free Internet and all kinds of free drinks and food: chicken noodle soup, ready-made sandwiches, deli meats to make your own sandwiches, an assortment of cheeses and Caesar salad. They even have servers passing around lamb chops and vegetable quesadillas. It was so civilized, I contemplated stopping by even when I'm not traveling.



LOS ANGELES TO PARIS
There were two lines to board the plane: a long line for economy and a short one for premium passengers. The 777-300 plane featured Air France's new state-of-the-art seats. They are vibrantly colored and have footrests, even in economy, which is called Tempo. Each seat has an individual video screen, too. In Tempo class, screens are 6.4 inches wide, while in business and first they're 10.4 inches. The premium classes feature videos on demand. The seats are 21 inches wide. They recline to what is supposed to be a 180-degree angle, but don't actually go completely flat. At first glance, my headphones looked cheap and dirty but they were actually noise-canceling headphones, designed to reduce the noise volume. After rummaging through my lovely amenity bag, I discovered little paper covers for the headphones, which turned out to be a nice feature. The only thing missing was lip balm.

DINNER TIME!
The flight attendants were attractive, mostly between the ages of 30 and 40, and all cheerful. They came around with pre-takeoff drinks (champagne, water or fruit juice) and offered a variety of newspapers. We had a short taxi, maybe seven minutes, before taking off. Once over the Pacific, we made a sharp turn, right back over the airport. They rolled out the drink cart and handed out drinks and small boxes of mini crackers. Later, hot towels were passed around and dinner was served. For appetizers, the choice was salmon or dried beef salad. Then the hot meal: scallops, beef or the special of the day, which this time, was ravioli stuffed with peppers and eggplant. They also gave everyone a cheese plate. Dessert was a choice of sorbet (mango, strawberry and kiwi), chocolate cake (which looked better than it tasted), apple crisp or a fruit plate.

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
Once the dinner service was over so, it appeared, was the flight attendants' work. The lights were turned out and that was it. The flight attendants didn't come by again on the nine-hour, 42-minute flight until breakfast, about 90 minutes out. We were off the coast of Ireland when they turned the cabin lights on and brought out the breakfast food cart (pancakes or an omelet). I was later told it's because of France's strong unions that they have to have so much time off. But if a passenger wants something, there's a self-service bar and one FA on call. Oh, the French and their breaks. It was just as well that my seat was very comfortable and I was able to sleep for a few hours. Air France, Tel: 800-237-2747.

VIDEO
Sorry, no video this week. But we do have all the Johnny Jet videos ever made on YouTube.

NEXT WEEK
Next week I will tell you about my trip to Paris and the momentous event. Au revoir!

1 | << PREVIOUS PAGE | 3

Note: This trip was sponsored in part by Tourism Authority of Thailand, Canadian Media Marketplace and Air France.





Copyright 2008 JohnnyJet, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.