We were booked on the AF1380 out of CDG at 20.10.
We caught the Roissy bus from the Opera House & arrived at T2E at 6pm.
Looking at the departures board we were disappointed to see that our flight wasn't scheduled to depart until an estimated 21.15. Bummer.
After sorting ourselves out, I had a thought
.Why didn't we go to the AF desk & see if we could get onto the flight that departed at 20.45? I didn't tell 'love-him-as-I-do-but' that our tickets were the cheapest going & therefore non-exchangeable & non refundable
We queued for only a few of minutes & I enquired of the very pleasant agent if we could change to this flight as our scheduled flight was still saying ETA only. She took our boarding passes that we'd printed off at our hotel, tapped away at her screen for a couple of minutes then handed us 2 tickets for the earlier flight -no charge at all
Brilliant - then I told 'love-him-as-do-but' about our non exchangeable tickets
Our seats were 15D & F so I guessed that it was small plane.
We went through security in a matter of minutes & then had a meander for a while.
Our flight was called & we went to the departure gate to see a bus waiting for us. The bus took a good 10 minutes to get to the plane & all the time the planes were getting smaller
We passed 2 A380s, one for AF & one for Singapore & AF Concorde. We also saw several planes with the XL logo, all being got ready for flights but I don't know which airline was using them, maybe a guru on here knows?
Eventually we drew up by a prop job - an ATR 72-500 for those who want to know. I only know because I made a point of looking out for the info
Full load was 70 pax. We had to smile to ourselves as this is the smallest plane in the fleet & we'd flown out on the largest.It was so small that cabin baggage i.e small suitcases wouldn't fit in the overhead lockers so they had to be left at the bottom of the stairs by the rear entrance. We were given tickets in exchange for bags & then we handed the tickets in upon disembarking & collected our bags. Novel eh?
Our departure was delayed for some reason by half an hour but this didn't bother us as we were still getting back far earlier than if we'd had to wait for our scheduled flight. The flight was approx two thirds full.
There was a drinks & nibbles round which was appreciated
We took off into the sunset & followed it all the way to LHR. The view out of the window was stunning, London lit by the sun setting & its twinkling lights. We lined up over the Thames & saw the O2 & Wembley Arch.
We didn't have to circle, just came straight in to land
As we taxied to our gate the CCM reminded all pax to keep their seat belts on. A man a few rows in front of us decided that didn't apply to him & we heard the click as he undid it. A CCM from the rear shot up the aisle, said something to him & he put it back on. Good for the CCM.
This was a great flight because the AF agent at the AF desk at CDG was so kind to change us onto this flight without charge or attitude, just a smile & a 'you are welcome'. This is the type of assistance that keeps pax.
As we disembarked via the rear doors our bags were waiting for us
Upon entering T4 we rang Q Park & they arrived at the meeting point 2 minutes after us.
For those of you who read my outbound TR my 3 pairs of new shoes are lovely
