Ok, so for those that are interested, my trip on AF metal with an AF ticket went reasonably well, and the product (I was travelling in PE for this trip) is very good too.
The good:
- Granted access to the Sky Team lounge in LHR T4 without question. The lounge is pretty ok too. Not the clubhouse, of course, but quite, comfortable and a good selection of help-yourself food and drink downstairs. I didn't go upstairs, where hot food was available.
- Granted access to the AF lounge in CDG T2E, Gates K. Initial the receptionist said no, both outbound and inbound, as my status wasn't appearing in the system, nor was I listed as a passenger with access. A quick flash of the Flying Club gold card, and I got an 'Ah, Virgin - welcome to our lounge'
- PE seats are very nice. They don't recline in the normal way, but the seat bottom slides forward, and the back slides down and tilts all within a fixed outer frame. You therefore do not tilt back into the passenger space behind you. There is also an integrated foot rest, and the overall tilt very good. Got some of the best sleep I've had in PE seating! These were on a Dreamliner out, and an A380 back. The Dreamliner seat was slightly better, and I think a new generation version of the seats.
- Main meal was excellent - very French, and served well cooked.
- The cabin crew were excellent, all spoke good English and switched to it when I struggled with my (now ancient) school French
- Tier points and miles for the first leg were credited yesterday. I was expecting to have to chase this.
The bad:
- I was denied access to the lounge (The Grand Lounge Elite) in MEX. My status wasn't showing on the system, they didn't recognise the FC gold card and calling AF in departures, they also said I didn't have access. The only option I was offered was to go to the AF desk to try to sort it out, but I was air-side and the desk in departures. I called FC, and they were helpful, but could only apologised and said they couldn't do anything directly or quickly, to resolve it before I flew. Promised to escalate it internally, and to complain to AF. I also tried calling AF, but there were no numbers that appeared open - this would have been around 11PM UK / midnight CET. I gave up, which is a shame, as my longest wait was MEX, and the air-side there isn't that great for extended waits.
- The WiFi I paid for on the flight from CDG-BOG was unusable. I'll be trying to get a refund for that.
- The AF lounge in CDG T2E, K is nothing special. Similar to Delta lounges in much of the US. I'm not sure if VS status will give access to La Premiere lounge, and I couldn't see where it was! Next trip via CDG, I'll try harder to find it, and get access
Overall, a positive experience, and I'll fly AF again where Virgin don't offer a good option. I walked through the Business cabin, which looked ok, but isn't VS UC. 2+2+2 configuration, with more distance between rows to allow a lay flat seat configuration, but not ideal since not everyone will have aisle access. Climbing over, or being climbed over with the seat flat doesn't appeal, unless I was missing something on how the seats would work.
Outbound I was offered an upgrade from PE to Business for £200, which looks good value, but I declined as I wanted to experience the PE product.
For me this is definitely a good addition to the VS family, and will allow me to get to more destination with the benefits of my Flying Club status. I'd recently begun pushing my BA status due to needing to get to destinations not served by VS, but this will now change.
Fingers crossed From my rudimentary calculations it looks as though this might earn us 280 TP each (Z fare).
