Flight: AF969
Carrier: Air France
Origin: 22 Dec Punta Cana 21:05
Destination: 23 Dec Paris 10:30

Originally, we had booked with XL Airways for our flight from Punta Cana to Paris. It was a budget airline which offered competitive fares. A French court ordered the closure of long haul low cost airline XL Airways in October after it declared insolvency, the second carrier in France within a month to be wound up.

XL Airways flew to and from a small array of leisure destinations from France that included New York City, San Francisco, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Varadero, Cuba and Cancun, Mexico. Catering largely to a holiday audience, XL operated using a low cost model, charging holiday goers bargain basement rates for one-way tickets and then adding fees for seat selection, meals and baggage on top. And with a fleet of less than a half dozen widebody A330s, profit and operating margins were razor thin.

It was unfortunate that XL Airways had to close down, so we booked a backup flight with Air France which also flies the same route. For the one-way flight, the price of Air France was double that of XL Airways but we had no other choice.

On the day of our departure, we went to the airport three hours ahead of schedule as we drove all the way from Santiago de los Caballeros to Punta Cana, about six hours in total.

The check-in queue was long. After we repacked our stuff into the one luggage that we wanted to check in, we joined the queue. Air France charges US$60 for one piece of check-in luggage booked online, and even more expensive when purchased at the airport itself. Being a Flying Blue member, I paid US$50 for one piece of check-in baggage.

We were afraid that they would weigh our carry-on luggage when we checked in for our flight, but the agent just put the luggage tag on our check-in luggage, verified our visa status for France, and then handed to us the boarding passes. We were relieved.

The flight was delayed to 9.30pm due to late arrival of the aircraft. It was supposed to take off at 9.05pm. Being early, we went to the lounge. I used my Citibank Priority Pass to secure admission for the both of us.

As we were out the whole day without any hotel to go back to, we were glad to use the shower facilities in the lounge. The lounge was recently upgraded, so the interior was new. There was even an outdoor swimming pool in the lounge with views of the runway. However, no one was swimming at the time when we visited, as it was too much of a hassle to change to the swimsuit and then take a shower.

The food selection was small and the wraps were not delicious. The drinks at the cocktail bar were free, except for champagne and some premium wines. Dominican Republic is known for Mama Juana, a drink that is concocted by allowing rum, red wine, and honey to soak in a bottle with tree bark and herbs. The taste is similar to port wine and the color is a deep red. It is apparently an aphrodisiac. I tried this drink at the lounge and the alcohol content does not seem to be so strong.

To use the shower, you had to deposit your passport at the counter in exchange for a bag with a towel. You can also use the bag to put your clean clothes. After that, the shower was located at the back of the lounge, where you had to walk past the swimming pool. No one else used the shower except the both of us. It was spacious, with a wide changing area and the shower was equipped with shampoo and body foam. We felt invigorated after the shower and were ready for our long-haul overnight flight over the Atlantic.

Around 9pm when the lounge was closing, we went to the boarding gate which was just downstairs. Due to the large number of passengers going home for Christmas, the flight was quite full. It was chaotic at the boarding gate as people queued up in bunches to board the plane.

On board the plane, it was in a 3-4-3 seating configuration in Economy class. We were in the middle column with two seats by the aisle. It made it easier for us to go out to the lavatory instead of disturbing other people. We were given a blanket, eye mask and headphones for the flight. I wish they could have given an amenties kit containing toiletries as it was a red-eye flight.

One hour after take off, the cabin crew came around to serve dinner. It was ravioli with cheese or the other option was meat. It was quite late at night already and I did not want to eat too much. My wife fell asleep throughout the whole flight and did not eat anything. I also had a small bottle of sauvignon blanc, made in France of course, to go with my meal. The dessert was a slice of cake with lemon cream on top. The salad was average while the bread served was cold. It would have been better if they could heat up the bread.

After dinner, I watched a movie before catching 4 hours of sleep on the plane. I wanted to be refreshed and ready to explore the city when we arrive in Paris in the morning.

I woke up shortly after the cabin lights were turned on again. Refreshments were being served. As I looked at the flight map, I realised that we were almost arriving in Paris, about another hour of flight time.

As you can see from the photo, the in-flight entertainment screen used is so old. The touch sensitivity is so bad and using the remote control was better. Apparently Air France still has many of these old planes in their fleet which they have not upgraded. I have been used to other airlines such as Singapore Airlines, China Eastern or Thai Airways which use much newer planes with a wider screen and touch screen in-flight entertainment. Needless to say, the movie selection on this flight was little and only limited to twelve channels.

After the hot drinks were served, the crew distributed the breakfast set in this cute into carriers. It contains a sandwich, orange juice, yoghurt and jam. I liked the design of the bag. However, as usual, the sandwich was cold. I would have preferred a hot snack like what they would serve on Qatar Airways or Singapore Airlines. For the drinks selection, you could choose coffee, tea or hot chocolate. The stewardess only filled half of my cup when I asked for hot chocolate, as she was probably worried that there would not be enough to go around for all the passengers.

Lastly, this is the in-flight magazine. You can also download an electronic copy of the magazine on your phone through the application and read it on board. This month’s issue featured Shanghai, USA and Smolensk, a small city in Russia. The plane still landed at 10:30 which was the original scheduled time, but it took such a long time to taxi to the aerobridge as CDG airport was having a busy morning with many flights landing around the same time. The pilot had to wait for the previous plane parked at the gate to leave before our plane could be parked there, which resulted in a slight delay. We were excited to be back in Paris again, and the clear blue skies welcomed us.

Overall, it was a 6/ 10 flight with Air France. The food was not great, the breakfast was simple and the service of the staff was just the minimum. Even for a full-service airline, I expected better service such as distributing drinks to hydrate the passengers during the flight or to respond to the call signal. I saw one passenger who had to wait for 15 minutes before a crew member responded to him. I had better experience taking an Air France flight from Singapore to Paris, but this flight AF969 was below my expectations.