Help with identifying Delta/Air France Equipment ATL-CDG

[Iamthesea]

My husband and I are trying to book Atlanta-Paris round trip with Delta.   Premium Economy (going) and Business (back.) The best price is on an Air France flight - DL8606.   The equipment says it's a Boeing 777-300ER. 

 

When looking on Seatguru, there are 3-4 different equipment models.  However, none of guru's seat layouts match the seat layout shown on the Delta website where we pick our seats.     

 

Could anyone tell us which equipment layout to look for?  We do not want to make a mistake and choose the wrong seat.  Also, one of the models gets terrible reviews for those two classes on the Air France airplane.  Should we stay away from Air France?

[CruiserBruce]

Pretty sure DL8606 is going to be an Air France plane, so you should be looking on Seatguru at Air France 737-300ERs. Yes, I see there are several models...you may not know exactly which model you are flying until a few days out. However, it looks like you might be flying on the version that doesn't have Le Premiere class seats, based on a random check of dates.

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, Iamthesea said:

When looking on Seatguru ...

 

47 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

... so you should be looking on Seatguru ...

 

Actually, the better advice is that you should not be looking at Seatguru at all. Ever. Ever. Ever.

 

For an Air France B777, this is the page that you want, on what (IMHO) is by far the best seating layout site currently available on the Internet: https://www.aerolopa.com/af-boeing-777-gallery

[FlyerTalker]

Careful.  Cruise Critic is owned by Trip Advisor, as is SeatGuru.  Both are owned by Expedia.

[Iamthesea]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Pretty sure DL8606 is going to be an Air France plane, so you should be looking on Seatguru at Air France 737-300ERs. Yes, I see there are several models...you may not know exactly which model you are flying until a few days out. However, it looks like you might be flying on the version that doesn't have Le Premiere class seats, based on a random check of dates.

  Yes, I was looking at SG, and I was looking at the Air France planes.  Are you saying that I should look at the 737 versus the 777?  Confused!  

2 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

For an Air France B777, this is the page that you want, on what (IMHO) is by far the best seating layout site currently available on the Internet: https://www.aerolopa.com/af-boeing-777-gallery

 Thank you!

 

The dates we are looking at are in May.  Our cruise actually sails out of a port near Amsterdam, but the flights in and out of AMS are way too high!  We thought we could do a pre-cruise stay in Paris and then take the train to Amsterdam.  Do a couple of days in Amsterdam post-cruise and take train back by way of Bruges (for one night) and on to Paris for the flight out.

[CruiserBruce]

16 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

  Yes, I was looking at SG, and I was looking at the Air France planes.  Are you saying that I should look at the 737 versus the 777?  Confused!  

 Thank you!

 

The dates we are looking at are in May.  Our cruise actually sails out of a port near Amsterdam, but the flights in and out of AMS are way too high!  We thought we could do a pre-cruise stay in Paris and then take the train to Amsterdam.  Do a couple of days in Amsterdam post-cruise and take train back by way of Bruges (for one night) and on to Paris for the flight out.

No...typo on my part. You can't make a flight of this distance in a 737. It should be a 777-300.

[Iamthesea]

Thanks. 😉

 

Well, after reading reviews of these airplane seats, I am not sure we even want to try Premium Economy.  The Business Class don't get very good reviews, either.  Looked at KLM going to/from AMS.  Those planes also get bad reviews.  All complaints are about narrow and short seats, leg cramps, uncomfortable cushions, etc.  I'll be darn if we pay more to be uncomfortable.  I wish we could still book the middle seat in Economy and have that extra seat between us.  I have heard that it cannot be done anymore.  Or, we can reserve, but the airline can take the seat away if needed for another passenger.

[FlyerTalker]

If you don't like those seats, why are you limiting yourself to a Delta ticket?  There are numerous other options to get a PE seat to Europe.

[Iamthesea]

We are wanting to fly out of ATL which is Delta's hub.  We like to fly non-stop across the pond, but do not mind a stayover once there. 

 

Please give advice, if you have other ideas!

  

BTW- Delta's equipment has good seats.  We have flown Business overseas on their planes, and have seen the Premium Economy seats in person.  PE on Delta are more like the old Business/First Class seats and would be comfortable enough. However, their ticket pricing is outrageous for this trip!

 

What I am reading about Air France and KLM PE is that the seats narrow from waist down and the leg movement room is diminished.  I am tall, and also need to be able to turn to my side occasionally when taking a long flight.

[FlyerTalker]

Seems like you are going to have to make some compromises.  Decide your priorities.

 

Fly Lufthansa via Frankfurt.  BA via Heathrow.  Or Virgin Atlantic, Qatar or Turkish.  How about United or American?

 

Limiting yourself to DL/AF/KL will result in a limited subset of possibilities.

Edited November 8, 2022 by FlyerTalker

[Zach1213]

FlyerTalker is spot on. I understand feeling like you need to fly DL out of ATL because they're the biggest, but plenty of other airlines (both US-based and Europe-based) do fly out of ATL and that results in many, many opportunities to find a good balance between schedule, comfort, and price. The more filters you put on to it (needs to be Skyteam/DL/AF, needs to be nonstop, etc.), the fewer options you have to choose from. 

[Host Mike]

I fly these routes fairly often between US and CZ via Paris and Amsterdam.  Between the SkyMiles Holy Trinity of Delta, KLM, and AF.   Delta has a superior business class (Delta One) and premium economy (Premium Select) above the other two.

[Iamthesea]

Thanks, Host Mike for the confirmation!   Prague is one of our favorite destinations.  Perhaps we should fly to Prague!!! 😉

 

American flies from CLT in our area.  I suggested that to my husband, but if we drive someplace, we pick Atlanta because our daughter lives there.  We can drive to her and spend the night before our flight.  We could fly out of our local airport, TRI to CLT or ATL, but that adds on  $400+ pp to the ticket price, plus hotel. 

 

Husband does not like United.  And we really want to avoid going through NY.  Coming back would not be terrible, but we just want to get on a plane and fly directly overseas before staring our travels over there.

 

We have looked into going through LHR, and then taking a short flight to AMS.  About two weeks ago I found a fantastic price in PE from ATL-LHR on Virgin.  When I looked again later that night to show my husband, it was gone.  We like Virgin.  Very comfortable Business, so would think their PE would be, as well.  I am going to check that route out again.  Is there really a better time of week, and time of day to check flights?

 

Currently, we are seeing flight prices anywhere from $3500pp - $4500pp for PE, and $4500pp - $6500pp for Business.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Iamthesea

[Zach1213]

Having family in ATL definitely gives it an edge, I get that. 

 

As far as better days to check for fares - no, not really. Anyone who says there is ("Tuesday at 11:42am when it's sunny") is mostly full of it. 

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

Currently, we are seeing flight prices anywhere from $3500pp - $4500pp for PE, and $4500pp - $6500pp for Business.

 

I have no idea where you are getting those prices, but I am finding flights in PE for under $2500 round trip, and business from ATL to AMS for about $3000.

 

I'd be all over that $3k in business for round-trip.  Turkish Airlines, which also gives you the opportunity for free stopovers and/or hotel in Istanbul.  Great opportunity to visit another great city as part of your trip.

[Iamthesea]

Are you looking at Delta's site, non-stop, and for my dates?🤷‍♀️

 

P.S.  We have been to Istanbul. Been about 10 years ago. I thought it very interesting.  My husband did not like it, so I don't think he would go for a stopover.

😕

Edited November 9, 2022 by Iamthesea

[*Miss G*]

On 11/7/2022 at 4:21 PM, Iamthesea said:

My husband and I are trying to book Atlanta-Paris round trip with Delta.   Premium Economy (going) and Business (back.) The best price is on an Air France flight - DL8606.   The equipment says it's a Boeing 777-300ER. 

 

When looking on Seatguru, there are 3-4 different equipment models.  However, none of guru's seat layouts match the seat layout shown on the Delta website where we pick our seats.     

 

Could anyone tell us which equipment layout to look for?  We do not want to make a mistake and choose the wrong seat.  Also, one of the models gets terrible reviews for those two classes on the Air France airplane.  Should we stay away from Air France?

 

You won’t be able to pick your seats from the Delta website… you will need to create a Flying Blue account, use the AF reference # you’ll get from the Delta booking, and then you can log onto AF and pick your seats.

 

I just flew AF 777-300ER CDG-IAD and the Business Class had a 1-2-1 configuration, pod seats.  (See pic).  Due to KLM cancelling my flight last minute, I ended up in AF Economy.  Don’t do AF Economy!  The food was great; probably the best I’ve ever had on a flight, but the Economy seat was miserable.  I would fly AF again but in nothing less than Business.

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

Oh....you want non-stops at the cheapest price.

 

That's why you find that kind of pricing.  Put in a connection and save thousands.

 

Glad you can afford that kind of spending.

[Iamthesea]

Yes, we could afford it, but would prefer the least expensive that we can find, non-stop to AMS OR someplace in Europe or the UK where we can get to AMS by train or with a quick flight.  We do not mind the return having a stop, however.   Ideally would prefer it also be non-stop.  Who wouldn't! 

 

I looked back to our last overseas flight, in Business, which was in May of 2019.  We paid $3600pp, non-stop from ATL-BCN, beginning in our home airport, TRI.  I guess those days are gone.  

 

This past July, we flew in Delta Comfort+ (there were 4 of us and we sat in a 4 row) we paid $2300pp round/multi trip TRI-ATL-LHR and CDG-ATL-TRI.  We vowed that we will never fly overseas again without being in Business.  But after checking prices...🙄 that's why we are looking at Premium Economy.

 

Thank you *Miss G*. 😉

[Zach1213]

9 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

Yes, we could afford it, but would prefer the least expensive that we can find, non-stop to AMS OR someplace in Europe or the UK where we can get to AMS by train or with a quick flight.  We do not mind the return having a stop, however.   Ideally would prefer it also be non-stop.  Who wouldn't! 

 

 

I definitely appreciate that you're referencing the ability to finish your journey by train. That's something I do quite frequently in Europe because it's generally quite enjoyable. London, Paris, Brussels, and even Frankfurt (which has an extremely handy long distance train station right at the airport) are good options to fly in to and continue by train to Amsterdam.

 

Alternatively, one good option is to fly in to London, spend a day or so there, and finish with a flight out of London City airport to Amsterdam or even Rotterdam. 

[*Miss G*]

11 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

that's why we are looking at Premium Economy.

 

The PE seats were a 2-4-2 configuration and nicer than regular Economy.  I must admit I got complacent when I did the VCE-CDG leg in AF’s European product, an Airbus A320 if memory serves, as the Economy seats were quite comfortable.  I would definitely give PE a try on AF.

 

Another option would be to purchase PE then ask at check-in whether there are any Business Class seats available for purchase.  (Get there early.)  Sometimes you can snag one for a pretty good price if they have any available.  Worst case scenario is you have a PE seat.

Edited November 9, 2022 by *Miss G*

[Iamthesea]

2 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

 

I definitely appreciate that you're referencing the ability to finish your journey by train. That's something I do quite frequently in Europe because it's generally quite enjoyable. London, Paris, Brussels, and even Frankfurt (which has an extremely handy long distance train station right at the airport) are good options to fly in to and continue by train to Amsterdam.

 

Alternatively, one good option is to fly in to London, spend a day or so there, and finish with a flight out of London City airport to Amsterdam or even Rotterdam. 

 

We love traveling by train overseas!  We have had quite a few funny adventures.

 

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

 

The PE seats were a 2-4-2 configuration and nicer than regular Economy.  I must admit I got complacent when I did the VCE-CDG leg in AF’s European product, an Airbus A320 if memory serves, as the Economy seats were quite comfortable.  I would definitely give PE a try on AF.

 

Another option would be to purchase PE then ask at check-in whether there are any Business Class seats available for purchase.  (Get there early.)  Sometimes you can snag one for a pretty good price if they have any available.  Worst case scenario is you have a PE seat.

 

From what I am reading, once the seats are put back for relaxing, the leg room is not that great in either class for someone that is tall.

 

We are still looking at other options and playing around with dates.  I will update when we find something.

[waterbug123]

On 11/7/2022 at 4:21 PM, Iamthesea said:

My husband and I are trying to book Atlanta-Paris round trip with Delta.   Premium Economy (going) and Business (back.) The best price is on an Air France flight - DL8606.   The equipment says it's a Boeing 777-300ER. 

 

 

 

Ok I have to ask.... why business on the way back instead of the way there?  Most people opt for the better seats on the way over to Europe, in order to have the best chance at getting some sleep on the redeye flight.  The flight home will be a daytime flight, where sleep is usually less important.

[Iamthesea]

Haha, I knew someone would ask that.  At the time we were looking at only PE for flights.  We saw the ATL-CDG route and clicked on a decent fare for PE, but when we got to the "return" flight, the Business Class was only $200 more pp than the PE.  My husband got excited because he thought it was round trip (says so under the price.)  However, once we clicked on it, only the return was on Business.  The flight over was still on PE.  I cannot remember the cost to fly over on Business, but it was at least $1500pp more.

[Globaliser]

On 11/12/2022 at 1:41 AM, Iamthesea said:

At the time we were looking at only PE for flights.  We saw the ATL-CDG route and clicked on a decent fare for PE, but when we got to the "return" flight, the Business Class was only $200 more pp than the PE.  My husband got excited because he thought it was round trip (says so under the price.)  However, once we clicked on it, only the return was on Business.  The flight over was still on PE.  I cannot remember the cost to fly over on Business, but it was at least $1500pp more.

 

You can sometimes get lucky like that. Assuming that it didn't lock you in to undesirable fare conditions, and that it wasn't actually better value to go down to economy on that sector, then $200 pp extra to go from premium economy to business was a good price, even if it was only one-way.