Here comes the time for the Norse Atlantic flight to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle.
As a reminder, here is the itinerary followed:
This series of articles is a collaboration between TravelGuys and Norse Atlantic. Therefore, the route between New York JFK and Paris Charles-de-Gaulle was courtesy of Norse.
The rest of the air itinerary and the hotel stays were financed directly by us. While we, at TravelGuys, try to maintain a certain level of objectivity, our comments about the airline may be subject to an obvious cognitive bias.
Check-In and ground experience
The morning of the departure, I proceed to the online check-in formalities for this Norse Atlantic flight to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle.
The procedure is very simple through the airline’s website.
However, the process does not result in the issuance of a boarding pass, but rather a simple check-in confirmation, with the boarding pass collection happening at the counter.
I arrived at the terminal 7 of New-York JFK a little more than 2 hours before the departure of the flight.
Norse Atlantic checks in passengers from the E area located on the far right as you enter the terminal.
When I arrived in the area, the Premiumcheck-in line was deserted, while the Economy check-in line was full.
A charming check-in agent proceeds with the check-in and issues my boarding pass for Paris.
Even if I travel light this time, my hand luggage is weighed and a luggage tag affixed to the handle.
I then head towards security checks which will be cleared in less than 5 minutes before I get airside.
Strange to be in this terminal once used by British Airways, which has since moved to T8 at JFK.
Norse does not offer a lounge even to its Premium passengers, so I will go to work in a quiet area where no flight is scheduled to depart.
Boarding
Due to the late arrival of the inbound flight from Berlin, our boarding is delayed by a few minutes.
An announcement is made to warn us, and once about fifteen minutes have passed, the boarding starts with the Premium passengers before everyone else, and I will be the first to board.
Cabin and welcome
The Premium cabin on this Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is large, occupying all the space between the 1st and 2nd doors.
The gray tones are elegant.
The seat is very comfortable for a Premium Economy seat, far superior to those found on European or American carriers. It is equivalent to a Domestic First seat, rather than a magnified economy seat.
The controls are simple and mechanically operable. The recline is very good.
On the left, on the window side, there is a large foldable table, which will allow me to take your meals and write these few lines.
On the right, a good size IFE screen of the latest generation, allows to follow the progress of the flight (in text mode only, no map available), to watch movies and TV series.
During boarding, the crew regularly passes by to assist passengers, as well as distribute welcome drinks. Your choice of plain water, orange or apple juice.
Service and catering
The service starts 15 minutes after take-off, with the distribution of blankets and headphones. No amenity kit or pillows.
Proper service really starts 5 minutes later with the beverage service. The red wine is not bad but served too cold.
Obviously, turbulence begins right afterwards, so much so that the service will have to be delayed and the cabin crew tied up. I fell asleep at the start of the meal service, woke up in the middle of it and the purser came back to serve me. Two hot dish options will be offered: chicken with vegetables and pasta, or beef with sauce.
I chose the chicken, but didn’t finish my dish even though it was pretty good.
I did not eat the dessert, which looked like a panna cotta.
In the end, I would say that the meal was more Economy than Premium.
I slept on and off for 3 1/2 hours before breakfast service began.
The trolley woke me up, but the crew already put my meal on the adjoining seat. It was a hot sandwich with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes, not bad but I was really not hungry.
The purser brought me a black coffee that lasted until landing.
Arrival and disembarkation
The flight arrived almost an hour early at Terminal 3 of Paris Charles-de-Gaulle. It is always impressive to disembark on the tarmac after a long-haul flight, and the pre-positioned buses took us to the terminal in a few minutes, and was landside after a few moments thanks to PARAFE.
Bottom line
A hard and a soft product that are quite strong. The hard product is very good, better than most majors in Premium Economy.
On the other hand, the soft product is very light, and could be clearly improved in terms of performance. The crew was perfect.
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