OpenSkies Passenger Reviews and OpenSkies Customer Trip Reports

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Airline Reviews

Airline Seat Reviews

Airport Reviews

OPENSKIES customer review :  22 February 2011 by J Prade    (USA)

Nice Business class (old style) seats from Orly (more convenient than CDG) to IAD Washington. Good ICARE Salon at ORY. Plane was half empty and we arrived ahead of schedule.

OPENSKIES customer review :  11 February 2011 by R Kaplan    (USA)

EWR-ORY return, Biz seats. Better than expected. Isn't up to BA flat bed, filet mignon and Terraces lounges, but for $750 one way, quite nice. Check-in swift and pleasant. EWR lounge comfy, decent drinks and snacks. Seat reclined nicely and plenty of room for our average sized bodies. Plane clean and in good shape. Food better than decent - much better than any US Majors. Nice wines, generously given. FAs pleasant and helpful. Amenity pack okay, but who cares? Didn't bother with AVOD. Disembarking quick and easy. ORY convenient as we got car and headed south right away. Everything on return flight at least as good, maybe somewhat better food and nicer lounge.

OPENSKIES customer review :  31 January 2011 by Leslie Gibbons    (USA)

Newark to Orly, plane was old but relatively clean. My seat was broken and did not recline. The flight was sold out and I was forced to sit perfectly straight for the entire flight and I landed exhausted. They say 100% satisfaction but that is not true. Despite several calls and letters I was offered nothing for my discomfort. I would not fly with them again, customer service was terrible, the experience poor.

OPENSKIES customer review :  30 December 2010 by B Detrick    (USA)

EWR-ORY return. Flight out was very efficient and EWR lounge was uncrowded. Outgoing flight to Paris was served by French staff, who were very attentive. This contrasted sharply with the flight back. Orly check in was disorganized, testing a new system with passengers as guinea pigs - 45 min line for check in. This was followed by a dark overcrowded lounge with indifferent staff. When I inquired about wifi, I was informed it hadn't worked in over a month and there were no expectations for future improvement. Orly lounge staff also failed to inform about a late change in gate assignment resulting in a delay in loading passengers. The American staff on return seemed indifferent and a bit dour. Flight time was good and inclined seats are still at a bargain price, but it would be so much better with an upgrade in attitude and simple service onboard and in Orly lounge.

OPENSKIES customer review :  3 December 2010 by D Chand    (USA)

If you're expecting an industry standard Business Class experience, you're going to be disappointed. If you're looking for a cheap way to get from A to B with above Y class comfort this could be the airline for you. Facilities at EWR are very basic and have a very budget airline feel. It's cramped, shared with Jet Airways and is surprisingly, before security which with checkin time two hours prior, makes it useless to have. I travelled Biz Bed EWR- ORY. The plane is old, dirty in places and not at all what I was expecting from a BA brand airline. It's a hodge podge of branding. There are parts BA, parts OpenSkies and parts L'Avion. Overhead storage is minimal as vast amounts is taken up by aircraft equipment. Seats which do go to a lie flat position are old, stained and very narrow. I'm 5'11 and found it a challenge to get comfortable. The food is fine but I never have high expectations on a plane. Wines were of a good calibre. Flight attendants seem to work hard and service can be slow. It took over two hours before I was able to sleep, which is why I paid extra for the bed. Once they've finished they're not seen again. Mix of French and American attendants though I only had the French crew in my area so can't say what the service was like in the rest of the aircraft. There is no amenity kit - socks and shades on the seat but they're not wrapped in plastic and the toothbrushes etc, are handed out from a worn wicker basket. No privacy curtain meant heavy traffic from Biz Seat passengers who come up frequently to use the toilets thereby disturbing biz bed. Orly is a very old, worn airport which is marginally easier to get into Paris from though all things being equal I'd rather fly into CDG with a legacy carrier who have got their act together. Nice try OpenSkies but not anywhere near the finesses of other airlines. This really is a budget, low cost premium economy airline.

OPENSKIES customer review :  20 October 2010 by H Yurman    (USA)

The flights themselves were reasonable value, especially for late booking, but don't believe their promise that, "in case of train or flight service disruption, OpenSkies guarantees to book you on the next flight or train available. And, offer you a hotel stay if necessary." When my TGV from Lyon had engine trouble and arrived too late for the flight to IAD, OpenSkies staff at ORY rudely repudiated these "guarantees". I was refused a seat on the only other flight, to EWR, because I was a "no show", although the train had been arranged by the airline itself, my "one and only" contact. I was told that if I wanted to buy another ticket I'd have to do so by phone, since "we are not OpenSkies, we are acting for OpenSkies." I finally got through to a supervisor in Paris, and was "permitted" to board the Newark flight, but the only guarantee I got was that OpenSkies would take no responsibility for getting me back to Washington.

OPENSKIES customer review :  23 September 2010 by S Caron    (USA)

I have flown Open Skies from Newark EWR to Paris Orly 3 times. The first year British Airways took over for L'Avion was not so great, but they have improved. You can't beat the price for a business class ticket - $1500 round trip is a bargain. First class lounges in both Orly and Newark. Diplomat first class custom lines at the airport. Excellent Billecart Salmon champagne and great food and wines on the last 2 flights. The French plane still has that awful hand held entertainment system, but we got the British plane 757 going back to the US, which has a metal arm to the hold the screen. Only 90 passengers on the plane, big roomy seats, and very nice bilingual flight attendants. The Biz Beds are also nice, however since I don't sleep on the plane, it's not worth the extra money for me.

OPENSKIES customer review :  31 August 2010 by J Katz    (USA)

Roundtrip Newark to Paris Orly in the BizSeat category. The service, product, and food were all excellent. The flight attendants were friendly, young, and gave excellent service. The food & drinks were great and plenty of each. The seats were comfortable, great legroom (exit row seat on the way to Paris) - could've been a bit wider in the seat though. The entertainment system was good. A bunch of new movies, TV shows, games & music (all which could be a bit more updated). The flights were on time and took no time to claim my checked luggage. I wish they still flew to Amsterdam as that was my final destination.

OPENSKIES customer review :  18 August 2010 by Pat Santiago    (France)

IAD-ORY in biz seat. 2 hours delay due to engine problem at ORLY but crew and ground staff managed to change aircraft. Compared to biz bed offer, you don't get a lie flat seat and food not as sophisticated. But what you get is the premium feel, nice wide and 140 degree leather seats which are fine even for night flight, smooth boarding and of course the nice atmosphere of a small cabin. Service was good. My IFE screen had to be changed and plug was not functioning. Equipment in these old B757 do show their age. Orly is a relatively small airport and with the limited number of passengers I was out 15 minutes only after disembarking. Another feature of openskies is the possibility to book the return flight the other class but overall I found the seat cabin to be more competitive. Bizz seat is not a premium economy product but business light.

OPENSKIES customer review :  20 July 2010 by J Costi    (France)

Biz seat is fine for the price, service is good, staff very attentive. The only bad point is the poor quality of the IFE, but with an IPOD and a good book, you don't care! From Paris, it was good catering. Biz bed is great for a night flight, a duvet, pillow and you can ask when you want to dine. Good flight on time.

OPENSKIES customer review :  18 July 2010 by M Khalid    (USA)

ORY-EWR first time using Open Skies. I didn't know about the airlines until I was told by my travel agent that it offers value for money. Was told that it was all business class but when I boarded, it was obvious that my seat and the amenity kit given were inferior from those at the front of the aircraft. The food and service were OK and although the airline is operated by BA, I think BA's business class service is better and the FAs are more attentive. But of course, I suppose you have to pay premium for that.

OPENSKIES customer review :  2 July 2010 by Alan Duffy    (USA)

IAD-ORY return in BizSeat. I disagree with comments about the BizSeat being Premium Economy rather than Business Class. BizSeat is equivalent to the business class seats that airlines used to use on transatlantic seats prior to the introduction of flat beds in the last few years. The seat is very comfortable and uses old manual controls, reclines to a 140 degree angle. The best thing about the layout of the 757 currently used on the Dulles route is that there are just 40 seats in the BizSeat cabin and 24 in the BizBed cabin, meaning 64 passengers. BA Lounge at Dulles is great, while the Salon Icare lounge at Orly is nothing to write home about. Service on the flight to ORY was poor, especially considering that there were only 25 passengers on board and 5 flight attendants. Service on the return from ORY with a full plane was much better. The one downfall certainly in the BizSeat cabin is the food and beverage service. While there are some great wines available, liquor selection is very limited. The main meals are nouvelle cuisine, so while tasty are not very filling. I was shocked that OpenSkies don't provide a menu card to preview meal options. The breakfast on the outbound and snack on the return flight were below the standard I've seen in any transatlantic economy cabin. Passing through the BizBed cabin, it looks like a very poor product compared with parent company BA's Club World and not worth the money. I'd strongly recommend OpenSkies BizSeat for anybody looking for a very affordable halfway point between Premium Economy and a lie-flat bed, but the small number of people on board makes the biggest difference.

OPENSKIES customer review :  18 June 2010 by T Hanrahan    (USA)

IAD-ORY return in business (premium economy?) seats. The seats are comfortable enough, but not at the level of major carriers. Manual controls don't always work very well, but the seat pitch is very decent. Fold-out trays show the effects of age - none were flat, all sagged in the middle. Food service - no menu, paper tablecloth, but wine was quite good. Service is professional but not terribly attentive. Meal on return from Paris was pretty awful though. On the plus side, the price is great (got a 2-for-1 deal on this trip) - Orly Airport is old but convenient.

OPENSKIES customer review :  11 June 2010 by P Santiago    (France)

ORY-IAD. First time on OpenSkies. Good value business class with flat bed and business experience (food, amenities, lounge, etc) but in a small aircraft. This means cabin with more privacy and rapid boarding / luggage delivery. Since OpenSkiesis British Airways subsidiary, you can rely on British Airways ground facilities and shared frequent flyer programme. The B757 plane is retrofitted with former BA business seats - somewhat old but acceptable entertainment system. More privacy than Air France. Food was good on this flight and by far better than British Airways. Crew ok and more interaction in such cabin. Operating from Orly also an advantage - connecting from other countries is pretty smooth, with orly connected to RER through main Paris railway stations.