Openskies

JFK-ORY on B757-200. We flew in Prem Plus which is a definite premium economy upgrade rather than business downgrade but a sizeable step up from the Economy seats which looked very tight indeed. We secured 6D and 6F which were the bulkhead seats wider than BA's new WTP seats and had features like lumbar support a decent headrest and footrest and good recline - very comfortable although my headrest broke two hours in so I had to fashion one from the pillow. I would recommend exit row seats in row 7 as these have excellent leg room and a bolster cushion for your foot which looked very comfortable though these seem very difficult to book in advance without silver or gold status. Row 6 was good as no one was reclining into your space but if you're over 6 foot 2 the bulkhead could actually be a hindrance. The promised glass of bubbles on boarding never materialised (or at any point during the flight) and I was disappointed with the meals which were rather plain - chicken curry or pasta with vegetables - hardly inspiring and a bag with an apple muffin and orange juice for breakfast. The flight attendants however were pleasant and attentive throughout and a credit to the airline. The plane really is showing its age and it was extremely noticeable in the general wear and tear faded windows and the presence of ashtrays at the back of the plane. There was quite a bit of turbulence coming back in the jet stream and you really felt every little bump on this aging machine - I would say it's time for a fleet update. I didn't use the inflight entertainment (personal iPad) much but was disappointed to see it only had 25% charge so I doubt it would have worked for the flight duration anyway. That said it did have the same decent selection of films as the BA flight we flew out on plus some additional French films which was a nice touch. Arrival in Orly was quick and easy and we spent time in the Iberia codeshare lounge before connecting to LHR. The lounge was quiet and had a reasonable selection of drinks but that's where the benefits end. The lounge is quite a trek as others have noted and the food selection consisted of some plain crisps and plain crackers during the nearly 3 hours we were there and nothing else was offered. There are no toilets in the lounge one has to go out although they are close by and the promised escort to the plane didn't materialise despite the fact that I was on crutches. I requested wheelchair support and they were unable to provide this. If you have elite status I would certainly recommend using an alternative lounge. All in all Openskies does have its benefits with fewer passengers and a nice wide comfortable leather seat in Prem Plus. That said experiencing it once was enough for me personally and I'll be sticking with BA's new WTP product in future and flying UK - USA direct.

Excellent value for money. Even though the plane was quite old the flight was very smooth. The old seats were very comfortable. I slept all flight long from NY to Paris. The food is good enough and the service on board from Paris to NY was great. At this price range it's a very good solution for a comfortable flight to NY or Paris. I will definitely use OpenSkies again.

Value for money this was one of the best airline experiences I've had. Check in on both sides was fine. The premium plus with an equivalent fair to most airlines economy comfort was a far better value. Definitely more room and more comfortable seating than comparable airlines offerings. While their fleet of 757's are not new and not glamorous it was better than most international business class of 5 to 10 years ago. Considering you only pay a couple of hundred dollars more then a regular coach (sardine) class and $2-$3000 less in business class it is hard to beat this airline. Also the fact that fly to Orly as opposed to Charles de Gaulle makes transportation into the center of Paris much more economic.

Planes are very old and seats in Premium economy are almost all broken. Paris to NY flight was okay but return flight to Paris was terrible. The meal was served very late and very poor dry and burnt pasta or dry and burnt curry chicken with rice. Breakfast was a paper bag with an orange juice bottle a small croissant and an apple. Staff aboard back to Paris with no care compared to flight to NY where staff were nice.

Premium Plus direct from Newark to Paris r/t. Not only was the customer service horrible they didn't have my seat after I booked it 6 months ahead. The plane we took was run down old not fresh nor charming with poor lighting etc. Bathrooms were dirty. The food was poor. The attendants barely offered even water during the flight. That's if you could find them. The lounge is no longer available unless you're a silver/gold member. It used to be available to all premium plus seats and first class.

Since British Airways assumed operations for Open Skies (previously a start up called L'Avion) the service has really deteriorated. While wholly owned by BA the staff seem not to co-operate and the Newark/NY (EWR) to Paris/Orly (ORY) route has become the most likely to be cancelled with no notice. We were scheduled (family of five) to depart Orly on July 9. Received no phone call and even registered online the night before. When we arrived at the airport at 8.30 for the 10.45am flight we were told it was cancelled. We waited 6+ hours in the airport not offered the lounge not offered food. Finally an angry employee ticketed us in Economy (we were Prem Plus customers) and grudgingly gave us vouchers for meals and a stay at the Ibis Orly Airport Hotel. They ticketed us at 5pm for a flight to JFK the following day. We will not fly this airline again.

EWR-ORY-EWR. Increasingly being branded as BA and not Openskies. The Openskies Prem Plus service is far far superior to the similar BA Premium Economy offering. Seat comfort very retro in old 1980 style business class seats really found them very comfortable. Small aircraft the 757 allows for delightfully attentive service from charming warm French Cabin Crew. Meals above expectations and really nice wines. Loved the I-Pads for entertainment. Orly West great small no long walks check-in easy and smooth baggage delivery fast an efficient. Best of all fast and relatively inexpensive cab rides to/from Paris. Let us hope that with the increasing merge of a delightful boutique brand into the monolithic BA that some of the BA negative attitudes towards passengers do not infect the charming Openskies boutique brand. Will continue to take Openskies in the meantime if only BA would emulate Openskies for its Premium Economy product I would consider flying them once again.

Orly to Newark and back. Friendly service and very comfortable flight. Generous food offering and reasonably selection of Entertainment on ipads. New BA lounge at Newark is a great addition - plenty of space and excellent pre dinner option when flying Business. Lounge in Paris is unfortunately too far away from the Openskies gates to make it worth the visit.

We have twice now flown the Newark / Orly route on Open Skies-- originally in April 2012 then again in December. The first time the flight was described as Biz Seat and the entire airplane was configured with their biz seats. These are good but not great seats adequately sized for the most part but just not quite long enough for a 6 ft individual and 100% manual recline and leg rests. The portable a/v systems were in many ways superior to the typical major carrier central a/v systems but on both outbound and inbound legs the batteries were not adequately charged and it ran out before arrival. No backup so I was out of luck. The all biz seat arrangement meant fast loading fast unloading and relatively rapid bag delivery. Food and wine were not bad but nothing special. On time for the most part. Good enough to do it again in December. By December the offering had morphed a bit. Same seats but now the plane was a 757 and was configured as 'biz bed - business class' Prem Plus premium economy (the prior Biz Seat) config and regular (6 across) economy. The seats were the same. The food/wine in Prem Plus were strictly economy sub mediocre and the baggage delivery horrible at ORY. The a/v systems had been upgraded to new ipads which worked well but still needed more management of battery charging. The prior rapid boarding was lost with the larger plane and 3 class seating. Bottom line at 1250 per person r/t it's a lot more comfortable than economy but you no longer get a biz lounge invitation and the food was really bottom of the barrel. I'd do it again because the itinerary is perfect for my needs but don't do it if you're expecting business class at economy pricing.

Flew June 29 2012 in new ECO service. 3x3 for last 11 rows of plane. This would be difficult travel for strangers in same row. Very much domestic type economy seats. Unusual policies also. Asked if I could buy an upgrade and they said I could have but it would have been only at the ticket counter. At the ticket counter I was told to ask at the gate. Difficult to get checked in with contract service handling flight. The gate area was chaotic and that is being generous. Had to ask about lounge pass which as Sapphire One World they were to recognize. They gave it and told me to use priority security lines but the boarding pass and code would not work as it needed to be generated at time of boarding pass. From the time I booked the flight to when we took it they instituted ECO class. When booked I thought I was coming back through EWR and would be worth the trouble because I would have economy plus. 2 weeks before the scheduled flight they changed config to add 3rd class of service. I would not do that again. We were fortunate to have 3 seats for 2 of us but had the class been full it would have been a nightmare for 8 hours. Nice cabin crew. Lousy food. Ipads for entertainment were a plus.