Openskies

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.