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Home » Reviews » Flight Reviews » Review: Air France Hop! Embraer 170 Economy Class
Air FranceFlight Reviews

Review: Air France Hop! Embraer 170 Economy Class

Matthew Klint Posted onJune 17, 2022November 14, 2023 14 Comments

Thanks to unusually high train tickets (or perhaps unusually cheap Air France tickets), we flew from Basel/Mulhouse to Paris onboard an Air France Hop Embraer 170.

In This Post:

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  • Air France Hop! Embraer 170 Economy Class Review
    • Booking
    • Check-In
    • Flight Delay
    • Seat
    • Food + Drink
    • Paris Arrival
    • CONCLUSION

Air France Hop! Embraer 170 Economy Class Review

Upon returning to Germany after my brief trip to Los Angeles, it was time for my next mini-adventure, a trip to Paris with my wife, Heidi. About a week before our trip, we went online to purchase rail tickets to Paris, a three-hour journey from nearby Mulhouse, but found train tickets were more expensive than flying, despite heavy taxes imposed upon shorthaul flights in France.

Booking

I’m not one to turn down an airline trip of any kind, so we booked the Air France tickets for $80 each (hand baggage only) and arrived at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg about 90 minutes before our 10:05AM flight to Paris. This is one of the coolest airports because it straddles both Switzerland and France. You can walk back and forth between nations on the departures level and when you land at the airport you can choose which country enter.

Check-In

We were traveling only with hand baggage (at least on the outbound journey…) and had already checked in online, so we were able to bypass the long Air France – KLM lines to check-in.

people in an airport with a sign and luggage

a group of people standing in a line in a building

a large glass building with a staircase and people walking

After clearing security, we found the airport’s one lounge, part of the Priority Pass network, still closed due to the pandemic (remember, this was July 2021). The Skyview Lounge has since reopened…

two plants in pots in front of a building

a sign on a wall

Flight Delay

We proceeded to our gate where were found our aircraft had not arrived yet. I checked the inbound aircraft from Paris on my phone and saw it had not even left Paris yet…we’d be here awhile.

a plane boarding area with stairs and stairs

a glass partitions in a building

a sign with a blue and white sign

a group of people sitting in chairs in an airport

So Heidi and I had coffee and split a croissant while we waited out the delay.

a croissant and a cup of coffee

Finally, about 35 minutes after our scheduled departure, the aircraft landed (there was some sort of VIP onboard). After the plane had been unloaded, we were immediately invited to board (no cleaning took place).

a plane in an airport

a walkway with glass windows and a plane in the background

Air France 1193
Basel/Mulhouse (BSL) – Paris (CDG)
Thursday, July 29
Depart: 10:55AM
Arrive: 12:10PM
Duration: 1hr, 15min
Aircraft: Embraer 170
Distance: 250 miles
Seat: 9D (Economy Class)

A flight attendant gave us a huge smile as we boarded (which quite honestly seemed rather un-French-like to me, but I did not mind) and greeted us in French.

Seat

Onboard, we found our seats in row seven and settled in. The configuration of the Embraer 170 is 2-2 with a total of 76 seats onboard. There are no power plugs or wi-fi available. Seats are 17.5 inches long with legroom of 31 inches in economy class, which comprises rows 6-20 (business class in rows 1-5 is the same seat, only with a bit more legroom).

a row of seats on an airplane

seats in an airplane with windows

a row of seats in an airplane

a hand holding a sign

After performing safety checks, flight attendants performed a manual safety demonstration and we soon took off…about an hour behind schedule.

Food + Drink

Once in the air, a complimentary beverage service took place, with each water, coffee, orange juice, or Coca-Cola offered and other drinks upon request only. Since this was both a short and nearly full flight, limiting the beverage service while offering special requests just made sense.

a person standing in a room with a mask on

a man wearing a face mask and sitting in an airplane

I had water and Heidi had coffee and we each received a Madeleine cookie.

two cups of coffee and sugar packets on a table

No sooner had the trash been collected then we landed at Paris.

Paris Arrival

We pulled up to a gate in Paris Terminal 2 and were soon off and our way out of baggage claim and on our way to our hotel.

a plane on the runway

a plane on the runway
The elusive A318…

a plane parked at an airport

CONCLUSION

Despite the annoying delay, we had a pleasant journey on Air France. Kudos to the flight attendants for managing a beverage and snack service on the short flight.

Politics aside, it did seem bit strange that my airline ticket was cheaper than a rail ticket, but it was nice to get to Paris quickly, even if the overall travel time might have evened out. We took the train back, this time due to schedule. We wanted to leave Paris in the afternoon and Air France was only operating one flight per day at the time left in the morning. Again, though, it was cheaper to fly. Who would have thought Air France would be cheaper than SNCF TGV?

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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14 Comments

  1. John T Reply
    June 17, 2022 at 7:06 am

    Honestly, what is the point of publishing a review from a flight you took a year ago?

    So much has changed since then. Lounge, f&b, mask rules etc.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 17, 2022 at 10:13 am

      Because I wanted to.

      And frankly nothing has changed onboard or about the flight experience beyond the mask requirement, which I did not even mention.

  2. Arthur Reply
    June 17, 2022 at 8:32 am

    Since I started flying international again, I have found the AF crews very friendly and had great service (as well as some of the best food I have ever had on a plane). I had noticed that they seem to have more air & rail combination tickets now. The one thing is that I wish they would reopen the CDG arrivals lounge so you could have lounge access (shower and breakfast) waiting to connect to your train.

    • Random gawande's Father Reply
      June 17, 2022 at 2:17 pm

      AF has really revamped itself post-pandemic. AF used to be an airline I would avoid because I would lose checked baggage in the CDG jungle or would have “too-chic” (aka rude) FAs. But now, whether if it’s on HOP or a traditional AF flight, the FAs have been splendid and won’t mind having to go through CDG due to the flights being great.

  3. Kenneth Reply
    June 17, 2022 at 9:01 am

    I’ll be happy when Air France has said goodbye to both Hop! and the Embraer 170. I flew Hamburg – Nantes – Toulouse onboard one of the pencil-thin 170s and couldn’t wait to get off. Way too small a plane to be squeezed into for almost four hours.

    • Jerry Reply
      June 17, 2022 at 2:38 pm

      E170 is too small? I think they’re a delight to fly. Try an E35/40/45… Those are pencil jets!

  4. Billiken Reply
    June 17, 2022 at 1:59 pm

    We flew into and out of BSL a couple of weeks ago. We had to go through passport control on arrival even though it was an intra-Schengen flight. I didn’t notice an option to enter France or Switzerland. We enjoyed the SkyLounge on departure! It took awhile to find it, however, because PriorityPass says it’s “next to the Duty Free Shop.” I wish we had had more time there!

  5. kevan Reply
    June 17, 2022 at 3:04 pm

    Another one in two countries, Switzerland and France,is Basel railway station.Most of the station is in Switzerland but a few of the west bound platforms are in France.Years ago you had to go through passport control to get to the French platforms.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 17, 2022 at 3:51 pm

      Right, and there is also Basel Badischer Bahnhof which has a German/Swiss border.

  6. PM Reply
    June 17, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    Do they block the aisle seats in business class or is it sold as 2-2?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 17, 2022 at 5:20 pm

      I’ve flown this route in business before and no seats were blocked in business.

      https://liveandletsfly.com/air-france-hop-review/

  7. Matthew Reply
    June 18, 2022 at 3:33 am

    Is it possible to switch from the French domestic departure gates to the departure gates with the skyview lounge? Thought that wasn’t possible after security but have not been there in a while. Very stunning airport with a great history and multinational mindset.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 18, 2022 at 8:16 am

      Yes, the lounge is prior to the exit control.

  8. cncx Reply
    June 18, 2022 at 2:53 pm

    I live in Switzerland and the people I usually visit in Paris live near the Gare de Lyon, so time constraints make the train more practical but I almost always pay more than flying. Once the train prices were so ridiculous I flew out of ZRH into CDG anyway, I figured 200 bucks difference was worth the extra 90 minutes in the rer B.

    Before Covid, there was some price gouging out of Basel in the Lyria in first class and sometimes it was cheaper to book out of Zürich for the exact same train.

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