6 Reasons Air France La Premiere Is Simply Fantastique

So how thos La Premiere rate compared to your Residence experience Ben?

Don't worry, Johan, some of us still appreciate you! 😉

Ben, I think you may need to sort out a rank between those premier classes you've flown. Each and everytime you said "the best" might be confusing.....

Do you have the salad and the beef out of order in your pictures? I would have thought the salad would come before the beef?

Best meal ever? Eating alone on an airplane?

Was this a revenue ticket or was there a way you booked using miles?

They also have beautiful La Première branded dishware :). My experience back in January was on par with yours, I hope I get to fly it again someday!

the cabin would've looked amazing without the curtains. Curtains just make the cabin look cheap.

the food on the other hand - looks yummy!!

Funny to see Air France using a Jaguar for their airside transfer, would have thought it would be a Renault/Citroen etc.

@Bradders - Peasant transport.

@ Liam -- I redeemed 200,000 miles for the one-way ticket:
https://onemileatatime.com/ugh-i-just-redeemed-200000-miles-for-a-one-way-ticket/

I knew you would have an amazing flight!

Air France bedding is provided by Sofitel. The seat/bed looks incredibly comfortable and definitely wider than LH F.

Ben, given how much you appreciated this meal and appreciate fine French service in general, I really do think you should go to one of the 3 Michelin star restaurants in Paris. I would recommend Epicure or Le Cinq for lunch. I am confident you will LOVE it.

@ Bgriff -- Nope, it was served after the main course, which isn't too unusual in France.

Any service on the Houston side ? I know in SIN for example they cart you from your gate to immigration.

@ mangoceviche -- I see where you're coming from, but there would be very little privacy between seats if they did that. So I think the way they do it is a good compromise.

@ Clem -- Yep, I LOVED the branding on everything.

@ Tony -- I was greeted at the door and escorted through immigration by a really friendly guy, not that there's much time savings to be had if you have Global Entry.

@Liam He used miles.

@Bradders Air France uses SIXT cars. Last time I had BMWs. I only did the A380 SFO/CDG/SFO before, but I really want to do the new 777 seat now!

@Lucky Was the salad bowl chipped at 11 o'clock or was it just reflection.

@ BrooklynBoy -- Didn't realize the bedding was from Sofitel, thanks for the heads up! I'll have to give a Michelin 3-star restaurant a try at some point.

Sounds amazing - I read this site almost everyday and I'm really looking forward to the full review!

Yes, if you ate at a few top restaurants in Paris, your food reviews would be more believable. It just isn't possible for the best meal around to be cooked in an airline galley, and the comment makes me doubt the review.

Le Cinq is a great recommendation. Arpege in Paris is also phenomenal, that's where I've had my best ever meal. L'Astrance is another.

given the cost it had better be good

Finally!!! A review and a perfect product from a non-Middle East airline; with all due respect, I was getting a bit sick of you praising the Middle Eastern, specially since I refuse to fly them! Cheers!

Great writeup Lucky. I think AF F on the 777 + ground experience = world best. Nobody is even close on the ground service except LH imo, though I haven't flown on the ME3 so can't comment.

What did you think of the pajamas? They were a real delight imo - I still wear mine and love how stylish it is.

Lucky- How many flights did it take for you to earn elite status with Air France? Did you Credit Skyteam flights to Air France?

Was it earned through elite miles or 15 qualifying flights?

Thanks and that product looks great!

You should not expect anything else after forking 200,000 miles one way.

Looking forward to your rankings. Just flew Etihad First Class in the Apartment. That must be in the Top 5. Flying SQ Suites in 5 days!

So all in all, was it worth 200,000 miles?

Did the soup contain MSG by any chance?

"exceptionnel" might be a better word than "fantastique" here 🙂

Air France is only one of a few Airlines who transport Live Animals in the hold of the Plane.

Whilst unsuspecting Passengers maybe enjoying the finer things in life.

The Animals in the Hold are destined to a Life of Pain and Ultimately death.

This is at the hands of companies who carry out senseless experiments on them.

I think I will pass on Air France unless they change their policy on Animal Welfare.

Lucky from your pictures I can see the seat has a privacy dividier of sorts did that do anything or add any privacy?

hi ben. small suggestion, maybe you could mix it up a bit with the pictures you post in the teasers? Like instead of having sequential pictures like drinks, starters, mains, cheese, dessert, bed, maybe be more random. would be more of a teaser that way

these smaller pieces you do are getting better

How much you paid for that ticket?

I'm going to echo Davis - sounds like it was worth those 200,000 miles?

Cant wait for a post of top 5 or top 10 best First Class products, best Business Class products, and best Airport Lounges!!!!!!

Lucky,
Aren't you required to have top status on AF to redeem for "LA Premiere?"

@GT Traveller

Honestly do you think anyone cares that you refuse to fly the ME3, and for your America centric views?
SQ, LH, LX, JL, NH and AF all have wonderful F cabins just like EY, EK and QR, but to separate them as if it's a different measure is ridiculous.

Very nice. Thank you for the post. I enjoyed it very much- along with all the replies.

Agree. I know it sounds odd but I think La Premiere doesn't even look like the inside of an airliner cabin. There's something about the design choices I can't explain.

On the subject of carrying small dogs in the cabin on Air France, we were told that they are not allowed in First or Business class but they are allowed in Economy. We changed our booking accordingly. Lucky, do you know the reason for this ?

@ Lucky A great example of the vicarious thrills your blog offers. I'm unlikely to get to try this, but it was great reading about it!

A typo: "mot private" > most private

Damn son. Sounds like this was even better than the Etihad Residence. Life is full of surprises.

Dear Ben:

I am platinum of Air France and have flown the 777 First a number to times when I have been upgraded (bumped up) from Business. I agree with you assessment. It is a superior first class product and I too think the curtained seats rather than the partitions is much more private and comfortable.

You did forget to mention the elegant and wonderful Air France flight attendants... I love French women.

D

@ Malc -- Thank you, and fixed!

@ NRgolbal -- I'm not 100% sure, but I believe it may have to do with the types of seats they have. For Air France's first & business class seats, you can't store anything underneath the seat in front of you, which I believe is where I believe dogs would have to be placed. Without that, there's nowhere for them to "safely" by placed.

@ Ricardo -- Nope, any status (even Silver) does the trick.

@ Anastasia -- I definitely thought so!

@ Peter -- 200,000 FlyingBlue miles. See here:
https://onemileatatime.com/ugh-i-just-redeemed-200000-miles-for-a-one-way-ticket/

@ Morgan -- Yep, there is indeed a privacy partition that's similar to what you'll find in Lufthansa first class. I had the cabin all to myself so wasn't that necessary, but could definitely add some privacy, especially if you don't want to use the curtains. Otherwise the cabin is totally exposed, so I imagine if I were in Air France first and there were other passengers, I'd put it up right after takeoff.

@ Sam -- 25,000 elite qualifying miles is how I earned it. Actually sort of a funny story. I tried to credit my Garuda Indonesia first class flights to Korean Air SkyPass last year, but the miles never posted. So I credited them to FlyingBlue instead, and that roundtrip was just barely enough to earn Silver status with FlyingBlue.

@ Rowyourboat -- Hands down the most stylish pajamas I've ever been given on a plane. Totally agree.

@ Alinsfca -- Hah, sharp eye! Nope, just the reflection, definitely wasn't chipped.

Thanks for this, it looks fantastic. My wife and I have been wanting to try the new La Premiere for some time. The iah > cdg route is not year round, correct? And what other routes does AF fly this new cabin on to/from the US?

Were you on one of the few Air France 777s with WIFI? If you did have wifi did they give it free for first class?

@ K3
I´m not American, FYI 🙂 My nickname should give you a hint as to where I´m from: cheers!

@Lucky It would seem the curtains in first are fine unless you are in the middle seats in which case if the aisle seat passengers closed the curtains, you would be in a dark chamber, albeit with fine cuisine.

Highly recommend Epicure. Three star restaurants are more reasonable for lunch.

@bgriff In France, salad typically comes after the main course.

Not a complaint, but a chuckle:

"Sometimes service can be awkward if you’re the only passenger in the cabin"

I so agree 😉 Winner of the first world problems competition!

Looks really good!

Does anyone know if complimentary chauffeur service available to and from airport when flying La Premiere?

Nice review. I will rate AF La Premiere higher. I really love this seat and turn into bedding it looks very wide. Furthermore, AF use Sofitel thick mattress which is a bonus. This is what customer want from an F product. The curtain, i just love it. Chic, elegant and sexy without over doing it. From my point of view, it worth 200,000 miles.

One simple reason Air France Premiere Service is so good: Even the highest frequent traveller status doesn't give you free access to the Salon Premiere and the transit service ( car from plane to salon to connecting flight including top priority escorted passport control) . That's the downside of any other first class service ( I'm aware of), like Lufthansa, Singapore, JAL etc. . To limit this service to actual first class passengers makes it so calm, special and soothing. It's like an Aman resort, you always feel that you are the only guest ... And again , until recently ( Emirates) , the curtain in the first class suite is REALLY private , going floor to ceiling ....bedding is fantastic , food is amazingly good ( did you know it could be so good on an airplane) and service is discrete , ie. perfect but not overbearing. I think only JAL comes close but for different reasons. Enjoy!