Air France Private La Premiere Suites Paris Airport (CDG): Next-Level Luxury

Additionally, there is a large amount of wealth coming from LHR/LGW and ZRH/FRA enjoying Paris.

For the rich, a further €800 on top of €21k is nothing. They probably don’t even check the price.

If wealthy people value time, why would they spend any time here? I'm assuming most are trying to get to the airport at the last minute.

Definitely smart of Air France to lean in on making first class more akin to private travel than business class plus like BA does.

Ben, again I thank you for your explanation and photographs of the La Premiere lounge experience.
Treating my wife to this wonderful facility followed by a La Premiere flight to SIN, would earn me a shed load of brownie points.
Reading your article has made it even harder for me to resist the temptation to book when the New La Premiere suite on that route becomes available.

Afterthought to my post below …. just a thought.
Ben, is there any mileage in comparing the La Premiere lounge expedience in Paris to the Windsor Suite experience at LHR?

I wish they would bring back the AF Arrivals lounge.

This is a huge transformation from the horrendous ground services that Air France used to offer to La Premiere passengers 20 years ago.

I remember flying in F from CDG-BOM from I think it was 2C at the time and being told that due to renovation work, there was no lounge access at all available for Air France pax in that terminal. So zero, zip, nada while we sat at the gate waiting to board.

And then ironically, my seat electrics failed during the flight so it couldn't recline into the bed properly so overall a fairly miserable experience. I did get a bunch of miles in compensation for the seat failure though.

20 years is a long time. It’s been vastly improved for the past 15 plus. Hopefully you can experience it and send a review.
However as far as I’m aware AF never offered La Première to India.

This might be a hot take, but can first class experiences become too private sometimes? I guess it all depends, but I love the airport vibe, the people going places, and if everything it this separated I’d miss out on that.
In my perfect world, I’d walk into the terminal, to a sectioned off first class check-in, private security, then walk through the terminal soaking in the atmosphere, head for a great lounge with runway/apron views, then driven to the plane

I'm going to be a contrarian, but I find the decor pretty bland. The furniture is kind of meh, the colors very bold, and it's seems very bright. Too bright. That outdoor area doesn't seem very comfortable.

I guess that's a personal taste, but I prefer the cooler colors.

Not an issue in any practical way as I will never have a chance to fly LP.

I agree on this, mainly for the main lounge. The dining room/area seems very grey and grey-lit, sterile in a way. I've never been there, but that's always what I've thought from looking at pictures. I like warmer tones, such as LH or SQ private room

And yet, some people will ignore this perfectly good shower in the lounge, to take a shower on board an aircraft in a steamy humid cramped unclean cubicle.

It boggles my mind.

I used the same private suite Ben toured during a long layover in February. I didn’t pre book it but as my PA was driving me to the lounge she asked if I wanted to tour one of the suites. At the end of the tour she asked if I wanted to book it—and even said the price is “for sure” going up soon. I said yes and had a lovely time. The butler service was very nice and I enjoyed being somewhere even more quiet and peaceful with a bed.

This seems to be an obsession of yours. You’ve mentioned it more than a few times. It’s clear that you haven’t actually flown EK F or you’d know the lavs with the showers are nothing like you describe. In fact they’re more spacious than the bathrooms in most NYC apartments and they have dedicated attendants who clean and refresh them after each use.

Everyone loves Kahn!

Many years ago I flew FRA-SIN on LH F, back when the seating was 2x2 upstairs in a 744. My seat mate was off to SGN to see his factories—he flew in his small private jet from Czechia to FRA then F onwards. I could totally imagine him using this facility if he was doing it via CDG.

For my money there's no such thing as "too private" when it comes to commerical air travel. Spending the whole time isolated from the rest of the pax suits me just fine.

I would assume a lot of those who use it are connecting. Think Dubai-LAX, JFK-NCE and have no control on how long they spend at the airport.
.that brings me to the biggest pet peeve I have with F in general is the short haul feeder flight experience.

Exactly. If the €800 surcharge is too much, then you're just not in their target demographic.

Good review Ben the French do this better than anyone else. Despite the Debbie Downers 🙂 I appreciate your work and my reply to folks who criticize just to do it can always stop reading and following. Keep up the good work!

This would be a nice amenity for producers to offer A-List talent they make fly commercial.

What are "Oven-baked tomatoesr"? Did La Premiere make a (gasp) typo on the menu? Heads will fly! If I'm paying 800 Euro for an omelette, the least they can do is spell the ingredients correctly (as in perfect English).

Can you smoke on the terrace?
I would hope so.

Please no replies about how bad it is, it's a private terrace....

@ Luke -- Not on the individual terraces, but there's an extra shared terrace on which those with private suites can smoke.

@ Rand -- Appreciate the kind words, thanks! 🙂

"Standard first class passengers" flying La Premiere.... hahaahahaha

Having a commercial offer that competes with private aviation is a niche that has demand for three reasons:
1) The wealthy do often still look for value for money, so flying with AF LP long haul offers a similar experience at 20% of the cost
2) Quite often, AF LP is more comfortable than a lot of private jets
3) If you are just 1-2 PAX, flying commercial causes way less emissions than private. Some wealthy people indeed still care about that.

Thanks for the review Ben,
As a Francophone La Premier is on my bucket list and agree with you they currently have the best soft service in business. Little edit though change your "whether" in terrace description.

In the world of private jets, you have actual ownership and then "access" programs. The vast majority of people in both categories will fly private domestically (average mission being 1.5 hours or so) and fly commercial for long-haul. The typical one-way cost to fly private from CDG to JFK is $50k (starting). West Cost to Hawaii and transcon come in at about $30k. Only the wealthiest or the wealthy look to these longer missions.

How do AF compete with EK 'in one market'? It's not like you can jump on a flight from Düsseldorf to Singapore, let alone one offering super-premium amenities. Paris is a strong O&D market but it's only got a limited amount of passengers willing to drop €20k on a plane ticket.

Private jets are far less popular for personal travel in Europe than they are in the USA and other parts of the Americas. It's one thing being able to afford to fly on one and quite another being able to get a landing slot, parking space etc in PRG or whatever with minimal notice.

My impression is that many/most wealthy Europeans may charter a plane with their mates to Chambery, Mykonos, or the Champions League final, but for more mundane missions they probably prefer flying via FRA and spending a couple of hours checking their emails in the FCL rather than bothering with the logistics of general aviation.

It's a mindset thing though, there are people who hate being taken advantage of. When I landed at APL, I was really pleased with myself when I bartered the taxi drivers down to a price that nobody would take, although my friend was less than impressed with my doggedness in saving 50 meticais (well under a dollar) which obviously wouldn't have made any difference to the overall cost of our trip.

Not surprised the price is going up, it seemed low. 800 EUR is less than half the price of a starting-level room at a Palace hotel these days..

I absolutely agree but I think we're in the minority. I think it's also less likely an A-list celebrity would want to be seen people watching at the end of the rotunda lol

Did you have the chance to ask about the occupancy rate? How often are they booked?

In related news, just visited the Air France lounge at LAX based on the new access rules afforded to domestic flights. It's a typical AF lounge in appearance and vibe. The food is on the nicer side of okay. Biggest plus is that it is quiet. In the end, I checked it out but will stick with the Delta lounge going forward.

>>I think Air France is going after the super rich, where money is no object, and where the thing they value most is a seamless and convenient experience

I have to disagree on this because if money was no object, they'd fly private.

I believe this F experience is for those who greatly value their money and their time but simply don't see the value of flying private for double the cost of an AF F ticket, coupled with what appears to be a very elegant and private experience.