For the first long haul segment of my trip to Japan via Mongolia, I flew Air France’s Airbus A350-900 business class on the short six hour overnight flight from New York to Paris. I was excited about this flight, as it was operated by one of Air France’s newest A350s, featuring an all-new passenger experience.
Continue reading: Review: Air France Business Class Airbus A350 (JFK-CDG)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Great report. Strictly speaking the new production standard A350 has a wider cabin, not a wider fuselage! Presumably so it’s more acceptable to go to 3-4-3 in Y 🙁 further down the line.
@ Alastair Mackie -- Whoops, good point, thank you. Updated the post to correct that.
It is a particular bug bear with me that Airlines charge business class passangers extra for Wi-Fi . It happened to me on Emirates recently and as my cards needed two step verification . I was goosed . Luckily the passenger next to me helped out .
The word Business is there for a reason folks
This is such a long way from the days when Air France had an angled flat seat on their A380.
That being said, product consistency is questionable - if you count the new 777 and A350 as different seats, Air France now has four longhaul configurations flying, all of which have been introduced relatively recently.
I flew with this product last year from JFK, but my flight was around 7:30 pm (I think). Great product; I enjoyed the food and drinks and the great ambiance. No complaints for a short haul to CDG.
I wish Air France would introduce an arrival lounge at CDG! It'd be so nice to freshen up and then get out.
You probably did not eat the butter because you would have noticed it's also a very high end and expensive butter 🙂
Ben, a word of thanks for your prior article on this new AF business class suite. This is now our default choice for JFK to Europe (in the absence of F).
Looking forward to a review once Miles is over 2 years old and is traveling with you. That experience is quite different 😉 Flew AF Business SEA-CDG with my 2.5 old daughter and let's just say it's way easier when they are lap infants. To say it was stressful is understatement in business class and I was longing for an economy/premium economy seat with easier/direct access
That cheesecake looks almost exactly like the cheesecake they were serving on Delta domestic F meals last year, just without the fruit compote.
Nonetheless I hope to fly Air France J again (took them in 2022 in their older A350 product), they really have come a long way.
Does your rating of the product include the non-bulk-head seats, or just the bulk head seat? Kind of how you tend to rate the APEX seat so highly, but only the window seat (whereas it seems your rather meh on the non-window APEX seats).
FFups , you made the rookie mistake by picking middle seats instead of window and adjacent seat . It’s a breeze flying with a young kid in J/F. Mine is 6 now and has more about 30 long hauls in J.
Most companies allow for wifi to be expensed. Why turn down the extra revenue?
Be careful booking AF and expecting these seats - they still have some of the horribly outdated planes in their fleet with 2-3-2 seating and no wifi. I was flying CDG-BOS in December and we were aircraft swapped at the last minute - I had to spend 8 hours in a middle seat next to a complete stranger with no wifi and IFE from about 2005 . And of course AF denies all compensation because it’s technically the same class of service…
Did you happen to notice if the bulkhead center row, 10DH also have the extra ottoman space? Hard to tell from a seat map and have only seen photos of 10AL or 1AL. Thanks!
@ Julia -- This rating is based on all the seats in the cabin, and not just the bulkheads. I think this is the single best business class offered by a European airline, so I think it's worthy of five stars.
Are you sure about the 72 hour rule? I just booked a flight on AF which includes the new 777 and A350 and I was able to select 1A for both flights for free despite not having status. I did book it with Delta as a DL codeshare however.
Same here- I booked directly via AF website- in November, I was able to select 1D&H on the new A350 for a May flight. No status.
As a Delta Diamond, I fly several times per year from ZRH to the US on business. Often, I am able to book the AF flights, given the destination and the late departure from ZRH by Delta. Flying AF business muliple time over the past few years, has been very enjoyable. So much so, I purposely look for a possible AF itinerary when booking. Sharing the experience with others I often hear "oh the French are so rude." But as you wrote, I have not had a single bad experience, in fact, they have been very pleasant to outright enjoyable.
I also highly recommend AF business.
Thank you for the review and looking foward to more!!
youre doing an article and right off the bat got it wrong,...AF has 27 A350's NOT 20
@ kevin -- Please read what I wrote more carefully:
"Air France has 20 Airbus A350-900s with a staggered configuration in business class, which is different than this product."
You're correct that Air France has 27 A350s, and that doesn't contradict what I said. 20 Air France A350s have the old product, while the most recent seven have the new product.
@ Nate Dyer -- That's really the most you can contribute to this conversation?
When I flew the new 777 from JFK-CDG last summer, I was lucky to snag the bulkhead in Business Class too with that similarly gigantic ottoman - thanks to you I knew to check right beforehand! Can't wait to try this similar yet slightly updated seat (especially the new tablet) next time we fly AF to CDG. Appreciate all the insight as always!
I don’t think that matters. I originally booked the flight in July and was able to change to the bulkhead seats in November when someone looped me in.
I appreciate the review; the menu looks great and I may get the dish if the menu is the same on my May flight!
Great review! You make me want to book a flight to CDG immediately to test out their fabulous new product. The champagne and wines that are shown in the menu are very good, I love that AF does not cut cost in that department like some other airlines that will serve $9.99 wines in J.
The row of window seats look much more appealing than Lufthansa”s Allergis seats. On Lufthansa’s new product, every other seat just has a tiny window slot.
Thank you for sharing. Do you fly several times per year because you're a Delta D, or you're a Delta D because you fly several times per year? Zing!
Uhh... well... yes??
No! Wait!!
Ahem,
In words terse, my earnest intent.
With sarcasm, a subtle hint sent.
I regret any dismay,
from my verbal ballet.
My conviction, thru comment, was sent.
And yeah, it's pretty much the same format as @Abidjan comment, who didn't get called out.
All goof though - have a good day! 🙂
I flew this config 2x recently, once EWR > CDG then CDG > JFK.
It was a little over 2 hours on the nose from lift off to them cleaning dinner plates on the outbound flight. I found the service to be very slow. My wife and I were traveling together and her aisle was a bit quicker than mine, but still very long. And I was never offered beverage refills during dinner. And champagne was not offered until being airborne but they had water at your seat in a bottle when we boarded.
On the return flight, there was no bottled water at the seat which was odd, but the service was quicker and there was an extra appetizer on the return flight, go figure.
A few notes -
1) not sure why they put shellfish on the appetizers without an option to sub just the app, but there was shrimp on the app one way and crab the other way, so my wife had to pass because she has allergies. I could have booked her a vegetarian meal but she'll eat chicken, other types of fish and other items. If you can book ahead, why not offer a non shellfish option? Or even an option to leave it off the plate just for cross contamination potential issues?
2) the hard product wasn't bad, and you got the "throne" seats but I am 6'3'' and the beds do not go fully flat - I thought my outbound seat may have been broken, but on the way home the same thing, it wasn't full flat, and the foot wells are tight.
3) on the outbound flight I tried the wireless charging and syncing my phone with the screen to use my phone as a remote - both failed. To be fair, I didn't try either feature on the return trip home.
4) on the return trip, one business class seat was out of service because it was broken, and we were delayed ~25 minutes while they fixed another out of service business class seat. that is not in control of the airline of course, just odd for a "new" plane to already have these service issues (see my point 3 above)
I am not looking to complain, nor do I have the vast travel experience that you do - for the price of 50k points (I paid less during a points sale this fall) and ~$220 or whatever in taxes it is more than adequate to hop across the pond and likely better than the domestic offerings, but to me it was just "fine", not jaw dropping. If I were to go back to France, or find a good connection through CDG, I'd certainly book this again. But if this "the best" business class from NAM to Europe, I am afraid of what I may find in other cabins on other airlines.
I flew from Paris to Santiago non stop and was very impressed with the set up. The cabin crew were very efficient. My only disappointment was the food, the main course, it was very dry and tasteless.
I used the wheel chair assistance, it was ok, but lacked organization.
Overall I give it 9/10
Because I am lucky that I am able to fly a few times per year.
Used miles to fly with AF and KLM to South Africa with the family years ago. Between business and speaking some French, the flight attendants were very nice to my daughters, allowed to stay on board after arrival for a quick tour of the A380 cockpit. On the return KLM, have a pic of both in the co-pilot seat, both wearing pilot hats. They still remember the trip 9 years ago.
Sadly I am booked in Air France business later this year in the old A350 layout. This one sounds excellent.
Are you sure the middle seats are the bigger ottoman footwell on A350 in Row 10? I see you say they are but Flyertalk and Aerolopa say row 10 mid is just a regular seat and it’s just the windows in row 10. Did you happen to take a pic of the row 10 Mid by any chance?
Yep! Totally agree! I always tell new parents to travel as much as possible in that first year of life! That’s what I call the last hurrah as they are soooo easy to travel with them. They just eat, sleep, poo, and pee. No opinions. Once they hit that toddler stage and require entertainment and learn to say “No” it’s definitely harder and this is from someone who’s traveled extensively with our kids since they are just born. Much easier to deal with toddlers if they are right next to you than deal with barricades and dividers, or then constantly getting up from their seat to cuz they need something. Biz is still way more enjoyable with small kids than coach, just clearly NOT as enjoyable as when they are infants or a little older and can do things like feed themselves.
There are 2 airplanes left in the AF fleet with this configuration and they are used as replacement aircraft... so although it's a bummer if it happens, it is quite unlikely to happen on a 100+ aircraft fleet.
I can’t find flights under 300K one way SFO-CDG, JFK-CDG from May through December.
Is that correct, am I missing something, or is it too far out to book for 50K right now.
Thanks in advance!
This happened to me too on an overnight flight. The old AirFrance plane had the 2-3–2 business class with seats that don’t go flat so you slide down them all night. The plane was so old that only one of the business class lavs worked and all 50 Business Class passengers had to share it.
In my 25+ years of travel this is the first time I wrote a complaint letter and AirFrance will do nothing about it. I cannot spend money on AirFrance again because of this. They see no difference between selling you the product described here and substituting it with the one that I received.
Many many thanks for the newsletter I like your post very much greatful to share my thoughts feelings with Air France. Also thankful to the People of France provides an opportunity to share valuable insights about Air France Business Class Air Bus A350 (JFK -CDG). France is a well known country for their Hospitality cuisine cuture traditions etc. It is well equipped beautifully designed passenger plane with modern amenities salient features which is necessary for a Business Class. I believe every individual give their level best behind the success of Air France Business Class. Every space is beautifully designed for the comfort of passengers they enjoy from one destination to another destination with friendly service. I am very happy to get to know closer of gorgeous Air France business class.
Best Regards
Khurram
Not everyone is flying on the company dime though. We got free wi-fi on Air New Zealand PE in 2019 (LHR-LAX) and it was decent for almost the whole journey as indeed was their whole hard and soft PE product but alas they no longer fly that route.
It hasn't been, over the past year. It WAS operating CDG-BOS for a while, but not currently. Still haven't flown it. I did just return CDG-BOS on the A350 and concur with Ben's review.
Beware, however, that while both daily flights between CDG-BOS are operated by the A350-900, only is currently the version with the new cabin. And not necessarily every day, at that!
The D and H seats in the rear cabin (row 10) are NOT as wide and spacious as the aisle seats. Footwell is quite a bit less, but still roughly double the size of the footwells in every other row of the Business cabin(s). Can't provide photos, but I noted this very clearly upon boarding.
This happened to me as well, out of BOS earlier last year. I booked the flight when a 777-300 equipped with the new Business Class cabin was scheduled to operate it. I had reserved a bulkhead window seat as well, based on Flying Blue status.
On day of departure there was an equipment change. I was initially reassigned one of the middle seats in the 2-3-2 cabin. When I complained to the senior gate agent, however, she put me back into 1A, at least.
I was furious at first, but I also recognize that the gate agents and even the station chief have no choice but to accept the aircraft and deal with the inevitable upsets.
I'm also sure that Operations at CDG would resort to one of these eight across aircraft ONLY as a LAST RESORT, with no other plane available with sufficient capacity. Their only other "option" would be to cancel the (two) flight(s) entirely, a far worse "solution" for all.
In my experience, AirFrance personnel do the best they can when an aircraft goes mechanical and needs to be substituted.
They're in a classic "rock and a hard place" situation... Never fun for anyone.
@Ben, I'm currently booked for the IAH-CDG route on the new seats, and I was able to select the bulkhead with no status. Should I worry that I'm going to get kicked off that seat?
Hi Ben, booked AF to fly with a kid. Looks to be this configuration. AF won't let me reseve center seats as kid and adult need to use the same aisle. Any recommendation on seat selection? 2 windows or 1+1? Not sure if I'll be able to check on the kid on a 1+1 anyway...
I'd like to extend a huge "Thank You" to Madly and all the other crew members and the doctor on board flight #DL8745 operated by Air France from CDG to JFK on October 10. I'm sure you saved my husband's life. He will still be here awhile longer but is on the road to recovery! Also a thank you to all the other patient passengers on the delayed flight! Top flight caring crew!
Ben, How can I tell if I am booking an old or new seat on the A350-900 AF ATL-CDG? Is there any indication in the seat map? On seat Guru?
We’re scheduled on an AF A350-900. I like the idea of the extra legroom in the bulkhead (especially being 6’2”). Our version doesn’t have the 2nd set of business class seats. I’m wondering if it’s worth sitting in A1 & J1 if they have the extra legroom vs being near the galley. I will be wearing noise canceling headphones
i booked two of these tix for Pop and I to return to the US via Tokyo last year (HND to CDG and CDG to SFO or IAH can't remember) just to try out the A350. Unfortunately both were last minute swaps to the older 777's. Good for you bud, looked fun.
Hi Ben, where would you rank the new Iberia business class in their A350 vs. Air France´s business class? I currently planning a trip from Germany to Buenos Aires and wonder, what might be the best option, knowing, that the Lufthansa direct flights with the Queen of the Skies offers a subpar business class experience...