We had a nearly five hour layover at JFK, as we arrived before 12PM from Toronto, and were connecting to Paris on Air France in first class at 4:25PM (in the next installment I'll share the tickets that I booked). Remember that at this point my dad still had no clue where we were going.…
Continue reading: Review: Air France La Premiere Lounge & Spa New York JFK
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
@Lucky: That is such a lovely picture of you and your Dad! I am sure that he will have an amazing and memorable trip with you.
What a great pic of you and your dad! The lounge is definitely a bright spot in an otherwise horrendous terminal.
@ Ben Thanks for a great review. I can't help but notice the spa being a bit stark. How would you compare it to the spa in the Qantas FCL in Sydney?
Champagne and cheese is so much better than red wine and cheese, especially if you are having soft cheeses or stinky cheese. Very few things champagne doesn't pair with. Guess he was just trying to get you guys drunk haha
Hard to believe that Air France have created an aspirational product which is both elegant and polished. Kudos to them. I remember when BA was seen as being so superior to AF, but AF first, especially on the 777 is in another league to the equivalent on a BA 777!
Question is Lucky, can you now say it's better than LH?
Gotta say - aside from the ala carte dining - the business class part of that lounge looks far better/nicer than the first class "private" lounge.
@don you beat me to it, although I was going to say Mr S Senior has a really good head of hair which has kept its colour well
It was really annoying when I went in last month flying business class and the receptionist said the spa is only for la premiere passengers. Good to know that business class passengers are entitled to use it too!
Is it just me, or do the seats in the downstairs part of the lounge look more comfortable than the ones upstairs?
Also, is there a reason for later flights to get a la carte dining but not the earlier flights?
Still, kudos to Air France for offering arguably the best ground services of any airline for first class passengers.
Lucky, you also need to review the lounge at IAD now that it's renovated...though I'm guessing the design will be identical to the lounge here.
@ Aaron -- As far as seat comfort goes, that's probably because the upstairs area is intended for dining, while the downstairs area is intended more for lounging. There's definitely some compromise there.
For the pre-flight dining, I suspect the logic is that on late night flights people are more likely to want to go straight to sleep, while on a flight departing at 4:30PM most people are unlikely to be immediately tired. I agree it would be nice if they offered it on the earlier flights, though I suspect it's a compromise of offering a great product while also controlling costs.
@ HC -- Hmmm, were you flying Air France? The press release said that both first and business class passengers had access, and it's just that first class passengers received longer treatments.
@ Niko_jas -- Indeed, Air France has come a long way, and I'd say Air France does beat Lufthansa nowadays in first, at least on the Air France 777-300ER.
@ John W K -- Tough to say for sure. I would note that this lounge only offers facials, while the Qantas Lounge offers other treatments as well. So I'd say the Qantas Lounge probably has the edge, but for a US lounge this is excellent.
The business class dining for late departures is actually not a la carte. You just have the option to eat your regular in flight meal in the lounge.
@ CB -- But isn't the meal served onboard from a menu? Like, there are multiple main course options at least?
Did they have any lemon tarts when you were at the lounge? I was there in late April at like 1AM and had lemon tarts from the buffet upstairs, with their excellent coffee. I’m pretty sure I also met that French lounge manager you mentioned while I was there.
@Lucky - a small point but the A380 seats 9 (not 8), unless they’ve made a change very recently.
Educate yourselves.
One cannot mix everything.
In France cheese are eaten with wine, AFTER the main course and before dessert.
Champagne on the other hand is an appetizer, and the best are not the most expensive as some here like to compare. In addition, the bubbles do not marry well with exquisite cheese, they tickle your tongue & can even change taste.
Fine dining is not for the pigs.
Eating cheese with champagne is considered bad manners, lack of savoir-vivre 😉
I hope this trip includes EY apt. class. I think he'd appreciate that (even more than AF La Pemiere) -- I know I would. 😉
Wow! Whoever edited that wine list needs to be taken out to a woodshed.
Cuvèe (sic) Rosè (sic)? Cabrenet (sic) Sauvignon?
Ouch!
And the food menu is no better. This is not a first class effort. They should find someone who has graduated from high school to proofread their menus.
What a nice experience, your dad looks so happy!
I want to get my hands on that menu SO BADLY to correct the horrible punctuation! It's so sloppy! Even their French is full of mistakes, too.
Have you experienced the La Première lounge at CDG yet? It gets better!
Your dad looks very happy! I think it is terrific how much you love your family. Have a great trip!
Always nice to hear about your travels with your dad.
“Since you are flying Air France you aren’t allowed to have champagne with cheese. I just can’t allow it. Let me pair it for you with at least a little bit of red wine.”
While this is cute, I guess, any serious sommelier will recognize that white wines pair better with cheeses in most cases. Obviously, if you have an opinion, you should drink what you like (any sommelier who tells you differently is full of. . . himself) but I question the knowledge of anyone who insists you must drink red wine with cheese. And, yes -- if you like champagne, or sparkling wine of any kind, and like to drink it with cheese there is nothing wrong with that.
Food and beverages look great, though that space seems claustrophobia-inducing.
The fixtures are so obviously substandard third-world JFK. I mean, it's just incredible how year after year overpaid union guys can get away with installing such utterly pathetic hardware and fixtures ranging from door handles to toilets. And it's not confined to any specific terminal -- you'll find some of these eye-poppingly totally shoddy stuff in every terminal. Anyone who has been in JFK repeatedly over the past 25 years can confirm this: it is a third-world country unto itself.
Yes I was flying Air France (on the same 4:25pm departure too). Was quite surprised when the receptionist told me it’s only for La Premiere but had some work to do anyway so I didn’t press.
This was just the best review — Made me feel like I was there. And your dad is a doll!
Lovely post! Could you please at some point do a lounge etiquette post for us? E.g. can I keep the magazines to read on board later? Can I take a bottle of water with me? Do I need to tip the spa attendant?
Ben, I just wanna take a moment to tell you my appreciation with your timely, detailed posts, and thank you for sharing this nice family trip with us. I truly enjoy reading your reports and posts (especially this new format) and your efforts and hard work do not go unnoticed. 🙂
The FC lounge looks more like Ikea than the BA FC lounge at JFK.
And who selected the miniscule art on the walls?
Usual great reporting by Lucky.
Has anyone noticed that the only dish NOT translated into English on the menu is the Foie Gras plate? Is that some sort of clumsy attempt not to freak out any snug minded passenger out there? :p
@One World: That was one cheesy (and somewhat offensive) post. (Pun intended).
Not to worry though, the cheesy part "paired well" with the general impression many have about the French being rude.
I love how this trip report is unfolding, just like your Dad being surprised and not knowing what's coming next
Great review Ben thanks as always. I can’t believe the business lounge is also PP at some times ( this has to be better than some of the PP lounges I’ve had to “ enjoy “ in the past )
I wonder why AirFrance would use La Prairie beauty products which are owned by Beiersdorf a German company for their Spa ? After all Air France being a "vitrine de la France" they could have worked with LVMH or L'Oréal for their Spa with typical Luxurious French beauty treatments.
@LarryinNYC who said"While this is cute, I guess, any serious sommelier will recognize that white wines pair better with cheeses in most cases. "
Sorry but there is not one single country in the world that would serve White wine with Cheese let alone French Cheese.
Cheese is always served with red wine but Foie Gras is served with White wine.
Of course as a customer you can demand to have your cheese served with Coca Cola if you wish,but this is another question.
@Caroline Well, as pointed out by Arpan, especially soft cheeses does not pair well with full bodied red wine, champagne would be the superior choice https://www.decanter.com/learn/food/cheese-and-wine-the-ultimate-guide-245661/
*I like how they serve French butter, French yogurt and French brandy and vodka.... But NOT (French) Perrier!
Who put that Italian sparkling in that refrigerator?
*The Business class food buffet looked a lot better than "alright, nothing special." I'd prefer the beautifully presented, high quality food show here than what's offered at most of the business class lounges I've been in. I think that's very jaded commentary.
*Finally, I cannot imagine for the life of me liking chicken SO MUCH that I would ORDER it to the exclusion of all the other delicious items offered on that menu. Sorry lobster, I'm eating chicken. Sorry Filet Mignon, it's chicken for me. You lose duck, goose liver pate, smoked salmon.... It chicken again! 🙁
Some wonderful memories with you and your Dad here Lucky! Also, as much as we readers love the up-to-the-minute updates and reviews, please also make sure to enjoy the time with him and the products you are using (which I'm sure you are) 🙂
Gosh now that the lounge is upgraded I hope they stopped serving that nasty smelly curry. At least in the ANA and JAL lounges in Tokyo that are famous for their curries the lounges are huge and you can sit away from the smell...
I would agree to the red wine with cheese but only because I just had a bottle of grand siecle!
"Cheese is always served with red wine but Foie Gras is served with White wine."
Wrong and wrong!
This sort of narrow minded statement can only be met with one retort: de gustibus non est disputandum!
Have to say that, to me, the bathroom looks more like a public convenience than that of an upmarket airline lounge!
Lucky, We are flying ATL-JFK-CDG-NAP in October. How might things have changed in the Le Premiere Lounge since March 2020? Is there still a spa? Lastly, do you know the La Premiere phone # to call to schedule treatments in the CDG lounge and hotel pickup in Paris? Thank you!