Review: Air France 777 First Class

The cappucino is powdered. I can't for the life of me figure out why Air France does this.

Also even Alaska Airlines plates yogurt/granola. What on earth, Air France.

In the world of First frankly I totally enjoy AF much more than BA certainly far more superior than any US metal going over the pond. The're pick up, escort through security, lounge and then what's even greater is the service if you're transferring in Paris to another city. You never see customs, your picked up plan side driven to a private access elevator up to their lounge, white table cloth food service incredible red/pink champagne bar then back to the private car and escorted to you next flight. ALL of this done flawlessly. To gribble about powered cappuccino or yogurt is missing the whole point of the experience. I should not say this but I always have had great flight either F or Biz on AF, really bad service in First on BA just plain crap that I would expect on AA, of course EX is also a favorite FC.

And I am looking forward to my next flights on AF to Florence, Venice and return.

Looks like an amazing flight. I would agree about the coffee. Surprising for such a luxurious premium cabin the coffee selection and quality of much better. The plates and glassware look beautiful!

It's pretty impressive. Nice presentation of the dishes. All that's missing is a private shower.

Caviar and vodka, that’s what I call breakfast.

I flew AF F between CDG and JNB twice, both time on the way down I ate in the lounge on earlier dinner at 6-7pm (have light lunch to work up appetite), so by midnight once in the air, I have appetite to eat again.

One time it was A380 (the other time was 77W), everybody went straight to bed or had a quick caviar dish, I had lobster done in French style. So yummy and easy to eat. It was the best dish on AF F so far (flew AF F 13 times), so I told the flight attendants to keep lobster for me got breakfast!! It’s so good to eat lobster twice 🙂

Yogurt in a plastic container? Good lord, who ok's that? Really, really cheesy.

How many of you were at the Pam Ann show in DC last night? I was there and it was hilarious.

What site did you use to get the $4200 tickets?

I was also curious to know which site the flights were booked. YYZ is my local airport and haven't been able to find FC fares for <$10k

Do you know what's better than 20 hours in First? The 14 hour direct flight

how on earth did u book this for less than 10k?????

Lucky, many folks have asked since the first AF post about how you got this fare.

Assuming it’s legit, at this point shouldn’t you tell us how you booked it or at least why you can’t disclose it? I don’t think any site has come anywhere close to that price.

Which china do they use for service?

FYI, the glass “cover” you speak of is a cloche.

Ben,
Can you please adult and develop your palete for wine? We get it; you like vintage champagne. It reads like you rarely fly First as if champagne is something you only drink in the sky. Maybe that's true but it does not expand my knowledge of inflight service when you only love Krug and VC La Grande Dame 2006. Who does not?

Great review as always!

One little thing... Remember that Ukrainian guest blogger you had with the super awesome camera? I think the exposure might be a little off with these pics. Maybe he could help with some tips?

@ Robert
To give credit though, at least he’s a step or 2 above the clueless nouveau twits often found in F, who choose the caviar and champagne because they know it’s expensive ( but in reality couldn’t distinguish them from aerated cat piss and canned sardines). Re-badge cheap Spanish plonk with a famous French label and they’ll swear it’s magnificent.
As for the flight: again, great accommodation but pretty lousy otherwise. It’s not ‘F’ standard, by a long way.

Question: Do you ever check luggage in? I can't remember reading about your experiences (good or bad) retrieving your bags in any of your journeys.

Ben

Now that you have experienced a wee bit of heaven, be good day you prayers and you will make it!!

I think it is outstanding that you are so good to your father . You will look back fondly for many years on this quality time.

Impressive. However drinks like juice or coffee are not acceptable. First class is a symbol of luxury. Tropicana isn’t. But for $4200 good enough I guess. Wouldn’t be happy with $10 000 or so.

To whom it May Concern
Yes Af has It together with the AC design, There are big changes since their
merger. To be frank . The standards today are very different in Western Carriers. The presentation With today is efficiency and practicality.
It appeared to be above average , First Class with Af inflight was another world
Few years back. The gastronomy and presentation was over the top.
The crews Stewards and hostesses.knew this.The China place settings glass ware with the classic Sea Horse logo. Not to mention the quality napery And Yes I said it. SILVER PLATE .forgot to mention with juices grapefruit and oranges were$3 hand squeezed.
. The masses were not flying. And the passenger in most respects.
Were well mannered. I don’t think this is really first class .the yogurt. Presentation was surprising .Yes I would fly them over any carrier with the standards of today.

Lucky, I live near Toronto and wondered myself how you pulled off tickets in F for $4200. Please share.

Four Seasons JNB sent a car service that included an escort from the flight through immigration - with line cutting. The guy was hard core "local" and clearly on friendly terms with many of the workers and officials in the path from jet bridge to airport exit. It can be done, but maybe not "officially," so an airline can't help.

Cappucino is not part of the French cuisine. Its Italian. As easy as that. French normally have cafe au lait for breakfast.

I just want to point out how utterly disappointing this flight looks, especially from a value or dollars spent standpoint. The bed looks great, sure. The champagne is the same that's served on EVA biz class. There are only 2 main course choices which aren't over the top. Where are the truffles? And the liquor section has Jack Daniels as a choice, smh. Where are the fine liquors and aperitifs? Overall for what this flight goes for from a dollars or points perspective, I'd expect a much better soft product.

Regarding the fare, if you refer back to Ben's first post, he said that he paid $4,200 ONE-WAY. Roundtrip would have presumably been at least double, which would be closer to the estimated $10k. He said he saved 50% by flying through YYZ, versus New York...

I think some have hinted at booking a R/T. 1 way in AF F then the return in Y and throw away the Y portion.

@N that’s not true. One first class way fares are often the same price as Round trip.
@Sean if you throw away a ticket will you still get the frequent flier miles though ?

@N
Ok so he saved by going thru YYZ instead of NYC. Still, we have been searching one-way (and RT) fares from YYZ without getting close to $4200.

If it is indeed true that he did throwaway the return in Y, then couldn’t he have told us that? First of all that can be a risky thing to do especially for FF miles also it’s not easy to search for these mixed class RTs.

The longer we are kept in the dark about this...the more fishy it smells.

I’m with everyone else who is more than amazed at the $4200 fare on these flights. Even if there were return flights booked in economy and not used, I am still shocked about the pricing. And the other mystery is the empty cabin on the JFK-CDG segment with such amazing fares one would think all seats would have been booked.

@donna. There are 4 seats in La Premiere Lucky and his family occupied 3. Therefore how is it empty ?

@Icarus - That makes sense - thought there were six. My bad...

Last week my yogurt was served in a bowl and the orange juice was fresh squeezed. Had the cabin all to myself on the 777 ATL-CDG. I was also the only one in La Premiere on the 380 last month as well. Sadly the 777 with La Premiere ended Saturday and the 380 will end next month out of Atlanta.

I flew CDG-MEX F and ORD-CDG J in July for $2700, AF sometimes has great promotions that you have to jump on right away, I am currently looking at a RT from EU again in AF F for <$3500 . It really comes down to relocation and jumping in promotional fares when they are available

@ Andy, how are you finding promotional fares? Are you focusing on departing from certain airports, what websites do you use to search?

@Tortuga
I believe Air France uses Bernardaud tableware in La Premiere.

I never had a real nice foam on inlicht cappuccino: BA KL GA SQ don't do this very well either. Apparently it is the airpressure/altitude that makes it almost impossible to make good foam, so I've been told.

@ M AF will run specials from city pairs 2-3 a year. it really comes down to relocating and being flexible to when and where you are going. they are public fares so any website will have them

While I would love to try this product, I would be so depressed at the only beer choice being Heineken. As the French say, beurk grave.

It looks like Air France is swapping out B777 with A380 on this Paris to Johannesburg route, as of Oct 26, 2019. Sad....