Spacious Air France Front Row Business Class Seats Get New Rules & Fees

Air France has just introduced a new monetization scheme for its front row business class seats, and I suspect many flyers won’t be too happy about this…

Air France brands front row seating as business suite

Air France offers an excellent long haul business class product, though the best business class seats in the fleet are the front row seats on select Airbus A350-900s and Boeing 777-300ERs.

While there’s no differentiation in terms of soft product, I’d consider these to be “business class plus” seats in terms of the amount of space they offer. That’s because they have absolutely massive ottomans, taking advantage of the extra space that’s available at the bulkhead.

Historically, the airline hasn’t really branded these seats as anything, though it appears that Air France is now referring to these as the “Business Suite” option. As the airline describes it:

The Business Suite areas are location in the first row of the Business cabin. With the Business Suite option, you can enjoy the comfort of the Business seat, but with extra personal space for an even more enjoyable journey.

This option is available on board Airbus A350 and Boeing B777 aircraft for long-haul flights.

The branding change is fair enough, since these are some pretty special seats. However, the implications to this change are what I find to be most significant.

Air France monetizes best business class seats

Historically, Air France’s front row business class seats could be assigned by Flying Blue Platinum members and above at the time of booking, and then by all other business class passengers starting 72 hours before departure, on a space available basis.

Well, that policy has now changed. Effective immediately:

• Only Flying Blue Ultimate members can assign these front row business class seats for free
• All other passengers can pay to assign these seats at the time of booking (or any time up until departure), and the fee seems to be around €200 one-way
• Frustratingly, Flying Blue Platinum members can no longer assign these seats for free, and they don’t even get a discounted seat assignment fee, as they have to pay the full cost

Note that for the time being, this updated monetization scheme specifically doesn’t apply on flights to and from the United States, where Air France takes a different approach to charging for business class seats, perhaps due to its joint venture with Delta.

I figured that Air France would try to monetize these front row seats sooner or later, since they are much better, so I can’t blame the airline for that. What I do find a bit frustrating is how Flying Blue Platinum members are getting the short end of the stick here.

Keep in mind that Air France charges to assign seats in business class on long haul flights in most markets. Flying Blue Platinum members can assign standard seats for free, while others can’t. So what’s not great is that elite members actually incrementally have to pay the most to assign these front row business class seats.

Flying Blue has otherwise made some very nice improvements to Platinum status in recent times (like offering improved award availability), so it’s unfortunate to now see a negative change.

Bottom line

Air France is now branding its more spacious front row business class seats as “business suite,” which is fair enough, since this is a great product. Along with that, the airline has also updated its monetization of these seats.

Outside of United States flights, these seats are now only available for free to Flying Blue Ultimate members, with all others being able to assign these seats for a fee of around €200 one-way.

I’d say this change is good news for those who don’t have Platinum status or above, and who appreciate the ability to pay cash for this seat upgrade. However, it’s bad news for Platinum members, plus Gold, Silver, and non-elite members, who snagged these seats starting 72 hours out.

What do you make of Air France’s new business suite policy?