Review: Air France Business Class DFW to CDG

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Earlier this summer, my family flew in business class to Europe. It was our first time flying in lie-flat business class seats! (See this post).

We paid 56,000 Flying Blue miles plus $200 for each person thanks to my miles and points stash from award travel with credit card miles and points. Without miles, the cost would have been over $6000 per person! Here is a more detailed review of our flight from Dallas to Paris on Air France.

Pre-Flight Experience

We arrived at DFW’s international terminal, Terminal D. This is our favorite terminal at DFW Airport. Since everyone had to show a passport, there was no shortcut way to just drop off a bag. Every passenger had to to wait in line. We immediately appreciated our business class status because our priority line was much, much shorter than the regular line. We already scanned in our vaccine cards, so we were not asked to show those again (or anywhere else on the rest of our Europe trip).

The crew member instructed us to go to the Capital One Lounge until our flight. Three of us have Capital One Venture X cards, so we have been to this lounge before a few times (see my review here). We ate lunch in the lounge and then played some video games at the Gameway Lounge before heading to our gate.

Business Class Seats and Amenities

There is only one Air France flight per day from DFW, and the arriving flight was late. So, we had to wait an extra 45 minutes to board. We couldn’t wait to get on that plane!

After boarding, we turned left to get to our section of seats. The business class section has a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone configuration. I reserved six window seats on the right side of the plane for my family members. That way, my kids didn’t have to argue over who got a window. We all got one!

Each of our seats angled away from the aisle and toward the window. We had a pillow/blanket set as well as a bottle of water on our seats when we arrived.

A compartment on the right had noise-canceling headphones included and room for more storage. I put some drinks, snacks and a book inside. The ledge between the seat and the window was big enough for a laptop or book.

The tray table folded out from the ledge and was fully adjustable. It was nice to be able to get in and out of my seat by just moving the tray forward, even when it had a food tray on it. I never felt trapped in my seat.

Before take-off, flight attendants handed each of us an amenity kit.

The kit included socks, an eye mask, earplugs, lotion, lip balm, tooth brush and hand lotion.

After take-off, the flight attendants lifted up a short wall with arm rest on the outside of our seats. You can see this on the right side of my son’s seat. This, combined with the angled layout of all of the seats, made our seats seem very private. When I was sitting down, I couldn’t see anyone else’s face.

The windows had the electronic dimming feature. After dinner, the flight attendants darkened all the windows for sleeping.

Of course, the main reason we booked these seats was so we could sleep! The seats became flat beds with the touch of a button.

They were plenty wide and long enough for everyone in my family (the tallest being 6’0″). Despite the comfort, not everyone in my family slept. We were too excited! Two of my kids and I did sleep for a few hours though.

Even when we weren’t sleeping, stretching out our legs and reclining in our seats still felt great. The large screen swiveled down for a better view when reclined.

The Food and Service

Shortly after take-off, flight attendants distributed the lunch and breakfast menu.

This was the starter:

None of us cared for the duck foie gras, but the quinoa was delicious.

For the main course, I ordered the chicken. It tasted great, and was probably the best chicken I’ve ever eaten on a flight.

Then the cheese course arrived:

Followed by dessert:

In between breakfast and dinner, flight attendants came around offering snacks. We could also grab food in the galley (like little containers of ice cream).

For breakfast, I ordered the omelette. It was good.

Nobody in my family drinks alcohol, so I can’t comment about the wine and drinks offered on board.

Overall, the food on this flight was decent. It has been so long since I’ve had a meal on any airplane. Even my last flight to Hawaii (8 hours long) didn’t have a meal service.

As for service, the flight attendants on board were friendly and attentive without bothering us. They came around often to offer water, drinks and snacks. We really didn’t have much interaction with them since everything was working smoothly.

Our One Complaint…

I had been warned about this from a local hobbyist who had been on Air France before: the temperature was HOT on the flight! We didn’t have individual air controllers, and I was always hot. Thank goodness I wore shorts. I might have slept longer if it was a bit cooler on board.

Overall Thoughts

Honestly, we all really enjoyed our first experience in business class on Air France. The seats were comfortable, the cabin was quiet, we were spoiled with good food and service. When we landed, my son said he wished the flight was longer! I’m still pinching myself that we actually did this on miles and points!

Since this was our first time in business class, I don’t have a lot to compare it to. However, our experience on Air France was much better than our return flights on British Airways (which I will review in a future post).

I wouldn’t hesitate to fly business class on Air France again. And in fact, we will be repeating this flight again next summer using miles when we go to Italy!

How to Book these Flights with Miles and Points

To get the miles for this flight, my husband and I signed up for travel credit cards with large sign-up bonuses. You can transfer points from the major banks (Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One Miles, American Express Membership Rewards points and Citi ThankYou points) into the Air France/KLM Flying Blue program.

Note: Some credit card offers have expired. See current offers here. Check out the  Capital One Venture Rewards 75k sign-up bonus. Both of these cards earn miles and points that you could use to book these same seats on Air France. Don’t forget, you can accumulate more miles and points with two-player mode (you and your spouse/partner each sign up for the credit card to each get the bonus).

Check out all credit card offers here. These cards are in our affiliate network, and when you sign up with our links you support this small business. Thank you!