On my family’s recent European trip, we flew on Air France in business class seats to and from Paris, with connecting flights to Venice and from Rome. I booked these flights for 55k Flying Blue miles (see this post). Even though I wrote a detailed review about our experience in Air France’s business class last year, I’m reviewing our most recent experience as well as our time in the Air France Lounge at Paris CDG Airport.
Air France Business Class
The plane used on our route is not one of Air France’s updated planes. We flew on a 787 Dreamliner in the same seat configuration as last year.
The seats angle towards the window or the inside of the plane. So, they feel private, but not claustrophobic.
The IFE screen moves out and tilts down. We all found several good movies to watch. The side compartment contained noise-cancelling headphones and could hold a few snacks. We received the same amenity kit that we had on last year’s flight.
Of course, the seats turn into lie-flat beds at the touch of a button. My husband and I managed to get a few short hours of sleep, which is more than we usually get in economy seats.
I know the seats aren’t the latest and greatest compared to other swanky new seats on other airlines. But, they’re still very functional.
What stands out to me about our Air France flights is the service. When we were getting ready to board our first flight at DFW, the gate agent called my name over the speaker and asked me to come to the podium. When I got to the counter, the agent explained that my seat’s IFE system was broken and unfortunately there were no other available seats. Bummer! And also, this sounded familiar, as I experienced issues with my seat’s IFE on my flight on British Airways last year. I was a bit bummed about this, but thankfully I had downloaded some Netflix shows on my phone.
Much to my surprise, when I got to my seat, my IFE was actually working! And, the purser checked on me three times throughout the flight to make sure it was still working. That’s night and day difference from my experience on British Airways.
Food on the Flight
I know folks like to look at food from flights. So here’s everything I was served on my long-haul leg:
On the long flight back, the food choices were very similar with different main course options and a lunch instead of breakfast. Overall, most of the food was good. It’s a little fancy for my taste, though. Sometimes during the flight, I wished I could just have a sandwich.
Air France Lounge at CDG Terminal 2F
After our flight to Paris, we had about an hour of free time before our connecting flight to Venice. So, we headed to the Air France lounge in Terminal 2F (with flights to other Schengen countries). To get inside, we simply had to scan our boarding passes.
This lounge has two levels and a host of services.
We didn’t check out the showers or nap rooms, but if we had a longer layover, those would be nice.
The first level was a bit crowded. We couldn’t find a spot for all of us to sit together. So, we headed up to the second floor.
It was much less crowded up there. Most of the seating options had USB and outlets for charging. Our table had wireless chargers.
And, just like on the first floor, the second floor had several stations with breakfast food.
Food options included breads, pastries, yogurt, cheese, lunch meats, hot items (eggs, bacon, etc.). Even though we just had breakfast on the plane, we all had a second breakfast. We were on vacation, why not?
The gate where our connecting flight was departing from had very few chairs and was super crowded. We were glad to have the extra space and food from the Air France lounge.
Final Thoughts
Admittedly, I don’t have a lot to compare Air France’s business class to. I’ve only flown in business class on Air France and British Airways. But, my family had a good experience with Air France for the second year in a row. It’s a decent way to use miles for business class across the pond!
Like most airlines, Air France uses dynamic pricing for its award seats. The lowest I’ve seen business class is 55k miles, but I’ve also seen the same award seats priced ridiculously higher. Flying Blue program (Air France and KLM) currently has a 25% off promo for award flights between certain routes for travel through November 2023.
An average airline at best.