Review: New Air France La Premiere First Class Suite Boeing 777 (CDG-JFK)

For the highlight of my Le Premier in the new La Premiere adventure, I flew Air France’s brand new Boeing 777-300ER La Premiere first class on the 7hr35min flight from Paris (CDG) to New York (JFK). What made this particularly noteworthy is that it was Air France’s first commercial flight with its much anticipated new first class product.

Air France is known for its incredible first class, and the “old” first class was already one of the best in the world. But my gosh, Air France really took it to the next level with its new cabin. This has to be the world’s most elegant first class cabin, with an incredible attention to detail in terms of design.

When you combine it with Air France’s unrivaled ground experience and impressive soft product, Air France has really positioned itself into a league of its own, offering the world’s most seamless first class experience… and the pricing reflects that.

Booking Air France La Premiere first class & disclaimer

Here’s the Air France flight that I traveled on this trip:

4/08 AF4 Paris to New York departing 10:30AM arriving 12:40PM

Let me disclose that I traveled as a guest of Air France on this flight. I pride myself in paying for my own flights, and this is the first time that in around 15 years that I’ve accepted a media invitation for a flight. Why did I make an exception here?

• I’ve flown Air France’s La Premiere several times before (and have always either paid cash, redeemed miles, or upgraded from business class), and feel like I’m well versed in the soft product
• First class on this flight wasn’t even for sale, so there wouldn’t have been a way to buy a ticket, as the first class cabin essentially operated as a mini media flight; there was a large delegation of Air France employees onboard headed to New York for a media event as well
• Since this was the first flight, the airline was also keen to get feedback, since this was the first time “real passengers” were experiencing the product

I should also mention that Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith was onboard (and seated across from me — he’s an awesome guy), and the cabin was staffed higher than usual. So I of course recognize that this was a special flight, but then again, La Premiere is always an exceptional experience.

As far as La Premiere pricing goes, it varies depending on where you originate and what your itinerary is, but in recent years, Air France has really priced itself at the top end of the market. That strategy seems to be a success, probably thanks to the great experience, the small cabin, the limited number of planes with first class, and the fact that the airline is based in Paris (a city popular with people who are willing to drop five figures on an airline ticket).

Air France La Premiere first class check-in & lounge

Arguably the single thing that most sets Air France apart from the competition is the ground experience in Paris, which is seamless, whether departing, arriving, or connecting. While the airline offers a chauffeur service to the airport, I spent the night at a hotel near the airport, so didn’t need that.

The experience starts at Terminal 2E, door 17, which is the exclusive La Premiere entrance, leading to a facility completely separate from the rest of the terminal.

Once there, you’ll immediately be invited to take a seat in the check-in area, while one of the hosts processes your check-in. The whole thing takes just a couple of minutes. For what it’s worth, an adjacent area is used as the arrivals lounge for first class passengers.

From there, you’re escorted down a hall (with some really cool historic Air France art), where you clear departure security.

You’re then driven in a car to the famous La Premiere Lounge. Currently Air France’s La Premiere transfer fleet consists mostly of Porsche Cayennes.

The La Premiere Lounge is elegant, but most impressive of all is that it offers a very high level of service, and exceptional food, easily the best food you’ll find in any airport lounge (though this time around, I was trying to save my appetite for onboard).

The lounge also has a Sisley Spa, and I managed to get an appointment for a relaxing 30-minute facial, which almost put me to sleep.

A little over 30 minutes before departure, it was time to leave the lounge and head to the plane. Once again, this involves being driven, and passport control is handled directly in the lounge.

It was quite a distance to the beautiful 777-300ER that would be taking me to New York. Specifically, I was flying on F-GZNQ, Air France’s first jet with the new first class cabin (and a tip-to-tail makeover, for that matter).

Talk about a seamless ground experience. I rank the entire La Premiere ground experience as being (by far) the best in the world, since it’s equally seamless whether departing, arriving, or connecting. There aren’t any other airlines that keep you away from the airport terminal to this extent.

During my time on the ground, I also had the chance to tour the Air France Private Suites, which are located within the La Premiere Lounge. These offer next-level luxury, though at an extra cost.

Air France La Premiere first class cabin & seats

Air France’s new La Premiere first class cabin consists of a total of four seats, spread across one row, in a 1-2-1 configuration. If you’re used to the old La Premiere first class, this product has the same general design in terms of colors, the use of curtains, and the layout. However, it’s clearly a very evolved product, with a seat, and a separate chaise longue that turns into a bed.

Prior to my flight, I had seen pictures and renderings of the new La Premiere cabin, though there’s something about seeing the entire cabin in person that makes your jaw drop. It’s just so simple and elegant (and I mean “simple” in the sense that there aren’t boxy doors or partitions, or way too many shiny electronics, but rather the focus is on minimalism). It almost doesn’t look real, and feels like a first class cabin out of a movie set, or something.

Since it can be hard to tell which direction is which based on looking at the cabin, let me mention that the chairs face forward, while the chaise longues face backward. This is marketed as the world’s longest first class product, as the first class cabin is five windows long, compared to the previous four windows.

If you’re traveling with someone, you’ll likely appreciate the two center seats next to one another, as it’s rare to have a cutting edge first class product where you can actually enjoy the flight with the person seated next to you (this is a challenge in Emirates’ 777 first class, Japan Airlines’ A350 first class, etc.).

This is also an area where the new first class product is much better than the old one. If you end up in one of the center seats next to a stranger, there’s a full partition between the two seats that can be extended, for complete privacy. It’s a pretty brilliant design, as this is a curtain that’s inside a “frame” of sorts.

If traveling alone, the window seats are of course ideal. I was in seat 1L, the window seat on the right side of the cabin. What’s wild is that each seat is so long that I couldn’t actually capture a picture of the entire thing without either using a wide angle lens, or walking to the other side of the cabin, and taking a picture from there.

During takeoff and landing, and when dining, you can sit in the main seat. The seat might not look that wide, but I found it to be well padded and comfortable. It’s actually nice to have a more “normal” size seat, since so many first class seats are so wide that you almost can’t get comfortable in them. This seat also has the tray table, which is sturdy, and is also easy to move around, in case you want to get up during the meal service.

The seat also reclines a surprising amount, so it’s easy to get cozy and lounge a bit, without even moving over to the bed. You can even use the chaise longue as an ottoman, and place your feet there.

Behind the seat and to the side you’ll find an enclosed storage area, with a backlit vanity, as well as USB-A and USB-C charging.

Underneath that console is an exposed storage area, with an AC power outlet.

Then there’s the chaise longue. This is another area where I was curious if this just looked cool, or if it would actually be comfortable. I’m happy to report that this is legit a lovely place to relax, whether you’re looking to just put your feet up, or want to turn the space into a 6’7″ bed.

Next to the chaise longue, you’ll find even more charging, including USB-A and USB-C outlets, plus wireless charging.

There’s a handy portable tablet at the seat, which can control all kinds of functions, ranging from seat settings, to the entertainment. The design here is brilliant, as you can use this at the seat or chaise longue, and then each area has a charging dock, where it can be stored.

Speaking of the entertainment, as you’ll notice, each seat actually has two entertainment monitors, depending on which direction you’re facing. Each monitor is 32″, and is 4K UHD. You can only use one monitor at a time, and the tablet can help you choose which one you want to turn on.

While other airlines have doors in first class, Air France instead has floor-to-ceiling curtains. If you ask me, this is such a brilliant and versatile alternative, and I don’t understand why more airlines don’t offer this. It’s lightweight, it’s highly customizable (in terms of how much privacy you want), and you can’t beat the level of privacy offered. Best of all, in the new La Premiere, the curtains are thicker than before, and reportedly block more noise.

As far as storage goes, the seat has an unbelievable amount of storage space. In order to create a more spacious cabin feel, there are no overhead bins, so bags can be stored in personal compartments to the side of the chaise longue. I found this to be easy to use, and it fit my (rather large) carry-on without any issues.

There’s another small storage compartment to the side of the seat, which can easily be slid open.

Each seat also has a personal wardrobe.

I also want to give a shoutout to Air France’s amazing branding, with the use of its winged seahorse. It’s my favorite branding detail of any airline, as I find it to be so subtle and elegant, from being stitched into the head rest, to being on the lamps.

All-in-all, what a stunning first class cabin. Not only is it beautiful to look at, but I found the design to be much more functional than I was expecting. It really felt like every detail had been considered, which often isn’t the case.

My only criticism of the product is that Air France unfortunately doesn’t have individual air nozzles on its 777s. On the plus side, I find Air France crews to be good about keeping (at least the La Premiere) cabin a decent temperature, and responding to requests for the cabin to be cooled.

Air France La Premiere first class amenities

Shortly after boarding, the crew came around to distribute the menus for the flight.

Shortly thereafter, pajamas were handed out. Air France recently started partnering with Jacquemus on pajamas, which is a cool collaboration, and these have to be my new favorite airline pajamas, in terms of design. They’re basically my new outfit around the house.

Amenity kits were also distributed, with products from Sisley — collaborations don’t get much higher end than that!

Already waiting at the seat upon boarding were slippers, socks, and a shoe horn, plus headphones from Denon.

As usual, pre-departure drinks were offered. I just had some water, which was served with some crackers and nuts, plus a warm towel.

Air France La Premiere first class entertainment & Wi-Fi

As mentioned above, each Air France La Premiere first class seat has two 32″ 4K UHD monitors, so that you have a TV regardless of which direction you’re facing. Air France offers a large selection of movies, TV shows, music, and more.

On top of that, there’s of course a moving map feature, and there’s also a nose camera. I appreciate how Air France’s new first class offers bluetooth audio, which is increasingly becoming the norm with newly installed cabins.

Air France also offers Wi-Fi on its 777 fleet. The airline offers free messaging to all passengers, and then a “Surf” pass is available for €22, while a “Stream” pass is available for €38. That pricing is definitely on the steep side, but there are no data caps.

However, in La Premiere, it’s possible to get a free Wi-Fi “Stream” pass. You just need to enter your booking reference and last name, and then you’ll automatically be connected.

Air France 777 departure from Paris

The boarding process took some time, though being in La Premiere, you really don’t get much of a sense of what’s going on in the rest of the plane. When two doors are used for boarding, Air France is the only airline I know of that only lets first class board through the forward door, and not business class (or other passengers). Talk about an amazing jet bridge to passenger ratio.