Flying first class with Air France: everything you need to know about La Premiere

It is called La Premiere and has always been Air France's most exclusive cabin. Since, due to the pandemic, the transalpine carrier has decided to Retire its A380s, has become even rarer: in fact, it is installed on only a small part of the French company's fleet.

This is not something that can be found on all of the company's routes. Those who choose to fly La Première, however, can expect exceptional treatment, probably the best in the world. Even better than what carriers like Emirates offer and Lufthansa. The ticket price is certainly not affordable, but as always there are many opportunities to book while spending only a few hundred euros.

Which planes offer La Premiere

Since the A380s have been sent to the scrap heap, there is only one plane that offers La Premiere and that is the 777/300, or the largest version of the "triple seven." Right now there are 43 777/300s in service for the member company of SkyTeam, but not all of them are configured with 4 classes of service: La Premiere, business, economy premium and economy. Only 19 of these have in fact installed the first-class cabin and each cabin consists of only 4 seats.

The availability of Air France first class seats is one of the hardest to find among all the world's premium carriers. At Europe to offer this cabin are only 4 carriers: Lufthansa/Swiss, British Airways, and indeed Air France. Of these British Airways is the one that offers more seats in First than all the other carriers, however, making the product very unexclusive.

In terms of numbers Lufthansa has 232 seats available aboard its 747s, Swiss in its 777s has just over 248. Air France only 76. That is why La Premiere is for all intents and purposes one of the most exclusive cabins in the world.

What are the routes where you are most likely to find La Premiere

As we have repeatedly explained, it is possible that the carrier may decide to change the aircraft initially scheduled for a particular route, but even in this case La Premiere customers can sleep soundly because they would be protected by the company, which would not happen to passengers of business or economy if the plane was less modern Than that announced.

The world still has to deal with closed borders and travel restrictions, and this has led companies to adapt their networks according to demand and needs, including those related to cargo. Right now, therefore, the routes where this cabin is most likely to be found are:

North America:
Houston (IAH)
Los Angeles (LAX)
Miami (MIA)
New York (JFK)
San Francisco (SFO)
Washington, D.C. (IAD)

South America:
Mexico (Mex)
Sao Paulo (GRU)

Middle East:
Beirut (BEY)
Dubai (DXB)

Asia:
Tokyo (Hnd)

When China's borders open again, it is likely that flights to destinations such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing will be repositioned.

Booking a ticket

There are three options for booking this ticket:

1. Pay cash
2. Using miles
3. Getting an upgrade

If you have no budget problems, the easiest way is to use your own American Express Platinum to book a ticket that costs an average of 8,000 euros, but can easily cost more than 13,000 euros one way.

The second option is to use the miles. Obviously you need to have a fair number of Flying Blue points: On average, a ticket costs no less than 200/230 thousand points each way. However, it must be remembered that Air France gives this opportunity only to those who own at least The Gold level in the French/Dutch loyalty program..

Then there is a third possibility, which is to get an upgrade, obviously not free, using FB points or paying. The first option is open until 24 hours before departure of the flight: again there is the sword of Damocles related to the class with which the ticket was purchased, as well as Gold status. The cost is 75k FB points, but only triggers if the business class ticket Was bought in class C,D and J. The other possibility, on the other hand, opens up 30h after the departure of the flight and allows at check-in for all business passengers to pay cash to get the upgrade, again of course if there are seats available.

In enthusiast and reward traveler forums, it is possible to find analysis and statistics of the cost of these cash upgrades. What emerges is that it is normally cheaper when bought on departure from Paris, rather than when the route is to the French capital. It does not appear that the cost varies with the fill rate, but as in classic auctions, as the departure approaches, the price tends to drop. In any case, the average asking price for an upgrade ranges from 1,000 to 2,000 euros each way.

The experience on the ground

First-class travelers can expect the most and, if there is one thing that almost never disappoints aboard AF flights, it is the quality of service at the expense of a cabin that is not exactly as intriguing as the Singapore suite or other competing carriers. This is why AF provides an exclusive lounge for first-class customers and VIP treatment in the case of an approach flight to Paris: a personal assistant welcomes the passenger, escorts him or her to the tarmac where a limousine awaits that leads the traveler through the paperwork and into the lounge. Finally, the same limousine takes the passenger aboard the next flight.

The chair

Of course, aboard a 777 there is not the space found in a A380, there are no showers or private apartments, but the uniqueness is all about the exclusivity of the product. There are only four seats on board, and for every two passengers there is a dedicated attendant. From the menu to the wine cellar, from the seat that becomes a bed to the silk pajamas, everything is designed to give the passenger a unique service commensurate with the price of the ticket.

In conclusion

The question of questions, is it worth the price of the ticket? I honestly don't think I will ever spend that kind of money on an airline ticket., not even if you were to make six in the superenalotto. However, there are avenues that can give you this experience at a lower price, or even completely free, so a little thought is in order. Dreaming costs nothing and the basic rule of the reward traveler is really to have goals very specific.

• first class
• Flying Blue
• the premiere