I flew alone in first class with Air France: don't wake me up, I want to keep dreaming
Premiere is Air France's first class, there are fewer than 100 seats in the entire fleet and at most 4 on the same plane.
Air France
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In recent months we have often reported on flights with few passengers on board, there are those who find themselves sole passenger on board a flight also received personalized ads.
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The reason is that with the restrictions caused by covid the companies Have flown mainly to take advantage of the cargo hold and carry cargo. Today, however, the situation is returning toward the "world of before."
What happened to me yesterday, however, was not due to lack of passengers; on the contrary, the fill rate of Air France's 777-300 was high, simply no one had booked a ticket in the classroom La Premiere, Air France's first class.
The full review of the flight will come in the next few weeks, today I want to share, hot off the press, some aspects of what, no doubt, enters the top5 of my reward traveler experiences.
How I booked this ticket
The basis of this game is to take advantage of opportunities. This ticket is very expensive if paid cash, approximately 7/8000 euros, very difficult and equally expensive to book with Flyng Blue miles: you need 200k and you have to be Gold minimum. I took the third option. I peeled off a prize ticket during one of the frequent Air France and KLM loyalty program offers, and at a cost of 39,750 points + tax, I secured a seat aboard 777.
Then all I had to do was wait for check-in to open. and hope that the small cabin, which can hold a maximum of 4 passengers, would not fill up in the meantime.
And my gamble paid off: when there were 30 hours to go before the departure of the flight there were still 4 seats available. I thus immediately accepted the offer to pay for Upgrade from business class to Premiere for a cost of €1,089, while I have not considered at all the possibility of paying the 136,100 FB miles required as an alternative to cash payment (with the same points I can book 3 intercontinental flights).
The cabin all to myself
We recounted the features of the Premiere booth aboard a small part of Air France's fleet of 777/300s and in this flight was all, exclusively, for me.
Of course, the setup is not comparable to the Singapore Airlines suite, another ticket I booked with miles, or to that of Emirates, but the French carrier is all about service, from the first to the last second you are on the road, not just on board.
Of the four seats in the cabin I was able to take advantage of three, let's say I could have used all of them but I didn't have the need.
My seat was supposed to be 1L, right side of the plane.
In fact, it was my main chair, the one that I turned into my office throughout the flight and that housed me during taxiing, takeoff and landing.
The dedicated passenger attendant in this cabin, without asking me, then set me up for lunch in the neighboring seat, which I had read is often done when there are vacant seats.
Similarly, he set up as a bedroom the 1A chair on the opposite side of me. In some ways it felt like an apartment, with the rooms and various amenities. Being the only passenger I also had my own private bathroom, not bad for a 12-hour flight.
Kitchen and wine cellar all to myself
But also making it more special was the gourmet part of the flight. I was the only passenger so I was able to order anything I wanted from the special menu, because Air France provides an option for each dish for each passenger to avoid being "without" if everyone decides to take the same dish.
So from caviar, to snacking before landing, I was also able to go on a gastronomic journey tasting 10 different dishes, and not just one choice.
Until dessert, where not knowing what to choose I opted to taste them all.
I was also able to go on a wine-tasting tour, as at the suggestion of the flight attendant, I sampled many of the bottles of wine on board, from champagne to full-bodied wines.
In conclusion
Even before boarding I was already happy, because I had gotten a ticket at a price 7 times lower than the list price, but when I realized that no other passengers opted to hop from business to La Premiere I imagined that it would be even more unique and unrepeatable. Breaking the bank then came Geraldine, the cabin attendant, who for 12 hours pampered me as I will never again in my life aboard an airplane.
