Why Air France's La Premiere is a first class unlike any other
In the world of First Classes aboard airplanes, there is an undisputed queen, and she is Air France's La Premiere; she is not the most beautiful of the realm, but she is undoubtedly the most glamorous
Air France
SkyTeam
The purpose of the serial accumulator of points and miles is to be able to give himself experiences without having to bleed himself dry. Sure normal people, And not sick like yours truly, have simple goals as we often recount in our articles.
In this article:
Let's say. Maldives are often at the top of the wish list, then there are business class tickets to try "at least once in a lifetime." Some people accumulate enough points every year and some people take two or three years To arrive at the time of conversion.
Everyone has a goal in mind: being able to have experiences that one could never otherwise afford to pay for, then there are also those who could afford them, but take advantage of the points to save money.
Today I want to tell why I decided to spend a whopping 249k Flying Blue points to fly, for the second time in my life, aboard the La Premiere, Air France's first class.
Not many airlines have (yet) the first-class cabin, there are only four in Europe: in addition to Air France, there are Lufthansa, Swiss and British Airways. In America there is only more American Airlines, however, which has already announced that it will disappear. In the rest of the world, however, there are still several carriers that offer it starting with the most famous ones like Emirates and Singapore Airlines. And I must say that I have been lucky enough to travel in many of these cabins.
It is the most difficult to book with points (and the most expensive)
Air France's Premiere is, without a doubt, The one less popular in the world of "influencers" and youtubers And the reason is simple: Air France does not give this ticket away to anyone. In fact, he charges so much for those who want to fly there.
It's not like Emirates is giving away this ticket, indeed, but the point is that an award ticket in F with Emirates is easy to book, the same goes for many other airlines such as Singapore, British Airways, Qatar just to name a few. In addition the rules for being able to upgrade with Air France are just as restrictive, limiting this possibility unlike in all other carriers.
Over the years the French company, which is preparing to launch its new LP booth., made increasingly exclusive and difficult to book this ticket with points. Unlike all (or most) global carriers, it does not allow you to take advantage of partner programs to book this ticket. If I can use Flying Blue points today to book first class on Garuda Indonesia, Virgin Atlantic's for All Nippon Airways'. or Air Canada's for Etihad's. The same is not feasible for Skyteam program members to book Air France's First Class.
In the world, only Swiss first class is as difficult to book. In both cases one must be enrolled in the proprietary loyalty program and possess elite status. In the case of Swiss, one only needs to be Senator Miles & More, while for Air France one needs to be Platinum Flying Blue.
It is the one that has the fewest seats aboard the planes
Swiss is the only carrier in the world to offer first class on board its entire fleet long range, Emirates is the one in the world with more seats than F, but British Airways also offers many as do Lufthansa, ANA and JAL. Premiere, in contrast, is a very rare commodity. Both because there are few 777/300s where it is installed, but most importantly because no other carrier has "only" 4 first class seats aboard planes.
There are 6 Gamechanger suites aboard Emirates' 777s, but except for Swiss's A330s with 4 seats, all other carriers have 8 seats and up. For example, British Airways on some 777s goes as far as 12 F passengers, three times as many as Air France. Not to mention those who still have A380s available, which of First Class seats go as high as 14.
Fewer seats on board means more attentive service and obsessive attention to the smallest details: on board as well as on the ground.
It is the one that flies to fewer destinations
There are few places where Emirates flies planes without first class, For example, in Bali when he uses the A380, does not offer first class. But these are destinations that can be counted on two hands. Probably behind Emirates is British Airways the carrier offering first class to most destinations.
If we exclude carriers such as Garuda Indonesia, which has only one plane with first class seats and flies to only one destination (Amsterdam) Air France is undoubtedly the carrier that offers to fewer destinations the F-cabin. Of course Qatar also has very few routes where it flies first class, but it is a strategic choice that will lead to the abandonment of this cabin to focus more and more everything on the QSuite.
Today, February 2024, La Premiere flies to:
- Five routes in the U.S. (New York, Whasington, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco)
- Two routes to Asia (Tokyo Haneda and Singapore) and Africa (Johannesburg and Abidjan)
- A route to the Middle East (Dubai), Central America (Mexico City) and South America (Sao Paulo)
It is the one that offers the best ground service
I have flown with several companies in F and hope, sooner or later, to complete the list. Of the ones I have tried, I must say that there is no comparison in terms of service.
I don't just say it, but it says it Skytrax which awarded Air France as the one offering the best service First Class and the best First Class lounge, Only Singapore with Suite on A380 steals the show from Air France.
However, it is not the most beautiful cabin
If La Premiere is "only" the second-best First Class. of the world is because the booth is not the best, And in my personal ranking it ranks 4th. Unreachable Suite on Singapore Airlines' A380., inimitable Emirates Gamechanger on very few 777s and Slightly inferior to All Nippon Airways' The Suite..
In the coming years, however, things are bound to change, Because not only will there be a new version of La Premiere, but with the arrival of the 777x and Emirates and many other airlines. there will be the debut of lots of new First Class cabins. He has already started JAL with new proposal on A350 just delivered, but Allegris will also arrive (sooner or later) aboard Lufthansa and certainly companies like Singapore and Qantas will not stand idly by.
In conclusion
Once in a lifetime is really the case for La Premiere, I honestly believe that if one wants to once in a lifetime to take the hassle out of saying "I flew first class," I think no other carrier can make the passenger feel like a privileged guest like Air France aboard its planes where it offers first class.
