SAtraveller

We decided to go to Paris for a short holiday. We decided we'd try our hand at Air France because, firstly, we've never flown on Air France and secondly, we've never flown on the A380.

We normally fly J when we go overseas - but decided to try a small experiment - premium economy. There aren't too many airlines that offer long-haul premium economy (though the list is growing). The point of the experiment was to see whether we could get a business lite experience. Let's be honest, business class costs many times what a normal economy ticket costs, whereas premium economy costs approximately double. Perhaps for double the cost of economy we could experience excellent comfort and avoid spending a large amount of cash on our tickets.

Of course, we didn't merely dive into this decision head-first. I read pretty much every premium economy review available online, though they are scarce. Close to all of them stated that it is not business lite but economy plus. The airlines don't hide this fact: the name says as much. We decided to try anyway. The flight is pretty lengthy (~11 hours), so it was risky, but we were excited anyway.

1. JNB-CDG on Air France Airbus A380-800 in Premium Economy.
2. CDG-JNB on Air France Airbus A380-800 in Business Class.


We arrived at OR Tambo International in Johannesburg to find a huge amount of people trying to check-in. The logistics of trying to check-in over 500 people must be considerable. We'd checked in online but this didn't avoid the fact that we needed to stand in line to check-in our baggage. At this point a friendly lady was walking down the line offering a 300 Euro voucher to anyone who would defer their flight to the next day, considering the flight was overbooked. We politely declined.

It was then that we discovered that premium economy passengers are allowed to check-in with Sky Priority i.e. business/first/elite passengers. I actually considered that paying extra for premium economy was worth it merely from this point, considering we went from a line of hundreds to a line of about ten passengers. Check-in was a breeze and we received our two boarding passes - rows 84A and 84K.

You qualify for lounge access if you fly premium economy, but you must pay a supplementary charge of 35 Euro's each (depending on which airport you go to) to enter. We had status at other lounges and went for those, though we only had half an hour before boarding.



Our bird for the day


the craziness of boarding

When we arrived at the boarding gates, they had separated everyone into two groups: upper deck and lower deck. Luckily, being on the upper deck allowed us to sit in a far less packed area that was quite comfortable.

I still think that Air France chose the layout of their A380 poorly (and uniquely if I'm correct). They should have had the forward section of the upper deck allocated to First class, and the rest to business, and the forward section of the lower deck to premium economy and the rest to economy. It would have made boarding so much easier, as well as several other issues. As it is, you have premium economy and economy passengers allocated to the upper deck mixed up with the business class passengers who most assuredly do not appreciate this. Even worse, you have first class passengers sitting with the economy mass in the boarding area. Yes, they do keep the first class passengers wrapped in cotton wool in the first class lounge until the last moment, but first class passengers who wish to board early have an utterly raw deal. It's an illogical seat map if you ask me.

Moving along, boarding was pretty easy, though walking through business class amounted to the most severe torture for a regular J traveler, or a regular Y one I would imagine.


Aircraft: Airbus A380-800
Airline : Air France
Flight : 995
Flight : JNB-CDG
Load : 100% in Y/Y+/J/F


side shot of cabin















I'll have a small premium economy discussion at the end of this section of the trip report.

However, after passing through business, I was surprised at how intimate the premium economy cabin was. It's only a few rows (business class is much larger). Economy is set in a 3-4-3 configuration (except for the small economy section on the upper deck in a 2-4-2 configuration). Premium economy is 2-3-2. This is one of my favourite bonuses when flying premium economy (or any higher class). The third seat in a wide-body jet always creates the tension of who will arrive to sit next to you for the next 11 hours. In premium economy, it's just you and your partner, unless you fly solo, or decide to sit in the middle of the cabin.

The space in front of the seat is significantly improved compared to economy. I never once felt claustrophobic or cluttered during the flight, and honestly don't think I'd need more space in a cabin for sitting. Contrary to other reports I found the seats to be extremely comfortable. I didn't feel the need to sit on extra pillows or other such hyperbole that I read in other reviews. The seat is in a fixed shell so your movements, or those around you, doesn't affect you, which is a big plus. The armrest between the seats is immobile and some passengers may not like this.

There are two buttons on the side of the seat. The first one brings out a leg support for your lower leg, but like others I found this to be useless because it doesn't really go all the way and the angle is wrong. There is a retractable metal footrest on the seat in front of you which was useful. The second button causes your seat to slide down a bit, and create the illusion of retraction. Its the easiest process ever - you press the button and you slide down and when you want to come up you put your feet on the ground and push and you slide up. You can safely ignore rants about the impossible seat and how it took hours to figure it out - a baby could do it (the 90 year old woman behind me certainly could). The headrest is adjustable.

There are great storage compartments under the windows that are very useful, but only for small objects. There is a lot of space between your seat and the window, so people who rely on sleeping against the window may have a problem (I've read about that complaint before and it's probably true).

There are two bottles of water on the seatback in front of you, if you need water. The TV screen is the same size as that in economy class. I found the entertainment system to be excellent - lots of recent movies (I watched Argo and Lincoln), a mass of old movies, games and inflight maps and cameras. The screen is touch screen and easy to navigate but there is also a side control/phone too. You get a pair of Sennheiser noise-cancelling headsets that are built into the seats, not distributed. You get disposable ear covers in your amenity kit if you're afraid of the previous person's germs. These headsets are the same as in business class. I found the sound acceptable, but compared to other airlines, the headsets are substandard. The seat has all sorts of charging areas for your ipad etc, but I didn't use them.


Amenity kit and blanket

The blanket and pillow are both soft and wrapped in plastic when you first arrive. Both are the same as those in business class. The blanket is soft, warm and completely adequate, but the pillow is a little too small and rather flimsy. The amenity kit contains all those things you can see above - I rarely use any of it - but it too, is the same as in business class. I think the business class kit contains a face cream and the bag is slightly different, but that is it. You make use of the economy toilets at the back of the plane, which look like all other economy toilets. Some people smuggle into the business class toilets which are actually much closer, but on our flight this was ferociously prohibited.

We took off pretty much on time, and I was shocked at how quiet the aircraft is. It is by far the quietest aircraft I have ever been on, and I was hugely impressed.

A few minutes after take off and the crew sprung into action. I know people have had bad experiences with Air France crew but we found them to be fantastic. They were friendly, and were constantly throwing witty remarks and jokes around. They went out of their way to accommodate a lady with a broken leg, and never wavered in their good service.







We were handed the menus which seemed to be specific for premium economy. Sorry for the pink pictures - the cabin really was pink thanks to the mood lighting, and it didn't help that the menu was red too. I'd read before that the menu is an economy menu, so I can't confirm whether this is true and they merely inserted 'premium economy' onto the front, or if there are any differences. You may have noticed the generous tray table. It was about double the size of that in economy, and similar to that in business. It's a very useful commodity that shouldn't be underestimated.


red wine and nutty things for starter


delicious main course and dessert


after meal coffee, chocolates and cognac

I found the food to be pretty much economy-like. I've never been fussy with food, so you won't easily hear complaints from me. The starter was tasty, and the main course (beef curry) was absolutely delicious. The tiramisu was a bit dry I guess. The rolls were cold (I've discovered that this is a critical point to some people).

After that we settled in and enjoyed the remaining 9 hours of the flight. There was irritating turbulence from time to time - the type that shakes the plane, laughs and runs away, only to return half an hour later.

I couldn't sleep - but I'll discuss this later. The crew made drinks runs every hour (I know because I was awake) and were friendly at all times. They also made ice-cream runs twice and that was fantastic.





At last we approached Europe and hit the 'jetstream' the pilot told us about, and that left us all shaken and not stirred. Breakfast was served though my coffee bounced around a bit. It was all very tasty.


Breakfast

We landed on time, and transferred from a tropical climate to a frozen one, but it was all good fun.

Premium Economy Discussion

I did a lot of research on premium economy before I booked it, and was genuinely interested to see whether it could make an acceptable bridge between economy and business. I had no expectations that it would be closer to business class than economy, but I was hoping that it would be comfortable enough to be a viable option in the future.

I think the answer to this question depends on what you are looking for on a flight, and also what your previous experiences are. A family next to me who regularly travel in economy said it was so luxurious and a real treat, whereas for someone who travels regularly in J might feel the downgrade.

I personally will not fly it longhaul again, and here are my reasons why...

The extras you are provided with are genuinely noteworthy. You get a business class check-in, paid lounge access if you wish, extra seat space, upgraded food, priority baggage and a few other things. These small things make the experience much more comfortable and are only palpable when you actually take them away. The cabin itself is really fantastic - small, and intimate, with a great deal of personal space.

My problem, though, was that I couldn't sleep. I landed feeling half-dead, and it felt like an economy class experience from a sleep perspective. To be fair, I'm a poor sleeper on a plane, and many passengers did seem to sleep quite comfortably. However, I do sleep in J, and I can't in Y+... and that remains a big thing for me on international long-haul.

So did Premium Economy have any benefit for me?

Definitely. I would say that apart from the fact that I couldn't sleep, it is a very good product. I would agree with other opinions that I have read that state that it is fantastic for a long day flight, but for a night flight - not so much. In the future I am going to apply this philosophy. I'm going to remain in J for long overnight flights, but I'll fly Y+ for day flights. A good example would be CDG-JFK in the day - I think that would be superb place for premium economy, and I also plan to use it later this year from HKG-SIN on CX, if available.

Thanks for reading the review... some commentary would be nice.

Coming up... flying back in J...