Xandrios

Hi,

Flying AF a couple of times next months and I noticed that ex-CDG I am now able to select a Premium Voyageur seat on the A319 Europe (Exit row even). In the past I was not able to do so. The ticket is plain economy.

Is this an official/published benefit for elite+? Or did I just get lucky this time?

Seatguru and other websites seem to contradict each other on the pitch for this 'cabin'. Seatguru says that it is in fact better than Voyageur, while others say it is the same. Can anybody enlighten me?

The flight I'm taking tomorrow is over 3 hrs, any chance that a hot meal is served in Premium Voyageur? The normal economy meal was only so - so last time, so if the Premium meal is the same I might go all out in the lounge for breakfast

Thanks guys!

K�lner

All the seats on a A319 are exatctly the same, only the exit-rows have more legroom. There are no special "Premium Voyageur" seats.

Xandrios

Thanks I guess I'll be seated at the exit row then.

I noticed that PV is not selectable when departing from outstations, but it seems to be from CDG. Am I supposed to be able to select these as FB Gold?

brunos

AF branding and appellations are very confusing. Premium Voyageur (PV) is only on long haul flights NOT on European flights. In Europe (their so-called medium haul flights), there are two "cabins": Premium and Voyageur. The premium cabin has a Premium Affaires (where the middle seat is kept empty) and a Premium Economy. This is probably what you refer too when you talk about PV on A319. But there is no PV in Europe and all the seats are basically identical on A319, only the curtain moves. if the flight has few Premium pax, then only a few rows are dedicated to premium. FB Gold used to be able to select economy (voyageur) seats in the front rows of the economy seating. But the front row of economy depends on the load of premium pax and the curtain moves depending on that.

mtkeller

Can they only move the curtain at CDG? I had the most bizarre LHR-CDG last month, as economy started in row 27, with J being through row 5. There were about three people in J, maybe six people in the middle cabin, and the rest of us were crammed into the last few rows at the back of the aircraft. Would this have been because they had a heavy premium load coming over from CDG and couldn't/wouldn't reconfigure the aircraft on the ground at LHR? Seems insane that they wouldn't even let us move to spread out when they knew the flight was almost empty.

brunos

Yes; I have noticed it too, even from CDG.
There are three possible answers.
1) They want to distribute the weight in the aircraft in an uneven way, loading the tail.
2) They want the pax paying a ridiculously-low discounted economy fare to be so displeased that they will pay a higher fare the next time.
3) A combination of 1) and 2), with a higher weight on 2).

Xandrios

Thanks, must be Premium Economy indeed. Is service for Premium Economy the same as Economy?

Exactly. I have flown AF twice recently from ATH to CDG. In both cases it was (very) crowded in the back, only a few people in Affaires and the middle portion (including exit rows) pretty much empty. I was only able to select seats in the back from rows 15 or so (on the A319).

For my CDG-outbound flight tomorrow this seems also to be the case, however, this time I am able to select seats in the middle portion. I was wondering if that is also supposed to be possible ATH-outbound for instance?

JOUY31

Service in premium Eco is the same as in Premium Affaires, so you should have a hot meal out of ATH.

brunos

Sorry to insist, but the fact that could can select a seat in the middle section (say 15 or 10) does not insure that you will be getting PE service. it could be that on your flight there are many vacationers and that the flight is quite full with E pax.

carnarvon

Then, as Brunos is saying, you are NOT in PE section.

There is no fixed PE section, there are no PE seats. All the same. Only the curtain moves.

I have had seats very much in front (8 maybe even 6 if my recollection is right) and was in plain economy. Just behind the curtain sometimes.

Sorry.

Xandrios

You guys were (of course) right. Normal economy with mediocre food and service.

I was lucky to be seated in the exit row, with the middle seat empty. That actually turned out to be pretty much the best seat on the flight.
Besides that the flight was mediocre though because: no priority boarding at CDG (at all), food was limited in quantity and they only had fish. The guy next to me asked if they had an alternative as he doesn't eat fish and she simply answered 'no', took back the tray and asked me what I wanted for drinks. It would have been nice/decent to offer him something, even if it was only a couple extra cookies to make up.

Anyway, thanks for the advice guys! Much appriciated.