lloydah

Have just completed my first AF transatlantic return flights with my wife, A380.
The complete journey from check in to arrival was simply the best we've ever had. After having flown BA, UA, LH on the same route all in F we wondered what to expect. Being treated like royalty never came into it but that's more or less what we found. Nothing was too much trouble and never has the journey been so smooth.

The hard product had its draw backs, one of our seats was defunct electrically but another was made available so we had three to choose from. Not sure what would have happened in a full cabin.

All in all it was miles better than the others mentioned above and for the same or less money.

orbitmic

Very glad to hear that! ^ Note that on the A380, you have experienced the old F hard product. The new "BEST" 777s seem to be a whole class above, so next time, if you choose the right flight, you can combine both the "royal treatment" and what seems to be one of the best hard products around (I have not tried it myself but our resident new F guinea pigs Goldorak and olivedel have spoken of it in the most enthusiastic of terms!

Goldorak

I'm glad you enjoyed this experience lloydah. Did you enjoy also the fabulous P lounge in CDG? Also, would you mind sharing with us which route it was (with A380, it can be JFK, IAD, LAX, SFO or MIA) ? I'm asking because it could be nice for us on FT to have more details about the ground experience from the U.S. airport. Thanks !


So, lloydah, if you are interested, here is the trip report written by the 2 guinea pigs of the new AF P
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-af-new-p.html

lloydah

To answer those q's - the route was LHR/CDG/IAD. Our first leg was on HOP which didn't do much for the experience. It wasn't bad and to be fair the breakfast for an hour's trip was good. The worst thing was the pax behind me sneezing and sniffing the whole time
The LHR staff were exemplary, and did everything they could to make sure we were happy.
Once on the ground at CGD the L P experience took over. It was everything you could wish for. One important detail was being told our luggage had been specifically seen going on board the 380 so no worries about it being left behind.
One of the reasons we chose AF was because we like the idea of the "open" seating rather than the cubicles you get on some. Maybe not as good as the new ones but they were absolutely fine for us (apart from the faulty one 2L)

We generally hate the ground experience at Dulles with those dreadful 3rd world mobile lounges and the crush to get on/off. AF did us proud with a separate rather luxurious minibus to take all 5 LA P pax to security, none of the other airlines we have used have done this, rather you're left in the scrum with everyone else. Plus, having someone in uniform accompanying you through all the stages makes you feel better in a hall full of what seems to be thousands of people.
So yes, one can see that the ground staff at both ends were really trying hard to make sure La P was indeed a first class product and reflect the faultless service we experienced on board both ways. Whether that's cost effective for AF is another matter. Will certainly do it again though.

Goldorak

Thank you for those precisions. Very good job indeed from AF upon arrival in IAD. And did you also depart from IAD in P with AF ?

lloydah

Yes. That took a bit longer as although escorted we had to go through all the rigmarole of normal security. With LH we went through TSA PreCheck but it appears AF don't have the same agreement.

Goldorak

And what about the lounge in IAD for P pax ? I know they have access to a special part of the lounge on the other side of the bar, accessible from the left of the front desk. How is it compared to the rest of the lounge in terms of seating, food, drinks ? Sorry for bothering you with all those questions, but we love to have as much as information here on FT and P-class experience is of course more limited than J and Y.

lloydah

That part of the lounge - well it's quiet. There were only two other people there with us and you are on the "other side" of the bar so you can see right through to the Biz part. There's nothing apart from snacks for your drinks. We were asked if we wanted a meal before the flight (18 50) but he hinted that the meal on the flight would be better, all the other food and drink was in the other side for Biz.

Of course you could go round and help yourself, if you wanted, to anything but I would have thought that there could have been more to pick at available on the P side.
To be honest there was nothing special about it at all apart from the peace and quiet, lack of other people and getting priority at the bar with Veuve Clicquot.
OK for an hour or so but not much more.

You want to go where?

Lufthansa also offers this minibus service for its F pax at IAD. I'll be flying AF soon and was looking forward to the experience in CDG and in the air, but not at IAD. Glad to know that AF and LH match each other on this aspect of the service.

fifty_two

You mean minbus for transfers ??

Jaglav

Mrs. Jaglav and I flew La Premiere from LAX to CDG connecting to PRG on AF65 on November 21st. The lounge at LAX for La Premiere was the Qantas First Lounge which was uncrowded and generally pleasant along with a restaurant.

The A380 had the old La Premiere seats but they were ok although not up to par with BA and Emirates.

The Air France soft product is in my opinion second to none for commercial travel. At LAX we had an AF rep escort us through security (bypassing 95% of the lines) and up to the lounge. The rep also came back at boarding time and escorted us to the plane once again bypassing the lines.

On arrival at CDG we were met and transferred by car to immigration where we once again bypassed a lot of the wait including in the Fast Track lines (probably the wrong terminology).

Once we got our entry stamps it was back to the car and over to the La Premiere lounge which is excellent.

We were escorted by car from the lounge to the flight to Prague and once again escorted on board going up the stairs to the jetway to avoid any lines.

Overall the ground experience with Air France is superb, the old hard product needs some updating but is fine overall.

As a note we were traveling shortly after the Paris terror attacks and just ahead of the Climate Summit so security was stricter than normal and we encountered no undue delays or problems.

Goldorak

I'm very surprised by this part of your post, because if you have to clear immigration in CDG, those formalities are taken care of by the staff who has your passport, while you are already at the P lounge (and most of the time you don't even see the policeman). But you said you just made this trip (after the Paris terrorist attacks), so it is likely a new (temporary ?) policy due to strengthen security.

Zembla

That updating is in progress. The new seats/suites are spectacularly good.

ranskis

I have not flown AF F for a few years but back in the days, it was always a police officer bringing back the passport, so to check identity and match between face and picture. However, this policeman was not in uniform but dressed like a civilian if I remember correctly.

Jaglav

Our escort from AF apologized for the inconvenience but we did indeed have to personally clear immigration. We went through a separate line, presented our passports, got them stamped, then cleared security and headed off to the lounge.

Not sure if this is temporary due to a combination of the November 13th attacks and the upcoming climate conference or a permanent change, hopefully the former.