San Gottardo

The thing is, they can't get it right for everybody. Just on some of the above disappointments, I'd personally be rather indifferent or would even object.

Couldn't care less. It's a commercial flight.

I'd be seriously miffed if I couldn't do that! In fact, as nice as that welcome lounge at 2E is, I'd prefer walking in there, showing my mobile boarding pass and walk off to security. Or better still, walk straight to security, show the mobile boarding pass with a seat in Premiere, and be let through the special security line and walk to the lounge myself. If you know your way, there is zero added benefit from sitting around in that welcome lounge the time that they check something and then walking with an AF person through security. I absolutely think that they should offer it as a possibility for those people who don't know their way around or who need that sort of thing for value-for-money or ego or whatever other reasons. But the real benefit is to go through security really quickly, and that I'd like to have the choice to do as hassle-free as possible, i.e. Without needing to stop by the welcome lounge.

That's odd, they should indeed put that on.

Again, it's just a glorified waiting room where you spend time before taking a plane. It is a very nice one, but seriously, the only way to get people excited is to link to Goldorak's post on FT rather than some marketing material in the confirmation email or the site.

That is shocking, they should definitely introduce that, but not only for Premiere flights but for all premium tickets in general.

That's the kind of thing where the dedicated Premiere help line could really make a difference. They should call you and email you (leaving you the choice of channel) and offer you a choice of flights.

Again, that really shouldn't be happening. Is this the Premiere service line you refer to?

Well we've all had our fair share of customer abuse with AF, but regardless of them having gotten better the Premiere experience on which they spend so much money should not be tarnished by things as indifferent customer service agents.

rosensfole

I booked the trip in July, received the email last week and fly next Sunday.

ijgordon

Ah, okay, makes sense, they just reach out a week before the flight.

rosensfole

That's right. However it's a boring and impersonal contact that does nothing to give the customer any more information than most would already know. Apart from the La Premiere line number it just contains links to areas of the website many customers would already have looked at prior to booking.

I'm not personally bothered since I've read plenty of threads about the experience on here and elsewhere but I do wonder if the La Premiere customers should be receiving something a bit more personal, i.e. what to expect at each end of the journey. For example; my flight starts at Manchester in J - what happens at MAN? What happens when disembarking at CDG? What to expect at HND on arrival? What to expect on check-in at HND (and what lounge) for the return in P? Etc... Now I *think* I know but I'm not entirely sure - especially at HND.

I am excited about the trip (as all my friends know - and are fed up of hearing!) and am sure it'll all be smooth and a fantastic experience E2E but the so-called personal email is a bit of an empty balloon.

alee0729

Agreed. If I book a hotel suite, I get a personal email from the concierge. A simple "if you need anything prior to your journey, contact me" email would really put a bow on it.

I called the regular AF line to verify something regarding my trip today, and got a fairly indifferent agent. Definitely a gap in quality until you arrive at the airport apparently.

Sjondorn

Hi guys,

I'm planning to fly SFO - PRG in the summer and generally intend to fly in business class, but when checking the pricing, La Premiere is only +$700 extra each way, which makes tempting. I am wondering - how early do you need to book it before the price rises significantly?

lloydah

I'd do it now to secure that fare. I need a couple of TATL flights spring summer this year and saw La P fares which were good two weeks ago. I left them a week and because two seats on the 380 became booked on one of my dates the price rose substantially . I booked the others there and then. As they're fully refundable it's quite safe for me.

Goldorak

I fully agree. Better to secure the fare right now, because if it increases, the increase will be sharp.

Sjondorn

Thanks for the tips, will secure it soon.

rosensfole

Now that I've finally experienced this I think I'm qualified to respond/comment...
For my flight yesterday there were 2 singles and one pair so 3 cars were used. Perhaps they listened to you. My escort was most charming and amusing and checked up on me regularly during my 5 hour layover. He even took time out to show me where I could go for a smoke. 10/10

Agreed... mostly. I found the cabin to be a bit airless. A minor niggle really because everything else was just perfect.
No crackers for me until the delivery of the caviar.

The caviar service was spot on imho. I'm no expert however... and I don't even like caviar.

I had a full choice of 4 for main course and 2 for the 1st. Just one soup (lentil) which was outstandaing but not to everyone's taste.

I didn't see the gin. They could do better than Heineken for the beer though. The cognac was to die for. I thought the wine was average, high end average yes but that's still average. I never expect Chateau Latour but the estates the wines are sourced are a bit boring.

My trip was MAN-CDG-HND, there were minor complaints (see below) but the experience in total means I'm really looking forwards to the reverse trip in 3 weeks time.

Observed minor complaints: At MAN I had to use the Escape lounge - that's all there is; it took the dragons a wee while to figure out that I was La Premiere. They were fantastic once that was realised and I was shown to a table with fruit and papers then offered table service for my stay. There was no escort.
In the lounge; the Maitre D was ambivalent to those he didn't know; for example when I was giving him my order he just walked off to shake hands with a regular. I thought that was extremely rude. At no point during the meal was I offered wine - I eventually caught the eye of the lady working at the bar. When I asked for the food menu there was no acknowledgment of my request until the menu was dropped unceremoniously on my table. Upon the change of personnel service improved exponentially.

daniellam

Does anyone know if AF will be bring back Cristal champagne to La Premiere?

They seemed to have switched to Krug recently and was told that they change champagnes every 10 days. Is this true? or is AF just being cheap after they ran out of Cristal?

For those interested, I have written a trip report at:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...al-videos.html

alee0729

I'm leaving tonight on my first La Premiere flight... I hold all of you accountable for the ridiculously high standards they will have to keep to make me happy.

Yahtzee

Great report so far. I'm glad to know from several posts here that I'm not the only one unclear about, or neglected by, restaurant staff. I'll ask my escort for a strategy.

stimpy

That won't be a problem. You are coming in as a DL DM so you can't help but be impressed.

SFO777

We had Cristal in October on our CDG-LAX 77W private charter.