From experience, sitting in the middle pair, you only need to want something behind the curtain once to make you remember to take everything you might need before pushback.

I've sat in a window seat with the new P and I don't understand this issue of the overhead bins? I had my own bin to myself and did not have to bother anyone. It should be the same for all the P seats on the 777.

It is only an issue with the middle pair seats, where the only overhead is over your window seat.
And when you close your curtain, kind of awkward to retrieve my bag.

My curtain was only fully closed when I was about to settled down to sleep, about 3 hours into the flight. I'm a reasonable chap (well I think so) so wouldn't have been to worried about access to the overhead before then but might have been while snoozing. Luckily, the lad in the middle settled down to sleep straight away so it was never going to be an issue.

JFK-CDG was definitely too short for much to matter about the hard product.

However, if we didn't get a private cabin (other 2 seats empty) on our CDG-SIN leg, there were definitely points on the 12.5 hr flight where some poor planning on our behalf could mean breaking someone's privacy.

Classy first world problems.

Indeed ;)

Yeah I tried the new P on JFK-CDG too and slept most of the flight so I never noticed this problem. I had thought the middle seats had their own overhead storage. Presumably the couple in the middle on my flight found other places to store their bags.

Some final thoughts after flying 4 segments in P.

* I still consider the overhead bin to be a major oversight, but is only a deal breaker if you don't plan for it. By our return flights, we had a plan, took all our essentials, dropped it in the footrest bin, and had convenient access as needed. But middle seat pax won't figure this out on their first shot unless they really don't need anything.

* 7 hrs in the lounge went quick. Between generalized jet lag, catching up on work, eating and taking a short nap, it was actually really helpful to have that time before continuing on. Obviously if it was business, I'd want a limited connect time, but different circumstances for leisure travel.

* They need to get Wi-Fi on those planes. Or maybe not. I slept really well... the longest I haven't stared at an electronic device in recent memory. The beds helped a lot, but maybe that whole enforced disconnect thing contributed to my better sleep. But yeah, maybe they should get Wi-Fi done sooner than later. Very conflicted.

* The CDG lounge food was excellent. A small menu that delivered ultra-high quality. I am really looking forward to another meal at that lounge.

* The in-flight food was generally extremely good, sometimes excellent. Limited in selection, with the usual "ex-CDG" catering worth mentioning as being consistently excellent in my opinion. If they did a book-the-cook style ordering, that put us at a brand new level.

* In-flight portions were massive... maybe too massive. I know they're going for the multi-course gastronomic experience, but there's just no way you can have a mise en bouche, soup, first course, entree, salad, cheese and dessert with the portions they give you. That salad course alone could be serve as its own meal.

* Caviar is only ex-CDG... no good reason why it shouldn't be on every segment.

* SIN ground service between gate to JetQuay CIP for private immigration is awesome. JetQuay lounge is a wasteland for food. I get it - JetQuay gets limited foot traffic at best making it less than economical, but for a terminal in a city with amazing/delicious food, this lounge is a miss with a lot of opportunity to turn it into a destination. AF should use more influence here to make it better.

* JFK and SIN security before boarding could be handled better. JFK T1 used the wheelchair lane and some line cutting, and SIN used line cutting, but both strike me as more "jerk" than "VIP". This in contrast to SIN JetQuay private immigration which felt distinctly exclusive.

* JFK ground service is solid as others say, both departures and arrivals, but with Global Entry and your bags being the first one down the chute, it's not really essential. Maybe a cart ride would be nice.

* In-flight crew was consistently excellent, but the FAs definitely varied their style of service significantly from one another. It would rob a street restaurant of stars and ratings for not having consistent steps of service. Note, service was always awesome - but seeing it across 4 segments, it was different enough to note.

* We got a private cabin... twice. It's even better when it's all yours. FAs are not shy about letting you make the most of it.

In total though, it's truly an exceptional product and one that I'm extremely fortunate to have experienced. Really looking forward to my next chance to do La Première.

No trip complete without pictures...
https://goo.gl/photos/4s4jcbro3xLSJfUE7

Excellent ^
thank you for your report.

Thank you for your report. I usually travel solo on the window seats so never realized the overhead compartment issue.

Wifi
 

Re: Wifi I flew CDG-SIN on the 27th (F-GSQY) and to my surprise they had wifi on board, with vouchers for free access given to the 3 of us up front. It was working all flight and didn't kick me off at all. Speed was average for a long haul flight.

It was my first time in the new seats (having flown mostly A-380 and 777 old cabin), I love the design and comfort. I slept about 8 hours. Service was amazing on board, the first time in my past 5 flights where I can actually say that.

And to confirm Krug was the champagne for me as well. Went well with the truffled scrambled eggs for breakfast!

My experience on the HND-CDG leg of my trip :

Check-in started 30 minutes early for the flight, as I approached the La Premiere area I was greeted by an Air France rep with “Rosensfole San desu ka?” and whisked straight to the desk for formalities then taken to the dedicated (and red carpeted) security check area. I did have to queue in the standard passport line but there were only 4 ahead of me so this was absolutely fine.

I was then asked if I wanted to purchase duty free goods, I did, the lady waited with my carry-on bags while I shopped for ciggies before escorting me to the JAL 1st class lounge. We arranged for my pick-up T-30.

The lounge is OK I guess. The food is mostly buffet style apart from the teppanyaki chef – the food he made was really rather good. The champagne on offer was an undated Rothschild which was acceptable if unexciting. I’m not sure I would be too bothered about spending more than an hour in that lounge in the future.

I was escorted for the long walk to the gate despite unused buggies lining the route – I guess my escort needed the exercise. Upon boarding I was greeted by the pursor and my FA for the flight- the lovely and very charming Regine. I have to say that she was absolutely outstanding throughout, quite professional but also personable and we chatted quite a lot during the journey.

There were supposed to be 3 pax but the wife of the Japanese gentleman was turned away at check-in due to having insufficient time left on her passport to enter the EU. He boarded without her anyway! So, with only 2 pax we had the run of our respective sides of the cabin and boy did we both make the most of it. This is one of the things I love most about this cabin – the freedom that it engenders.

There was no wifi but I didn’t expect it and I wasn’t really bothered by the fact,

As has been mentioned there was no caviar service (which doesn’t bother me tbh) but we were served nuts with dried fruit – hmmm. The champagne was Krug, which I do like and which I chugged heartily. The menu was limited to 2 mains and one “choice” for each other course though I was offered a view of the business class menu since I can’t eat seafood thus limiting my choices. I was happy to forgo this option as it was after midnight and I’d eaten well in the lounge.

The wine list was, as I've stated before, a bit "meh". The red wines are OK but uninspired choices.

The cream of turnip soup was way better than it looked in the menu and my filet of wagyu in truffle sauce was underwhelming. As it was nearly 2.30am by this point I snaffled a swift cognac while Regine made up my bed in 1A. Curtains closed, pjs donned, and lights out I was asleep in a blink and slept for 3 or 4 hours then again for another 3 after a quick comfort break and some water.

Refreshed, I changed back into civvies while the seat was returned to, um, seatiness then breakfast was served. I opted for the crepes which were OK and lashings of coffee. All served with a cheeky smile. While I was asleep Regine had fashioned a rose for me from a radish and served it on my side plate during breakfast. Nice touch,

I was greeted at the CDG gate and escorted by the usual means through a very foggy and freezing CDG to the lounge.

Despite the limited menu and slightly bumpier ride I enjoyed this leg more than the outward. The pjs were lighter so I didn’t roast, it was a night flight so I was bound to sleep well and I suppose I was less excited having experienced it on the way out. I dunno. And the wonderful FA… what can I say.

Got a lucky opup from J to P on CDG JFK. Krug was on the menu, caviar service was OK although I am not a big fan of caviar, I would rather have a top quality marinated salmon. Vodka vertical is better than smirnoff red but I would expect something like belvedere or grey goose (not my favorite by far, but french fashionable vodka on AF could be expected). There were excellent starters and main courses, excellent presentations, the beef tenderloin was so so, as expected for a flight, however the pan seared foie gras was excellent, above expectations. The duch pie with morel mushrooms was also fantastic.

There was free wifi the whole flight, I tested VoIP calls for a couple of minutes out of curiosity and the quality was excellent (slight latency obviously). Not sure if I would not prefer them to block all kinds of VoIP. Otherwise, for my use, good quality connection.

It was my first time on the new F, and compared to my several experiences 5-7 years ago, the improvements are huge. I would rank it easily above SQ or EK and on par with NH and JL.

Everyone to their own I guess, I'll have your caviar if you do not want it!! :)

I very much would and find it worrying that they don't. I've had too many lounge-skypers horror stories of late, and there at least I can walk away. On a plane someone doing the same may tempt me towards my air rage for the first time in my life.

+1000!!!

I am categorically for having Internet access on board of all planes, especially on long haul flights. But none of them should give access to voice over IP, nor to sites where people can download films or other large files.

I am glad to hear that the connection quality onboard AF was good.