Flying on AF
 

A couple of questions about flying international long haul on AF. I am a lowly Silver medallion member.

1. On a 3-cabin aircraft, if I buy a business ticket, is there any possibility of an upgrade to first (La Premiere) class? I know AF doesn't release it's F inventory for a direct award redemption but wasn't sure if this applies to upgrades as well, particularly if F is empty on that particular flight.

2. I assume I earn DL miles for the flight. Are there any class of service bonuses for flying J? If I were to get upgraded to F, does the F class of service bonus still apply? And I assume I can 'stack' my Silver + class of service bonuses?

Thanks!

You will earn a 50% bonus on RDMs and MQMs when flying J on Air France. F earns the same.

AF will not do any op-ups from business to first unless business becomes oversold. Even if that happens, they will upgrade Flying Blue elites and SkyTeam Elite Plus members before you, making an upgrade extremely unlikely.

#1 - Slim and none, and slim just left the building. DL flyers cannot get First class on an AF award tix. You can pony up the difference between Bus and First and get a seat that way. Approx. 5000.00 more each way. Having flown both classes on AF, NOT worth the difference in price.

#2 - Yes, there are class bonuses on paid business class. Bonus level depends on fare class, and status with DL. The DL site can give you the exact bonus level.

Also, I've heard from others on FT that La Premiere isn't that amazing anyway...but that's all hear say. (And, in any case, I'm sure it's not worse than business...)

Certainly a big step above business class, but not worth the money. Much better FC cabin on BA or LH.

Still love AF business class. Do LAX-CDG and beyond 3-4 times a year and always enjoy the ride. Also, AF will bring the A380 to LAX in May. Understand it's a much quieter ride.

AF 380 Business
 

Can't respond to the business / first question, but can respond to business on the 380 question:

I just arrived in Dubai and had two segments on AF in Business. First was on a 340 and second was on the 380. Seats were nearly identical but I felt the 380 seats were a little narrower and had less room between them. Lighting on the 380 was nice, but the business cabin is way to big. Took close to 3 hours from take off to finally finish lunch and the cabin wasn't full. Plus the lavs for business are in the galley for business and it is hard to wait for a lav to be free when you have 8 flight attendants bustling around the same area. It was a different sound being up higher from the engines, but I was in the 2nd business cabin which is over the wing and still wanted to wear my noise cancelling headphones. I can now say I've ridden on the 380, but actually prefered the 340. Not sure what the business is like on the AF 777. I'm flying home on the Delta 777 direct to Atlanta with the layflats...looking forward to it.

Having ridden in the front J cabin on the A380, the experience is very different.

First, the front cabin is much smaller, only four rows (there is one additional set of seats on the outside aisle on the left side of the a/c).

Here, it is quieter and more intimate. There is one lav up front, on the left side, very spacious and nowhere near the galley.

As a rule, I would suggest sitting in the front cabin, preferably in seats 60 K or L, the best J seats in the house. These are bulkheads and away from the lav.

The AF 777s and 340s are 2-3-2 in business class, right? What about the A380? Is it 2-2-2 seating like LH?

Correct. 2-3-2 on the 777. 2-2-2 on the 380.

Then this is a game changer to me. I hate 2-3-2 and think it's inappropriate to have a middle seat in business class.

The DL page on Mileage Upgrade Awards is pretty definitive on this one: https://www.delta.com/skymiles/use_m...eage/index.jsp

You can upgrade to J but not F.

SWUs are no help here either:
https://www.delta.com/skymiles/about...erts/index.jsp

Getting F tix without paying for F is only possible on partners that offer F awards directly, not via upgrades.

I've flown the 340, 380, and 777 in Affaires, and there is very, very little difference. Seats are the same [larger AVOD screen on the 380], but I agree with the other comment that the seats in the front of the J cabin are best, if nothing else for that bathroom at the front left of the upper deck that you could go bowling in.

There are no SkyTeam carriers on which one can use DL miles to upgrade. It's forbidden by the rules of SkyTeam because DL does not offer IFC, so we cannot do a SkyTeam upgrade with miles into IFC. Nor can we use DL miles for award tickets in IFC by the same SkyTeam rule, although until a year or two ago, we could get IFC award tickets on SQ with DL miles. (sigh)

However, IIRC, in the past some have had luck with doing a SWU upgrade from an expensive business class fare code into IFC on AF.

Cool, thanks all. I guess getting into F is unlikely/near impossible, but at least I'll get enough miles to put me at Gold for the rest of the year. (And I'll make sure to get the front J cabin!)

To oversimplify things, the 340s are 330s with 4 engines. The interior is the same: 2-2-2 in C.

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Air..._Long_Haul.php