Air France vs. British Airways A380 First Class
Jan 9, 2014, 9:28 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 23,999
Air France vs. British Airways A380 First Class
Hi Folks,
One of my airline related goals is to fly first class on every airline operating the A380, and I've almost accomplished that goal. Two airlines that were missing from my "list" were Air France and British Airways. I hadn't flown Air France A380 first class because they only release first class award space at the "flex" level (which is prohibitively expensive), while I hadn't flown British Airways A380 first class because they just took delivery of their first A380s a few months ago.
Anyway, last month I decided it was time to change that. While Air France first class was expensive at 125,000 miles one-way, the cost was going up even further (to 167,500 miles) on January 1, so I figured I was best off checking it off my list sooner rather than later.
So I decided to book Air France in one direction and British Airways in the other direction, and spend a couple of days in Germany inbetween enjoying the Christmas Markets. You can find the links to the installments of the trip report below:
Introduction
OneWorld First Class Lounge Los Angeles
OneWorld Business Class Lounge Los Angeles
New Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles Airport
Air France A380 First Class Los Angeles to Paris
Air France First Class Lounge Paris
Air France Business Class Paris to Frankfurt
Hilton Frankfurt
Frankfurt Christmas Markets
Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge Frankfurt
British Airways Club Europe Frankfurt to London Heathrow
British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
British Airways A380 First Class London Heathrow to Los Angeles
SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
Park Hyatt Aviara Resort
On the whole I was blown away by Air France and in particular their ground services, and also really impressed by the British Airways A380 and service I received from the "mixed fleet" crew.
Now I just have to check China Southern and Korean Air off my list and I'll have tried them all!
One of my airline related goals is to fly first class on every airline operating the A380, and I've almost accomplished that goal. Two airlines that were missing from my "list" were Air France and British Airways. I hadn't flown Air France A380 first class because they only release first class award space at the "flex" level (which is prohibitively expensive), while I hadn't flown British Airways A380 first class because they just took delivery of their first A380s a few months ago.
Anyway, last month I decided it was time to change that. While Air France first class was expensive at 125,000 miles one-way, the cost was going up even further (to 167,500 miles) on January 1, so I figured I was best off checking it off my list sooner rather than later.
So I decided to book Air France in one direction and British Airways in the other direction, and spend a couple of days in Germany inbetween enjoying the Christmas Markets. You can find the links to the installments of the trip report below:
Introduction
OneWorld First Class Lounge Los Angeles
OneWorld Business Class Lounge Los Angeles
New Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles Airport
Air France A380 First Class Los Angeles to Paris
Air France First Class Lounge Paris
Air France Business Class Paris to Frankfurt
Hilton Frankfurt
Frankfurt Christmas Markets
Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge Frankfurt
British Airways Club Europe Frankfurt to London Heathrow
British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
British Airways A380 First Class London Heathrow to Los Angeles
SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
Park Hyatt Aviara Resort
On the whole I was blown away by Air France and in particular their ground services, and also really impressed by the British Airways A380 and service I received from the "mixed fleet" crew.
Now I just have to check China Southern and Korean Air off my list and I'll have tried them all!
Jan 10, 2014, 2:23 pm
#5
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,558
Thanks for the great report!
Not a fan of this seat. Just look at how much wasted space there is. The closet is too big, as is the awkward arm-rest looking protrusion near the window. They should have made better use of those areas and made the seat/footwell wider, which would be considerably more comfortable in the bed position.
I find it bizarre that they offer a different menu to those flying the A380 F versus routes with the 777 and 747 and think this disgraceful. They should have updated the meal service across ALL aircraft types, since the preparation of the meal service has nothing to do with the aircraft itself. There is no magic to the A380 in this regard.
So for your F class fare you'll get three different products:
1. The "best" = A380 with better seat, food, etc.
2. The middle class F = 777 or 747 with non-updated meal service and more cramped seating
3. The third class F = shabby, falling-apart 1990s old F with the same amenties as the 777.
If flying to Asia I'd do CX and for mid east EK or Etihad. At least you'll not have to play roulette with your seat.
The Americans I reckon are stuck with this BA product or risk dismal soft products on their own airlines.
Not a fan of this seat. Just look at how much wasted space there is. The closet is too big, as is the awkward arm-rest looking protrusion near the window. They should have made better use of those areas and made the seat/footwell wider, which would be considerably more comfortable in the bed position.
I find it bizarre that they offer a different menu to those flying the A380 F versus routes with the 777 and 747 and think this disgraceful. They should have updated the meal service across ALL aircraft types, since the preparation of the meal service has nothing to do with the aircraft itself. There is no magic to the A380 in this regard.
So for your F class fare you'll get three different products:
1. The "best" = A380 with better seat, food, etc.
2. The middle class F = 777 or 747 with non-updated meal service and more cramped seating
3. The third class F = shabby, falling-apart 1990s old F with the same amenties as the 777.
If flying to Asia I'd do CX and for mid east EK or Etihad. At least you'll not have to play roulette with your seat.
The Americans I reckon are stuck with this BA product or risk dismal soft products on their own airlines.
Last edited by Flyingfox; Jan 10, 2014 at 2:28 pm
Jan 10, 2014, 10:13 pm
#6
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: DE,UN,StarwoodGold
Posts: 522
lucky, I so much enjoy and appreciate your reports; you hit all the essential points, your comments are well-judged and spot-on, your pics are great, and you have an elegant economy of style too -- all are just right in length, you edit out the extraneous and duplicative, you provide the most helpful links for further attention and comparison. Thank you so much for this one with the most interesting comparison of two of the European majors. Your positive review of BA -- a great crew makes all the difference doesn't it -- must be music to their ears.
As to AF, what a great report, it's obvious you really enjoyed the flight and the amazing F lounge even more so. As you say, a smile and some charm can overcome many hard product deficiencies. The F cabin clearly isn't the latest word, it seems to just pre-date the semi- or completely-closed suite trend, and as you say presumably to be updated pretty soon now. But to me the openness of it, combined with yards of space which creates its own privacy zone, is very appealing; I'm wondering how you feel about that. And yes those breakfast crepes do make me salivate too -- but surely they could put that creme anglaise, or whatever it is, in something more appropriate to F than the little aluminum foil tub I seem to see LOL -- not that that tiny detail would keep me away from the product if I ever got a chance to try it.
Again thanks for all your efforts in putting this together for us here.
As to AF, what a great report, it's obvious you really enjoyed the flight and the amazing F lounge even more so. As you say, a smile and some charm can overcome many hard product deficiencies. The F cabin clearly isn't the latest word, it seems to just pre-date the semi- or completely-closed suite trend, and as you say presumably to be updated pretty soon now. But to me the openness of it, combined with yards of space which creates its own privacy zone, is very appealing; I'm wondering how you feel about that. And yes those breakfast crepes do make me salivate too -- but surely they could put that creme anglaise, or whatever it is, in something more appropriate to F than the little aluminum foil tub I seem to see LOL -- not that that tiny detail would keep me away from the product if I ever got a chance to try it.
Again thanks for all your efforts in putting this together for us here.
Jan 11, 2014, 1:51 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Dublin
Programs: EK Blue,VS,BA, Krisflyer, Hilton Gold , Radisson Gold , Hyatt Gold.
Posts: 427
Hi Folks,
One of my airline related goals is to fly first class on every airline operating the A380, and I've almost accomplished that goal. Two airlines that were missing from my "list" were Air France and British Airways. I hadn't flown Air France A380 first class because they only release first class award space at the "flex" level (which is prohibitively expensive), while I hadn't flown British Airways A380 first class because they just took delivery of their first A380s a few months ago.
Anyway, last month I decided it was time to change that. While Air France first class was expensive at 125,000 miles one-way, the cost was going up even further (to 167,500 miles) on January 1, so I figured I was best off checking it off my list sooner rather than later.
So I decided to book Air France in one direction and British Airways in the other direction, and spend a couple of days in Germany inbetween enjoying the Christmas Markets. You can find the links to the installments of the trip report below:
Introduction
OneWorld First Class Lounge Los Angeles
OneWorld Business Class Lounge Los Angeles
New Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles Airport
Air France A380 First Class Los Angeles to Paris
Air France First Class Lounge Paris
Air France Business Class Paris to Frankfurt
Hilton Frankfurt
Frankfurt Christmas Markets
Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge Frankfurt
British Airways Club Europe Frankfurt to London Heathrow
British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
British Airways A380 First Class London Heathrow to Los Angeles
SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
Park Hyatt Aviara Resort
On the whole I was blown away by Air France and in particular their ground services, and also really impressed by the British Airways A380 and service I received from the "mixed fleet" crew.
Now I just have to check China Southern and Korean Air off my list and I'll have tried them all!
One of my airline related goals is to fly first class on every airline operating the A380, and I've almost accomplished that goal. Two airlines that were missing from my "list" were Air France and British Airways. I hadn't flown Air France A380 first class because they only release first class award space at the "flex" level (which is prohibitively expensive), while I hadn't flown British Airways A380 first class because they just took delivery of their first A380s a few months ago.
Anyway, last month I decided it was time to change that. While Air France first class was expensive at 125,000 miles one-way, the cost was going up even further (to 167,500 miles) on January 1, so I figured I was best off checking it off my list sooner rather than later.
So I decided to book Air France in one direction and British Airways in the other direction, and spend a couple of days in Germany inbetween enjoying the Christmas Markets. You can find the links to the installments of the trip report below:
Introduction
OneWorld First Class Lounge Los Angeles
OneWorld Business Class Lounge Los Angeles
New Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles Airport
Air France A380 First Class Los Angeles to Paris
Air France First Class Lounge Paris
Air France Business Class Paris to Frankfurt
Hilton Frankfurt
Frankfurt Christmas Markets
Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge Frankfurt
British Airways Club Europe Frankfurt to London Heathrow
British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
British Airways A380 First Class London Heathrow to Los Angeles
SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
Park Hyatt Aviara Resort
On the whole I was blown away by Air France and in particular their ground services, and also really impressed by the British Airways A380 and service I received from the "mixed fleet" crew.
Now I just have to check China Southern and Korean Air off my list and I'll have tried them all!
Great trip report. As you have now tried them all, who are the no 1
Jan 11, 2014, 6:03 am
#8
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Honors Diamond, Mucci de buveur de gin
Posts: 3,060
Amazing report once again.
The service AF provided seemed to be sensational. And the food in the AF lounge looked gorgeous. That's another First class I need to try.
Good to see that you had a nice crew member on your BA flight to LA - it makes all the difference when they actually engage with passengers. The food looked not too bad either. Did the crew offer to serve you at a time convenient for your "shed-jewel"?
"As far as I’m concerned British Airways should exclusively serve afternoon tea on flights, regardless of the time of day."
I lol'd at this. Don't come on to the BA forum and say that. You'll get hounded out!
The service AF provided seemed to be sensational. And the food in the AF lounge looked gorgeous. That's another First class I need to try.
Good to see that you had a nice crew member on your BA flight to LA - it makes all the difference when they actually engage with passengers. The food looked not too bad either. Did the crew offer to serve you at a time convenient for your "shed-jewel"?
"As far as I’m concerned British Airways should exclusively serve afternoon tea on flights, regardless of the time of day."
I lol'd at this. Don't come on to the BA forum and say that. You'll get hounded out!
Jan 12, 2014, 7:13 pm
#11
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Left
Programs: FT
Posts: 7,285
Thanks. It really picks my arse that BA can not offer the tasting menu in F on not 380 flights. Piss poor...and tiny windows on 380. Am I the only one who avoids the 380? Is the razor new? Seems like an improvement. No luxury can on the 380 for F is weak....but wine selection is very nice IMO.
Funny, I hate the afternoon tea. I really do. Nutritionless yuk...
Funny, I hate the afternoon tea. I really do. Nutritionless yuk...
Jan 13, 2014, 9:36 pm
#13
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: The Baltic Sea
Programs: AY, BT, DY and SK. Scandic, Radisson, Marriott and HHonors. ClubONE
Posts: 5,890
Looking at the pictures, I really like the stylishness of the AF cabin, even if I guess it has less privacy than that of BA. The BA cabin looks too much like simple work cubicles to me. I guess on a night flight, I might feel differently.