Review: New Air France Business Class 777-300ER (CDG-JFK)

To finish off the first half of my four trips wideness the Atlantic, I flew Air France’s new Boeing 777-300ER merchantry matriculation from Paris to New York. The airline recently introduced this product, which represents the next generation of merchantry matriculation for Air France.

Well, I’m happy to report that this is a spectacular product. It’s expressly good if you can snag one of the bulkhead seats, which I’d consider to be the weightier merchantry matriculation seats in the world.

Air France has a unconfined transatlantic soft product, with spanking-new supplies and wine, and friendly service. Now add in Air France’s phenomenal new nonflexible product, with privacy doors and wearing whet tech, and this product really is a winner, and is worth seeking out for long haul journeys.

How I booked my Air France merchantry matriculation ticket

I booked my Air France merchantry matriculation ticket using Flying Undecorous miles. Flying Undecorous has wangle to increasingly merchantry matriculation ribbon availability on Air France and KLM than other programs, so that’s my go-to for booking these awards.

Specifically, I booked the pursuit flight in merchantry matriculation for 55,000 Flying Undecorous miles, plus $377 in taxes & fees:

2/09 AF22 Paris to New York valedictory 8:30AM arriving 10:50AM

What’s superstitious is that Flying Undecorous partners with major transferable points currencies, including Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou. I plane managed to transfer over my points to Flying Undecorous when there was a transfer bonus, meaning I paid plane fewer transferable points in the end.

Air France merchantry matriculation lounge & boarding

In the last installment I reviewed the Air France Lounge Paris Terminal 2E Hall K, which was located in the concourse I was valedictory from. My flight left from gate K30, located at the end of the terminal and on the left.

Can I take a moment to just fathom how gorgeous Charles de Gaulle’s retro terminals are? As much as I like a good modern airport, this terminal is timeless, in my opinion.

Boarding was scheduled for 7:35AM, 55 minutes surpassing the 8:30AM departure. As usual on US-bound flights, there were security questions at the gate, but that was handled pretty efficiently.

Air France 777 merchantry matriculation motel & seats

Air France’s reconfigured Boeing 777-300ERs full-length a total of 48 merchantry matriculation seats. Air France has reverse herringbone seats, and selected the Safran Versa product with doors. While reverse herringbone seats are worldwide on many airlines, the most popular is the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat, so this is a slightly variegated product.

There are minor differences between these types of reverse herringbone seats, though I don’t think one is necessarily that much largest than the other. I think what sets Air France’s new reverse herringbone seats untied are three factors:

• The seats have doors, which not many airlines have for reverse herringbone seats
• The bulkhead rows have an unbelievable value of personal space, and are in my opinion the weightier merchantry matriculation seats in the world
• The seats have unrenowned tech, from wireless charging, to bluetooth audio, and more

With that out of the way, let’s take a closer squint at the cabin.

Business matriculation is spread wideness two cabins, with all seats stuff in a 1-2-1 configuration. The forward motel (between the first and second set of doors) has a total of 28 seats, and consists of seven rows.

Meanwhile the second motel (behind the second set of doors) has a total of 20 seats, consisting of five rows.

Since I was seated in the second cabin, I moreover had the endangerment to take a peek at the large premium economy cabin, which was quite large, with 48 seats.

First let’s take a squint at a standard (non-bulkhead) merchantry matriculation seat. I found the seat to be well designed, and in particular the footwell was a good size, which is often an issue in these kinds of seats. That’s an wholesomeness over the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond reverse herringbone seat.

Meanwhile the weightier seats in this configuration are the bulkhead seats, located in rows one and nine. These seats are special considering of the massive value of legroom that they have. I prescribed myself seat 9A, the window seat in the first row of the second cabin, on the left side.

Note that these seats can be selected by Flying Undecorous Gold and Platinum members at the time of booking, and by other merchantry matriculation passengers on a space misogynist understructure 72 hours surpassing departure.

I fathom the sustentation to detail that went into the seat design. Sometimes you sit lanugo in a seat and wonder if the designers overly unquestionably overly sat in the seats for long periods of time. For example, I appreciated how there was a little armrest to the side of the seat, without any controls you could unwittingly hit.

The tray table in this configuration folds out from the panel to the side of the seat. Many will prefer this to Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats, where it’s located underneath the monitor, and makes the footwell finger quite constrained.

There’s a huge counter to the side of the seat, featuring the easy-to-use seat controls, as well as a wireless charging station.

Then to the when left of the seat is an enclosed storage compartment, featuring a backlit picture of Air France’s mythical winged seahorse logo. There’s something I really love well-nigh the logo, and I fathom how Air France is increasingly incorporating this into its branding and motel design.

The storage compartment has a vaccinate where you can hang headphones, the entertainment controller, a mirror, and a USB-A outlet.

Underneath the counter is a small cubby where you can store a snifter of water. This is moreover where the other power outlets are located, including a USB-C charger and AC power outlet. It’s unconfined to see that Air France has 60W USB-C chargers, which will indulge you to tuition just well-nigh any device at full speed. So many USB outlets on planes have ridiculously low limitations. Tech was unmistakably a focus for Air France with these new cabins.

On the aisle-side of the seat is an armrest, which can be raised and lowered.

Then there’s what makes these bulkhead seats so amazing. Rather than having a fairly small footwell you have to squeeze your feet into, these seats have massive ottomans, which make these seats increasingly spacious than some first matriculation products currently in operation. While there are lots of wondrous merchantry matriculation products out there, this is spacious on a whole variegated level.

Of undertow one of the other key features of this product is the door. During takeoff and landing this remains locked, so that it can’t be closed. However, without takeoff, it can be sealed with the push of a button. I found the door to be pretty easy to operate. This won’t requite you full privacy (obviously), but many of us still fathom this feature.

One downside to this product is that there are no individual air nozzles. Air France is installing those on newly delivered aircraft, but these planes have simply been reconfigured, and historically Air France hasn’t had air nozzles. For what it’s worth, I was flying on F-GZNK, a roughly 11-year-old aircraft. Fortunately the motel on this flight was kept unusually cold.

Air France merchantry matriculation amenities

There were several suavities waiting at my seat upon boarding. There were a pair of noise canceling headphones, which were quite good. There wasn’t really a need for them, though, given that Air France has bluetooth audio on these jets.

There were moreover a pillow and blanket. While not the weightier airplane sheets in the world, it was still whilom average, with a thick pillow, and a wrap that was cozy without stuff too warm.

There was moreover a snifter of Evian water at each seat upon boarding.

Upon settling in, the friendly hairdo offered pre-departure beverages, including the nomination of champagne or orange juice.

Amenity kits with products from Clarins were moreover distributed, and they contained socks, eyeshades, a dental kit, earplugs, a pen, lip balm, and a hydrating cream.

Travel safety kits were moreover distributed, which included squatter masks and hand sanetizer.

Lastly, menus for the flight were passed out.

Air France 777 merchantry matriculation entertainment & Wi-Fi

Air France has an spanking-new entertainment system on its reconfigured Boeing 777s.

The first noteworthy full-length is that there’s bluetooth audio on these planes, so you can connect your own devices to the inflight entertainment. This was really easy to do.

There was a huge selection of movies, and a increasingly modest selection of TV shows. It was kind of nonflexible to icon out just how many there were, given that the organization was a bit confusing, as many movies were listed under multiple genres.

I moreover liked how there was a full-length at the top of the screen where you could see the vital details of the flight’s progress without having to exit a TV show or movie.

Then there was the map feature, which I enjoyed keeping an eye on throughout the flight. It could be customized so that you could zoom in or out as much as you wanted.

In recent years Air France has washed-up a laudable job installing Wi-Fi throughout most of its fleet, and that includes the reconfigured Boeing 777s. There were three variegated pricing options for the Wi-Fi:

• You could purchase a one hour “Surf” pass for 8 Euro
• You could purchase a full flight “Surf” pass for 18 Euro
• You could purchase a full flight “Stream” pass for 30 Euro

For those wondering well-nigh the difference between the “Surf” and “Stream” pass, the latter is supposed to offer higher speeds that indulge you to stream videos and more.

I purchased the premium pass, and found the speeds to be phenomenal. Fast, reasonably priced Wi-Fi with no data caps is something I fathom increasingly than I can express.

Air France 777 throw-away from Paris

To my surprise (since mid-February can be a quiet time wideness the Atlantic), the Air France flight was packed, with just well-nigh every seat taken in all cabins. Boarding took quite some time, and at 8:35AM the tutorage made his welcome aboard announcement, informing us of our flight time of 7hr35min. He moreover explained that we were elapsed a bit considering two passengers hadn’t shown up, so their tons had to be offloaded. Furthermore, we’d have to be deiced.

At 8:45AM (15 minutes overdue scheduled departure) the main motel door closed. At 8:50AM we began our pushback, and at 8:55AM we began our taxi, as we were treated to a stunning sunrise.

Interestingly there was a transmission safety demonstration. Is that considering the reconfigured 777s have some features that differ from the previous versions, and therefore the video isn’t accurate, or…? We taxied pretty quickly, and within 10 minutes reached the deicing pad.

Deicing took virtually 20 minutes, so by 9:25AM that was complete.

Then five minutes without that we were cleared for takeoff on runway 27L.

Air France has nose cameras on these jets, which are unchangingly enjoyable to watch during takeoff and landing.

We had a pretty powerful takeoff roll, and some lovely views of a unprepossessed but well-spoken Paris morning.

The seatbelt sign was turned off virtually five minutes without takeoff, at which point the hairdo sealed the taps between the galleys and cabins. I’ve heard some people suggest that Air France’s new cabins squint sterile, but I have to disagree. Between the frequent use of the winged seahorse logo, the patterned carpet, and the unrelatedness between the undecorous and white seat finishes, I think the motel has some personality.

Air France merchantry matriculation brunch service

Given this flight’s throw-away time, brunch was served without takeoff. Typically breakfast or brunch are the least heady meals you can be served on a flight, expressly as the main meal. So I have to requite Air France credit, as I think this was the weightier such meal I’ve overly had in merchantry class.

Below you can find the brunch menu, as well as the drink list, for this flight.

About 30 minutes without takeoff, warm towels were distributed.

Next up, drinks were served off carts. I was offered a drink virtually 45 minutes without takeoff. I requested a glass of champagne, plus a cup of coffee. Currently Air France serves Duval-Leroy champagne in merchantry class. That’s a perfectly good champagne, but moreover not the most heady merchantry matriculation champagne out there.

The starter was served off a cart virtually an hour without takeoff. This consisted of plain yogurt with granola, “strawberry tartare” with white chocolate shavings, and a salmon muffin slice topped with vegetables and cheese. On top of that, there was an spanking-new selection from the specie basket.

Honestly, what a tasty, well presented brunch starter.

For the main course, I selected the omelet with cheese, celery, spinach, and tomato sauce. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is the weightier omelet I’ve overly had on a plane. It wasn’t greasy at all, I appreciated the lack of breakfast meat (which are scrutinizingly unchangingly included in airplane omelets, and which I don’t enjoy), and the tomato sauce had a kick to it. I would’ve been very happy having an omelet like this on the ground, and that’s saying something.

I finished off the meal with an espresso, and was offered some pralines to go withal with it.

The unshortened meal service was performed at a leisurely place, and was completed just under two hours without takeoff.

At first I was sad that my flight on Air France would have brunch as the main meal, though this positively delighted me.

Air France 777 merchantry matriculation bed

While I didn’t get much sleep on this daytime flight, I did spend some time testing out the seat’s bed mode. It goes without saying that these bulkhead seats are incredibly spacious when sleeping, given that you don’t have to squeeze your feet into a cubby, and you can hands sleep on your side without having your knees tumor into anything.

Admittedly the bulkhead seats only have variegated ottomans, and the seats aren’t otherwise different. In an platonic world it would be nice if these seats had larger cushions to the side as well, so that you have a much larger sleeping surface. Still, this is an unbeatable merchantry matriculation product for sleeping.

Air France 777 merchantry matriculation lavatories

Air France has four lavatories in merchantry matriculation on the Boeing 777-300ERs, including two at the front of the aircraft, and two between the two merchantry matriculation cabins. These lavatories were moreover unmistakably recently refreshed. They weren’t particularly large, but were otherwise well maintained. They moreover contained a couple of products from Clarins.

Air France merchantry matriculation pre-landing snack

About 90 minutes surpassing landing, the hairdo turned on the lights in the cabin, in preparation for the pre-landing meal. You can find the snack menu below.

Service began with warm towels stuff distributed. Once again, this meal was kind of breakfast-y, and everything was served on one tray. I ordered a cup of coffee and some cherry juice (which I’ve never had surpassing — it was tasty but sweet).

The meal consisted of a puff pastry brioche with egg mayonnaise, celery, fava beans, and pickled onions. There was moreover a strawberry tartare with white chocolate shavings, plus a madeleine sponge cake.

Okay, so this snack was delicious, but:

• Is Air France intentionally serving exactly the same side (the strawberry tartare with white chocolate shavings) with both meals?
• It’s a bit odd to serve the same type of puff pastry/muffin concept with both meals

So yeah, I really enjoyed the meal, though some variety would moreover be nice.

Air France merchantry matriculation service

I often find service on Air France to be quite good in merchantry class, and this flight was no exception. The first thing to unclose is that this was the unshortened crew’s first time working a flight with the new cabins, so this was a new wits for them as well. Nonetheless, you wouldn’t have known it based on their service.

All the flight attendants in merchantry matriculation were courteous, charming, and professional. They had an eye for detail, and unchangingly offered drink refills when a glass was empty. They moreover quickly responded to the undeniability button.

Air France 777 inrush in New York

At 10:30AM local time the tutorage was when on the PA to signify that we’d be landing in virtually 40 minutes. He well-considered of overcast conditions and gusty winds in New York. Virtually that time we began our descent, and well-nigh 15 minutes later the seatbelt sign was turned on.

We had a smooth touchdown at JFK at 11AM.

From there we had a 10 minute taxi to Terminal 1, where we parked next to a Korean Air Boeing 747-8.

I passed through immigration in no time thanks to Global Entry, and then headed over to the Hyatt Regency JFK, where I’d be spending the night.

Bottom line

Air France has washed-up a phenomenal job with its new merchantry class. The airline has a new style of reverse herringbone seats, with doors and incredible tech. On top of that, the bulkhead seats in this configuration are amazing.

Add in Air France now having fast and reasonably priced Wi-Fi, an spanking-new entertainment selection, friendly service, and unconfined food, and I’d say this is one of the weightier ways to navigate the Atlantic. Admittedly only a small portion of Air France’s squadron has this new product so far. Then again, the standard Air France merchantry class is unconfined as well.

It’s impressive how fast Air France got this product into service, given that Lufthansa has been talking well-nigh its new Allegris merchantry class since 2017, yet so far zero planes have those seats. I’d say this is now the most compelling long haul product offered by any European airline.

What’s your take on Air France’s new 777 merchantry class?