Air France Business Class: What You Need to Know - Few airlines can compete with the charm and elegance embodied by Air France Business Class. Blending old-world French elegance with modern efficiency, Air France presents the world as one big comfortable and efficient place. Whether outbound for business or pleasure, their Business Class, known as Affaires, is the journey on its own, where the ride is part of the luxury.
Designed with privacy, relaxation, and personalization in mind, Air France Business Class cabins feature lie-flat beds, Michelin-starred gourmet dining, and direct aisle access at every seat. Other fine details include Clarins skincare kits, high-definition video systems, and fast-track airport services, ensuring utmost comfort and enjoyment at every leg of the trip.
This refined experience starts as you arrive in the airport and carry forth to the very moment you reach your destination, built on hospitality and consummate attention to detail. Be it an inter-European or long-haul intercontinental flight; it will promise comfort beyond expectations with an artful touch from the French.
In this comprehensive guide, we will discuss everything you could need to know beforehand, including seat features, dining, entertainment, lounge access, and frequently asked questions.
The seating arrangement in Air France Business Class varies slightly depending upon aircraft type or route. All dual-aisle intercontinental flights feature lie-flat seats.
These Air France lie-flat business class seats feature a universal power outlet, stowage space for small personal items, a mirror, a handheld controller for entertainment, and an individual reading light. Personal overhead air vents are not standard.
Air France Business Class benefits are standardized around the SkyPriority concept with priority check-in and security lines, and priority boarding. Business Class passengers not boarding early with their group number will now be able to go unhurriedly through the SkyPriority lanes at the gate.
Business Class passengers also get an amenity kit that changes design roughly every few months for variety, containing socks, an eye mask, a toothbrush, and Clarins skin care items. Passengers will also have Clarins skin care items (alongside cotton pads) in the lavatories to freshen up during the flight.
Air France also guarantees priority deplaning for Business Class passengers upon arrival. Luggage of Business Class passengers is given priority tags to ensure expedited delivery at baggage claim.
Multi-course meals are prepared by a rotation of recognized chefs for the intercontinental flights and offered to the Business Class passengers.
Typical appetizers would contain a starch of foie gras, lobster, or shrimp with some sort of marinated vegetable salad, accompanied by mixed seasonal salad with olive oil and vinaigrette dressing. Hot bread rolls are given with French butter (and make a nod toward international palates feet-rarely is bread served with butter at mealtimes in France).
Usually, a daily cheese selection is served on the tray; in French culture, this is meant to be eaten after one's main course.
Main courses are served a la carte after the clearing of the aperitif plates. Menus tend to feature three to four choices of main course (unless a special meal for dietary restrictions has been pre-ordered); at least one meat, one fish, and one vegetarian option almost always make the list, as widely reported in several Air France Business Class reviews. Sometimes two meats or two seafood options will be offered depending on the length and destination of the flight.
Desserts are tiny sweets served with coffee, tea, and cordials. The longer flights offer a self-serve bar in one of the galleys with snacks and beverages to choose from (sometimes including individual servings of Haagen-Dazs ice cream). On some flights, the crew takes orders for hot snacks.
In Air France business class, complimentary alcohol is served.
While aperitif drinks feature a company's signature cocktail, else it goes something like: liqueur, beer, or tawny port. Digestifs are numerous, with French favorites like cognac, calvados, armagnac, pear brandy, or green chartreuse.
The wine list (champagne being offered in all classes of service) largely focuses on French wines and often features a choice between two reds and two whites.
La Premiere, Air France's First Class, exists only on a handful of routes, mostly on Boeing 777-300 operations.
The cabin is very much private, with just four huge seats that allow more room than the Business Class cabin, hence with dining upgraded to a very high level and accompanying amenities including pajamas and turndown service with hotel-style bedding, separate first class lounges, and plane-side transfer in luxury cars.
Maybe best explained as a four-star versus five-star hotel. Business is a comfortable premium experience whereas La Premiere stands for bespoke luxury.
Air France Business Class strikes a perfect balance between luxury, functionality, and its inimitable French style. From large lie-flat seats to fine dining and attentive service, everything is geared toward discerning travelers. The intent behind the carefully thought-out amenities, from direct aisle access to Clarins skincare kits, as well as broad entertainment options, is to make every trip pleasurable and relaxing—be it for work or fun.
Uniquely set apart by the simultaneous attention to detail and style, the elegance is present at every step: on the ground with SkyPriority services and premium lounge access, and on the air, with quiet, private cabins and fine dining. While a few features might differ depending on aircraft type and flight duration, the overall philosophy is always present.
An Air France Business Class search will be of good value when on an upgrade hunt or planning a premium trip. Great comfort infused with style makes time spent in the air a worthwhile memory in itself.
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