I originally wrote two posts for these Air France  flights to South Africa, covering the European Business Class and the long haul La Premiere Class, the name Air France gives its first class, but they were very long articles! So this shorter post will precis the whole return journey’s highs and lows, leaving you to read the detailed articles if you like.  Business Class LHR-CDG and First Class CDG-JNB.

I bought two La Premiere class tickets in November ’17 to get me to an Easter safari at Richard Branson’s private game reserve, Ulusaba, in South Africa the following April.  Air France conveniently didn’t change any flight details before departure, so my connecting flights were fine.

I was made to feel like a VIP from 48 hours before we left the UK, when Air France’s La Premiere team phoned me to make sure I was prepared for the journey, and told me they were promoting both of us to their frequent flyer programme’s (highest) Platinum level!

When we checked in at Heathrow Terminal 4 we were invited to use the Skyteam Alliance Business Class lounge, but when we got to it we were escorted to a VIP Lounge within it.  The first sector, to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), was in Business Class on an Airbus A319, which was comparable with BA’s Club Europe, in that business class has the same seats and miserly pitch as economy class, but the middle seat in each set is kept vacant, and one gets a light meal (not very good) and a drink (Taittinger NV for me).

Once we got to CDG the wow factor really kicked in: we were met at the aircraft door and driven to the exclusive La Premier lounge in a lovely black Jaguar XJ.  The lounge itself was stylish, spacious and well appointed, though its spa closes at 15:30, which was disappointing.  We had dinner in the lounge, restaurant style, from a menu created by Alain Ducasse.  My foie gras terrine was good, but my halibut main course was not nice at all, appearing as it did to be reheated in a microwave.

A Jaguar took us to the side of the huge Airbus A380, we boarded through door 2L

on the main deck, and turned left towards the pointy end.  The La Premiere cabin is light grey in tone, with a very open and spacious feel about it, but the architecture around the nine open suites still affords decent privacy.  My window seat 2L was very well appointed and offered lots of stowage and storage space.

The smart, mature, professional and friendly Flight Attendants (FAs) brought us our pyjamas, a selection of Carita toiletries and a glass of Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2006 with a quenelle of Oscietra Caviar and blinis! I’ve never experienced such opulence before leaving the ground in four decades of first class travel! (but caviar wasn’t served on the way back from Jo’burg.)

I declined dinner in order to get some sleep and the FAs promptly made up my ‘bed’ while I got changed in the small changing room next to the small lav and settled down to what was in all about six hours sleep. Despite a small mattress covering the flattened seat, it didn’t conceal a fair gap between what was the seat’s back and it’s base, which was moderately uncomfortable.  And the bed wasn’t as wide as the Thai Airways first class bed I slept well on at New Year.

I woke early and had a very tasty breakfast of scrambled eggs with chorizo and tomato, supplemented with juice, fruit and muesli and a few good cappuccini.  As we started our descent to JNB I was amazed and excited to be invited to the cockpit:  such a great and very rare experience these days.

Upon arrival we were met at the aircraft door by two ladies who escorted us through immigration, to the baggage belts, and into ‘landslide’ where our Federal Airlines escort, Eric, was waiting.

My first experience of Air France first class was a very good one. Bed comfort could be improved, but the overall service levels given to the airline’s premium passengers were absolutely top notch!  10/10

Our homeward journey was not quite so good…. Yes we were escorted from check in to a special VIP section of the business class lounge which Air France shares with some other carriers, including BA, and they let two economy class friends join us, but once we boarded the very same A380 (registration F-HPJI) we were informed of a potentially lengthy delay due to a fuel transfer valve problem. They fed us on the plane on the ground, but, frankly, the food was very poor, even at times inedible!  But the selection of Champagne, fine wines and XO Cognac kept me happy until we eventually took off at 22:09, three hours late.

Once again I managed several hours of sleep, despite the not perfectly comfortable bed, and despite the cabin being too warm for me.  The cooked part of breakfast was really horrible, but I managed to grab something to eat in the La Premiere lounge at CDG after we landed at half eight in the morning. Once again we were driven to the lounge from the aircraft side in a gleaming black Jag.

The spa was open and I was able to grab a welcome back and shoulder massage before the little business class flight back to LHR.  But at LHR, for only the second time in my life, our bags didn’t appear on the carousel, and weak links in the service standards appeared.

I had a five minute queue at Air France’s Baggage Services desk, manned by a sub-contractor, who told me the bags were still in Paris.  I was told they should get to LHR at 4pm and then they’d be passed to a sub-contracted courier for delivery. I was told there wasn’t a single Air France employee in the airport, which made me feel as if I were an Easyjet passenger, rather than a VIP.  However the bags did make it to my home the next lunchtime, and Air France later gave both of us a generous 20,000 miles credit to our Flying Blue account.  Good service recovery!

My overall verdict on Air France La Premiere is 9/10.  A point was lost because of the poor catering out of Jo’burg and the not perfect bed. The flight delay and bag delay were compensated for by some terrific customer service, which on the whole was ever present.

All the FAs I spoke to told me that the latest La Premiere product, on their B777 aircraft, is “much better than on the A380”.  I assume they’ve improved the bed comfort, so I look forward to trying it one day.