[Anonymous]

[business traveller]

I have travelled to the East Coast US for both business and leisure for several years, mainly in F and on all the US3 as well as European carriers but this was the first time in LA Premiere on AF.

In all, the service knocked my old favourite Lufthansa into the long grass. We were treated like royalty from check in to arrival, both at CGD and IAD. Escorted through LHR security, to the lounge. Met by the station manager who then escorted us to the plane in time for take off, limo met us and drove us to the lounge at CDG. and we were personally reassured that our luggage was on the connecting flight. The lounge was an oasis of calm, the food was exceptionally good, the showers perfect.

Driven to our connecting A380 on which the service was equally good, attentive and as friendly as you wanted. Arrival at Dulles, and dreading those "mobile lounges" I was surprised to be whisked off with the other 4 or 5 pax and given a chauffeured ride to security. Not experienced that before by any of the airlines I have used in First. We were met by AF staff who managed to get us into the queue at a convenient point so waiting was kept to a minimum.

On the other hand the seat 2L had a broken motor. This was explained to me in the lounge and great care was taken to try and alleviate the situation. In the event I had one seat for eating and looking out of the window and another for sleeping and watching the screen. Not sure what would have happened if the cabin had been full. Also the screen for entertainment is really in need of an update.

All in all the staff made the flight a first class experience that stood out from the routine run of the mill ones I have had before on this route. They made me feel as if I was a valued customer and did everything they could to meet my needs. Although the non direct flight might not suit some it was £1K cheaper than BA at time of booking and showed me what First Class really meant. This will certainly be my flight of choice in future.

Review courtesy of Seatplans.com. Original review by user lloydah can be found here

[ViajeroUK]

Interesting review, I flew Shanghai to Paris on 2nd Aug and it may have been the same aircraft! I had pre-selected seat 2L, but at check in was advised that there was a ‘technical problem’ with the seat mechanism of 2L, and would I like to change to 1A, which I did.

No problems during the flight, good food and drink choices, never used the entertainment screen as I slept after dinner until about 90mins pre arrival at CDG. The one thing I did enjoy was watching the approach to CDG from the tail fin mounted camera.

I fully agree with your comments about the exemplary service at CDG, personal escorts waiting on the jetway for each of the five F passengers, limousine transfer to the lounge adjacent to T2E where my UK connection was due to depart. Very welcoming shower then relax before limousine direct to my onward flight, where my escort introduced me to the purser who made sure that I was comfortable on the short flight to UK. As mentioned above, the experience did make me feel like a valued customer.

[EU_Flyer]

I had a similar experience with AF at CDG with an AF rep waiting at the door and car transfer to the connecting terminal.

For a non Asian/ME carrier this was impressive given the labor costs of providing such a service in Europe.

Compare that to flying First on BA or Qantas, for example, where – in the case of the aircraft parked at a remote stand – you take the bus to the terminal at LHR like everyone else.

[Author]

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