Transfer in CDG

The flight from Basel terminates at Terminal 2G, which is used mainly by Air France’s HOP and its fleet of Embraer 170/190s, and Luxair‘s Dash 8-400.

As we pull onto our stand, the car taking me to La Première Lounge is already waiting.

The maître de wishes me a pleasant onward journey and tells me not to worry about my luggage. I am then handed over to a very polite young lady who takes my bag and leads me to the waiting car.

Air France La Première Lounge

The lounge is quite busy, which is why I don’t get to take that many photos. Besides, I haven‘t really got that much time to spend here, given the late arrival of the previous flight. The efficient young lady takes my passport to immigration. In the meantime, one of the waiters comes to take my order, so I ask him to bring me just a café au lait.

Boarding

I only spend about 15 minutes in the lounge before the young lady returns to pick me up to take me to my aircraft. So down we go to the ground floor again, where another Cayenne is expecting me.

As on my previous flights in La Première, at the door to the aircraft I am introduced to my crew and officially handed over. Meanwhile, the efficient young lady has gone to check the status of my luggage. A short while later, she returns to let me know that my suitcase made it and is on board. With that out of the way, she wishes me a good flight and bids me good bye.

The Service & Crew

The crew on this flight are excellent. Especially the lady serving La Première is charming and an absolute dear. She’s very engaging and cleary takes a lot of pride in her work and the product she‘s in charge of.

She takes my coat to hang up and returns a short while later with a tray with a bottle of Evian, a glass, and crackers. There‘s also champagne, which I decline.

She also brings me a scented hot towel.

Amenities

When I reach my seat, there‘s already a blanket and socks, slippers and a shoe spoon lying on the ottoman.

I‘m then also brought the amenity kit and offered a pajama, which I decline. After all, it‘s a day flight and the flight time is only six hours.

We push back just after 14:10, with a delay of nearly forty minutes. AF662 to Dubai is officially on its way.

We slowly taxi past the deicing pad to the active runway. The aircraft quickly accelerates and eventually soars into the air.

The Meal – Lunch

Once we‘re airborne, the crew hand out the menus. This is where the fun part of the flight starts.

First, the table is set for the meal. As usual, the flying crevette is omnipresent on the tableware.

Appetizer: to start, I have the caviar with accompaniments. Caviar is a bit of an acquired taste, I think. It‘s okay, but it‘s not something I miss when I don‘t have it. Lovely presentation, though.

First course: cream of carrot & cumin soup. Now this is delicious. So good. The soup has a velvety texture that is interrupted by the bits of grilled bacon in it. And it‘s properly heated. Soups served on planes are often not hot enough.

With the soup, the crew serve a nice selection of breads and rolls. Salted and unsalted butter are available.

Second course: for the second course, I have the langoustines. This an excellent dish, rich with flavours that complement each other nicely.

Main course: and for the main, I have the scallop quenelles with root vegetables and a side of the cheese macaroni that would usually come with the poultry. This is a very rich dish that is just bursting with flavour.

Salad: there are plenty of things that can be added to the salad. However, I ask for a simple green salad, which is served with a lovely vinaigrette.

Cheese: next comes the cheese course. Recognising a fellow cheese lover when she sees one, the flight attendant asks me if she should just go ahead and give me a piece of each one. But I tell her three is enough. I‘m already fit to burst.

Dessert: fruit salad and pecan, banana and toffee cake. The flight attendant removes my plate and asks me if I‘d like dessert, which I decline – initially. But then she tells me that I‘ve really got to take a look at what‘s on offer, just because it look so nice. In hindsight, I really should not have agreed to just having a look because it‘s my downfall. And I must say, the cake is divine, its sweetness contrasts nicely with the sharp fruit. A man is only so strong.

To finish the meal, I ask for an espresso…

… which is served with even more sweet goodness. At least this time I resist and chuck it straight into my bag for later.

After the meal, the cabin attendant brings me a fluffy pillow and closes the curtain while I start reviewing some papers for work.

Second service

An hour out of Dubai, I stand up to stretch. The cabin attendant notices me stirring and immediately comes to ask if I‘d like to have the snack before landing. She assures me it‘s really not all that big.

To drink with that I have another Perrier.

Arrival in Dubai

Forty minutes out of Dubai, we start our initial descent from 37‘000 feet. Dubai is busy again, I can see several aircraft below us as we fly past the airport on the downwind.

Despite our late departure out of Paris, we still end up pulling onto our stand seven minutes ahead of schedule. There is a Merhaba ground agent waiting in the airbridge to take me and the two other La Première passengers through fast track immigration.

Conclusion

This was another excellent flight with Air France and a truly First Class experience. There are two things that set apart La Première from any other First Class product and that identify it, in my opinion, as the best First Class product currently available. The first is the consistency of the service delivery. I‘ve travelled several times now in La Première and have yet to be let down. You know how somtimes you have very good memories of an event or experience, but when you attempt to do them again, they fail to live up to the expectations you have created? Well, so far that has never happened to me in La Première.

The second point relates to the service delivery chain. What I mean by this is that Air France manages to provide a First Class product in every aspect of its service delivery. Whether it‘s the staff at the La Première/Platinum hotline, at the airport or the onboard experience, it‘s very clear that the airline‘s procedures and training for its La Première product have been designed to emphasise passengers’ wellbeing and comfort.