After 100 Transatlantic Flights, This Business Class Product Is My New Favorite

In 1991, I flew across the Atlantic for the first time, aboard a Swissair Boeing 747. Since then, I have traversed the ocean more than 100 times, from middle seats in coach to luxurious first-class suites. Many of those flights have been in business class on various airlines, from the upper deck of a vintage Lufthansa 747 to the sleek new Delta One suites on Delta Air Lines.  

Over the years, though, my favorites have changed. The big living-room recliners that used to be the best seat when flying across the ocean are long gone, now replaced by flat beds. The latest trend in business class? Mini-suites with sliding doors.

That door is the defining feature of the seat which Air France introduced in 2022 on some of its Airbus A350s and Boeing 777s. It’s the airline’s first enclosed pod, and after trying it recently between Paris and Newark, I can confidently say that it’s my new favorite business class seat to book with points to Europe. Here are the main things to know when booking (and flying) Air France’s newest business-class product.

Great Hard Product 

In airline jargon, the hard product refers to the seat and the cabin fixtures. And the best hard product these days between North America and Europe is easily Air France’s newly delivered A350s.

At first blush, it offers the same legroom and width as similar competing products. That said, the bulkhead seats in rows 1 and 10 have significantly more footwell space. To select those seats at the time of booking, you need to be an elite status holder of Flying Blue, the loyalty program of Air France and KLM, though they become available to all passengers a few hours before departure.

The whole cabin looks elegant and brand new. For extra coziness, pick a seat in the smaller, rear biz cabin, rows 10 to 14. In 14A, I had a wall behind me separating business from premium economy, creating a sense that I was in my own little room. An engine was right outside the window, but the A350 is exceptionally quiet.

But what defines this seat is the door. Once it’s closed, you’re in your own private world.

Some of Air France’s 777s flying to North America also sport new business class seats with doors, but the version installed in the A350s features some extra goodies — like dual entertainment touchscreens — that help make the experience better. You can watch a movie on one and the moving map on the other, for example, or use the second display to control the seat. To keep your own devices powered, you’ll find USB-A, USB-C, AC, and wireless chargers.

Newer A350s have electronically dimmable windows without shades, like Boeing 787s, but the Airbus version works faster and goes darker.

The storage cubby with a mirror features the airline’s storied winged-seahorse logo, the symbol of Air France since its founding in 1933.

You could nitpick with the lack of individual air conditioning vents, but that’s a fact of life on many non-U.S. carriers. Or with all window seats opening directly onto the aisle, unlike, for example, the Delta A350 suites, where odd-numbered rows have a large armrest isolating from the aisle.

But with the ability to close your own door, privacy is not a concern — and even with the door open, all window seats are very private.

Vastly Improved Inflight Service

But what about the so-called soft product, which are the elements of a flight that go beyond the physical cabin? Air France does that well, too. 

The French flag carrier used to be known for hit-and-miss service. In my experience it’s a very different story today. The whole vibe at Air France, from its lounges to its biz cabins, feels a lot warmer these days.

Behind that turnaround is CEO Ben Smith, a British-born Canadian who took over at the helm of Air France KLM in 2018, the first non-French person to lead the airline. Initially met with diffidence by Air France’s powerful unions, Smith managed to lead the airline to record profits in 2023 after the COVID crisis. 

“The Ben Smith method” even got a callout from BFM, France’s most-watched news channel, which named him Manager of the Year 2023. The boss, BFM explained, is an avowed aviation geek who makes a point of being approachable and managed to end years of labor strife by proving to his employees — in very good French — that he is one of them.

The proof of Air France’s new service-oriented culture was on full display for me last year, when I crossed the Atlantic for the 100th time, on flight AF10 from Paris to New York. When I told the chief flight attendant about my frequent-flyer milestone and asked if she could have the captain sign my menu, not only did she come back with a nice message from the skipper, but added a certificate recognizing the event and wished me many more flights with Air France. That kind of attention is priceless.     

Onboard, Air France has served me over the past few years far better appetizers and desserts than its competition. Main dishes haven’t been as consistent, but on balance, Air France’s catering wins it for me on transatlantic routes.

Top-Notch Entertainment System

On Air France, I usually find more movies I want to watch than on competing airlines.

And while music gets a perfunctory treatment on many airlines — see for example Delta’s bland playlists that don’t change for months — Air France does it right. Its music offerings may not go quite as deep and wide as the vast catalogs you’ll find on Virgin Atlantic and Emirates, but I’ve never been short of great albums to listen to on its long-haul flights.

On that Paris to Newark flight in September, even the music played during boarding was spot on: a mix of jazzy instrumentals that felt both contemporary and timeless and, somehow, very Parisian. You could have called it the sonic equivalent of a well-fitting Hermès blazer: you’ll notice it if you want to, otherwise it will be elegantly inconspicuous. It helped make for a really satisfying introduction to the best business class across the ocean right now.

A Note: Leave Plenty of Time To Connect in Paris

A drawback of flying AF to (or from) European destinations beyond Paris is that Charles de Gaulle (CDG) is not an easy airport to navigate. On the flip side, KLM’s hub in Amsterdam (AMS) lets you connect seamlessly without taking time-consuming trains between terminals. 

CDG compensates for its sprawling size and complicated layout with very good business class lounges, but in my experience, a connection time of 3 hours or more is ideal to enjoy them properly and not have to run. 

How To Find Air France’s New Business Class

Not every one of Air France’s dozens of A350s has the newest seat, to be clear. The jets delivered to the airline from 2019 to 2022 have an older business class seat, albeit still a very good one. The A350s with the swankier new version began to join the fleet last year. 

A search on tracking site Flightradar24.com revealed that the new seat can be found consistently, as of mid-October, on these flights between Paris (CDG) and North America:  

The new seat also shows up occasionally on some flights between Paris and Raleigh-Durham (RDU).  

The only way to know for certain whether your flight has the new seat is to check the seat map online when you book. If business class on your A350 ends at row 14, you have the new seat. If it ends at row 12, you’re in the old one. 

Air France Business Class Can Be Cheap on Points

The best feature of this seat, however, may be that it can be relatively cheap to book on points. In fact, Flying Blue has really low award prices for business class on select dates.

A recent search of the Flying Blue award calendar showed award rates as low as 50,000 points from New York to Paris one-way.

Even when adding taxes and fees (roughly $230 for the above flight), you are still looking at a good price. We estimate Flying Blue miles to be worth 1.3 cents apiece in our most recent points and miles valuations, so that redemption — 50,000 miles plus taxes and fees — comes out to the equivalent of spending $880. Not bad, considering that a cash fare for the same one-way to Paris would easily cost you over $2,000.

Final Thoughts  

There are many good and some very good business classes on airlines serving the North Atlantic market today. In my experience, Air France offers the most consistent combination of top-notch seats and attentive service, plus very reasonable mileage prices.

And among Air France planes, there is one clear winner: the new version of the Airbus A350 with the latest seat technology.