Air France Boeing 777-300ER Business Class Review … With a Toddler [LAX to CDG]

Airline: Air France (AF)
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Flight #: AF0065
Route: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
Date: April 6, 2024
Duration: 10 hours, 55 minutes
Cabin and Layout: Business class, 58 seats, 1-2-1 configuration
Seat: 20E
Cost: 204,500 Flying Blue miles (plus $505.95 in fees) for a round-trip multi-city itinerary or $7,500 in cash

Since my daughter is nearly 2 years old, I wanted to get one last “free” business-class flight with her before her birthday (when she would need to pay for her own seat). My husband and I booked flights using Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles. We decided on Seville, Spain, as our destination, with our long-haul flight taking place between LAX and CDG.

Now that we’ve experienced a few long flights with our toddler, we were optimistic that this trip would be fairly smooth. Here is my review of flying Air France business class with a toddler, along with whether or not I would recommend it (or this aircraft) to people traveling with their kids.

Booking Air France Business Class

First, I booked my award flight using Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles from Chase Ultimate Rewards transferred during a 25% bonus. My entire itinerary included a multi-city route, including a flight between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Seville Airport (SVQ) and back from Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN) and LAX.

This flight cost 204,500 miles round-trip with $506 in taxes and fees. Since I transferred my points during a 25% bonus, this required 164,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. While it’s not the best redemption in the world, it’s still better than paying cash. After taxes, this brought my redemption value to 4.26 cents per point.

I had to call Flying Blue to manually book my daughter’s seat, as there was no way to add a lap child online. Flying Blue charges lap infants 10% of an adult fare, meaning her flight cost $750, which I paid in cash. Consider using one of our recommended credit cards for airline purchases to maximize earnings on any cash costs.

Hot Tip:

If you’re flexible with your travel dates, Flying Blue offers incredible award prices and availability. Here are some of the best ways to redeem Flying Blue miles.

Seat Selection

The aircraft for our Paris flight was a Boeing 777-300ER with a 1-2-1 configuration in an older setup without suite doors.

My almost 2-year-old daughter no longer fits in a bassinet, so privacy was our top priority. My husband and I selected seats 20E and 20F at the very rear of the cabin, hoping that traffic to/from the bathrooms and near the galleys would be minimal.

Los Angeles International Airport

We were flying out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), so we made our way to the Tom Bradley International Terminal to check in for our flight. We used the priority lane because we were in business class, so check-in was speedy!

Check-In

Lap infants are allocated a 50-pound (23-kilogram) checked bag and a car seat. I didn’t use my daughter’s allocated checked-bag allowance but did check a car seat.

In addition to my carry-on luggage and personal item, she was allocated 1 additional cabin bag weighing up to 26 pounds (12 kilograms) with a maximum dimension of 21 x 13 x 9 inches (55 x 35 x 25 centimeters). She wore a small kids’ backpack containing her toys and snacks and felt so proud of herself.

While I didn’t bring a stroller, it’s important to note that strollers aren’t counted against the carry-on luggage allowance.

There is not a dedicated priority line to get through security, but we all have TSA PreCheck, so we were able to use that lane.

Lounge

While a new Air France lounge is coming to LAX later in 2024, it hadn’t been completed when we took this flight. We were eligible to use the Oneworld Los Angeles Business Lounge.

This lounge was huge, with tons of space to sit. The food and drink selections were also good, and we enjoyed spending an hour in this lounge before walking to board our flight. It was a decent walk of around 15 minutes to get to our gate, so be sure to leave plenty of time to walk to your gate.

Boarding

We boarded our flight early with those needing special assistance and people flying with children under the age of 6. This meant we could board before the rest of the business class customers. We liked the chance to settle in before our flight, and boarding was uneventful and quick.

On Board Air France’s 777-300ER

We took this same flight and aircraft in 2023 to Italy with our toddler, so we knew what to expect.

My husband and I received a traditional glass of Champagne before takeoff from LAX, which was a few minutes early at 3:10 p.m.

Business Class Cabin

On this Boeing 777, each seat had a length of 77 inches with a 61-inch pitch. The seats were set up in a reverse herringbone pattern, so the 2 center seats faced each other and had a fair bit of privacy. Despite having an older interior, we loved the configuration of this cabin as the seats were very spacious and private, even with an active toddler.

Air France has updated some of its 777-300ER fleet to include a sliding door for even more added privacy, so by selecting the 2 center seats, you create an even larger suite of sorts. This would have even improved further on our experience. You can tell if you have one of these newer planes by looking at the seating chart as it would not have a first-class cabin.

Hot Tip:

Air France’s plane selection is complicated. It operates at least 6 different aircraft on flights to the U.S., and aircraft swaps are common. Here’s our definitive guide to Air France plane types.

Business Class Seat

In addition to the monitor, each seat offered a USB port and charging station, which were necessary to ensure that my daughter’s iPad remained operational throughout the flight.

There was plenty of storage space at the seat in addition to the overhead compartments. This includes a space at the side of the seat to store an iPad, headphones, and a few toys and another storage space at leg level for water and a few snacks. We also used the surface area above and between our seats for additional space during the flight. This is unique to the first and last row of each cabin thanks to the placement of the walls.

We like to ask for an additional pillow for our toddler when she sleeps. She managed about 4 hours of sleep, which was lovely! We planned well and chose the seats at the back of the cabin, but I also think seats in the first section (rows 3 to 6) would have also been good options.

While the Air France webpage for traveling with kids mentions that a baby comforter and items such as a coloring book will be provided, we weren’t offered anything like this. I know I would have appreciated these items, so it might be worth requesting them if they aren’t initially offered.

Food and Beverage

When booking our flights, I requested an infant meal for my daughter. As she is not an infant, she hasn’t eaten purees in quite a while, so we were prepared with a prepacked meal. We weren’t offered her infant meal at all, so I was glad we came prepared.

She was happy eating our prepacked meal but also had a few bites of our meals. My daughter drinks cold whole milk, so we were told to request this as needed. I didn’t have any issues receiving this quickly from the flight attendants.

As for the regular meals, the duck starter was quite excellent, with the main dish of cod (the chef’s specialty) being pretty tough and not very flavorful.

Breakfast was good, and I selected the bagel with salmon and cream cheese, along with fruit and yogurt with granola.

Amenities

Entertainment

A wide selection of entertainment was available, but there weren’t a ton of movies or shows I was particularly interested in. However, I was able to watch “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” between meals and my daughter’s nap.

Air France also offers a variety of film, television, and music programming for kids.

Lavatories

There were 3 lavatories in the business class section, all containing a changing table and safety strap. I was happy to see that they were kept clean throughout the flight.

Service

The service on this flight was a bit of a hit-or-miss. While my husband had a lovely flight attendant on one side, mine wasn’t the friendliest. No one came by to offer water throughout the flight, as is normally the case, but the self-service bar was always fully stocked. As I said, no infant meal was offered for my daughter. However, I appreciated that it was a relatively uneventful flight.

We landed at about 11:15 a.m. local time and disembarked with the rest of the business class cabin with ease. As we had a connecting flight to Seville Airport (SVQ), we spent our 2.5-hour layover in an Air France lounge before our next flight.

Final Thoughts

I would highly recommend the older (and newer) Boeing 777 with Air France in business class to anyone traveling with a toddler. This is mainly due to the privacy of the seating while also providing the necessary space to talk and play with my daughter without disturbing other passengers.

Despite my daughter being 23 months old, we all felt we could stretch out and get comfortable. Many crew members were friendly with our toddler, and we were all happy to get a few hours of sleep on this long travel day.