8 Surprising Things About My Air France A350-900 Economy Class Flight From Houston to Paris [Review]

I joined a friend for a quick trip to Paris in November 2025, and the cheapest and most direct flight from my home in Houston was with Air France in economy class. I happened to travel during the government shutdown, the day after lines at the Houston airports infamously spilled into the streets and clocked in at several hours. Needless to say, I was nervous ahead of this flight.

Here’s a look at how I booked my first-ever flight with Air France, with some thoughts on what I thought the airline did well, and where there were opportunities for improvement.

Booking Air France Economy Class

This nonstop Air France flight was priced the same on Delta.com and Chase Travel, so I booked my flight via Chase Travel to utilize a targeted $50 promotional credit I had received on my Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card. After the credit, my cost was $508.33 for the round-trip flight from Houston (IAH) to Paris (CDG) in early November 2025. I paid with my Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card and earned 5x Ultimate Rewards points for the Chase Travel purchase.

Because these were codeshare Delta flights booked in basic economy, I earned zero Delta SkyMiles … whoops! Had I credited the miles to my Flying Blue account instead, I would have been able to earn 20% of the flight distance credited as miles.

The same flights booked as an award were priced at 62,000 Delta SkyMiles, yielding approximately 0.8 cents per SkyMile, which is about 33% below our estimated value of SkyMiles at 1.2 cents each.

1. Plenty of Upsell Options Before Flying

As I checked in online, I was assigned an aisle seat in the middle of a 3-3-3 configuration. I was then given an upsell option for something I had never seen before — I could pay an additional $115 to block the middle seat in that section. I declined, and my neighbor must have as well, because we ended up having a full row.

I was also given the option of upgrading to premium economy for $381. Considering that my flight only cost around $500, this didn’t seem like a great deal to me, though other writers at Upgraded Points have great things to say about Air France’s premium economy.

2. Boarding at IAH Was Chaotic

I traveled during the government shutdown, which resulted in a several-hour delay to my flight. After checking out the nearby Air France Lounge, I made my way to gate 18a to investigate when boarding was scheduled to commence. What began as a calm gate area quickly descended into chaos.

The KLM flight to Amsterdam (AMS) at gate D18b was also delayed and began boarding just moments before the Paris flight at gate D18a. PA announcements were difficult to understand, to the point where I thought I was following the Paris instructions for a few minutes before realizing they were actually for the Amsterdam flight. Ultimately, Amsterdam finished boarding while my boarding group was still in line to be called.

A unique aspect of my boarding experiences was that I boarded with a biometric face scan rather than presenting my passport or boarding pass.

3. The Economy Class Cabin Was Comfortable

This was my first experience flying with Air France in any class, and I found the economy cabin very comfortable. The economy class cabin is divided by a row of lavatories, and my seat, 27H, was located in the forward economy cabin. Even though I was just a few rows ahead of the lavatories, there was no excessive noise or smell, and no light pollution, as there was no galley in this area.

My seat had a pillow, a blanket, and a pair of over-the-ear headphones placed on it, and I found that the headphones didn’t hurt my ears (which is often the case, as I wear glasses). Legroom was comfortable, and there was 31 inches of seat pitch (the distance between my seat and the seat in front of me). I had access to light controls, but there were no overhead nozzles to control airflow.

I was most impressed by the giant 13.3-inch IFE screen, which could be angled toward you. The IFEs also offered Bluetooth pairing, as well as USB-A and USB-C ports.

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The forward economy cabin as seen from the rear.

4. The Tray Table Was Large With Unique Features

I was pleasantly surprised that I could fully extend my 15.6-inch laptop on the full-size tray table. However, a smashed-laptop horror story from The Points Guy has always stuck with me, and I made sure to let the passenger ahead of me know that I was working on a large laptop and to please let me know if they intended to recline so that I could move my computer.

A unique feature of this large tray table was that when closed, it could drop down to reveal a smaller tray table, ideal for post-meal coffee and tea service.

5. Starlink Wi-Fi Was Blazing Fast

This flight was my first experience with Starlink Wi-Fi, and I was excited to learn that I’d have free Wi-Fi throughout the flight. I made sure to save my Flying Blue credentials in advance so that logging in would be seamless.

Speeds were outrageously fast on my mobile phone at 160 Mbps download and 28.5 Mbps upload. However, speeds on my laptop were much slower at 8.10 Mbps download and 1.97 Mbps upload. That said, I connected easily and stayed connected throughout the flight.

6. No AC Charging Outlets

So my monster laptop fit on the tray table, I was connected to free and fast Wi-Fi, and I was ready to power through a few work hours. Not so fast, says Air France.

My work was brought to a sudden halt when I realized that only business class seats on Air France’s A350-900 have AC charging outlets. While this wasn’t so terrible on my outbound red-eye flight (forcing me to get a little shut-eye when my laptop died), it was a huge missed opportunity to work on my return day flight.

7. Meals Were Super Carb-Heavy

I’m on a bit of a protein kick, so perhaps I’m more sensitive to meal composition than most, but I found both meals on the flight overly carbohydrate-indulgent.

The dinner service consisted of a tender (but cold) chicken marsala-type dish accompanied by gummy orzo, served alongside a very similar cold pasta salad. This was accompanied by a bag of sesame breadsticks, a roll, cheese, and a moist cake. Just tons of carbs, and the alternative dishes were pasta with chicken or tomato sauce.

Breakfast consisted of a garlic bread-type pastry, a long roll, kefir, canned tropical fruit, and juice. Not much here to stick with you.

I enjoyed seeing that Air France used sustainable wooden cutlery, though.

8. Filthy Lavatories

I like to have a peek at the lavatories early on in the flight, and the one I stepped into showed that it had not been thoroughly cleaned prior to departure. Toilet paper and seat covers were on the floor, the seat cover dispenser had separated from the wall, and the area where the toilet paper was held was covered in drippy streaks. It did not feel very sanitary overall.

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Debris on the floor.

One feature I liked was the motion-activated trash lid, which helped me avoid touching the lid in an otherwise dirty lavatory.

Final Thoughts

Having never flown Air France before, I was pleased with the seat and blazing-fast Wi-Fi; however, carb-heavy meals and a lack of AC charging outlets in economy class dampened my experience. Losing hours of productivity after my computer died without access to power was a huge disappointment. For future flights, I will definitely spend more time researching power availability by aircraft type when this is a priority for maximizing my flight time.