Pros and Cons of Air France Premium Economy on the Boeing 777-300

Thanks to Air France’s robust route network connecting Paris with South America, I often find myself flying the French flag carrier when I’m headed to Brazil from the U.K.

In recent years, I’ve flown Air France’s coveted La Première from São Paulo (GRU) to Paris (CDG) and crisscrossed the Atlantic several times in its business class. Last year, I also flew its premium economy on a day flight from Paris to Zanzibar (ZNZ) in Tanzania on the airline’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

I recently found myself flying Air France’s premium economy again, this time on an overnight Boeing 777-300 flight from Rio de Janeiro (GIG) to London (LHR) via Paris (CDG).

If you can’t face the thought of an overnight flight in economy and are wondering whether paying more or upgrading to premium economy is worth it, here are my thoughts on my 2 most recent premium economy flights with Air France.

Booking Air France Premium Economy

I’m currently traveling around South America and needed to get back to the U.K. for a work event with Virgin Atlantic. Less than a month before I needed to travel, even economy cash fares for a one-way trip to London from pretty much anywhere in Brazil (and the rest of South America, for that matter) were expensive.

Having racked up a few thousand miles flying Air France over the last couple of years, I made my Flying Blue account my first port of call to check for redemptions.

I hoped to find a decent business class fare, but the prices for the tight travel window I had required hundreds of thousands of miles that I didn’t have in my account. As luck would have it, the only premium economy redemption for under 100,000 points happened to be available on March 22 — the day I needed to fly.

This is an excellent example of where miles can save the day.

Having struggled to find a cost-effective, somewhat comfortable way to fly overnight back to Europe, I paid the 64,100 Flying Blue miles plus €282 ($320) in taxes and fees without much hesitation. The actual cost of the redemption was around 67,000 miles, but I only had 64,100 in my account. Thankfully, Flying Blue let me make up the difference by increasing the amount I owed for the taxes and fees.

Hot Tip:

There are many ways to earn a ton of Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles, even if you’re based in the U.S. Once you’ve earned a stash, you’ll probably want to spend them on Air France or KLM’s business class.

Pros of Flying Air France Premium Economy

Having had a very pleasant journey to Africa last year in Air France’s premium economy, I had a good idea of what to expect on this GIG-CDG-LHR flight.

However, there were 2 main differences this time:

• GIG to CDG was an overnight flight, so whether or not I’d be able to sleep well in the upright seats was going to play an important role in the overall experience.
• The premium economy cabin and seats on the retrofitted Air France Boeing 777-300ER were significantly different from those on board the 787-9 Dreamliner I flew from Paris to Tanzania last year.

Hot Tip:

Air France has now retrofitted all 12 of its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Make sure to watch out for these when booking a flight in business class, as they feature the airline’s newest business class, complete with closing privacy doors.

Great Quality Amenities, Including Amenity Kit

Air France’s amenities put the premium in premium economy.

For starters, premium economy passengers get Nicholas Feuillatte Champagne rather than prosecco or some other cheaper version of sparkling wine. Instead of passengers taking it as a welcome drink when boarding, a crew member passes around the cabin shortly after takeoff, offering a hefty pour of the bubbly stuff.

On my flight from GIG to CDG, Flight attendants handed out amenity kits before takeoff. Inside the sleek, reusable Air France-branded pouch were a mask, flight socks, earplugs, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. Some airlines don’t offer amenity kits in premium economy — even on overnight flights — so this was a particularly premium touch.

Getting comfy wasn’t a problem, either. The pillows were plump and made from far better material than you often find flying economy.

Better still, the blanket was made from soft, breathable material that still managed to keep me warm even though it was on the thin side.

Service

In my experience, you can rely on Air France cabin crew to be in top form — no matter the cabin. I just get the sense that they take their jobs very seriously, but not in a square and boring kind of way.

Whether it’s economy, premium, business, or first class, there’s always at least 1 interaction with crew that just has a little je ne sais quoi that leaves me with a smile on my face.

Service in premium economy in general can be hit or miss, as airlines rarely give the cabin a dedicated member of crew. However, I’ve now flown Air France premium economy twice in the last 6 months, and both times the premium economy service was excellent. Even on this most recent premium economy flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, where there were 47 other passengers in premium, the service was more in line with what you’d expect from business class.

For example, just after takeoff from Rio, I noticed that the soft padding from one of the sides of my headset had fallen off. It shouldn’t have mattered much, as this Air France aircraft was equipped with Bluetooth-pairing capability, but my touchscreen failed to connect my AirPods.

I pressed the call bell just after the seatbelt signs were turned off. Seconds later, the premium and economy cabins’ purser (Air France’s chef de cabine) came to see what was up.

She profusely apologized, sourced spare headphone padding from somewhere, and struggled for around 10 minutes to fit it to the headphones before eventually succeeding. (You can’t just replace these headsets, as they’re wired into the seat).

She also gave me an economy headset while she tried to fix mine. Comparing the fixed headset and the temporary economy headphones, I observed a noticeable difference in the shape, size, and, as I came to find out, quality of sound.

Aside from the clear defect in these headsets (passengers on my last flight had issues with the padding falling off, too), these headsets are far more premium than some airlines offer in business class, let alone premium economy.

She also fixed the Bluetooth connectivity issue by resetting my screen.

It’s also worth mentioning that the same chef de cabine came to give me a personal welcome on board. This was thanks to my Air France Platinum status (which I recently just missed out on retaining), but I feel it necessary to highlight what loyal Air France passengers can expect, even when flying premium economy.

Large, Crystal Clear, Tactile IFE Screen

I was very impressed with the quality of the IFE screen on the Boeing 777-300ER. At 13.3 inches, it’s about the industry standard. However, the screen’s picture quality and silky smooth tactility are better than some airlines’ business class IFE screens. Looking at you, British Airways’ old Club World!

Well-Placed USB-C and USB-A Power Outlets

When Air France updated its 12 Boeing 777-300ERs with its best business class cabins, it overhauled the premium economy cabins, too.

Not only are the charging points now within easy reach, but there are both USB-A and more modern USB-C outlets.

There was also a USB-A port built into the IFE screen.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for all Air France aircraft. The universal power socket in the premium economy cabin on the 787-9 Dreamliner I’d flown from Paris to Zanzibar was awkwardly placed underneath the seat, and there was no USB-C port.

Very Comfortable Seats

I must admit, when I asked at the check-in desk in Rio if there were any upgrades available, only to be informed that business class was full, I was quite gutted. I’ve been lucky enough to spend most of the last few years crisscrossing the Atlantic in business class and have become accustomed to getting lie-flat sleep on overnight flights.

I was so tired when I boarded that I didn’t even realize this was Air France’s newest premium economy seat.

Despite not having a hard shell (meaning the seat in front doesn’t encroach into your space when reclined), I didn’t feel penned in like a zoo animal. The sturdy, foldable wings of the headrest meant I was able to almost lie on my side. I cannot sleep at all on my back, so sleeping properly without resting the side of my head on something is almost impossible for me.

The position of the calf and foot rest on the Boeing 777 was an improvement over the Boeing 787. I could rest my legs and feet comfortably without feeling cramped.

On the Boeing 787-9, there is no room to stretch out properly when the calf rest is out.

Cons of Flying Air France Premium Economy on the Boeing 777-300

At this point, I can imagine you might be thinking: “What on earth could have been unenjoyable about this flight?” Well, there wasn’t much. However, if you noticed I haven’t mentioned the food yet, then that might give you a clue as to one of the downfalls of this GIG-CDG flight.

48-Seater Cabin

Having 48 seats is a lot for a premium economy cabin. In my experience, these cabins usually have around half the number of seats in just 3 rows. This larger cabin felt more like a small economy cabin than most premium economy cabins I’m used to.

This cabin had 6 rows of 8 seats per row, and only 2 cabin crew were assigned to serve meals — a flight attendant in each aisle.

It took the crew around 20 minutes to arrive at my seat in the back row of the cabin. I could see the crew hustling to get meals to us as quickly as possible, so the length of time it took, I’d say, is more about there being too many seats in the cabin than a lack of effort on the crew’s behalf.

No Individual Air Nozzles

If you get hot easily on planes, like I do, then you probably won’t appreciate the lack of air nozzles in the premium economy cabin. As we waited for our flight to push back in a very hot and humid Rio de Janeiro, it was uncomfortably warm, and there was no way to cool down.

Inconsistent Food Quality

Having only ever had good to excellent experiences with Air France’s onboard catering, I was looking forward to the inflight meal on the GIG-CDG flight.

The meal presentation of the first meal certainly looked more economy than premium economy.

As a point of comparison, here’s what the premium economy meal service looked like on a recent flight from London Heathrow to Los Angeles (LAX) with fellow SkyTeam member Virgin Atlantic:

The Virgin Atlantic tray was bigger, and the dishes, which were more elegantly presented, were served in proper dishware rather than the recyclable, cardboard-style trays Air France uses.

Back to Air France: Once I lifted the cardboard lid off the pasta dish, it looked somewhat appetizing.

Sadly, the dish lacked as much in flavor as it did in color. Worse still, it was really greasy, as you can see in the picture below.

I’m usually unable to turn down a dessert, but I wasn’t tempted at all by whatever this was.

The excellent first meal I had in premium economy flying from Paris to Zanzibar couldn’t have been more of a contrast to this. I’ll assume that the difference is from the catering being loaded at Air France’s base at Charles de Gaulle rather than down route in Rio de Janeiro.

Most disappointing of all, before landing in Paris, Air France served the same breakfast meal to premium passengers as it did to economy passengers. I wanted to maximize sleep, so I didn’t eat anything, but this is the boxed meal my seatmate was served.

Final Thoughts

Despite the negative points from my last experience from Rio to Paris, Air France does premium economy very, very well. In fact, I’d say it’s one of my favourite premium economy experiences in the sky.

While I prefer hard shell seats of the airline’s 787-9 premium economy, the overall comfort of the modern cabins on the 777 makes this my preferred version of the 2 — even with its large cabin and lack of air nozzles.

This was also my first subpar experience with Air France’s catering, so I’ll be intrigued to see what the food is like on my next premium economy flight that departs from somewhere other than Paris.

On the sliding scale of economy to premium economy, with 1 being a very economy-style premium economy and 10 being a business class “lite” premium economy, I’d give Air France a solid 8.5.