This is my return flight from my work trip to French Guiana. I have had the very nice surprise to be upgraded when I checked-in online. So I have had the joy to try the new AF business cabin, BEST.
The check-in at the airport through the SkyPriority lane was quite good, two booths were open and the agents were quite efficient. It was busy as a lot of families flew back to France for summer vacations. The custom and security control were quite fast.
I went to the AF lounge but no pictures as there is nothing to take. It's very small always busy and the food offer is very light. It's good to go for the newspapers (not a lot) and for refreshments.
The boarding was quite quick and I had the chance to go on the left of the plane when inside instead of the right, direction I'm used to.
The BEST cabin looks very nice. I love the new seat and the positioning of the seat. My two "complaints" are: the window is too far from the seat and the right elbow handler is lower than the left one, which makes a weird feeling. Otherwise, it's great, lots of room for the legs, I love the storage unit, lot of room for working, reading.
Champagne was served before taking off as well as the poach. I really like the new poach, it's folded. I will certainly re-use it
The entertainment center is the same than in economy or premium economy but the screen is way bigger. It looks very sharp and nice.
Aperifif before dinner. A Duval pastis with cashew and a salty donuts. The cashews were pretty disappointing: the taste was a bit weird, not salty at all, and very soft. The donuts was useless.
I chose the local French Guiana dish: Fricasséee de poulet from a famous French female chef.
The appetizer was ok: the small slices of duck were ok, but not great, the scallops with mashed peas were quite good, good balance between the tastes. I would have hoped to taste a bit more the scallops. The chicken dish wasn't really good, it was very basic. The chicken was chicken, didn't really taste the spices, the duchesse de fruit à pain was sticky (but it's maybe normal as it was my first time). Not impressed at all with this special dish prepared by an award-winning chef. The selection of cheese was ok (camembert and comté). For dessert, there were 3 small pastries. There were ok. The bread wasn't good, it was obviously defrozen as shown in the picture.
I slept like a baby at 180°. I love this seat. I woke up for the breakfast.
Hi , thanks for the short report , ii hope next time you will have more pixs
i was curious to see what people could say about Babette's meals . They are served only on flights to west indies like CAY
You are lucky also because AF dont use Best and Beyond cabins for these destinations
Thanks. Yes, I will try. I still doesn't feel very comfortable to take pictures during the flight with my camera and I don't want to use the flash. But yes, I agree, the quality could be better.