Review of Air France flight from Paris to Buenos Aires in Business

are you river plate or boca junior?

I have been very lucky to go and travel in South America with my other half for 4 months from Argentina to Colombia and this flight was our first long haul flight flying Business. I went to Argentina before and I absolutely adore this country let me tell you why:
AMAZING food
GOOD wine
Warm and funny people 
Breathtaking landscapes
Buenos Aires

Oh and I did mention that they have good food and wine???  

Flying blue Miles earned with this flight: 5498
Status earned: 36 XP

During our 4 months trip in Latin America, we went to a lot of places in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuator and Colombia.

Way out:
London - Paris CDG: Air France A320 report here
Paris CDG - Buenos Aires EZE: Air France Boeing 777-200 report here

Argentina
Iguazu - Buenos Aires AEP: Latam A320 report here
Buenos Aires AEP - Salta: Latam A320 report here
Salta - Cordoba: Aerolineas Argentinas B737-800 report here
Cordoba - Mendoza: Aerolineas Argentinas (Austral) E190 report here

Chile
Santiago - Antofagasta: Sky Airlines A320 report here

Peru
Lima - Iquitos: Viva Air A320 report here
Iquitos - Lima: Viva Air A320  report here 
Nazca flights: Touristic bonus Report Here
 
Colombia
Medellin - San Andres: Latam A320 report here
San Andres - Cartagena: Latam A320 report here
Santa Marta - Bogota: Latam A320 report here 

Way back
Bogota - Paris CDG: Air France B787-9 report here
Paris CDG - Londres Heathrow: Air France A318 report here

When you fly Business with Air France, you are entitled to 2 bags in the cabin, and two checkin bags of 32kgs each, adding my extra luggage allowance as I am a Skyteam elite member, we had an allowance 5 bags of 32kgs in the hull! We also flew Business with Air France to Buenos Aires at the start of our 4 months trip, and the return journey from/to London, believe it not, we 'only' paid £1659 (each).

We chose the seats on this B777 when we booked our trip long time ago; and by the time we flew the business cabin was full.

Of course, like many others, the app offers you the possibility to check in online and get your boarding pass, however the app is still not 100% robust: my other half downloaded the boarding passes however when i tried on my phone I couldn't… I can also think of another example where, randomly, some of my past bookings disappear (while still being seen on the dekstop website) and re-appear a weeks later…

The other app Air France offers is the play app where you can download prior to your flight some news, magazines, podcasts etc.

I also downloaded the Skyteam app not to miss any perks of being holder of the elite status/ business class.. The app feels a bit old but you have the full flight schedules of all the skyteam airlines offline and also the details of the priority lanes and lounges at any airport.

That is so much I prepared my first business flight! I wanted to enjoy every benefit of it! 

at paris charles de gaulle airport

We arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport at terminal 2E hall K from our previous flight from London.
Our next flight to Buenos Aires was scheduled from this same Hall K and so we went to the lounge Air France. 

The lounge is actually small and not the best equipped, to some extend I even prefer the lounges at terminals F. We just had a drink there and I decided that we will spend our next 4 hours in a much better lounge, the one from hall L. 

at air france terminal 2e hall l lounge.

Changing hall terminal is a bit of a struggle since you need to "leave" the international zone, go to the L hall and go through security again but it definitely is worth it!  

The Air france lounge of Hall L reopened in 2018 after a complete redesign, filled with light and large windows, the lounge is spread out over a way larger area than the lounge at Hall K. It has many seating areas in addition to two large co-working tables with individual sockets to work quietly.  

We were told the lounge was designed to be a modern and stylish décor à la Française. It is all in proportions between decoration, elegance, passenger comort and innovative features - some of the lounges we've been into had this "too much" touch when it comes to decoration but this lounge is very good example of what a lounge should be. And especially with that beautiful view on the Terminal 2 airport.

Once passed the welcome desk, you will find in the middle of the loung the bar called Le Balcon, with a golden curvy and shiny ceiling which features a bar in the centre and a barman that offers cocktail (for free of course) from his menu from the Lancaster hotel in Paris or your imagination.

On the other side of the lounge, you will find a buffet called the Gourmet table that has hot and cold dishes, pasta, salad, cheese, and french pastries (I couldn't stop eating them!). Of course there was a selection of French red and white wine and champagne. There was also the possibility to order a hot disch prepared by the chef behind the counter.
There is a small replica of this buffet on the other side of the cocktail bar with similar food offers

The other big plus of this lounge is the huge wellness area, comprising a relaxation room with deemed light resting suites, a Clarins spa with two treatment rooms for free (but you need to book as soon as you arrive), large luxury showers, two private saunas (that we booked) and a detox bar.

There is also another small lounge area passed the spa called ‘Le Petit Salon’ (a quiet area where smartphones are silent) and ‘Le Club' which is an even higher form of privileged clients.

We heard the announce of the boarding being prepared and left the lounge to go back to the hall K building.

boarding

The terminal is remarcably well designed: there are loads of different seating areas, sofas, food stores; free charging points, and almost full flat sofas here and there.

here she is !

Really love the look the B777-200 it is kinda cute don't you think? 

on board the b777-200

Aircraft: Boeing 777-228ER
Registration: F-GSPL
Engines: 2x GE90
Age: 20 Years
Layout: C28 W24 Y264
Observation: At the time it was one of the few still with the old livery, nowadays it has the new "crevette/larger titles" livery and is named "Biarritz".

As a business passenger you board with the first and front jetway. A cute dreamliner was next gate.

I reached my seat quite quickly and as every first time, the feeling of space and luxury was overwheling! Nothing like travelling on low-cost anymore!!

Air France chose the cirrus for its Business seat, a bassinet type of seat, which is the same as you can find on their B777 fleet, B787 and some future A350s.

 Here a couple of observations:
- The arm rest is retractable
- All seats are facing forward - seems obvious but a few airlines chose to alternate with rear facing
- Large amount of storage, especially if you compare with the other European majors.. the red cabinet (Cupboard) with its mirror and elasctic band, the large table, the side shelf, underneath your seat to leave your sleepers and of course above your head.
- There are a few ambiance lights; underneath the cabinets and tables, above your head etc
- Most of the business seats just offer you a squary space for your seat, here the space is generous.
- There is a plug (UK and EU) and USB charger.
- The only negative point i found is if you are a couple and want to chat, you have to bent slightly forward to see and hear each other. 

- Each seat is good becaue of the 1-2-1 configuration, wherever you are seated, you have a good level of privacy (litterally it is hard to know who your neighbours are), if you seat on your seat, you can't see the face of the passengers next to you nor even in front of you. Each seat is also fully convertible into bed position.

The crew assigned to the cabin seemed professional and kind, and to be honnest the best crew I had till this day. It really felt they were keen to do the extra mile.  We were offered champagne whilst boarding before taking off. 

The IFE displayed the famous Safety Video featuring models wearing strippy tshirts

I had a closer look at the seat and found that there was:
- A shoebag, a pair of sleepers and navy blue thick socks
- A noise cancelling headphone (not quite a Bose technology but close to it)
- The usual sleepling bits: sleeping mask, nice thick duvet, pillow.
-The usual safety procedures (I know I was supposed to have a look at it before taking off!)

The taxi was a bit long as we took off on the runway 26L.

Good bye Paris!

The crew gave us the travel kit which features as toothpaste, toothbrush, dental floss, a pen, ear plugs, pen, comb, eye mask, and Clarins spa products and moisturiser, a pen, a cloth to clean glasses and minth sweets; the kit was wearing the 85th Anniversary.

I think this is one of the most comprehensive kits you can find on a business right? 

The food service was of 3 course meal menu, with a wine pairing option; prepared by the Michellin starred chef Guy Martin who works at the Grand Vefour of Paris

As usual on Business, you can choose your meal and I opted for:
Starter 1 Foie gras
Starter 2 Seasonal salade
Basquaise sauced chicken
Cheese
Dessert figue and almond tart.
Wines Saint Veran 2016
Croze Hermitage 2017
Digestif chartreuse verte.
The table cloth is dressed,plates are in porcelain and cuttlery from Christoffle however the plastic tray is a minus.

The starters

The main and dessert

Some of us have a little speciality when it comes to flight review: I always liked to look at what the airline had to tell me so here is the mag review!!

 
The Air France magazine quite elaborate with 330 pages, a first section about world's statistics, travels, Air France fleet presentation and a presentation of films.

This time was about Cannes film festival

With an extensive wine dossier

and a double page on the fleet… This feels like another day and age as the legendary A380 was still in there, so were some less legendary ATR72 and 42, Joon fleet and the good oldA340… When you co;pare to nowadays fleet you really see how Ben Smith did rationalize the fleet..

The IFE has a lot of ;ovies available in different languages, but also a few cool features like maps

and flight progression…

I put my seat in bed position and fell asleep super fast, there is no way I would go back to economy after that!!
During the night i captured this beautiful beacon signature picture! 

We were gently awaken by the crew for breakfast- as they asked before departure if you wanted to be or not.

Breakfast had both savory and sweet options

Soon after we started our descent

approach onto Ministero Pistarini airport - Ezeiza

at buenos aires - ministero pistarini - ezeiza airport

We landed on runway 25 very smoothly and about 30 min early.

At gate next to fellow Skyteam member Aerolineas Argentinas A330-200.

I was quite impressed as our "priority labelled" luggage arrived amongst the firsts.

The aftermath.. The boarding pass and the screenshots of flight radar.. The ink used is fading away with the time…

And for the stamp collection!