Hello everyone, welcome back to another flight review. After that flawless LP flight on AF a while back, I was excited to try out their signature J cabin, in the bulkhead seat. The bulkhead seat (or Business suite) offers massive leg space. I read that it’s usually reserved for high-tier members until the flight’s imminent and may be available to all for an additional fee. Strangely, and I’m not complaining, the seat was free to choose on the app when booking. I even had to double and triple check thinking it might be a bug, as I’m on the lowest tier of Flying Blue.
Today’s journey will take me from JFK to CDG on a red-eye ish flight, departing at 1:00 am and landing around 14:20 local time. I originally wanted to try JetBlue’s Studio on this route, but that leaves JFK at 19:00 and would land very early in the morning. Considering this is a 6.5 hour flight, eliminating take-off/landing and meals, leaving around 4-5 hours of sleep, landing super early in the morning would be quite the struggle, and this was for sure the right call. My full journey went from St. Louis to Laguardia then JFK to CDG, both routes in Business (or I guess, Delta First) for around 2800 USD. I saw the prices skyrocket to nearly double that, so I really lucked out booking early on. Let’s get into the review!
Not being a New York native, sorry LGA I wasn’t familiar with your game. This airport is stunning, so fresh and super clean! From there it was a 25 uber ride over to the (much older) JFK, Terminal 1 today.
This is only my second ever time flying out of JFK, the first time at T1. I headed over to the AF checkin counters on the very right side of the terminal.
. It was awesome JFK had a dedicated La Premiere check-in area, although the only occupants were two receptionists and two staff at the entrance. Investing a separate counter at an outstation is admirable, I guess not too surprising considering AF operates 5 daily routes to CDG featuring the LP cabin, mine is the only one on an A350-900.
The dedicated priority line moved quick, and the AF agent mentioned I had the best seat on the aircraft. She too was surprised when I mentioned I didn’t pay an extra fee for it, and shared the lounge location and off to security I went. I know New Yorkers might get a bad rep for being mean, and I haven’t been around any who really show it, but my goodness the TSA agents today weren’t having it. There’s a priority lane but essentially was the same length as the regular line. Nothing much happened in our line, but across the room an agent was visibly frustrated with a couple who couldn’t speak English, and another agent quite rudely inquired a passenger “how many bags did I say to put in one basket, that’s not one bag there is it?” Anyways…. Moving on :/
I had a good two hours or so until boarding and wanted to do some plane spotting before heading to the lounge. It had been months since I saw any widebodies and couldn’t quite contain my excitement. T1 has large glass panes which is great during the day, not so much at night. I had to physically press my phone up against the glass to get some shots, which was especially difficult during boarding due to the limited space and excess congestion. I saw boarding imminent for LOT over to Warsaw but found the plane to be chartered by Privilege style, later learning they work with LOT during aircraft/staff shortages.
The AF lounge was located near gate 1, and the immediate contrast between the old and worn-out terminal was stark. This was a proper French lounge.
The agent mentioned that buffet and bar are identical on each floor. The hot food options included herb chicken, cream pasta, teriyaki salmon, white rice, and a plethora of quiches and French sandwiches such as croque monsieurs.
I had a trip leaving CDG and visited their signature lounge there, and incredibly JFK’s might have been 10% smaller, but featured more and tastier food. Lots of bread and sweets on offer, also a small salad bar, I went with a couple refills of the corn salad
I tried to get some shots of the seating area, but there were too many people within such a small space.
An open bar featuring some French goodies.
There were also some space to store bags.
My choices, the salmon stood out, but everything else was also very good.
The downstairs seating area, traffic slowed after the 11pm AF flight boarded.
After my meal, I went back to some more plane spotting. Parked right outside our lounge was an EVA bird heading to Taipei.
Something that never feels to hit right in the feels, seeing an Air China flight far away from home. Even better, it was the Queen of the Skies.
I also spotted my bird for the night, but it was parked at a gate where seeing a decent angle was slightly difficult. Asiana giant heading to Seoul.
I returned to the lounge one final time for some drinks, then headed to gate 8 as boarding was imminent.
Interestingly, my gate was directly opposite the CA flight, so I managed to see the crew pull up to the gate, safe travels!
Here’s the first look at m cabin, a wonderfully sleek design.
1A was my seat, the first one to the right. Waiting at my seat was a pillow, blanket, mattress topper, coat hanger, slippers, and water+headphones in the storage space (sorry the jellycats not included! Those were mine ). Next to the storage space was a small tablet which could be removed, with a light above it. The storage space also has a mirror when opened up.
Looking forward, there was an incredible amount of space. Even lying down, being 185 cm, my feet were no where close to hitting the end.
I took a quick trip to the toilet to get changed, the color scheme following the dark blue of the AF cabin. There were some minor amenities on offer, but more importantly it was kept extremely clean throughout the journey.
This was the first proper view of my seat, after all the boarding traffic had concluded. Under the ottoman sone extra storage space opens for your shoes. The safety card and air sickness bag were in a small shelf on the left side. Seat controls available on a small touch pad near the armrest.
The vents began blowing extremely cold air as soon as the doors closed, to the point I needed to use my bag to block it.
Although the app showed all four bulkhead seats were full, in fact only half were. The only on my right side remained empty, the same for seat 1D on the other aisle.
As the PA came on, there were repeated reminders not to take any pictures of the cabin without crew consent, which got me quite shy to take more pictures of my seat. There were a few passengers who also seemed to share the sentiment, all waiting for the crew to leave sight before taking snaps. Eventually I double checked and she mentioned that only referred to pictures of the crew, AF could consider altering their PA to emphasize that since it did in fact say no pictures period… not to mention that statement was repeated three times even before takeoff. This wasn’t part of the announcement when I flew them in February, I guess perhaps some trouble was caused since then.
Now with consent, I managed to get some more shots of my seat.
This angle really emphasizes the sheer space provided!
Extra amenities
Charging ports available. I liked how there were instructions on the mattress pad cover, and at the ottoman.
Once you close the storage cabin, the signature AF horse logo lights up. Only now did I notice a wireless charging surface on the table.
Seat controls alone the armrest. Very sleek and modern!
Menu cards were then handed out, props to AF for offering both dinner and breakfast on this flight.
Let’s look at the options!
An extensive drink menu!
Amenity kits were also handed out.
Welcome drinks then offered. I’m assuming they couldn’t serve alcohol on the ground, so either water or an apple mint drink was offered. I went with the latter, which was very sweet but refreshing.
Hot towels offered.
We then began to push back in the New York evening rain. Passing by the Asiana giant on our left. AF’s (awesome) safety video began to play and I started fidgeting with the touch pad.
The lights were then shut and AF’s signature blue light lit up the cabin. Check out the contrast.
I checked out the amenity kit, which hasn’t changed since I first flew them back in 2023, except for a pen which was now included. The basic amenities: socks, eye mask, earplugs, toothpaste, toothbrush, and some Clarins branded skin care.
Although the crew were generally great this flight, more on that later, they were extremely loud in the galley during take-off. I’ve sat in the first row before and never was it this noticeable. It wasn’t too much of an issue especially since things quieted down later on but it was somewhat frustrating.
When we reached cruising altitude, the crew came by offering champagne and some cheese crackers.
As with most doors, this one couldn’t fully close. However, the door really adds a sense of privacy unlike some which are purely more of a design feature.
I noticed something funny on my touch pad which indicated we had 205 hours and 45 minutes remaining until we’d arrive in … LAX?
The touch pad itself was quite responsive for the most part, except when trying to explore entertainment options, it would just never leave this circle of doom buffering page.
Take a quick guess what AF’s color scheme focuses on?
Although I didn’t utilize them too often, AF’s headphones were very comfortable.
Only halfway through my first glass of champagne, another was promptly offered, why not?
In my previous LP review I noted AF’s weakness regarding IFE content. The same was the case today. There were only around 40 movies, and lots were rather unheard of. I think they had some more TV shows than before, but still quite lacking in general. Of course, with Starlink WIFI being spread across AF’s fleet, including today’s flight, an IFE begins losing its value and most passengers seemed to be utilizing the exceptionally fast internet instead.
The gentleman, who was incredibly friendly and professional (and loved giving my shoulder a few taps) came by asking if I’d like dinner, my choice, and whether to be woken up for breakfast. Between the chicken, fish, and beef, I went with the beef.
This is a view for the ages isn't it. Looking back, quite an empty cabin tonight.
As service commenced, a tablecloth was promptly provided.
AF has some of the best catering, and the few times I’ve flown with them on J, it has never disappointed. Notably, I love their appetizer trio which sometimes outshines the main. Today, however, this wasn’t the case. Arguably, all three starters were well below par. The salad was nothing special, the shrimp was just not it, felt like frozen shrimp which weren’t even peeled properly. I swear Costco’s shrimp are plumper than this. Finally, I have no idea what was on the right side, just two pieces of cabbage with a bunch of sauce in the center. The cake and cheese were also presented on the same tray which was a first for me. Looking at my previous pictures of AF’s appetizer trio, this was simply just not good enough.
I guess we can put the blame on JFK catering. The shrimp ended up being tasteless, the salad basically the same that’s offered on NA carriers on domestic 3-hour flights, and whatever was on the right side was just as poor. The only saving grace was the bread being piping hot and freshly out of the oven, and the cheese being decent. Overall, disappointing.
A coke zero and some whisky to accompany the meal.
On a brighter note, my main was a step up. The meat was wonderfully tender, and the sauce also worked well. I had a few bites of the chocolate cake which wasn’t too bad, but overall, a meal service to forget, especially for AF standards.
As everyone finished off, I flattened my seat and tossed on the mattress topper. It was on the shorter side but nonetheless helped with comfort. Lying down, the excess foot space shined again. Regular herringbone seats often have the issue of my feet clumping up against the edges. Checking the screen, we had 5 hours and 15 minutes to go, and I dozed off into dreamland.
Good night!
I began hearing some utensils clatter, but not loud enough to fully wake me up. What did the job was the gentleman, who I mentioned earlier confirming I didn’t want to be woken for breakfast, tapping me on the shoulder. I’m unsure if it came down to miscommunication, but when he tapped me and I woke up, he immediately asked “so you said you didn’t want to be waken up for breakfast right?”…….. I didn’t really know what to say to that….. why wake me up then…. I nodded confirming no breakfast, and I somehow managed another hour or so of sleep.
Eventually, the PA came on and announced our descent into CDG.
With just under 20 minutes until landing, I noticed a crew member carry some coffees into the cabin. I debated for a bit then asked the gentleman if it was too late for one. He mentioned they may not be able to since the machines may be closed, but to my delight a female crew member came back a few minutes later with a cup for me, and the gentleman later came by to confirm I received it. He then came back around a few minutes later to thank me for flying with them. He was awesome throughout (except maybe the breakfast miscommunication), and my longstanding belief AF has wonderful crew continues.
One final wet towel.
The captain came back on minutes before arrival to mention there were incredible views of Paris on the right, sadly I was on the left. I didn’t feel too hard done by as my view wasn’t too shabby, the green and grass fields reminded me of descents into Taoyuan airport in Taipei.
We touched down at 14:23, 13 minutes behind schedule.
There was a massive customs line but SkyPriority got you into a Fastlane. I was then dragged out of that line along with some other passengers into another expedited pathway, no complaints only confusion. Unfortunately, baggage claim took over an hour which was quite frustrating, but that’s not down to AF.
