When I woke up at the crack of dawn on a recent Monday morning, I had no plans to fly Air France La Premiere , the airline's ultra-exclusive international first-class cabin. After all, I had scored a 55,mile saver-level award seat in the airline's brand-new business-class cabin from Paris to New York, and I was excited about the prospect of reviewing a new-to-me cabin.
But upon checking my phone after my a. The flight I had booked was delayed due to "operational reasons. While that may have made for an interesting review, I quickly sprang into action, knowing that the flight delay meant that I could rebook on a different flight at no additional cost. Once I verified that the Boeing ER featuring the new business-class cabin was out of service for the day, I considered two choices: Go big or go home Going big meant finally crossing off a bucket list flight experience that I've been eyeing for years: Air France's legendary La Premiere first class.
It took some work on my end and an extra cash outlay, but it ended up being well worth it. Thirteen hours later, I landed at Dulles International Airport IAD after what turned out to be one of the most memorable flights of my life. For one, you actually need to find a route operated by one of the carrier's 19 Boeing ERs that feature first class. For the summer, that includes select frequencies in the following markets, based on Cirium schedules:.
There's just a single row of four first-class suites, and the airline seems to have no trouble selling out the majority of the cabin during peak periods. To protect the exclusivity of the product, Air France doesn't even allow mileage redemptions for La Premiere unless you are a Flying Blue Platinum or Ultimate elite member using Flying Blue miles. On top of that, the airline will only release at most one first-class award seat per flight in advance, and the rates are steep — starting at around , miles for a one-way flight from Paris to Dubai or New York.
There's no way to book La Premiere through partner loyalty programs, such as Delta SkyMiles, or by upgrading with miles, unless you're a Platinum or Ultimate elite member and even then you'll need to pay up. Altogether, this makes Air France first class one of the hardest-to-book airline experiences in the world. However, there is one strategy that's worth keeping in your back pocket. If there are unsold first-class seats once the check-in window opens, it's possible — but not guaranteed — that you'll be offered a discounted last-minute upgrade.
