For the next segment of my ‘European whirlwind’ trip, I flew Air France’s intra-Europe business class on an A320 from Paris CDG to Lyon (LYS). This flight came after I arrived at Paris CDG off of my transatlantic red eye on Air France’s B777-300ER business class and as bale to spend a few hours at Air France’s Terminal 2F Lounge, which was a lovely place to spend some time.

Intra-Europe business class is not generally known as being particularly impressive or anything, as it’s basically an economy seat with a blocked middle, but with elevated service. And, that was exactly what it was: the seat is a disappointment, but the service was lovely. As such, for a 45-minute domestic flight in France, I’m not too sure it’s worthwhile to pay more for this. This is where having airline status that probably get you the best of both worlds: business class ground experience, without spending more money.

Specifically, I’m reviewing flight AF7364, departing CDG at 13:20 and arriving at Lyon LYS at 14:25.

1. How I booked this flight
2. Boarding experience
3. Air France A320 business class seat
4. Departure from Paris CDG: the best views!
5. Air France’s domestic business class meal service
6. Arrival into Lyon (LYS)
7. Summary

How I booked this flight

I booked my flight through Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue loyalty program for 50.000 points and about 204.74 Euros in taxes and fees. I got these points by transferring them from Capital One. A while ago I got the Capital One Venture, which came withy a 75.000 point welcome bonus after spending $4000 in 3 months. I directly transferred the 50.000 points to Flying Blue, which otherwise also partners with Chase, Citibank, American Express, Bilt and Wells Fargo, so you can basically transfer points to Flying Blue from any major US bank and associated rewards program.

Boarding experience

Since I had come off of the flight from New York and then transited to Schengen terminal, I didn’t have any check-in process. instead, I went to the Air France Lounge, where I spent a few hours relaxing and having some delicious food. When it came time to board, I exited the lounge and walked over to gate F47, from whgere my flight would be departing.

I have to say, CDG’s Terminal 2F is a stunner. I love this design… This large, glasshouse-like roof, which creates this large, open space. Unfortunately it does feel as though it was built in a different time, when less passengers were making use of it, since it was quite crowded.

I quickly found my gate, where the A320 that was going to fly me to Lyon was already waiting.

At the gate, seperate boarding lines were setup, with one line for zones 1 and 2, one line for zone 3, and one line for zones 4 and 5. ot sure why zones 3 is broken off from 4 and 5, but zones 1 and 2 are put together since they are the SkyPriority zones, which zone 1 being business class.

Boarding started more or less on time, with zone 1 passengers called up first. As I walked down the jetway I noticed an A318 in the adjacent gate. I was a little surprised as I didn’t realize Air France still used the ‘baby bus’ for anything. At the door to the aircraft, the friendly flight attendant welcomed me on board (“Bonjour monsieur“) and invited me into the cabin.

Air France A320 business class seat

I selected seat 1A for myself, which is the bulkhead row in the business class cabin. As you can see, Intra-European business class seats on European airlines really is just like an economy seat, with the difference being that the middle seat is blocked, and the color of the head rest is different.

The seat features are otherwise pretty much the same as in economy. Since this is a bulkhead seat, there is a pouch in front with the emergency instructions, but on other rows it’d be the same pouch on the seat back as in economy. At least Air France does have a USB-A port on the armrest, so that’s nice. Finally, since this is a bulkhead seat, the tray table comes out from the arm rest, and has to be folded over to reveal fully. But, in any other row, the tray table comes down from the seat back in front.

So what about leg room? Well, in the bulkhead I found legroom to be good. You can see from my own seat as well as across the aisle, there is a good amount of legroom for a short flight like this. For the other rows, however, I honestly don’t think the legroom is any different from economy…

Finally, at least there are individual air nozzles, so that’s nice, but really not much of a surprise either, since this has always been standard on narrow body jets in any region.

So overall, suffice it to say that the seat as such is a disappointment, but then I didn’t really have any expectations on that front. I’d heard enough before this flight to know what it would be. It’s the service that will be the biggest differentiator, so I was quite curious what that will be like.

Departure from Paris CDG: the best views!

We left pretty much on time, the first sign of that being the jetway being retracted, affording me a renewed view of the A318 next door. Seems like baggage loading completed and boarding was in progress…

Pushback was swift and soon we were on our way to the runway. The pilot taxied swiftly and we were ready for takeoff within about 10 minutes. There was just one plane before us, they departed rapidly, and soon we were cleared for takeoff as well. I didn’t know it yet, but I’d be in for a real treat! As we took off Paris began to reveal itself to me…

Soon we were flying past Paris’ old airport, Le Bourget, which is where the Paris Air Show is still being held every year.

We continued on straight ahead and made a left hand turn, which gave me fantastic vies of Paris! Major landmarks rolled by in full, beautiful view. Paris is a beautiful city when you’re walking through it, but the major avenues and white houses with grey roofs are also stunning from above!

Air France’s domestic business class meal service

Soon after takeoff, service started. This is a short flight, only 45 minutes, so the crew had to get a move on. Unfortunately the flight was very bumpy so for a moment it looked like they couldn’t provide any service at all, and I could hear the crew discuss that option in the galley. Fortunately they decided to still provide business class some service, so the friendly flight attendant came by to somewhat hastily hand those of us seated in business class a little box. I opened this to find a little sandwich, a piece of chocolate and a little pastry.

Inside was also a little card describing the sandwich as ‘black bread with smoked halibut and granny smith apples and pecan nuts”. And it was delicious! The acidity of the apple paired wonderfully with the halibut. This is easily the tastiest sandwich I’ve had on a plane. For the desserts, I though the milk chocolate was lovely as well, and a for the little pastry – this ‘Tarte Tropezienne’ was airy and light, and paired well with the rest of the food.

By this time the turbulence had mostly subsided and the crew came by with a drink cart, and I got some orange juice. To be clear, alcohol options were available, including champagne and white and red wines, as well as beers, but I thought I’d had enough on the flight over to Paris.

Overall, given that this is a 45-minute domestic flight, I thought this meal was mighty impressive. Flying 45 minutes on Delta? You’ll get a glass of something and a pack of nuts, while in economy you won’t get service because ‘the flight is too short’. Meanwhile in Air France, after drinks had been provided to those of us in business, the cart went through economy to provide drinks there as well. Seems to me US airlines have something to aspire to…

Arrival into Lyon (LYS)

As meal service ended and the plane started to descent, unfortunately visibility over Lyon was not good, with low clouds obscuring much of the view. As we descended through those clouds, slowly the farmlands around Lyon were revealed, but I couldn’t look too far out.

This made for a rather unexciting approach into LYS, and before long we were touching down…

Like at CDG, the pilot seemed to be in a hurry, and taxied quickly to the gate. We’d be disembarking at terminal 1, which appears to have a bunch of non-Shengen flights as well. About to depart was a, Emirates Boeing 777. Lyon is quite a trendy place to visit these days, but I didn’t necessarily think Emirates flew here.

Summary

Air France’s intra-Europe business class is kind of disappointing, but this reflects the European-style business class product and is therefor not really Air France’s ‘fault’, per se. Unfortunately, European carriers basically use economy seats for business class, with a different color headrest, blocked middle seat, but elevated service – and Air France is no different than other carriers in that respect. However, speaking of the service, in this department I thought Air France delivered a lovely experience, with a terrific meal for such a short flight and truly kind and attentive service. I’d be happy to fly Air France business class on intra-Europe or domestic flights again – if the price is right.