FLIGHT REVIEW: New Air France A350-900 Business Class Suite Part 3 – The Free Extra Large Suite

This is the third part of my reviews of my Air France trip to Tahiti.

You can find the LAX lounge review here and the outward leg with the standard new A350 business class suite here. 

Check-in and Lounge

We got to check-in at a rather ungodly 6.30 am to find it pretty deserted. The agent explained where the lounge was and checked us to Los Angeles. Luckily, the security queue was not too bad, unlike our arrival, where my poor friend waited an hour and a half for immigration. Unfortunately, most of Tahiti airport is not air-conditioned which makes for a pretty sweaty experience in the heat and humidity. 

Papeete airport is very small, and there is not much there apart from a couple of touristy type shops and a reasonable duty-free shop. However, it is worth allowing extra time for security as it can be bad if multiple flights depart at once. It is not worth getting to the airport early for the lounge, but if you have time before your flight, it is well-air-conditioned and has a reasonable selection of food and drinks.

I thought the drinks were pretty good quality with a red, white, rose and sparkling wine, including a Louis Latour chardonnay and a Bordeaux red. As well as a standard coffee machine, there was also a Nespresso machine. The only hot food was scrambled egg bites, but given the time of the morning, I was not too bothered.

Boarding

There are no jet bridges at Papeete, so it was out to the aircraft on foot. Boarding was slightly less chaotic than Los Angeles, and if you don’t want to use steps, there is a ramp at the middle doors.

Once on board, we were offered a welcome drink, including champagne or water. Menus and amenity kits were also given out, and jackets were hung up. On Air France they actually put a coat hanger on your seat and then collect them for hanging.

The amenity kit was the same as the previous review with Clarins moisturiser and beauty flash balm products.

Before take-off, a hot towel was offered. 

Some of the crew changed into Tahitian-style outfits after take-off, which is a nice touch. 

The seat and cabin

Air France Airbus A350-900 aircraft seat map . Provided by seatmaps.com
This was the same layout as before, but this time, there were bulkhead seats available. These are free to book (like all the business class seats) and are huge in comparison to the normal seats. However, the middle seats do not have such a large foot space, although they are still bigger than the normal middle seats. So the best choices are the window seats in rows 1 or 10. The drawback is that these are by the galley and toilets.

I was in row 10. I reserved it a few days in advance. You can book these extra-large suites at any time.

The main part of the seat is exactly the same as the one I reviewed on the way out, so I will concentrate on the differences with this seat type. The seats can be adjusted using the tablet or side controls and you can move the seat forwards and backwards as well as the usual adjustments.

The footrest is huge and makes a massive sleeping area, so I’d definitely risk the noise potential of the location and book one of these for a night flight. 

There is also a decent size drawer under the footrest area.

I did have a brief lie-down and found having the extra space a game-changer for a side sleeper like me.

Food and drink

Normally, they offer a champagne service before the meal with delicious cheese snacks, but that did not happen on this flight. I was surprised to get lunch, given that it was an 8.30am departure, but given that we were landing in LAX in the evening, I was happy with lunch.

Here is the menu:

You can’t preselect your food on this route, but normally, you can choose any of the main courses in advance. The route also has a special Tahitian menu. For those that haven’t been to Tahiti, some of the food while being very fresh and well cooked, can be described as a little bland. 

On Air France, there is no choice of starter, you get both automatically. Having had tuna almost every day since we arrived in  Tahiti, I was slightly dismayed to see it as a starter, but it tasted good! I thought this was a generous start to the meal with an amuse bouche, two starters, and a salad! The bread is one of my favourite airline breads as you can’t beat a warm, crusty baguette. However, remember to keep some for your cheese as they don’t give you biscuits. A second round of bread was offered before the main course. I also like how well everything is presented.

I tried the Pouilly Fume and found it very enjoyable. Tops up were offered and I was asked if I wanted anything else to drink several times. There was even a choice of two types of sparkling Perrier in case you prefer a less fizzy version. Here is the drinks menu:

Next came the beef, which was tender and a decent portion, but it was very bland. A bit of salt and pepper helped a lot.

The cheeses, however, were delicious and a generous slice of each. 

Finally came dessert. There was no choice for this, and it was refreshing if a little dull. I would say this route is probably not the best reflection of the quality of food you usually get on Air France as in the past I have found it to be an exceptionally high standard.

I treated myself to a cognac since you can’t get one on BA, whereas on Air France, there is a choice of cognac, calavdos or armagnac.

I was also impressed with the quality of the espresso I had, which came with a Valrhona chocolate. Everything Air France does seems to give that little bit extra and I found the crew very friendly and keen to please as well. Nothing was too much trouble. 

In between meals, a nicely presented area in the galley has champagne, drinks and snacks.

These cheese snacks are to die for! So light, crispy and cheesy – they are worth flying Air France for alone!

Around 90 minutes before landing the snack meal was served with a full drinks service. It was quite a small meal, but it suited me as the flight was only 7 hours, and I had eaten a few cheesy snacks in between. The fruit was delicious, perfectly ripe and sweet. 

Entertainment and connectivity

The seat had the same screen as the regular seats with great definition. I started watching Barry, which is TV series that is a dark comedy about a hitman, and it got me hooked. Comfortable headphones were provided but I just used Bluetooth to pair my own.

This time, the wi-fi was working. Like BA, you get free messaging. I decided to try the surf pass, which I thought was a reasonable price, and found the speed more than adequate. I thought the Stream price was pretty expensive for a 7-hour flight. 

Conclusion

I was already a fan of Air France and this trip certainly cemented that. While the food was not as good as some of the other flights due to the route, it was generous, high quality, and well presented. I did rate the wines and spirits highly as well as the champagne. The crew really do make the flights for me as well. While you may not get the banter you sometimes get on BA, they tend to be very charming and really make you feel like a valued customer. I also find the service very consistent and they do tend to have more experience crews on long haul.

This seat is also a big attraction for me and I would definitely choose Air France over other airlines where the larger seat is available. Let’s hope they don’t start charging for them!

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