10.5 Hours In Air France 777-300ER Economy Class…

All things considered, my family enjoyed a lovely flight from Los Angeles to Paris onboard an Air France 777-300ER in economy class.

First Impressions: Air France 777-300ER Economy Class

For our winter trip to Germany this year we chose to fly Air France and KLM using Flying Blue points. At only 44K round-trip with stopovers, it just made more sense than flying nonstop on SWISS or Lufthansa. Furthermore, we felt my daughter does not have the appropriate disposition right now to fly in a premium cabin.

I previously mentioned that our flight to Paris was cancelled and we wound up spending a night at the Sheraton Gateway LAX before taking an early afternoon flight to Paris the following day. This was not a regularly-scheduled flight, but a special section to compensate for the cancelled flight the previous evening. Since most passengers had already been re-accommodated the flight load was very light and we found ourselves (as did others) with our own rows.

We ended up spreading over three rows, such that we all could stretch out (even though that was less important on what essentially was a daytime flight to Paris).

Seating is tight in economy class on the Air France 777-300ER with ten across in economy class, though the legroom at 32 inches is manageable.

A hot meal was served after takeoff, which included chicken with rice, a quinoa salad, a bread roll, a piece of cheddar cheese, and a small chocolate sponge cake (the other choice was Asian noodles).

Carb overload for sure…a very unmemorable meal. I found it particularly sad that Air France does not offer a nice piece of French cheese with the meal or warm the bread roll.

Breakfast was offered prior to landing in a cute little bag, with contents that included a processed fruit cup in a sugary syrup, drinkable kefir, orange juice, a deplorable bread roll, and a warmed type of flaky flatbread that tasted a bit like a croissant.

Overall, I found the food in Air France economy class very disappointing.

But while the food was bad, the service was great. The crew was incredibly kind and quite attentive, which is always impressive when this occurs in economy class.

I also appreciated how Air France kept the children occupied with very cool little activity packets.

There was also a wide range of IFE options and wi-fi internet was available for purchase (a flight pass cost about €18).

As for my daughter Claire Marie, she behaved quite well onboard. She fussed a little bit when we tried to put her to bed, but as long as she was sitting in my lap or Heidi’s lap she was perfectly fine. That may have been somewhat annoying on this flight, but we will miss those days as she quickly grows. Once she conked out we laid her down and she slept just fine on her own.

CONCLUSION

Air France was just fine in economy class (especially for the price we paid). The food was not great, but the service was gracious and kind and we greatly appreciated the ability to stretch out over several seats. I’d happily fly Air France again in economy class (and perhaps the catering is better out of Paris?).

Once I get through my current Middle East trip report, I’ll offer a full review of this flight, including a lot more detailed info on the seat, IFE, food and drink, and other amenities onboard.

On the way out, my son asked, “Why couldn’t we fly business class?”

I told him to take a look at who had just run past him.