Paris-Bordeaux on Air France in business class on A321 : I paid 79€ for a box of Medoc vine shoots

This trip to Bordeaux gave me the opportunity to test the Air France business class product on domestic routes. It’s a good thing that this was not the goal of the trip because I would have been rather disappointed.

The good side will be the discovery of the Moxy hotel in Bordeaux but that will be the subject of another article.

For the record the articles related to this trip.

#TypeReview
1HotelMoxy Charles de Gaulle. Not reported, see our previous articles here.
2FlightParis-Bordeaux, business class, Air France
3HotelMoxy Bordeaux
4FlightBordeaux-Pairs, economy, Air France. Not carried forward, no interest

Booking

At the beginning I booked a ticket in economy on the Air France website at a very good fare of about 150 euros. I hesitate to take a business class to test this service at least once, but the price of almost 500 euros dissuades me for such a short flight and a service that does not seem exciting.

Check-in and ground experience

When I checked in online I was offered an upgrade to business for 79 euros. I tell myself that this is a good opportunity to discover this product at a lower cost so I let myself be tempted.

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At this price it seems acceptable to me.

I arrive at the airport early in the morning by the CDGVal after a night spent at the Moxy.

COVID is gradually behind us and Roissy is beginning to return to normal activity.

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I go to the access n°1 line to pass the security controls. There is a bit of a wait but it is still acceptable.

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Once the control is passed I will be literally attacked by the previous passenger, a German of a rather advanced age. He grabs my computer, I take it out of his hands saying “hey it’s my computer” and then he looks at me with bloodshot eyes and screams “it’s my computer, give it back to me” and grabs me violently. I push him away and the staff comes running. The agent points out that his computer is further down the conveyor. He will take it while muttering in not necessarily nice things towards us in his native language.

The agents ask me if I am okay and if I want to file a complaint. No need, I quickly pushed him away and didn’t get hit. Anyway, if I wasn’t already wide awake, now I am.

I head to the lounge.

Obviously I will never spend enough time in this lounge to do a full review. However, you will find a more substantial visit made during my last flight to Bordeaux.

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It is definitely more pleasant than the two lounges it replaces, that’s for sure.
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I don’t find the food offer very impressive at breakfast and I’m not hungry anyway.

I’ll go upstairs to admire the view.

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I go to the toilet and enter after another passenger. A cleaning lady is there and assaults him because she hasn’t finished cleaning. On the other hand, there is nothing to suggest this. He changes toilets, same reaction. Then it’s my turn and I get shouted at too.

We end up leaving to use the toilets of the first floor, accompanied by another passenger who had just arrived. I say “it’s useless to insult people”, she answers “I don’t give you the right to talk to me”.

Ok, in 10 minutes that’s two that would have deserved a good punch.

I will wait for the boarding in the nap zone, very pleasant.

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It’s finally time to go to my gate.

Boarding

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The boarding begins on time and without apparent problems. One will remain however stuck a little time in the feeder.

I finally enter the cabin.

The cabin

On domestic flights it’s a bit like Russian roulette on seats at Air France, you never know which one you will get. This one is far from being my favorite.

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It is ok for a one hour flight, no more. It is a little too firm and not comfortable.

The pitch is correct, without more.

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The tablet is very small. It holds an iPad, not a computer.

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On the other hand, there are easily accessible USB sockets.

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On its short/medium-haul business, like all European airlines, Air France offers a “Eurobusiness” cabin with the same seat as in economy but with the middle seat blocked. On the other hand, unlike some others, the first rows usually devoted to the business class do not offer more legroom than the others.

Correct for an economy class, mediocre for a business class. Are there really people who pay 450 euros for this apart connecting passengers?

Boarding will take a little longer than expected. A recurring problem with our national airline.

The flight and the service

We are finally ready to push back with just 5 minutes behind schedule.

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We take off on the south doublet, facing east.

The service starts quickly.

The separation curtain is drawn. Well, the curtain that separates the galley from the cabin, not the one that separates business class from economy.

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The stewart comes with his cart. I will have a tea, water ( still water, there is no sparkling water). I will be given a Breton cake and a packet of vine shoots from the Médoc. Remembering the difference so much praised by the airline between the eco and the business class, I dared to ask for some champagne. There is no more than sparkling water, certainly because of the hour of the flight.

I glance at the economy row right behind me. They will have exactly the same service, minus the Medoc vine shoots reserved for business class passengers. I tell myself that I paid 79 euros for Medoc vine shoots!

All drinks are served in cardboard cups. A shame in business class. I don’t want to be cranky, but when I see the difference with domestic flights between Munich and Frankfurt on Lufthansa or even Barcelona and Madrid on Iberia, there is a real gap. Even Croatia Airlines does better on Zagreb-Dubrovnik.

And I’m not even mentioning the service, obsequious, distant and haughty without any attention for the passenger. I’m not even sure the steward looked at me.

The rest of the flight will go smoothly to Bordeaux.

The Crew

What more can I say than what I said above? When you see what Air France can do when you get the right crews and the right routes, you can only be disappointed by the image given by other crews, like here.

It is not their fault that the soft product is bad, but their attitude is. Unless they no longer believe in the product and give up?

In any case I was thinking that in economy on a domestic flight I see less and less the difference between Air France and Easyjet. In business class it’s the same. Oh? There is no business class on Easyjet?

Landing and arrival in Bordeaux

The weather is gray for the approach to Merignac and I’m not on the right side to enjoy the view.

Still a lot of Norwegian immobilized here.

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And for the first time in a long time in Bordeaux we will be parked at the gate and not at a remote stand.

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And here is a very disappointing flight that ends.

Bottom line

I’d like to talk about this paid upgrade to business class here, but my comment would have been the same if I had bought a business ticket from the start, maybe a little sourer though.

What is the promise of flying business class in short or medium haul?

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Access to the lounge05. So I don’t know what the lounge05 is any more than I know the difference between the 2F1 and 2F2 terminals. They speak Chinese to passengers. Apart from that, being platinum, I had access to the lounge even when flying in economy.

– To be able to choose my seat. I have the right to do so as a platinum member.

– Traveling in the front of the cabin? As a platinum I have access to the first rows of the economy class. I just went from row 6 to row 5.

-Additional baggage allowance. No need as I just have a carry-on like most passengers on this flight…and I already have an extra baggage allowance as a platinum.

– Choose my menu. Given the service I have doubts! And where is the champagne? In fact, I had some vine shoots from the Médoc that the economy passengers were not entitled to.

So I paid 79€ for a box of Medoc vine shoots that I can buy for 5€ in the shops. It’s a good thing I didn’t take a 450 euro return ticket at the beginning.

Bertrand Duperrin
Bertrand Duperrinhttp://www.duperrin.com
Compulsive traveler, present in the French #avgeek community since the late 2000s and passionate about (long) travel since his youth, Bertrand Duperrin co-founded Travel Guys with Olivier Delestre in March 2015.
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