Review of Air France flight from Paris to Beirut in Business

Hello everyone!

Today, I’m preparing a slightly different Flight Report for you. Indeed, today we’re visiting the new Air France La Première suites at CDG in Terminal 2E, even though we are flying in Business class.

On March 9th, we make a quick call to the La Première service to book the "Parcours + La Première Lounge Suite" option. The interaction is efficient, quick, and courteous. Payment is made directly over the phone, and 15 minutes later we receive our confirmation. Since our flight is at 9 AM, we booked the suite for 5:30 AM (earliest time available), with a planned arrival at the La Première vestibule at 5 AM (even though nothing opens before 5:30, which is a very positive point in terms of the ground service’s flexibility).

What’s interesting is that Air France offers the Suite option for Business Class passengers without requiring them to have flown in La Première within the past 12 months.

This is different from the "Ground Experience" option, which gives access to everything except the suites. That option is only available to Business Class passengers who have taken at least one trip in the La Première cabin within the past twelve months. 

"Parcours + La Première Lounge Suite" Option | €1,790 per passenger

For customers who have booked a Business Class ticket on a long-haul flight to destinations not served by Air France’s La Première cabins or any other First Class product on other airlines.

No other conditions apply—with this option, you get full access to the entire La Première service at CDG, including the private suites.

D-Day

To make the most of our experience, we leave our hotel at 4:15 AM. After a thirty-minute drive, we arrive at Terminal 2E, at the entrance to the vestibule at Gate 17d, dedicated to the "La Première" experience.

We were about fifteen minutes early, and an agent saw us in front of the door and asked if the team was aware of our arrival. We replied that we were early and that no, it wasn't an oversight on the staff’s part really, we were just earlier that what we agreed upon.

The agent informs us that he will notify the team so we can wait inside. The door opens, and we find ourselves in the waiting lounge, which also serves as the arrivals lounge. A wonderful welcome by the Air France team—our luggage is taken care of, and we’re invited to wait until 5:30 AM for the staff to be fully operational. Here are a few photos of the waiting room, which could easily pass as a Business Class lounge on its own.

Our guide for the day introduces herself and lets us know that she will come back in about fifteen minutes, and that in the meantime, we can transition to our suite. 

At this hour, the buffet is just being set up and the lounge is still empty—here are a few photos to capture the moment.

The Suite

With the suite option, we have access to two separate suites—one at check-in and the other inside the "La Première" lounge. We spend about ten minutes having a coffee and some water while waiting for our airport journey to begin.

Let's Go

Around 5:35 AM, our La Premiere guides comes to get us for the transfer to the suite. She takes care of my mother’s luggage, and we take the elevator down to our car for the ride through the airport.

The conversation with our AF guide is very pleasant, and I mention that I’m an aviation enthusiast. She then offers to take a slightly longer route around the runways so I can get a closer look at the wide-body aircraft. Brilliant, this is where the ground service really marks itself apart from the Business class experience.

And here we are at the doors of the lounge—but first, the dedicated La Première security check, if you please.

After a thorough tour of the lounge, we arrive at the private suite area, which honestly feels like a smaller version of a hotel check-in desk.

Montmartre

Our suite is the "Montmartre," and the manager joins us to give us a tour of the suite and its available services. After a short walk through the inner parts of the lounge, we arrive at our suite around 6:15 AM. The suite has three access points, which explains the "01" on the access card. The booklet includes a Wi-Fi code that is unique to the suite, and another one for the main lounge—so two separate networks in total to ensure good coverage, including the outdoor terrace. The suite is reserved for three hours.

Kind of brilliant to have your own private network instead of having to use VPN on a public network, different safety metric for sure!

The Lounge

The Bedroom

The Lavatory

Sisley products, accessories, a Dyson hairdryer, I’ll let the photos speak for themselves!

The Breakfast

We receive our menus along with our passports and boarding passes in a "La Première" paper sleeve.

And here is the menu along with the tea box.

And a varied view of all the items at our disposal:

Orders are placed via the phone, like true room service—what can I say, it’s magnificent!

The day is breaking, and here are a few photos of the outdoor terrace:

Here are a few photos of the lounge as well as the elevator to Hall K. The elevator is locked at all times and only the La Première staff can open it for you. With the suites, you can leave all your luggage behind and go shopping with nothing but your card and boarding pass, that in itself is amazing.

Our guide hears us as we return from duty free so she can drive us to the plane—the 3 hours in the suite are up (from 5:30 to 8:30), and we’re now on our way to our flight, which departs at 9:00.

We arrive at the foot of the plane, take a few commemorative photos, and then take the elevator to access the jet bridge directly.

Our guide settles us into the plane, stays with us for about ten minutes, and then bids us farewell. Four hours flew by like two drops of water—but what an incredible experience.

We’re getting ready for takeoff, and then—the news no one likes to hear (except us in that context): the plane has a technical issue, and we need to disembark and change aircraft, with the new departure scheduled for noon. I won’t lie—I was actually quite happy at the idea of returning to the La Première lounge and trying out the lunch! It's worth noting that access to the La Première lounge doesn’t require the usual verification like the Business lounge. They remember you, and access is very exclusive. So we figured all we had to do was take the elevator from Hall K back to the lounge and that would be it.

As we are exiting the plane, we’re positively stunned to see our guide waiting for us again, ready to take us back to the lounge and make sure we stay as relaxed as possible. Sheer excellence—when you fly La Première, you don’t have to worry about a thing. As long as your guide hasn’t come to take you to the aircraft, you’re free to enjoy your time, and with such an unpredictable flight, we let her handle everything—she’ll come get us when the time is right. And that is basically the best part of this whole thing, you don't keep track of flights, boarding, etc…all you have to do is enjoy.

The Lunch

The lunch menu can actually be ordered as early as 6 AM—something I would’ve loved to know this morning! Oh well, breakfast first, and now lunch! Before leaving us, our guide suggests the truffle and ham coquillettes—decision made!

Second Boarding

At 11:40 AM, our guide comes to get us from the lounge. We leave a little note in the lounge’s guestbook to share our experience, and off we go for the transfer. This time, the plane is parked quite far from the terminal, so it’s a bus transfer from the gate for everyone. Honestly, having this level of service on such a flight feels incredibly lucky, no bus for us!

And here we are, comfortably settled in—for good this time. Our guide stayed with us for about ten minutes to make sure everything was in order, and that marked the end of this extraordinary adventure.

The Flight

Sur un A330, la Business est en 2-2-2, et venant du parcours La Premiere, c'est un peu dommage, surtout que les A350 et 777 sont opérationnels sur cette ligne fréquemment.

The Cabin

Champagne To Kick-Start

The Breakfast (hot dishes)

Window View

Plane Spotting with MEA Retro Livery

And here we are!

Border control and baggage claim completed in a record 15 minutes—perfect. A bit of renovation is probably due at this point, but it’s still efficient. 

Small Tidbit

I had forgotten my lens' hood at the first suite in the vestibule, I only realized this when I had boarded the first time around, so when we deplaned, I mentioned to the Lounge staff where I had forgotten it and just as we were taking the car to board a second time, an AF agent came by car to give us the hood. Another excellent point here.