Air France
 

Does anyone know if Air France's Premiere Voyageur classe from NYC to CDG is worth the extra cost? Is it accurately better than Coach and less than Business? I am coming from a couple of times zones west and want to be able to sleep comfortably - possible?

Sigh...you can go to airlinequality.com and get a lot more opinions there. How good those are is anyone's guess but those folks don't seem to be any more peculiar than some of us do in terms of frames of reference.

BTW, have you TRIED using Melatonin? It works wonders even for someone like me who otherwise simply CANNOT sleep sitting up...until i take 10 mgm of the stuff and then BAM! it's next morning.

I have taken premium economy class on Eva Air and Vietnam Airlines, but my experience with it stops there. The seats were the same as economy, spread out just a bit more and with better service.

It is ultimately a personal preference thing, but the seats get generally positive reviews. Note that these are an entirely different seat, not just an economy seat with more legroom as with some other airlines.

Thanks Dukey for the direction to airlinequality.com. At least I have a better idea of the tilt of the seat and yes, I tried Melatonin once and it was a flop for me.

We had an opportunity to try out those seats once. Personally, I wouldn't pay the extra, and not just because I have better uses for the "extra". It is, often, however, much easier to get some sleep in an area of the plane (including the upper deck) where you're less likely to have screaming babies, folks wandering all about grabbing the seat backs as they go, or an animated group of young people.

To be clear, the 747 dies not have PV, Nor does th A380. So you don't have the choice between PV and a quiet economy section. My suspicion is that PV will replace those quiet sections, if and when it is rolled out on the 2-deck planes.

You would think there would be less screaming babies...I was in Business (Affaires) class on our flight home in December...loaded with kids and babies!! The seating was great and the access to the Air France lounge and Access One passport control and security lines were a plus...would you get that with the ticket you are considering?

Melatonin does not work for me at all!

denisea--No, I don't think this is anything more than a deeper tilt to the seat. I took Business class last time I traveled over the Pond when it was much cheaper and it is so difficult to book coach once one has done Business. I appreciate the comments and my next step is to call Air France and ask them to describe Premiere Voyageur.

PV is more than a deeper tilt to the seat. It is wider, has a fixed back, footrests, and is in a 2-4-2 arrangement on the 777, as opposed to 3-4-3. In terms of space, this is basically like US domestic first class vs coach. If you google Air France premium voyageur, you'll find lots of photos and some videos.