Not surprisingly Air France, the flagship carrier of the country, calls CDG its home hub. With a hub model they have plenty of lounges throughout the airport with 6 in CDG airport alone with 1 of those lounges dedicated to La Premiere first class passengers. Not to mention Air France is consistently in our rankings with some of the best food amongst you can get in the sky.

Here is a list of all Air France lounges in CDG as well as Orly Airport.

I have been through CDG plenty of times but not always via Air France, which is usually the best airline to fly to Paris. If you are hoping to visit an Air France lounge you also receive access with status from Sky Team partners.

I currently hold Delta Platinum Status and this grants me access to Air France Lounges, even when flying in economy.

Related: The Best Marriott Hotels In Paris

I was on a short layover in Paris before catching my flight home and decided to stop into the lounge to check it out.

I visited the lounge in Terminal 2E, Hall L, which you should take note of since CDG is notorious for confusing terminal and hall maps.

The lounge is located on the second floor just past duty free and I was immediately welcomed in upon scanning my boarding pass that reflects my Delta status.

I visited during the mid afternoon and was quite surprised to see how empty the lounge is. There is nothing worse then entering a lounge and seeing it so full that it’s not even worth staying in.

This was not the case this time and I had plenty of space to choose where to sit back and relax.

What I like about Air France lounges is how divided each section is with each of them having their own bit of character.

It’s hard to miss the large center dining area that offers booth seating and a great place to have a meal or a drink.

When I visited I also got to witness them taking some content with a bartender mixing up cocktails right in the middle of the lounge section. I guess it really was a slow day.

As you head through the lounge there is a main dining area located all the way on one side with various outposts of snacks and drinks throughout the lounge.

When you approach the kitchen it is divided into three sections with a bar in between.

The first section had some French stapes: croissants and fresh bread. I don’t normally eat a pastry in a lounge but you are almost obligated to get one when in France.

There was also a soup offering that I didn’t end up trying but I did appreciate the sleekness of the dinnerware bowl they were serving it in.

The next dish was a salmon lasagne that I thought was a bit of an odd dish. You typically don’t mix seafood with cheese and I did end up trying some. I would say it wasn’t the worst thing I had but fish and cheese definitely don’t mix well so I would pass on this next time.

In between the food counters was a long bar that had plenty of champagne, wine, and even liquor available for self pour.

There is something nice about a lounge allowing you to serve yourself vs having a full service bar. Especially when lounges are crowded the lines at the bar tend to be some of the worst, as I experienced in the United Club at EWR many times before.

Next it was onto the cold bar that featured a number of salads including beats, coleslaw, couscous, in a build your own type of way. I also appreciated there was a selection of sauces and fried onions to add as toppings.

On this side of the bar there was more bread to select from as well as fresh meats and cheeses.

I was pretty surprised at the number of cold food options given the warm food was limited to soup and lasagna but I couldn’t complain given how comfortable the lounge was.

Next was the dessert bar that had a selection of cakes and tiramisu, as well as packaged yogurts.

While the main kitchen had the most food available what I really liked about the lounge was the smaller outposts of food and drinks throughout.

There was a smaller kitchen on the other side of the lounge that had a full refrigerator of drinks, coffee, as well as a subset of the food offering.

On this side it seemed to be strictly cold food with the same selection of meats and cheeses as well as the same salads that were found in the kitchen. This was the perfect spot for refills especially if you are sitting all the way on the other side of the lounge.

Lastly the lounge was not complete without a small section for kids. This featured a dedicated area with a PS4 and some other games. If you are traveling as a family this is a perfect spot to keep your kids entertained while you chow down on some food and maybe a glass of wine, or two.

Summary & Takeaways

Overall I didn’t have much of an expectation of Air France lounge but given we were in their home base of CDG they did a great job. The biggest factor was just how quiet the lounge was, which made it truly a relaxing place to spend some time before my flight.

If you are passing through CDG and thinking of stopping in the Air France lounge I would say it’s definitely worth it. For the best experience sit in the middle booths where you get a semi private space to relax and enjoy the lounge offering.

The post Review: Air France Lounge at CDG Terminal 2E, Hall L appeared first on Travel Season.

However, the good news for Air France customers is that there are multiple ways to upgrade from a lower class ticket at a fraction of the price.

We’ve found deals in the range of $250 – $500 to upgrade from Economy prior to departure. Compared to the full price ticket that is a steal. If you are flying in Premium Economy the upgrade cost can even be cheaper.

Even though Air France moved to a revenue based model in 2017 we often still find people getting deals after they book.

We will break down how you can go about requesting and upgrade on your next flight.

How To Upgrade To Business Class

Once you have a your reservation ticketed there are a few ways you can apply for an upgrade. The easiest will be online but don’t rule out checking once you arrive at the airport.

Here is how you can go about upgrading:

Upgrade On Air France Website

Air France makes it easy to apply for an upgrade on their website. This is how you can apply:

• Go to the Air France website and open Manage bookings section
• Then, submit your booking reference and last name
• Next, press the search button to view your booking
• Then select a single flight from the list to apply for upgrade
• Next, click upgrade button and pat the charges for upgrading to business class by card or miles

It’s possible you may see a high fee to upgrade, which is due to the revenue based system that is actually just charging you the fair difference. If this happens to you don’t give up and try another way of calling the airline or checking at the airport.

Upgrade By Calling Air France

Another option is to call the airline directly and ask for a price. Air France reservation number is 1 (800) 237-2747. If you are having trouble getting through to them try calling an office in another country, as recommend in our best way to reach an airline agent.

Upgrade At Airport Check In

You can also upgrade when you are checking in at the airport and see if there are any last minute seats available. This is the way we scored our $300 upgrade from Paris to New York on Air France, when originally booked in Premium Economy.

Although this is last minute, if you are not expecting an upgrade then getting one at the airport is one of the most satisfying feelings. Make sure to be polite to your check in agent as they will be more inclined to help you score the better seat.

Cost To Upgrade To Business Class

There are two ways you can pay for an upgrade, either with cash or with miles. Both options are good, especially if you have miles to spare. Here is how you can go about it and how much you can expect to pay.

Upgrade with Cash

We have seen that it costs between $250 and $500 to upgrade to Air France business class. This was always the range for tickets until Air France moved to a revenue based system in 2017.

The possibilities now are much higher with some users seeing over $1,000 just to upgrade. Of course this depends on the flight and how much space is available so we recommend asking to see if you can get lucky for a cheap ticket.

Upgrade with Miles

If you have Air France miles to spare then this is a great time to use them for an upgrade. The ranges are rather large but it’ll save you some money when looking to upgrade.

Here are the miles you can expect to pay if you are flying Economy:

If you are already booked in Premium Economy it becomes cheaper to move to business class. Here are the rates we observed:

In order to actually upgrade your flight with miles here are the steps you’ll need to follow on Air France website

• Head over to the official website of Air France from its search bar. 
• Click on the “Manage Travel” option from the navigation bar at the top of the page.
• You will be asked to enter details like booking or reservation number and last name in the page displayed in front of you and click “Next”. 
• When the booking details are displayed in front of you tap on the required details from the flight section option. 
• Click on “Edit Booking” and choose the seat from the upgraded section of Air France and proceed further. 
• Now when the time of fare charges are displayed that is calculated by the difference between current and previous booking. And to pay the amount you can choose “Pay Using Miles” and the amount will automatically be deducted from the accumulated miles of Air France. 
• The confirmation of the changes will be notified on the email that you entered at the time of booking. 

Summary & Takeaways

Paying to upgrade to business class after you purchase a ticket is often a significantly cheaper alternative than buying a business class ticket outright. Note in recent years Air France has moved to a dynamical pricing model that can sometimes charge the actual fare difference making it not worth the upgrade.

We have still seen many travelers still score deals between $250 – $500 to upgrade to business class so we would say it’s still worth a shot. Keep your travel plans flexible and don’t bank on getting a reasonable upgrade offer but it’s always worth a shot in our opinion.

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