Hey {{first name | reader}},
Happy Friday! Coffee's ready, the week's almost done. Today's lineup: a spicy Air France move in business class, a perfect weekend Qsuite watch, and sad devaluation news.
Air France's new "Business Suite" fee – would you pay €200?
Weekend watch: Dan's new Qsuite video (aka why this is still the one to beat)
British Airways quietly devalues Avios redemptions (at least they're honest)
Air France's new "Business Suite" fee – would you pay €200?
Air France is quietly turning the best business class seats on the plane into a mini upsell machine - and honestly, I kind of get it.
On their newest long-haul cabins (A350-900 and reconfigured 777-300ER), the front row of business is branded as "Business Suite". These are the bulkhead seats with extra space where the footwell becomes a full ottoman instead of a narrow cubby. Think more like a mini throne than a regular seat.
Air France Business Suite bulkhead seat
What's changing:
Air France has now introduced new rules and paid fees for picking these front-row seats:
Only Flying Blue Ultimate members can pre-select these seats for free
Other elites and regular passengers now need to pay a seat selection fee to lock them in
The surcharge on long-haul flights is being reported at around €200+ per direction, depending on the route
These rules don't apply on routes where Air France already charges for long-haul business seat selection, like to the USA
Why the front row is genuinely better:
Unlike some airlines that just slap a "preferred" tag on a totally normal seat, Air France's front row is actually objectively better:
You get way more personal space thanks to the bulkhead
The ottoman is wider and deeper, so sleeping on your side feels more like a small couch than a coffin
The whole seat feels more open and less constrained – closer to a "business-plus" product than just row 1
Personally? On a long overnight flight, I would pay around €200 for one of these seats if I was already committing to business class. It's not cheap, but if you're tall, value proper sleep, or just love space, it can make a big difference – and it's arguably a more meaningful upgrade than some airlines manage with that same front-row real estate.
Meanwhile in the pointy end: La Première expands
On the ultra-luxury side, Air France is also expanding its first class (La Première) network in 2025. On top of existing routes like New York, LA, Miami, San Francisco, Washington, São Paulo, Singapore and Tokyo, they're adding first class service to:
Atlanta (ATL)
Boston (BOS)
Houston (IAH)
Tel Aviv (TLV)
This is all part of Air France's push to make La Première more visible and more bookable ahead of the next-gen first class cabin they're working on. For those of you who chase truly over-the-top experiences, this opens up more gateways from North America and the Middle East where you can actually find and book Air France first.
Air France new La Première suites
Air France La Première is one of the world's most expensive products, and it's almost impossible to book with miles unless you have top status. Having said that, it's nice to see an airline keep promoting and increasing first class footprint, against reducing it like a lot of airlines are doing nowadays.
Weekend watch: Dan's new Qsuite video (aka why this is still the one to beat)
If you need something aviation-nerdy to watch this weekend, Dan dropped a new deep-dive on Qatar Airways Qsuite, flying Singapore → Doha → Paris and basically re-answering the question: "Is this still the best business class in the world in 2025?"
A few fun angles from the video:
He flies as a group of three and uses one of the famous Qsuite quads – four suites with the walls down so you can eat, chat, and hang out together. If you're traveling as a group, this is still one of the coolest configurations in the sky.
He compares forward-facing vs rear-facing seats, window vs center, and explains which rows he'd actually pick now after dozens of flights.
There's a look at updated bedding and turndown, the fake candle on the table, their excellent Arabic meze (which I loooove) and more food, and the soft product that keeps Qsuite in the conversation year after year.
What I like about this video is that it's not just "Qsuite is amazing" hype – it's also honest about the ifs and maybes:
You don't always know if you'll get Qsuite vs one of Qatar's other (less sexy) business cabins
Bedding and small details can vary a bit by route
Consistency is still Qatar's biggest weakness, even if the best-case product is incredible
From our side, this is exactly the kind of cabin we try to engineer trips around when it makes sense – using flexible routing, partner programs, and smart award searches to get you into Qsuite territory without paying sticker price. When it all lines up (right route, right plane, right fare/award), it's still one of the most satisfying "I can't believe I'm actually here" business class experiences you can book.
Perfect background viewing this weekend if you're dreaming up 2026 trips and want inspiration for where to aim your points and cash.
British Airways quietly devalues Avios redemptions (at least they're honest)
Less fun news from the UK: British Airways is increasing the cost of Avios redemptions on BA metal.
From 15 December 2025, BA's "Club" loyalty program will:
Increase the Avios required for reward flights
Increase the cash component (surcharges) on those tickets
BA hasn't published a full chart, but the examples they do show suggest roughly:
Around 10% more Avios on average
In some cases, even bigger jumps in the cash part
The official explanation: Higher APD (UK departure tax), third-party charges, inflation, etc.
BA’s Club Suites
Is this the end of the world? Probably not. As devaluations go, this one looks mild compared to some others. But BA's award pricing was already not exactly "sweet spot central," so making it 10%+ worse doesn't help.
Still, there are two practical takeaways:
If you've been planning a BA Avios redemption on BA metal, book before 15 December if you can. Anything ticketed before the change should stay at the current price.
Long term, it makes partner redemptions with Avios look even more attractive:
Iberia for long-haul business (lower surcharges)
Qatar Privilege Club / Avios for Qsuite and other routes
JAL, Qatar, etc. on distance-based charts in some partner programs
We already lean heavily towards using Avios on partners rather than BA long-haul with huge surcharges, and this change just reinforces that bias.
That's it for this week. Enjoy the weekend, and I'll see you Monday with more deals, routes, and strategies.
Catch you in the clouds,
Tomi