Review: Air Mauritius A350 Business Class | Mauritius MRU – Paris CDG

Booking a one-way ticket between Mauritius (MRU) and Paris (CDG) costs 35,000 Aeroplan Points in economy class and 60,000 Aeroplan Points in business class (Atlantic Zone pricing):

60,000 points in business class on Air Mauritius for an almost 11-hour flight is one of Aeroplan’s sweet-spots from Europe.

We had already experienced this on our outbound flight from Geneva to Mauritius.

On this flight, booking more than six seats in economy or business class was possible. That’s what we did, travelling as a family (us, our children and their two grandmothers).

Check out our tutorial at the end of this article on how to earn Aeroplan points, whether you’re reading this from Canada, the U.S. or anywhere else in the world.

After two weeks in Mauritius, we arrived at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (MRU) to catch our flight to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) with Air Mauritius.

When you travel business class with Air Mauritius, you have access to a reserved check-in area and a priority lane for security control and customs clearance.

You also have access to The Amédée Maingard Lounge.

If you don’t travel business class with Air Mauritius, you can access this lounge with the right credit card (offering DragonPass or LoungeKey) or Priority Pass access.

Here are a few photos:

For our Canadian readers, this one is accessible to Priority Pass members (via the Platinum Card^® or the Scotiabank Platinum American Express^® Card) or DragonPass (available with many Visa and Mastercard such as the CIBC Aventura^® Visa Infinite* Card, Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card or BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard).

For our French readers, you can use the Priority Pass subscription coming with your American Express Platinum Card.

We boarded our flight to Paris almost two hours behind schedule at Gate 19 in a downpour of water.

This aircraft is made up of two cabins:

• Business
• Economy

Air Mauritius’ A350 Business Class comprises a single cabin with 28 Stelia Solsysts III seats.

This cabin has 7 rows of 4 seats positioned 1-2-1 (28 seats in total). See Aerolopa for a detailed layout.

With this type of 1-2-1 configuration, all seats can access the aisle.

Here’s a general view of the honeymoon seats we chose for our children, who wanted to spend the day flight together (unlike the outbound flight):

If you’re travelling as a couple, we recommend these seats, which are close together. Across the cabin, there are 4 pairs of seats like these. These are seats E and F in rows 1, 3, 5 and 7.

Here’s a general view of the other central seats (separated from each other):

And finally, several views of the window seats:

The best window seats are A and J in rows 2, 4 and 6. These are close to the windows and, therefore, isolated from the aisle.

Jean-Maximilien and I were on either side of the cabin (he on 4A and I on 4J). He or I may have taken the following photos, which explain the left/right differences.

The Stelia Solsyts III seat is comfortable, with a standard width of 20 inches (compared with 19.5 inches for the A330neo).

The 15.4-inch screen is touch-sensitive and High Definition (HD).

The entertainment system is of good quality, with a good catalogue of recent films (including many French ones). There’s plenty of choice for children, too.

You can control the entertainment system with a touch-sensitive remote control. This remote control is located above the electric seat controls.

The seat is adjustable in all directions and of course reclines to 180 degrees in the bed position, measuring 76 inches (1.93 m).

For an 11-hour daytime flight to Paris, this is an excellent product. And I found it slightly more comfortable than the A330neo.

The shelf folds down against the seat in front of you to give you access to the aisle. It also folds in half (unlike the A330neo).

A further surface is also available at each seat, with an excellent storage space for headphones. You also have your own reading light. This is where you’ll find an electrical outlet to plug your accessories into.

Underneath is a small storage space for documents.

As the A350 cabin is wider than the A330neo cabin, there is a gap with the aircraft wall, giving additional space.

Wi-Fi service is available (see details on this Air Mauritius page).

When boarding, the Air Mauritius flight attendant offers cold drinks, including Champagne Duval-Leroy and tropical punch (made from sugarcane alcohol and natural ingredients).

Headphones are available at your seat, but unfortunately without the noise-cancellation option.

The navy blue amenity kit is supplied by Porsche Design. It’s the perfect complement to the turquoise kit we received on the outward journey!

This one is complete and of good quality to keep it.

Due to the aircraft’s late arrival, we took off from Mauritius Airport (MRU) almost two hours late.

Shortly after takeoff, the meal service began with breakfast. Here’s the menu:

After a 3-hour nap, the main service begins with an aperitif of nuts and raisins:

For the main course, here are the choices:

• Roasted free-range chicken fillet with Bois Chéri tea pesto jus, almond and spring onion rice, ratatouille minute
• Pan-fried prawns on a coconut velouté infused with vanilla and turmeric, méli-mélo of patole, breadfruit and pâtisson
• Colored quinoa with giraumon and parmesan risotto, broccoli cream and carrot pickles with cumin

Finally, for dessert, a square guava entremet (my daughter came to eat hers with me)!

Finally, 1 hour before landing at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, a sandwich and mignardises are served with coffee.

The aircraft will finally land at CDG during the day, 1h30 behind schedule.

Overall, we had an excellent 11-hour daytime flight on board this Air Mauritius A350.

This configuration is ideal whether you’re travelling solo or as a couple and is on a par with what is offered by Air France, Emirates, Swiss or Lufthansa.

And we preferred it to the A330neo on these points:

• larger windows (more natural light into the cabin)
• the cabin seemed quieter
• the seats are slightly wider and more comfortable

The easiest way to earn Aeroplan Points is to apply for one of these Aeroplan credit cards. Not only will you earn Aeroplan Points as a welcome bonus, but you will also earn Aeroplan Points on all purchases charged to your Aeroplan credit card.

Aeroplan’s most popular credit card is the TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Infinite* Card, whose current welcome offer is as follows:

You can also earn Aeroplan Points through the American Express Membership Rewards program. You can transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan Points at a 1:1 ratio. So 10,000 Membership Rewards points = 10,000 Aeroplan points. Many Membership Rewards credit cards are available in Canada.

In my opinion, one of the best American Express Membership Rewards credit cards is the American Express Cobalt^® Card. With this credit card, you get 5 points per dollar for grocery purchases, convenience stores and spending at restaurants and bars. Also, consider the gift card trick where you can get 5 Points per dollar for many stores like Amazon, SAQ, Ikea, Netflix, etc.

Here is the welcome offer currently available for this card:

If you are not fortunate enough to be able to earn Aeroplan Points via a credit card or partner points program, there are two other ways to earn Aeroplan Points:

• By transferring Marriott Bonvoy points into Aeroplan points: 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points = 25,000 Aeroplan points
• By purchasing Aeroplan points (buy during promotional periods)

Buying Aeroplan points can make sense. In many cases, the cost of this purchase will be equivalent to what you would have paid for an economy flight. Except that you can travel in business or first class!