French Bee Airline Review: I Flew From Paris Orly To Miami

I don’t normally write airline reviews. But I do have some things to say about this French Bee airline review, especially after reading some of the reviews online. As a traveller myself, I often review and research all the modes of transportation before I actually book them. 

Of course, I aim to travel on a budget and try to pay less for airfare tickets when possible. The French Bee is advertised as a low-cost, long-haul flight over the Atlantic Ocean, uniting Europe to the US. So, how was the flight from Paris to Miami with French Bee Airlines? Was it what it was advertised to be? Was it indeed cheap? Was it safe? 

Let’s answer all these questions and more in this French Bee airline review blog. 

French Bee booking process

I had never heard of the French Bee airline before researching cheap flights from Europe to the US. 

As always, I was checking Kiwi (flight search platform) to give me the best possible itineraries for my upcoming trip from Europe to Miami. 

At this point, I would have chosen any departure point from Europe because it’s much easier to find cheap flights there. If you don’t know already, I’m a professional traveller and have been to all European countries. Here’s how to plan a European trip (including all my best tips). 

After careful consideration, I realized that there are only a few huge travel hubs in Europe (London, Madrid, Lisbon, and Paris) that would take me on a budget to Miami. And that’s when I discover French Bee airline, with Paris Orly its base airport. 

First of all, the prices seemed too good to be true. So I checked their website which advertises flights to the US starting from 273 EUR ($296). So I proceed to book on their website. Turns out the price was the same for almost all days. Of course, there are some months and days more in demand and for those dates, the prices were higher. 

But for me, it didn’t matter what day I chose (I was lucky to be able to be flexible with my days), the price was always the same for most days. You should know that prices for most airline tickets are dynamic. And you should always book in an incognito window, after deleting cookies in your browser. 

Extras during the booking process

During the booking process, I was asked for a lot of extras:

• Type of ticket (basic, smart, premium) – it’s mostly about the luggage you have
• Preferential seat (if not chosen, you will get a random seat at check-in)
• Meal 
• Snack

I almost always travel with a carry-on and don’t need checked luggage. So I chose the SMART ticket, which includes a carry-on (aside from the personal item, which is my laptop backpack). 

The Smart ticket also includes a meal. I don’t usually buy food on a plane, but the trip from Paris to Miami is 9 hours and 50 minutes! You can either get food in your backpack (you can bring sandwiches from back home or buy them from the airport before you board). But I wanted to make sure I would not get hungry. 

The downside of the meal on the French Bee flights is that you are not given the option to choose your meal type. 

The price of the SMART ticket was 338 EUR ($367), compared to the original price ticket of 273 EUR ($296). However, I don’t see how you can travel without a carry-on. 

I also picked my seats during the booking process, which also cost extra. But for a flight this long, I thought this extra splurge was necessary. 

TIP: I booked the 2 separate Emergency seats in the back of the plane (36H and 36K) for an extra 40 EUR each. This is an Emergency seat, and not everyone can sit here (check the airline’s regulations). 

This flight was part of my great trip to Latin America, so I had no idea how long I would be away. 

After I paid for the tickets, I got them in my email. 

Check-in and boarding 

The French bee systems are more traditional. Everyone who is over 30 years old should remember how plane tickets were some years ago before mobile apps were invented. 

They don’t have a mobile app, and I am guessing that’s how they are able to keep their prices so low. 

I didn’t get nearly as many emails concerning my flights as other, more established airlines would send. 

I got almost nothing as if they’d expect me to just show up. 

Check-in

I did my own research about the check-in process because, on some flights (with different airlines), it’s not possible to check in online. The issue here is that the airline must check each passenger’s visa for entering the US. 

Most of the EU now has the ESTA system in place, but there are still some countries that require the traditional visa from the US embassy. I am from one of those countries (Romania). 

The French Bee website states that checkins for the US flights need to be done at the airport. They also recommend getting there at least four hours before your flight to the US. So I arranged to do just that. 

However, 24 hours before my flight, I got an email from French Bee asking to do my check-in online. Luckily, I checked my email just as I was going to bed the night before the flight. And I did my check-in online. I got the boarding passes as PDFs sent to my email. I saved them on my phone, and I showed them on my phone at the airport. 

However, after I got my boarding passes, I was still required to be checked by a staff of French Bee, just in front of the check-in counter at the Paris Oly airport. 

Remember that there’s a different timeline than a normal continental flight. French Bee requires travellers to get to the airport 4 hours before the flight. Note that the check-in closes 90 minutes (1 hour and 30 minutes) before the flight. So, if you arrive later than 90 minutes before your flight, you will be denied boarding. 

Since I was there 4 hours before,  went to to the checkin counter, the staff checked my passport for the visa and asked a couple of question, such a “why are you travelling to the US?” and “for how many days will you be there?”. 

Then they put a sticker on the back cover of the passport and told me to proceed to security. It was all super fast, since we were the first, it wasn’t even a queue yet. 

Boarding the flight

After passing through the security at the Paris Orly airport, I wandered around the airport a bit and then proceeded to my gate to relax for 2 hours. Arriving early does have its perks – you get to choose where you want to sit next to your gate. 

If you’re bored, there are playgrounds and PS5 areas at the terminal of the Paris Orly airport. There are also some restaurants in the main area near the duty-free area and small cafes near the gates. If you don’t have a meal included with your ticket, you can get some sandwiches from here to get on the plane. 

When it was time to board the plane, the staff announced the sequence (based on your seat). However, a lot of people started queuing up. 

The French Bee staff set up a small security station next to the boarding counters. I reckon that about 40% of all passengers were taken aside for an extra security control, when they were scanning the boarding pass. The extra security search consisted of a search of your carry-on luggage, and a personal body search. 

To be honest, I was expecting this since all flights to the US require extra security. This is imposed by the US government, and each airline imposes it differently.

During my first trip ever to the US, I got the dreaded “SSSS” mark on my boarding pass. I was carefully and thoroughly checked in Frankfurt as if I was caught and ready to invade the country. I later found that that was a random mark I was assigned at check-in, and it was purely bad luck. 

I was one of the last people to scan my boarding pass, and luckily, I wasn’t stopped by the extra security filter. 

I then boarded the plane, found my seat and placed all my personal stuff in the overhead compartment. This is a requirement for takeoff and landing for those who are seated in the emergency seats. 

Aircraft and seating

We boarded an Airbus A350-900. 

As I already mentioned, I specifically chose the emergency seats in the back of the plane. I chose the 36 seat, H and K. Here is a map of the plane from SeatGuru, where I marked the exact seat I chose for this French Bee flight from Paris Orly to Miami International Airport. 

I know that the seats are numbered as 36 H and 36 J, but on my boarding pass and in the actual plane, the seats are 36H and 36K. But their position is the same, as shown in this seat map. 

Source: SeatGuru

About the emergency seats in French Bee from the back of the plane: 

• I booked these specific seats because it’s only 2 seats together (the rest are 3 seat rows on the side and 4 seats in the middle). And you get a lot of leg space. 
• There’s also about 1 square meter of free space in front of you, so you can get up and stretch whenever you want. 
• The downside is that the seat is a bit narrower than other standard seats. 
• It’s also just behind the toilets, and people are always there in and out of the toilets. But it didn’t smell good, and it was okay with me. 
• You don’t get a normal window for these seats. If you turn over to your right, you can see the window for the row behind you. There’s a small window on the emergency door, but you have to get out of your seat and stand to see out that small window.

Takeoff

After boarding was complete, we all got a small kit with headphones, a face mask, and a small wet wipe for our hands.

Note that the kit also includes a small ticket that states you are entitled to a meal. Keep that to give it to the staff later, when the meal is served. 

French Bee onboard meal

About 1 hour after takeoff, the stewards began serving the main meal. That was because it was lunchtime. This will probably depend on your particular flight. 

I was asked to hand them that small meal voucher from the welcome kit. 

I was confused when booking the ticket since nothing was mentioned about the meal, but I just thought it would be asked after I had bought the ticket. 

It was only later that I researched it on their website to discover that French Bee airline has a pre-set menu for all its flights, which changes monthly, and it’s standard for each of its flights. For instance, the flight from Orly to Miami had the same menu for the entire month of February, and then it would change the menu. 

So if you’re on a restrictive diet or a vegetarian like I am, there’s no way to control what the meal will be. 

Spoiler alert: my meal had chicken in it, but I was able to eat the rest (side, dessert, salad). 

Just a couple of hours before lading, we were offered snacks.

Since I had prepurchased a snack menu, they gave me a snack, a small bottle of juice and a hot drink. I could choose between different options, which might depend on the flight. 

For those who had not bought a snack before boarding, they could buy any of the items available. 

French Bee In-flight entertainment

The selection for the in-flight entertainment wasn’t huge but included good movies (I’m a sucker for well-rated movies, and this selection was good). However, I had already seen most of these, even those that were recently launched. 

They also offer some music, TV series, games and four different cameras on the plane. My favourite camera was the one of the tail, which showed the entire plane gliding through the air. 

On-board Wi-Fi

Twn hours is a long time, especially if it’s a day flight and you aren’t tired. 

I personally can’t sleep well on planes, and I avoid it if I can. So I decided to test the on-board Wi-Fi service from French Bee, thinking I could get some work done. 

At the time (February 2024), French Bee offered four distinct packages for on-board Wi-Fi: 

• Hello pack, $4 for 25MB
• Social Pack, $9 for 50MB
• Greek Pack, $17 for 120MB
• Addicted pack, $29 for 250MB

I picked the addicted pack, thinking it would allow me to load some web pages on my laptop. It had the greatest value for money, and it was advertised as the fastest WiFi available. 

It’s easy to connect, and you get all the instructions on your screen. You will be guided on how to create an account, which is needed to keep track of your data consumption. You can also use the same account to switch from your laptop to your phone, but only one device at a time can be used. 

After putting in my card details (only works with credit or debit card, not prepaid cards like Revolut), I was redirected on a page that showed me in real-time my wifi data consumption. Make sure to put your device in a low-data mode so that it doesn’t load useless apps in the background. 

To my surprise, most web pages weren’t loading on my laptop. I mainly need Google Drive, Google Docs, and news web pages to load, but nothing will load. 

Eventually, a document would load, but it worked intermittently. 

After wasting about 30 minutes and 50 MB and nothing loaded on my laptop, I quit. 

I used the rest of my data on my phone to scroll on Instagram. Loading photos on Instagram stories was almost working, but loading videos was a challenge. 

At the time, 18 other passengers were using the WiFi.

This is an information stated on the page where you will see your data consumption. I then watched two movies (maybe three, I can’t remember), and abandoned all internet hope. By the time we landed, I still had at least 70MB left out of my package. 

The conclusion is that I don’t recommend buying the most expensive WIFI package on the French Bee flight, as it isn’t as fast as advertised. No work can be done. 

However, it worked great to send WhatsApp messages. So if you only need to comunicaute, get one of the cheaper packages. 

French Bee staff

The staff was generally very friendly and welcoming, always smiling and ready to help. They do their job well, most of them are young and joyful. I had no issues with the staff. 

Arrival and disembarkation

My French Bee flight arrived only 25 minutes late. While there are some differences in total flight time and arrival, the flights seem to be pretty much on schedule. 

I’m not a pilot, but I assume some of these time differences are caused by weather conditions. 

Here is my exact flight. This is flight history data from FlightAware. 

Source: FlightAware

The disembarkation was rather fast, given that the plane was full and there were more than 350 people on that French Bee flight to Miami. 

Note on the Miami International Airport

After you get off the plane, you will have to walk a rather long corridor to get to the immigration office. If you need to use the bathroom, I recommend that you use any of the bathrooms you first see after you get off the plane. 

The customs at Miami International Airport are a bad joke for foreigners, and it seems like you lose all human rights the moment you step off that plane. Of course, this has nothing to do with the company you use to fly to the US and everything to do with the US immigration office. 

I waited for two hours and 30 minutes, standing in a slow-moving queue to pass through customs. There were four international flights arriving at the same time and only 5 customs agents. 

Each individual had to be personally questioned by an officer, so each interview could take up to 5 minutes, depending on each individual. 

Once you get to the queue, there’s no way to get to the bathroom or get water. It felt like we were being treated like cattle. 

But that’s a small price to pay to enter the land of the free, right?

After being checked by the customs officer, you can proceed to the baggage claim hall, and then you can exit the airport. 

French Bee Airline review: Pros and cons 

Pros

• Low-cost airline, this is the lowest price to travel between the US and Europe
• Simple booking process. No need to provide any extra details, and no questions about the US Visa at the booking time
• Smooth and fast airport security check. Less stressful compared to other airlines (Lufthansa, etc.)
• Didn’t check the dimensions or weight of my carry-on luggage. But I respected the airline’s recommendations, and it was clear that my carry-on would fit in the overhead compartment. 
• The boarding process was fast. 
• Friendly and helpful staff. As long as you respect all the indications provided before and during the flight, you shouldn’t have any issues. 
• The flight is on time. Most of the time, there are almost no delays with this flight. 
• The plane is new and very comfortable. 
• The staff cleaned the bathrooms every couple of hours. 
• The takeoff and landing were super smooth. The pilots did a great job. 
• The in-flight entertainment system had a great selection of movies. It wasn’t a huge selection, but it was a good one, with recently released movies and popular TV shows. 

Cons

• The basic ticket doesn’t include carry-on. It only includes a personal item that must fit under the seat in front of you. 
• Seats must be purchased separately. I opted for the emergency seats to have extra room, and those were the most expensive, at around 40 EUR ($44). If no seat is chosen, you will be assigned a random seat at check-in. 
• Must be early at the airport. The check-in for the flight to the US closes for all passengers (with or without checked luggage) 90 minutes before the flight. This is very important. 
• No meals are provided with the basic ticket. However, you are free to bring your own food on the plane or purchase food or drinks during the flight. 
• No alcohol was sold on my flight. After boarding, they announced that they would not sell alcohol and that it was prohibited to drink any alcohol that you may have brought with you onboard. 
• The paid onboard WiFi isn’t great. It can be used for WhatsApp and sending messages on other apps, but social media loads slowly, and webpages on laptops would barely load. It’s not really worth it. 
• Meal plans are fixed and you can’t change it. If you purchase a ticket with a meal, you can’t choose the type of meal. Most likely, the onboard meal will content meat, which is an issue for vegetarians and other passengers that do not eat meat. Also, the meals do not have any certifications (Koser, Vegan, etc). 
• Onboard purchases can be made only with credit or debit cards. No prepaid card worked for me (Revolut or Wise). 

French Bee Airline review: final verdict

I recommend flying with French Bee. 

I was a bit worried after buying my ticket because the internet is full of bad reviews of their experience with French Bee. 

Even though I don’t really focus on airline reviews on my blog, I decided to write this detailed review about Fench Bee because you might also be confused and wondering if you should book a French Bee flight, considering all the negative reviews they’ve been getting online. 

The truth is that all the negative reviews you read online are mostly from people who do not read all the instructions carefully and don’t follow their guidelines. Some people are mad at French Bee because they were refused boarding after arriving at the airport jsut one hour before their flight to the US. 

However, the airline clearly states that you have to be there at least 1 hour and a half before the flight. So it isn’t their fault you didn’t follow the guidelines. International flights, especially intercontinental flights between Europe and the US, must follow strict guidelines, and all passengers must obey those guidelines. 

As for the price, French Bee is a low-cost airlines and they are cutting costs by eliminating all the unnecessary things from the costs of your ticket.

That means they don’t include checked luggage, meals or snacks in your basic ticket. Most other airlines add them to their normal ticket, but that increases the starting point of your ticket. 

To me, French Bee is truly low-cost, cutting down on services, as most European low-cost airlines already do, but they’re applying it to a very long flight to the US. By the way, I have written all my best tips for planning a trip to Europe on a budget here.

But the overall experience was excellent. As someone who has been on hundreds of flights all over the world, I do recommend that you book your low-cost flight between Europe and the US with French Bee. 

Addition tips for booking a flight with French Bee airline

To get the best prices, check out their website and avoid booking using other third-party platforms or flight aggregators. 

It always helps to be flexible with your flight date, as some days can be more expensive due to an increase in demand. For instance, July is a holiday month all over Europe, and prices can skyrocket during that time. 

I recommend booking your tickets at least one month in advance. In general, I book my long-haul flights one to two months in advance. 

To save on costs, consider travelling only with a carry-on. I know this is more challenging, and for some, it’s not an option, but I always travel like this, even for my super long trips (three-month trips or longer). It’s challenging, but it’s cheaper and easier for you to travel if you have to move from one place to another. 

Make sure you follow all the airliner guidelines regarding check-in, time to arrive at the airport, carry-on dimensions, contents and weight.