ElleD9

Hello,

We're visiting France in late August/September and considering La Compagnie flights between Newark and either Orly or Nice. On-line reviews from non Fodors sites are all over the map. On Fodors I could only find La Compagnie mentioned in a trip report from fluffnfold from August 2017. If anyone has traveled with La Comapagnie I'd really appreciate your thoughts on the experience. (also posted this question in the air travel forum)

Thank you

joannyc

denisea

We had a friend who flew La Compagnie last Fall. I don't think it a bad experience for them. They got a great price, if I remember correctly, but I don't think they plan on using them again.

We considered them last year but I was very uncomfortable with the fact that they only had 2 planes at the time (not sure if they have added planes since). So, if there was a mechanical issue, then I felt like I would be stranded at Newark instead of on my vacation (we live in Atlanta and fly Delta so getting a replacement aircraft is not too difficult). For a ten day vacation, it wasn't worth the risk.

jc_uk

I looked at them a while ago when considering a flight to New York from London, fares were £1k return which I considered to be very good for a dedicated business class. Unfortunately they've since dropped the London route and only fly the Paris - New York route. I don't know why they dropped London, obviously it wasn't lucrative enough but why would that be? I will say that they don't appear to advertise themselves enough, I only found out about them in an article I read a few years ago, I suspect many people are not aware of them and this may be the reason that they're not drumming up enough business or could there be another reason?

Can you just take one for the team and enlighten us all on how your experience was?

Sarastro

Here´s all the discussion you might ever want concerning La Compagnie.

Judy

We flew with them last fall. The airline was fine, the seats roomy and fairly comfortable (didn't quite lay flat so I kept sliding down when trying to sleep), the food and wines were quite good and the service was fine, though not as good as major airlines business class. I think adding another flight attendant might have solved that problem.

Our issue with the flight was having to get to Newark. A hurricane was heading for the east coast and our home airport was going to be closed so we could change our flight to Newark with no fee. That meant sitting in Newark for a couple of days as it was not impacted by the storm so no free change to Paris. The sale fare we bought was not refundable or changeable. I said we'd never do it again.

That said, we have tickets for a flight in September.....just couldn't pass up the $1100 round trip fare! We are, of course, hopeful that another hurricane does not interfere with our plans again. After 35+ years of problem free flying, we are gambling that last year's experience will not recur.

janisj

Sarastro: Your link doesn't go anywhere -- just to FlyerTalk's 'No Matches' message.

Here is the Points Guy's take from a few tears ago. https://thepointsguy.com/2015/05/la-...-class-review/ (I like his reviews because they are pretty detailed and realistic -- but it is from 2015 so might be a tad out of date)

yestravel

I responded on your other thread.

progol

We were very happy with our flight on La Compagnie which we flew in September/October. We live in NYC, so getting to Newark is not an issue for us. The flight was very comfortable, service was fine, and the food was surprisingly good. I can't compare it to regular airline Business class, as we have minimal experience flying business, but for us, we loved it, and you can't beat the price. I will use them again -- and love that they have added a r/t between Newark and Nice.

Now my husband wants to fly business class only!

jc_uk

Ugh, those 'beds'. I don't think I could sleep on one of those. I think I'll stick to the traditional carriers, during the sales you can often find business class fares similar to what Compagnie charge and with a much better product.

yestravel

jc --- Which sales are these? Where should I be looking? I've kept my eye out for good biz class sales, but have yet to find any that match the $1000 roundtrip fare that we paid on LaCompagnie. Thanks!

jc_uk

I only fly transatlantic with BA and Virgin, usually BA as their network is more extensive so I receive notification of their sales via e-mail. It's unlikely that you'll secure a fare as low as Compagnie but not far off it but flying BA business (or even better, Virgin Upperclass) you'll have proper lay flat beds, better food and drink (Compagnie serving a gummie bear in your champagne!!!), better staff to passenger ratio, greater choice of in flight entertainment, better lounge access and wider choice of flights.

It's also worth playing around with dates. I've just recently managed to secure return first class flights to Kuala Lumpur for four with BA for less than they were charging for business class just by moving my departure date a day early (FYI BA currently have a luxury sale on). The first class seats were £200 each more than business which in my opinion is a good price. Some may disagree but everyone has a different opinion of value. Personally I'd rather spend my time pre flight in the Concorde Room, better ambiance, better food, better wine and the First Class suite is a big step up from the Club World one, a much more spacious seat, 6' 6" bed which is great for a tall bloke like me, better food and wine, more attentive staff (only eight seats on that route) and for a 15 hour flight it's worth every penny to me.

It's worth signing up for e-mails for all the airlines that you are likely to fly with. There's no telling when their sales will open although some are more predictable so the only reliable way you'll know when they're on is when they e-mail you directly. It's not just sales, Qatar Airways for example often offer 2 for 1 flights which can be a big saving but you're unlikely to know about them if you're not on their mailing list.