La Compagnie is a France-based airline that does one thing: Business Class. Their unique model fills the entire plane with lie-flat, Business Class seats, and does not offer any Economy or Coach seats or services.
We flew La Compagnie round-trip between New York (EWR) and Milan (MXP) — and we have thoughts. If you’re considering trying out this “all business class” airline — keep reading! In this post, we’ll share our 10 biggest takeaways that you should consider before you book your flight.
1. They serve limited routes.
First and foremost, La Compagnie only serves a handful of routes. Specifically, they fly between New York City — well, Newark (ERW), so technically New Jersey — and Paris (ORY), Nice (NCE) and Milan (MXP).
If you’re not flying those routes, you can probably stop reading now. However, if you’re planning travel between these specific destinations, it’s definitely an upgrade to consider.
Given the boutique nature of this airline, it’s not surprising that they operate limited routes. It helps streamline their operations, which allows them to offer a premium product at a competitive price. Which leads us to …
2. The pricing is tempting.
If you want to cross the pond in the comfort of a lie-flat seat while dining on a multi-course meal and sipping complimentary bubbly, La Compagnie is probably the cheapest way to do it. (Credit card point redemptions excluded.)
For example, let’s look at a sample travel itinerary for a July trip from New York to Paris. (For context, I’m checking prices in October, approximately 9 months in advance.) This is the current pricing for one adult, round trip in Business Class on non-stop flights between Newark and Paris.
- La Compagnie (EWR-ORY): $2,454 USD
- Delta (EWR-CDG): $4,256 USD
- Air France (EWR-CDG): $4,276 USD
As you can see in this example, La Compagnie is about 40% cheaper than legacy carriers based out of either country. If you’re traveling with a partner or family, this price savings will add up quickly.
But like the saying goes, you get what you pay for. The next 8 points in this list articulate what you lose at that 40% discount.
Here’s screenshots of the pricing for reference:
3. You lose ground priority perks.
When people think of Business Class, they usually picture the perks in the air. Things like spacious lie-flat seats, in-flight meals, and champagne on-demand come to mind. However, Business Class also includes perks on the ground, which can elevate the flying experience and substantially reduce travel-day friction.
Typical Business Class perks on the ground include a priority check-in lane, priority boarding, and priority bag retrieval. With La Compagnie, you pretty handedly lose most of these benefits on the ground —because when everyone is priority, no one is.
The entire plane is business class, so there is no priority check-in lane. And since La Compagnie only serves long-haul international routes, all passengers need to check in at the desk and most are checking bags. That means that depending on when you arrive, you might get stuck in a long line to check in.
Likewise, there is no priority boarding for anyone. There was a boarding number on our ticket, but both of our flights had an open call for boarding. In Newark, we boarded our plane from the gate, so it went quickly. However, leaving Milan, we had to take a bus to plane and there were several delays. It took almost an hour to go from scanning our ticket at the gate to actually getting to our seat.
The final priority perk you lose is bag retrieval. On other airlines, Business Class passengers’ bags are tagged as priority and are the first off the plane and on the carousel. On La Compagnie, it’s luck of the draw. Since there aren’t as many people on the plane, it still is quicker than Economy bag retrieval on a standard flight, but it also might take longer than you’d like. Someone’s bag is going to be first and someone’s is going last, and either one might be yours.
4. La Compagnie lounges are crowded.
Typical international Business Class tickets include lounge access, and La Compagnie is no different. All passengers will have access to a lounge at the departure airport. La Compagnie’s lounge network includes the following lounges:
- Paris (ORY): Primeclass Lounge & Primeclass Lounge in Terminal 4 (access based on fare class)
- Nice (NCE): Infinity VIP Lounge in Terminal 2
- Milan (MXP): Montale Lounge in Terminal 1
- New York (ERW): Lounge&Co in Terminal B
Of their four lounges, only one — Lounge&Co at Newark — is exclusively owned and managed by La Compagnie. At the other three airports, the airline relies on shared access to partner lounges.
We only personally experienced lounges in Newark and Milan, but we were not impressed by either.
Our first stop was at Lounge&Co at Newark. This lounge is exclusive to La Compagnie passengers and the airline only has one flight out of Newark at any given time. That means that’s there’s a set, consistent number of passengers in the lounge anytime it’s in use.
We arrived a bit late, relative to when check-in began. At that time, the lounge was pretty full, with very few open seats. The tables that were open were dirty and stacked with plates that weren’t promptly cleaned up. Other complaints included slow service, limited self-service options, and single-stall bathrooms.
In Milan, La Compagnie passengers can access the Montale Lounge, which is the main business class lounge for most airlines flying out of Terminal 1 (excluding Emirates). This lounge was jam-packed! There was a line to get in, constant line for food self-service food and drinks, and hardly any open seating. It was so crowded and so awful that we left almost immediately.
5. The service onboard is slower.
When you fly traditional Business Class products, the Business Class cabin is smaller and served by fewer flight attendants than Economy. That means no matter where you sit in Business Class, you’re going to get served pretty quickly. That’s not necessarily the case on La Compagnie.
Because the plane comprises only Business Class seats, there are fewer people on board in total, but the number of flight attendants isn’t proportionally scaled up. That means that each flight attendant is serving more people on La Compagnie than on a legacy carrier. And because of that, service times tend to be slower on La Compagnie.
Of course, the exact wait times will depend on where you’re sitting within a service section. If you’re sitting at the start of a section, you will probably not notice the slower service.
6. Pre-departure drinks are more rushed.
I adore a pre-departure drink. This specific drink service is my favorite part of any Business Class flight. It marks the moment when I’ve finished the hustle and bustle of the airport experience and can officially relax on board.
All passengers on La Compagnie are offered a pre-departure drink. The pre-departure drink selection on La Compagnie is actually pretty elite. In addition to the standard water/juice/Champagne options, La Compagnie also offers a non-alcoholic Champagne option. While I personally opted for the alcoholic option, I love that they offered a NA option for this drink service. Everyone deserves some bubbly!
But again, the Business Class experience on La Compagnie doesn’t quite pack the same punch as a legacy carrier. On a traditional Business Class flight, you are able to enjoy your pre-departure beverage while the rest of the plane boards. Since Business Class boards first and there is a substantial number of Economy passengers, this usually takes a while.
However, on La Compagnie, you are not guaranteed to board early and there are fewer people in total. The boarding process goes much quicker, and so does the pre-departure drink service. That means there is less time to relax and enjoy your beverage.
I concede that boarding the plane and leaving the plane quicker is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does rush this particular beverage service.
7. Food & Beverage Service is Limited.
After the pre-departure drink, there was no other dedicated beverage service. The only other drink service was done with the two meal services.
On our overnight flight from Newark to Milan, this included dinner service shortly after departure and a breakfast service shortly before landing. On this particular route and schedule, it makes sense that services are reduced, given that most people are sleeping overnight.
However, the skeleton service was extremely noticeable on the daytime flight from Milan to Newark. Our particular flight was hit extra hard, because we had to make an unscheduled 1-hour stop in Paris for refueling due to high winds.
During the Milan-to-Paris portion, we were offered a light snack, but there was no beverage service at all. During the longer Paris-to-Newark leg, during the middle of the day, there was still no dedicated drink service. Our only drink service came with our meal, which was egregiously delayed. (We boarded a 12:30 PM flight expecting to eat lunch shortly after departure. However, because of the stop in Paris, we weren’t served our meal until after we departed Paris at roughly 4:30 PM.)
My notes from both flights mentioned being thirsty the entire flight. That’s not how you want to feel after a Business Class flight. In other cases I’d caveat these complains by saying that you could press the call button if you really needed something, but even that didn’t pay off. We pressed the call button on 3 separate occasions, across two flights, and all three times it went unanswered.
That leads me to a more general comment of …
8. Good Food, Mediocre Meal Service.
Not only was the food and beverage service frequency poor, but the whole meal service experience was also sub-par. The food itself was good, but the service was clunky.
Unlike many other legacy Business Class products, you cannot pre-select your meal on La Compagnie.(You can, however, pre-order a special meal to accommodate dietary restrictions like vegetarian, gluten-free, kosher, etc.) This isn’t necessarily a problem, but it’s just worth mentioning it in the spirit of comparing the product to legacy carriers.
Instead, you can choose from a selection of two entrees during the meal service. To the best of my knowledge, they never ran out of a particular item, but that is always possible without a pre-order system.
The main meals were three courses, including an appetizer or soup, choice of entree and dessert or cheese. Each flight also included a lighter, secondary meal, which was usually a smaller entree selection and a side. All meals were served with a choice of drink.
Our family is vegetarian, so we pre-ordered our meals in advance. We selected Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian, Asian Vegetarian, and Vegan for the three of us. This caused confusion on both of our flights. The flight attendants did not immediately note that we had made a special meal request. Then when we pointed it out, they didn’t have our specific meal requests tied to our seat assignments. On both flights, they were confused about what meal went to what person, and even which meal met which dietary restriction. This was particularly clunky because in many cases, all three trays turned out to be the exact same.
There was also no printed menu with the food and beverage offerings onboard. There was food menu available within the entertainment screen, which detailed the meal options for the flight, but it didn’t include a detailed beverage list. There was one tab that listed hard alcohol, but there was no detailed list of soft drinks, available beers, the wine list, or the like. As someone who likes to try the most exciting beverage option on this list, not having a list was a bit of a bummer.
9. Not all seats have direct aisle access.
La Compagnie exclusively flies the Airbus A321neo in a 2-2 configuration. Each pair of seats are off-set at a moderate angle and have a small privacy divider between them, but they’re not significantly separated.
If you’re flying with a partner or child, the two seats next to eat other are fantastic. A lot of Business Class seats are designed to maximize privacy for individual travelers, which can make it difficult to travel together. With La Compagnie’s setup, two people can easily converse, dine and enjoy their flight together. If you know the person next to you, it’s usually not that big of a deal for the person in the window seat to navigate getting to the aisle when needed.
However, if you’re traveling with an odd-number in your party this setup has its downsides. The person sitting in the window seat does not have direct aisle access. If the passenger in the aisle seat is sleeping or has their seat in the lie-flat position, it makes it very difficult/awkward for the passenger in the window seat to get up and use the bathroom if needed.
This is not entirely unique to La Compagnie, but legacy carriers tend to prioritize direct aisle access for all passengers.
10. Lie-flat seats are very spacious and comfortable but …
Generally speaking, the seats on La Compagnie were great. They were spacious and comfortable, they had decent storage space, and the provided bedding turned the seat into a comfortable, full-size bed. However, they had a few technical issues that knocked them down a peg.
My biggest issue seems to be a design flaw, because it was relevant for every seat I saw: the tray table was crooked. When stowed, the tray table folded in half. When it was open, the side attached to the console was flat, but the other side angled downward. As you’d expect, this made dining a bit wobbly and stressful at times.
While that flaw seemed to be pretty consistent, our other issues were more ad hoc. The touch screen on my remote was glitchy, my husband’s remote didn’t work at all, and my father-in-law’s seat controls were broken. (The flight attendant had to manually raise and lower his seat every time.) We sat in the same seat numbers on both of our flights and we had the same plane on both flights, so we had all the same technical problems on both of our flights.
It’s not so much about our specific problems, but the fact that there were so many problems, that I take issue with. All Business Class products are subject to glitches and breaks at times, but the fact that 3 of the 4 of us had problems on both of our flights is disappointing.
Overall thoughts on La Compagnie
Coming into this post, I honestly didn’t expect to rag onLa Compagnie so much. But when I dug into the minutia, I noticed that it really did feel like a sub-par product. I believe that all ties into one overall theme: when everyone has priority, no one does. You’re getting a business class seat, but not a business class experience.
Don’t get me wrong — as a whole, I had a pleasant flight! I know that flying to Europe in Business Class on any airline is a privilege, and I’m not here to just complain about every little thing. However, it’s my job to capture the details of these experiences so that when other people spend their hard-earned money on this product, they know exactly what to expect.
I think people should expect Business Class Light. Is it better than flying Economy? Definitely! It’s just not as elevated as a legacy carrier’s Business Class experience, largely because you lose most of the soft perks.
That said, let’s not downplay the fact that you’re getting a Business Class seat at a roughly 40% discount. If your main priority is getting a good night’s sleep on a lie-flat sleep, then La Compagnie is a bargain! There are plenty of people and scenarios when that math checks out. La Compagnie is a little better and more expensive than Economy, but not quite as good or expensive has a premium Business Class.
At the end of the day, I’m glad I tried it, but I’m not in a hurry to fly La Compagnie again.
Legacy Business Class Flight Reviews
Throughout this post, we talk a lot about “traditional Business Class” and “legacy carrier Business Class.” If you want more context on those experiences, check out some of our other Business Class flight reviews.