La Compagnie

As an international travel with my wife and 2 sons since they were very little, I always found it easier to handle jet lag when traveling from the US to Europe if it is possible to sleep a few hours in the plane headed there. Sleeping in economy is not easy, while sleeping in business class usually gives you a seat that become horizontal and turn into a bed, with a pillow and a blanket. But this luxury obviously comes at a hefty price with regular airlines. La Compagnie is a boutique airline that only provides business class seats (75 total per flight)at the cost of Premium Economy. It is much more affordable than with regular airlines and, for having experienced twice in 6 years now, it is amazing. They only have a few flights per week, and exclusively from Newark EWR, with destinations to Paris (France), Nice (French Riviera) and Milan (Italy). I have literally planned trips around these first 2 cities and with so much joy. At my kids request, will do Milan next (and visit other places in Europe from that town). I should add that their new Airbus A321neo are spotless, the seats are in pods, very comfortable and with lots of privacy. Tons of space for legs and a very comfortable sleeping position. The food is great, the service is great. I will add that their ticket comes with a Business Class status which provides fast track priority when going through security, and access to their new Lounge Co in Terminal B2 (level 3) at EWR. Now with the boutique airline concept comes some consequences: very small staff means you need to do a lot of your own work online through their website. There is only staff at the gate 3 hours before the flight takes off. The Lounge Co only opens at 4pm for a take off time at 7pm. Once you know that, just work around the limitations and make the best of this incredible experience.

Wow, reading these reviews I don’t understand it. We had an absolutely incredible experience from the check-in all the way to getting on the plane in Newark. We had a wonderful flight to Milan. The flight attendants were outstanding! I slept for six hours. It was perfect. The return was also outstanding. The check-in experience was easy. The only tie up that we had was we have a scooter for a handicap person and they just had to make sure the battery was OK To pack in the carry-onand it was. And then we went to the lounge. It was great and the flight back to Newark was awesome. The three flight attendants were wonderful. I will definitely be using this airline again. I don’t even like Paris, but I’m thinking about going back because the airline experience was so good.*****

This is a very basic, dated lounge but I’m giving it a five star review because of Nancy and her friendly, helpful service. She went out of her way to assist with a few small requests which I really appreciated. Jeffrey was friendly at check in as well. You can’t compare this generic lounge to Etihad or Singapore - it’s better than sitting at the gate and on par with other similar US lounges as far as food and decor. It’s the service that sets it apart. Thanks Nancy!

Airline and Lounge overall very average, nothing to boast, except when they have deals on flights. When you’re paying full fare it’s not worth it. In the last 2 years I’ve flown La Compagnie 5 times and it has become progressively worse. The lounge was great and then supposedly they had a renovation, which is unapparent to me except that the food and wine quality has become worse, like United Airlines bad. During my recent lounge visit I got violently ill from the food. I shared the Burger and butternut squash soup with my partner, but even having a few bites of each was enough to make me so sick that I was worried about boarding the flight. The food and wine on the plane is also unpleasant. It wasn’t always this way. The best part of our recent experience was seeing the sign at the check-in counter stating that they can overbook flights and you can lose your paid seat. Wow! In terms of reservations, customer service is very basic, like early 2000s basic. They haven’t adapted to modern technology. You have to call or email to get answers or modify a reservation and it can take hours or days for a response. They don’t save your profile so each time you have to enter your identification and all that good stuff, which most people don’t know hence the difficulty with checking in most of the time. It’s impossible to get TSA pre-check, which is ridiculous since every airline makes it seamless to enter and store your info to qualify for that. Their airport staff is nice but not knowledgeable in anything. Everyone directs you to a colleague who then directs you to another colleague. The in-flight staff has concisely behaved with the stereotypical Parisian arrogance, even enroute to Milan, so that’s fun! Overall, if you want to fly business on a budget with lack of luxury, this is the airline. This is probably my last flight with La Compagnie, especially since we paid full fare for this type of experience and food poisoning. Great way to start a vacation.

I had never heard of this airline a few months ago and so I was a little reluctant to book a trip. I ended up taking the plunge and flew from Newark to Milan and back recently. Everything was top notch. Plenty of space in each seat. Friendly service. Good food. Both flights left and returned ahead of schedule. 5 stars.

Nice plane, horrible logistics 1. You need a paper ticket to get through security. Which means you cannot go through security until they open their ticket counter 2.5 hours before your flight. If you have a longer layover, get ready to sit in the front of the airport. This also means if you have a connecting flight you have to leave security and go through again. Air travel js already a headache. This company makes it worse. 2. Ticket counter only opens once per day. As above, it will not open until 2.5 hours before your flight so if you are checking bags. 3. Newark airport is one of the worst in the world as far as staff and organization. You will need to take long shuttles between terminals. 4. The same things happen at Paris Orly as above at Newark, which adds frustration both directions. Once you make your way through all of that the service is nice, but not better than other first class services. I would avoid this airline. Its a bit like a nice steak dinner served on a garbage lid.

I have flow this airline to France several times already and will do so again . The cancellation policy is quite liberal and I was able to use my purchase that had to be cancelled due to the pandemic very easily. The jets are new and very comfortable. The food and drinks served have all been very nice. Air stewardesses have always been friendly and hard working. It is nice to have a direct flight from NY to Nice.

I have flown from Newark to Paris and back a few times. The seats are comfortable, the screens are nice, the service is great. The food from Newark to Paris is always "meh". Not sure why they struggle with that. Overall, a comfortable, affordable option if laying down to sleep is a priority. I will use them again if possible.