pareto

Looks like these are now non-discountable fares. AARP and Chase offer were both denied as I was looking. Anyone else have a different experience today?

Allyson518

So, it's not just me. I'm finding fares for about $1600 RT, but the AARP discount isn't going through for me either.

seanp7

The Chase code still works. Interestingly, you can get the return leg in First (eg. CDG-LHR-NYC) to make a biz/first mixed trip for a reasonable ~$2800.

Cofyknsult

When all is said and done, I have a hard time understanding that OW has mounted such a huge (and costly for them) response to one small daily flight by start-up airline "La Compagnie" with no ability to significantly increase frequencies, especially when it is reported to offer less than stellar service more in line with Y+ and when all numerous previous attempts at this kind of service have failed. La Compagnie's main contribution will have been to offer us these OW discounts far more than to provide new choices...

Calchas

We don't really know if this is caused by La Compagnie.

Every airline under the sun has been putting forth ludicrous J sales in recent months.

Cofyknsult

Exclusively targeted on CDG ? Naah and otherwise why?

af fp

Agreed, this sale was unexpected, under $2,000 is quite crazy, so talk about $1,000 with easy-to-get rebates...

OW has pulled back but ST is still offering the $1,700 fare, although only for a 10-day stay. Their products are way better than La Compagnie's so it is really a great deal. On the other hand, all people who are price-conscious and travelling for business (less than 10 days) will still choose La Compagnie, and given how few passengers they need to fill their planes, I am not sure that ST can hurt them much without aligning all the way... We will see, I am curious about the loads La Compagnie will get, and how long ST will try and get them out of the market for... With OW out, I bet they will soon retreat too.

On the other hand, noone seems to have attacked La Compagnie on the London market, where fares are way over $3,000...

I would be surprised if those fares were not driven by La Compagnie's offer, particularly since they exactly match it.

Guava

BA and QR, both Oneworld carriers have been offering far longer flights from Europe to Asia in Business for less than the New York-Paris-New York sale, see the thread re: BA's offer ex-Germany for about $1200 ai. Plus, the actual rebate on this route is no where near $1000, it's more like $530.

Cofyknsult

A non-daily flight out of ... LUTON ???... And with service closer to Y+ than Business ? And at $ 3,000+ ?
It does not look like anybody should bother to counter it. Even the Paris offers by OW and ST look to me like an over-reaction... which does not mean that I did not take advantage of them...

af fp

When I wrote $1000, I meant that the ticket did cost under $1,000 per passenger if you had two passengers on the same PNR and flights, used the AARP discount and the Chase discount. At least it is what some reported in previous posts.

Agreed on other surprising deals e.g. QR/BA from Germany. Nonetheless, the NYC-PAR deal still closely matches the deal La Compagnie is offering.

af fp

$3,000+ is the price offered by regular alliance airlines. La Compagnie offers $1,800 and indeed their product is inferior.

They are also offering an inferior product to Paris and OW and ST matched their prices, however to London noone is countering.

Calchas

If I may say .... people who are price conscious are travelling in Y, on the cheapest fare their corporate travel portal produces that day

There is a bit of a myth on FT that everyone travels in revenue F or J on business ... but unfortunately most of us are obligated to travel in the cheapest product available most of the time.

Now, looking at the other end, I suspect those who are accustomed to J travel policies were never interested in an airline such as La Compagnie anyway. It's too unreliable to have so few flights per day.

My suspicion is that La Compagnie is there for middle class leisure travellers who do not want to travel in Y or even "Y+" but don't really care about airline points or how many frames the airline owns in case there are problems.

Now, it is possible that the major carriers are looking to squeeze this operation out of business. AA has form on this. But this half-hearted sale isn't going to do that.

Of course, we don't really know what the internal debates are within revenue management groups and between other silos in the companies involved in honouring this fare (which are several distinct companies). And this is not surprising.

The lack of a compelling alternative explanation does not validate the only hypothesis we have.

Cofyknsult

+1 on most of what you write, but as to your last line,
The lack of a compelling alternative explanation does not validate the only hypothesis we have,

I'd be tempted to disagree, on the basis of Occam's razor.

SFOPeter

Most folks whose companies pay for C/J are obligated by corporate travel policy to fly AA, UA, or DL, even when it is more expensive than alternatives.

La Compagnie is great for people that run their own companies or leisure travelers. Norwegian Premium can also be cheaper than coach for a 46" pitch/19" wide seat. I would fly either of these rather than Y, even for a few hundred $ more.

af fp

I concur. Most of my TATL travel is personal and I avoid economy class as much as I can. So I will pay a few extra hundreds for (real, not just legroom) PE and a few hundreds more for business, just not thousands.