La Compagnie - any recent experience with this airline?
 

£600 for pseudo-business class return from Luton to EWR. Not bad.

What does worry me though is:-

1) they'll go bust one week before my flight leaving me scrabbling around to get something else.

2) In the unlikely event of technical problems I'll be stuck in EWR for days (they only own two planes). Not good for me - own company no work = no pay.

Any comments on the airline?

Please follow the thread as it moves to the Other European Airline forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

I'd actually book a £600 J class ticket at once, no doubt about it. No such thing on legacy carriers. Worst case scenario, if their London aircraft fails for whatever reason, you may ask for a flight to Paris and get on the Eurostar to get back to London or so. The chances of both aircraft failing and being fully booked seems to be not so large.

It's actually a miracle that they are still around and are successful enough to even expand operations. I guess the airline is much tougher and the concept more successful than it seemed at first. Anyway, here are two reviews that you may find helpful (but note: they are from the absolute start up period).

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...newark-review/

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...newark-review/

I am flying them Newark-London this summer. My first question to them was what happens if the flight doesn't go. They said they will protect in Business Class on another carrier. Of course, if you are at Newark at 10pm at night and there is a last minute problem, I'm not quite sure of what the options will be. Hoping for the best!

La Compagnie - any recent experience with this airline?
 

Nancy,

I don't have any experience with La Compagnie. However, I did have that experience with OpenSkies which is similar airline. OpenSkies has a flat bed Biz Class and a Premium Economy. I was booked in Biz Class.

On an evening flight from Paris to NY, we were 1.5 hours into our flight, when the lights weren't working properly and the Capt said we were going back to Paris. So now, it's 3 hours later and they don't have another plane and there are very few flights to put us on - and being in Orly, there are less choices than from Chas De Galle. They did the best they could to get people on to other flights, and there was no protection of status. If you wanted to get to NY that night, you just took the seat you were offered. By the time they got to my friend and I there were no seats left on any airline and they put us up in a nearby hotel, gave us dinner and breakfast. (there were about 40 of us at the hotel) The next day we were back at the airport and we got seats on OpenSkies, but there were no Biz Class seats left, so were in Premium Economy.

A few days after getting home, I wrote to BA (who owns OpenSkies) and reminded them of EU261 and was given some babble about how that rule doesn't apply in this case and as a good will gesture they gave me a $250. credit towards a future flight and a refund for the difference betw. PE and Biz. They were wrong in denying me the 600Euro refund from EU261 but my mother was dying at the time so I didn't have the time nor stamina to fight them.

My point is, should your La Campagnie flight get cancelled, you'll likely be in a similar situation. They'll get you on whatever flight they can. If you're downgraded to coach, I'm sure you'll get a refund of the difference. If you insist on a biz class seat you might have a longer wait especially if you're flying at a popular time when flights are full and there aren't many empty seats available.

Dear psychocandy and Nancy Colson,

Just had dinner with La Compagnie staff member, things are not going very well...
Luton and low fuel costs maybe will keep them flying until the end of summer 2015. More planes only in 2016 if they survive until then... Best case scenario there after is Air France buying them just like BA did with OpenSkies. Good luck.

Interesting. Didnt book with them after BTW.

Bumping to say that my EWR-LTN flight was cancelled less than 3 weeks before takeoff. Below is an excerpt of the e-mail I got notifying me of cancellation:

"Dear Valued Client,

We are sorry to inform you that we must cancel flight B0007 from New York (EWR) to London(LTN) on May 01st, 2015 due to a flight programming adjustment.

We have automatically booked you on our next flight for London, leaving New York on May 04th. Your travel information remains the same: La Compagnie flight B0007, departing New York - Newark at 10.20 pm. If you choose this option we offer you a voucher of £160 per person to use on your next flight with La Compagnie. However, if this doesn't suit you, we can place you on our next LA COMPAGNIE flight from New York to Paris B0 101 and we'll help you to reach London from Paris.

If you would rather travel on another date, we would be happy to modify your flight free of charge. If you prefer to cancel your ticket for now, we will refund the leg not flown. If you have any questions or we can be of further service, please don’t hesitate to contact our customer service team on number: 0203 481 1575 or by e-mail at [email protected] . The team is available from Monday to Saturday, 9.00 a.m. - 06:00 p.m.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by the cancellation of your flight.

We look forward to welcoming you soon on La Compagnie."

I'm in the U.S., so I tried calling their 1-800 number. The nice customer service lady said she would put me on the EWR-CDG flight on May 1st so that I can still potentially reach London by May 2nd in time for an event. However, she said that I won't be confirmed or ticketed until her request is approved by headquarters in Paris, and it still hasn't been confirmed two business days later. In addition, I sent an e-mail several days ago requesting assistance getting from Paris to London but have not received any sort of response yet, not even a "We received your e-mail and will respond shortly" kind of automated response.

I'd like to figure out ASAP if I can still work out travel with La Compagnie. I'm worried that prices for other airlines will start to skyrocket even more than they already have.

This is a European airline so they have to follow the EU passenger rights. When a flight is cancelled (even 3 weeks in advance) they are required to give you a choice between (it is up to you to choose, not the airline):
* Rerouting the same date
* Change of date
* Full refund

@jesslonguf, What ever happened with your flight? Did they rebook you to Paris? I'm scheduled to fly EWR to Luton on June 4 and I am not feeling terribly confident.

They are currently offering NYC-LON and NYC-PAR for 2 passengers for $3,090 and $2,990, respectively, all-in. I am tempted to take advantage of this, but also worried about the risk of bankruptcy, particularly after reading the reviews. It's almost like we're all waiting for a house of cards to collapse.:eek:

I really believe they will make it through the summer. I certainly hope so. I don't want to start scrambling to find an alternate flight at the last minute.

Reports of schedule changes:

http://milesfromblighty.boardingarea...ating-flights/

My parents and my wife and I are booked later in May. Getting concerned.:(

Time to buy travel insurance.

Very recent experience
 

Hi there

First time posting so be kind...!

Currently sat in Grand Central Station having flown the inaugural LTN-EWR flight yesterday.

Absolutely fantastic experience from start to finish.

I think your view will depend on how regularly you fly J on other carriers. My partner has never flown anything other than economy and was over the moon the whole way. I can see how people who travel J regularly could 'pick holes', but it's important to consider in context of what the overall product is and for the price it is absolutely a bargain.

I'm hoping to do my first ever trip report when we're back but would briefly comment that:
Meal service was better quality food than I've ever had in BA J.
Crew were superb.
Flight itself was comfortable, on time and very pleasant.

The CEO was on board and made a point to talk to as many pax as possible - his enthusiasm for the product he's created was tangible.

I would definitely fly with them again and hope they make it through the summer - if nothing else it's nice to see someone challenging the traditional market.

Reading this back it sounds like I'm a paid shill, but I promise you I'm not!!

Hope this is of use.

Glad to hear the flight went well. I am still very concerned, though, about scheduling changes. I'm going to worry until I land at Luton.

Not sure about their schedule issues, but they operate several non-direct flights on some dates in May (eg 6th, 8th...) with LTN-CDG-EWR flights, EWR-LTN-CDG, etc. Not really the expected service :(

Definitely not the expected service.

It seems they have started their London operation but they have only one aircraft at the moment. So they cancel many Paris or London flights, and sometimes operate Paris-London-Newark or London-Paris-Newark. On certain dates in May the trip takes 14 hours with the stop! It doesn't smell good at all...

I called them yesterday because I am scheduled to fly them in early June. They told me that the 2nd aircraft should be flying by May 15.

The length of the stopover in Paris is clearly too short. Totally unrealistic in CDG. The flight won't land in Luton at the time they announce, that's very clear. Also you buy a direct flight and this become a flight with a stop...a bit shocking! They should have postponed their London launch instead of impacting their customers like this. If you land more than 3 hours late you can request compensations from them.

@Keroaddict - totally agree. Surprisingly, we didn't hear much from them about this... Hope their clients did!! I would change my plan for a direct service if I was in that situation.:td:

I have not seen anything offcial on these schedule changes. Could someone provide a concrete example (ie an e-mail from La Compagnie)?

Flying May 13 to London... 9 days away. I can still book the flight on their website and I haven't received an e-mail of any schedule change.

May 13 EWR-Luton cancelled. Just received e-mail.

Rebooked on May 15. F U LA COMPAGNIE. You can't rebook a trip less than a week out.

sounds like a shambles...

I have a flight with them from Luton to EWR on 23/05, returning 01/06, hoping it all goes well and then will leave a note here.

After receiving notice back in April that the May 1st EWR-LTN flight was cancelled, I had to wait several days to hear back from someone at headquarters (in response to several emails I sent). The 1-800 number was only good for reservations.

After several calls with headquarters, I was switched to the May 1st EWR to CDG flight, then La Compagnie booked me on a BA flight from CDG to LHR that departed a few hours later. This was regular economy, but I don't think any better class was available on this small plane. I still ended up in London on the same day, albeit a few hours later.

As for the actual flight, I really enjoyed it, especially since I went in with lowered expectations. The flight attendants were very friendly, the food was fairly good, the specialty champagne was surprisingly delicious, and the flight was smooth and quiet. I slept most of the way. I would have liked a better movie selection on the Samsung tablet, but I was too busy sleeping to enjoy a full movie anyway.

There is strangely no partition between the seats, so I imagine it would be very awkward to sleep on a red eye flight next to a stranger.

The EWR to CDG flight was also delayed by about 45 minutes, which made me worry about my connection to LHR. However, we still landed right on time. You also get skip-the-line passes for immigration.

Finally, the lounge in EWR was just okay. Fairly small. Only two bathroom stalls that were somewhat dirty. On the day I was there, available foods included salads, cookies, chips and salsa, crudités, chicken skewers, grilled vegetables, polenta, pretzels, and a few other things I'm forgetting. The drink selection was decent, though the bar was incredibly tiny.

I'm waiting on my return LTN to EWR flight now. This is my first time at LTN, and I am absolutely not a fan, though that's not La Compagnie's fault. Because their check-in counter isn't open yet, I'm unable to get passes for the airport lounge here.

The issue appears to be stability. Clearly there is good value when the service operates. For the money, it's more than good value. The problem is, as with many of these micro-operations, there is no flex in the system which allows them to adjust.

You either need to be really flexible or have a tremendous amount of time to put into fixing problems and possibly fighting for years afterward about EC 261/2004 when it might apply.

Someone just posted on Facebook, that she got an e-mail six hours in advance of her flight tonight that the flight has been cancelled. I'm speechless.

My Luton flight tonight was cancelled 3 hours after it was scheduled to depart, too late for me to find another flight out tonight. The CDG flight was also cancelled.

Apparently La Compagnie was going CDG to LTN, then picking up LTN passengers, then LTN to EWR. While in the lounge, everyone was tracking the CDG flight and wondering why it hadn't departed yet. Funny that someone got an email 6 hours in advance. I never got an email. Still waiting to see how La Compagnie will be getting me back home.

@jesslonguf, The e-mail was concerning tonight's flight from EWR to LUT. When your flight was cancelled that meant no aircraft at EWR tonight for the return flight to London and/or Paris. They gave people about six hours notice. What a mess!

If it is true that B0 are putting people on other carriers, it might be worth it for people with a touch of flexibility to book them and either get a pretty decent product for cheap or get an even better product and miles.

Yes, it is true that they are re-booking on other carriers in Business Class. I gather everyone bumped last night, got out last night or this morning. I know one person was in Upper Class on Virgin.

La Compagnie offered 3 options for cancelled flight passengers: (1) refund and a free future flight on La Compagnie, (2) stay in hotel overnight with allowance for food and taxi and then La Compagnie books you in business class the next day on another airline or (3) get a refund, wait until the next La Compagnie flight 3 days later, and try to get a spot on it.

Most people from my flight went with option 1 because they were locals who could just head back home. This was my return flight, though, so I went with 2. Though I ended up on Delta and had a much nicer flight than I would have had with La Compagnie, I had to wait until 5:30am or so the next day to actually receive this flight information. It was overall a pretty stressful and exhausting experience, which I do not recommend even if you are flexible with your travel dates unless you really enjoy staying in subpar motels near airports with bad food and no communication. I believe my time is worth more than the savings. I wish I had waited a bit on booking so that I could have taken advantage of OW's CDG sale.

Did they ever tell you why they cancelled at the last minute?

subcontracted to charter airline
 

We have just been informed that our flight from Newark to Luton on May 17 (tomorrow) will be operated by Hi Fly, a Portuguese charter airline. They say it's business class. Definitely nervous, and nervous about getting back in two weeks.

Let us know how it goes. I'm flying them in two weeks, and despite continued reassurance from their corporate office, I am very nervous about it.

HiFly isn't that bad, they did flights for Norwegian and SAS. An example:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/sas-e...-wetlease.html

Problem is they have quite a few configurations: http://www.hifly.aero/en/a330/cs-tqp

I have to say I feel like La Compagnie is doing everything in their power to keep things moving while they work through these start up glitches. I have spoken to a number of people who have flown the Paris route and they were very pleased. I am still willing to give it a shot. Not that I have much choice... I leave two weeks from Thursday. Fingers crossed.

Just flew with them yesterday EWR-CDG and was worried but everything was smooth. On-time (except some taxi delays in EWR because of the weather) great seat good service and AMAZING price. Couldn't be more pleased it was my third time flying with them and I hope they stay in business!

Tomorrow (May 20) flight from EWR-Luton just changed (via e-mail at 10:13 am - ~36 hour notice) to a HiFly A-340. Same departure time. I called to confirm seat map/selection for my wife and I, but was told by the agent she did not have access to the seat map. The agent was extremely nice, but couldn't do much.

Any trip reports from the HiFly product - most importantly, how did they assign seats?

Based on limited research, HiFly's A-340 operate with 10-12 F (2-2-2), 30-42 J (2-3-2), and 200+ coach. So call it 50 "premium" seats, vs. the 74 available on their 757s. If fully booked, there is a definite shortfall.

I'll try to post a brief trip report after I arrive.