Book It While You Can! Business Class to Europe for Less Than the Price of Coach

A nationally recognized reporter, writer, and consumer advocate, Ed Perkins focuses on how travelers can find the best deals and avoid scams.

He is the author of "Online Travel" (2000) and "Business Travel: When It's Your Money" (2004), the first step-by-step guide specifically written for small business and self-employed professional travelers. He was also the co-author of the annual "Best Travel Deals" series from Consumers Union.

Perkins' advice for business travelers is featured on MyBusinessTravel.com, a website devoted to helping small business and self-employed professional travelers find the best value for their travel dollars.

Perkins was founding editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, one of the country's most influential travel publications, from which he retired in 1998. He has also written for Business Traveller magazine (London).

Perkins' travel expertise has led to frequent television appearances, including ABC's "Good Morning America" and "This Week with David Brinkley," "The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather," CNN, and numerous local TV and radio stations.

Before editing Consumer Reports Travel Letter, Perkins spent 25 years in travel research and consulting with assignments ranging from national tourism development strategies to the design of computer-based tourism models.

Born in Evanston, Illinois, Perkins lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife.

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Without much fanfare, new all-business-class airline La Compagnie is up and running, with five weekly roundtrip flights between Newark and Paris/DeGaulle. And, at least so far, blow-your-mind promotional prices are still available:

The initial promotion, $2,011 roundtrip for two people, is available for at least some flights—for at least another month. In mid-September, the fares increase to $3,721 for two, which is still a good deal at $1,861 per person.

One-person fares through August start at $1,376, then increase to $1,861.

La Compagnie flies 757s with 74 angle-flat seats and the usual lavish business-class meal service and wine list. The product is probably not quite on a par with OpenSkies’ fully lie-flat bed seats, but, at least so far, OpenSkies hasn’t matched La Compagnie’s fares.

How good are these deals? I ran a test search, and the best regular economy nonstop fares for late August on other airlines start at around $1,164 per person. So, at least for a month, La Compagnie is a total no-brainer for a couple: Business class for less then the price of cattle-car economy. It’s even a good ongoing deal, at least for a few more months, for couples and singles.

Flights operate both ways on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The schedule is the usual transatlantic: red-eye overnight to Europe, daytime return. The main drawback is the late departure from Newark at 9:45 PM; that’s a bit too late for a lavish meal service when you want to start adjusting to European time.

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