How to Fly Business Class to Europe for (Much) Less
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An all-business-class airline called
La Compagnie
just
announced
the launch of five nonstop U.S.-France flights per week, from Newark to Nice, starting in May 2019. Introductory fares start at $1200 round-trip, but that price is limited to the first 1,000 customers to pounce. Even after, however, you can expect regular round-trip fares somewhere between $1500 and $1800 indefinitely, and the occasional sale fares.
Related: How to Ship a Suitcase for Less Than the Airline's Bag Fee
La Compagnie is the only all-business-class airline currently flying across the Atlantic, and it does so at fares far below the giant lines' asking prices for business class. It has been operating for several years between Newark and Paris' Orly Airport, sometimes twice daily, using 757s with 74 angle-flat-adjusting seats. The line expects to introduce to the Paris route in April some new A321s that feature 76 lie-flat seats, and it will use the 757s for the Nice flights.
I've flown on La Compagnie flights. Its business class product is at the lower end of the range offered by the giant lines. But it's a great value, typically providing a better product than other lines' premium economy at lower prices. So if you're headed for southern France next summer, give La Compagnie a close look.
Consumer advocate Ed Perkins has been writing about travel for more than three decades. The founding editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter, he continues to inform travelers and fight consumer abuses every day at SmarterTravel.