The Compagnie is the only one in the world with only business class seats: the trip report from Milan to New York
The first intercontinental flight in 2023 had to be different than usual. I wanted it to be a unique way to start the third year [...]
La Compagnie
MXP
The first intercontinental flight in 2023 was to be different than usual. I wanted it to be a unique way to begin the third year of our site's existence, the first completely outside the world of covid restrictions And without any country with still closed borders.
In this article:
- Specifications
- Aircraft:
- A321
- Class:
- Business
- Treat:
- MXP - EWR
- Price:
- 600
- Book
The best bonuses
The best way seemed to me to take advantage of a promotion to buy a ticket to fly aboard La compagnie, the French company that operates connections between Milan and New York aboard an Airbus A321. Yes, that's right it's not a battitur error: you're flying in a single-aisle plane, like the ones used for the Genoa/Rome flights, the same models that use EasyJet for some of its busiest routes.
The only difference is that there are only 76 seats here, all business class and not the usual 230 economy seats.
Milan/New York super crowded route
This is by far the busiest intercontinental route in Italy, from Milan there are 6 carriers offering at least one connection to the Big Apple.
There are ITA Airways and Neos. There is Emirates with its gigantic A380 and then there are the three American sisters Delta, American and United. From the small A321 to the double decker via A330, Boeing Dreamliner, 777 and sometimes even 767, you are spoiled for choice.
I paid for the ticket!
La Compagnie has a loyalty program, but it is a lone carrier, which does not participate in any alliances and has no financial partners, so you can redeem award flights only if you accumulate points in your frequent flyer.
If you think you will catch some flights then it may make sense to try and thanks to this sponsor code MY0060106784 with the first flight you will get 4 free points, 20 are enough for an award ticket, and points expire after 36 months.
I bought this ticket because of a promotion that allowed buy a round-trip ticket for less than €1,200, a decidedly competitive price for a 9-hour business class.
Flight cancelled a few days after purchase
The beginning was not the best, a few days after I bought my ticket, my flight was cancelled, or rather the operating schedule was reduced and the Friday flight from Milan was deleted.
The email informing me of the cancellation invited me to call customer service to reschedule the trip or request a refund. In the past, I had noticed adjustments to operations by this carrier before., but I didn't think they were done a few days after, and not before, the launch of a promotion in which they were trying to fill planes during an off-season.
Smoothly rescheduled flight with no date limit. I actually took the outbound for January and the return in October, so as to fit in with other trips I have planned in the near future.
Call center does not speak Italian
When I called I was faced with two options: French or English.
To date La Compagnie, although it has been flying from Italy for a year, it has no customer service that speaks our language And frankly, this does not seem like a "smart" choice. True, we are flying to New York, but we know very well that English is not exactly spoken by all Italians. And while you can expect to survive in New York, it's not necessarily the case that on the phone where you have to understand numbers, times and other information is all easy for the unfamiliar.
At the airport
At Malpensa, all carriers flying to the U.S., except Emirates, have check-in counters in the northernmost area of the terminal, at counters 22/24. Access remains glass-side, past the desks usually used by Ryanair and other low-cost carriers.
Since each flight carries a maximum of 76 passengers, registration opens at 11 a.m., which is 2 hours before boarding. When I arrived around 11:30 a.m., no one was there and in less than 2 minutes I had checked my luggage and ticket in hand. The U.S. still requires you to self-certify that you are fully vaccinated, but it is a formality. We were back to the world of before.
Taking my ticket, I headed for the security checkpoint. All passengers have access to the fast track and lounge, the Montale Hall, although will soon open a new lounge closer to the gates.
When I arrived, the A321 was parked on the finger, right in front of the Emirates giant.. I have to say that it is quite impressive to see them side by side and to think that they will be doing the same itinerary only landing at two different airports. Because La Compagnie flies into Newark (EWR) while Emirates lands at JFK.
Boarding
La Compagnie Has a loyalty program, but has no status. Also because all passengers are business class, so there are no boarding zones or priorities. I do, however. I stood in front of the gate as a low-cost passenger model with no assigned seat ready to snap aboard to take the seat and space in the hatboxes.
The truth was just that I wanted to be able to get on board first to get some shots with an empty plane.
On board
That it would not be a full flight I had seen at the gate, but since Emirates was also boarding at the same time I thought I would find more people on board the plane. I counted a total of 15 passengers, a fill rate of 20%, very few indeed.
Con a fill rate like that, it's hard to regret choosing La Compagnie instead of one of the other five carriers that connect Milan with New York, daily.
Of course, we are in the off-season and I also understand that making ends meet is not easy. Then it is normal for "runs" to be cut as it happened to me by consolidating the busiest days over those with less demand.
Flying across the ocean in a single-aisle plane is not that uncommon: today they do TAP Portugal, I flew on this very plane to Canada., but regular flights also make them SAS from Copenhagen e Aer Language from Dublin e Then there is the American JetBlue, one of the most revolutionary airlines there is, flying to London and shortly Paris.
It will become a standard in the coming years, since with the A321xlr you will be able to leave Rome fully loaded and fly to New York.
The colors are soothing, and it is the shade of the logo and fuselage that is also echoed in the interior.
The configuration is 2-2, which means. half of the passengers do not have direct access to the aisle. If you are in rows A and D you will have to step over your neighbor to go to the bathroom, conversely if you are in rows B and C you will have to live 9 hours exposed to the hallway and the risk of being stepped on by your clumsy neighbor.
However, this is not only a problem of this carrier: Lufthansa also aboard its queen of the skies. Has the same configuration in the upper dock of the 747/8.
A few minutes after boarding, I was offered the first glass of champagne: being 1:30 p.m. no problem enjoying two bubbles.
The "boarding complete," or the announcement that all passengers were on board, came shortly afterward. Unfortunately, however we left more than 40 minutes late partly because of the general strike in France.
Taking off from Malpensa is always beautiful, in winter even more so with the snow-capped Alps, a truly beautiful and unique panorama.
The chair
The configuration calls for all chairs to be oriented slightly outward. The chair is comfortable, But certainly there is not the space that you have on an A350: it had to be cut somewhere.
No space was sacrificed for the passenger, but it was cut back on everything else: there is no container space for personal items.
The only small crevice is the "hole" under the TV set., but it is good for little stuff and when you take off you have to hold everything with your hand otherwise you will spill the contents down the aisle. Then behind is an open space where the IFE headsets are hung and where the beauty kit is left along with a bottle of water.
Of course, if you don't have neighbors you can spread out, but still that is the space.
Between the two chairs is a small fixed divider. It doesn't rise/lower, so it stays there even if you are traveling with a friend or wife. It's not high so it doesn't give a lot of privacy. Let's say it avoids looking at other people's cell phones.
The seat has the basic functions: lumbar and leg support. It becomes a bed and the space is not small. Only the legs are a tiny bit sacrificed, but that is also the case on the Singapore Airlines A350.
The headrest is comfortable and adjustable for both flaps and tilt, excellent especially in bed version.
On the chair is a (plastic) bag containing a nice pillow and quilt, branded with the company logo. Let's just say that if it were a little bit bigger it would be perfect.
There is little space, and you really feel it in the bed version: your feet get stuck in the tunnel and it is not easy to move around. The seat is also not very wide; it certainly helps that the window-side seat has a few more inches than those sitting aisle-side. Last but not least, there are vents for personal ventilation. Hooray!
Bathrooms
There are 3 bathrooms on this A321. One in the front and two in the tail. For 76 passengers they make 1 bathroom for every 26 people on board, not including crew. I had no problem going to the bathroom, I have no idea when all the seats are occupied. True that the per capita ratio is good, but on an A380 if you run away you go 20 meters and find other bathrooms.
The bathrooms are the usual ones, and there is no special business touch or pampering inside.
Service
The staff has been super present, considering that there are only 3 attendants on board the plane.
Since there is no crew bunk where to go to sleep, to remedy this "construction flaw" the transalpine carrier has "optioned" two seats in the last row. There is a rail to pull a curtain and isolate on the same passenger seats two crew members and allow a well-deserved rest.
It's a daytime flight, taking off at 1 p.m. and landing at 5 p.m. local time, so passengers who don't want to be stunned by jetlag don't get too much sleep. Attendants passed through the hallway again and again, always smiling.
The small beauty kit is also left in place. I must say very nice, both because it is divided into two compartments and because it contains everything you need, even a shoe bag that I had never found even in first class.
IFE
Each seat has its own screen, which is big but with glass that really reflects too much and if it is not really dark in the cabin it does not render.
The content is not much, in fact it is very little. There are fewer than 60 films. Many French, some Italian and the rest made in Hollywood. There is nothing wow, no live TV channels, no apps like Netlflix, Apple TV+ and the like, and no games either.
The map is very basic. You can't play with the visuals, there are no external webcams-it's just the bare minimum.
The system is touch, but can also be operated with a compact controller embedded in the seat.
There is wi-fi, and what a WI-fi. Without a shadow of a doubt the best wi-fi I have ever found aboard an airplane, 45mb of download bandwidth enough to download a movie from Netlix And watch it on my tablet. Not only is it super, but it is also free and unlimited. There is no trick and no deception, no vouchers or coupons, unlimited free for everyone.
Headphones, quoting Checco Zalone, are ... mehh... , however, it is not a problem because I have my wireless bluetooth adapter And I'm in a barrel.
Food & Beverage
About 15 minutes after takeoff, the staff distributed salviettnia and a few moments later a small appetizer: bubbles and dried fruit.
Lunch was served immediately afterward. The menu is usable on the screen (damn digitization), as well as the wine list.
The service is done by trolley, chatting with crew members they explained to me that when the plane is full they divide the cabin into 3 and each of them handles 5 rows of passengers. Since there were 15 of us they did everything in one service. This mode of service is quick, however, it is very unbusinesslike. It looks more like premium eoconomy.
Passengers are given a tray containing the appetizer which is fixed. there is no choice: two pieces of cheese and dessert. Compared to what is written on the menu, in my appetizer anchovies were missing. The rest was a mozzarella (tasteless) with some sweet and sour vegetables. The cheese was a small piece of grana cheese (dry and industrial) and a small cube of gorgonzola, not creamy at all. The gianduja cupcake also tasted very little like gianduja.
Having finished the entrée, the choice on the main course is given: between sausage with polenta and salmon with vegetables, I preferred the latter. The salmon with spinach and vegetable capponata Was the best dish of the service.
At the end of the meal, I asked for an espresso, but unfortunately the machine was broken!
About 90 minutes before landing a snack is served. Again with a tray, choice of Nutella crepes or a chicken sandwich. I opted for this.
In conclusion
Let's cut to the chase, the 1-million-point question: Would you take La Compagnie again? The correct answer I feel like giving is. "at the right price yes."
The point is. this business class setup is inferior to that found on other carriers. All offer a configuration that allows all passengers to have direct aisle access and there is so much competition on this route and it is easy to find business class tickets under 2000 euros.
It should definitely not be overlooked. the "quality" of flight in such an aircraft is inferior to that of a wide-body aircraft. An A350, as well as a Dreamliner and the A380 allow the passenger to experience a less pressurized environment and arrive at their destination more relaxed and rested.
Excluding Neos, which offers only economy seats and ITA , the other 4 carriers allow you to book a ticket even without paying simply by using points from loyalty programs or to accumulate new ones to use in the future.
At the cost of a premium economy as that of KLM o Emirates, when the new A380s will also arrive in Italy, it is competitive. If you go up to 1800/2000 euros then I don't think it's competitive also because it lacks the ability to fly using points, and/or use accumulated points on other companies.
Last but not least, the EWR factor. Not landing at JFK for me has a "pejorative" impact, and that has to be put in the balance when choosing how to fly. Moving from New Jersey to Manhattan costs more. By cab I spent 102$ excluding tips and my hotel was right outside the Lincoln Tunnel in Midtown.
Pro
- The service
- The staff
- The wi-fi
Against
- No CC in Italian
- Revisable gastronomic proposal
- Legroom is minimized
