I’ll soon be flying to Montreal on Tunisair, and am planning on flying back across the Atlantic after that to review a couple more airlines. My plan was to hop down to New York after Montreal to start a transatlantic trip on either Meridiana, Aer Lingus, or Uzbekistan Airways.
However, since I’m in Montreal already, I’m sort of intrigued by Corsair. Reader yyc left the following comment on my recent post asking which other two airlines I should fly across the Atlantic:
Lucky, would you be interested trying Corsair? It’s a french airline and it might be available on your dates. They fly from YUL-CDG and back for ~$1,100. Not quite a premium airline but I think it’s comparable to Meridiana based on the video posted on Youtube.
Here’s the referenced video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5izJhyuusM
I’m always interested in airlines I previously knew almost nothing about. In this case all I previously knew about Corsair is that they’re a low cost carrier based in France with nine abreast seating on their A330s. Oh, and I also knew they had a 747 with the registration F-HSEX that had big red lips painted on it (seriously). But that’s about it…
I didn’t realize they had a premium product, and for that matter it doesn’t look especially good. It looks more like premium economy on some other airlines. However, it’s reasonably priced and available directly out of Montreal to Paris, and indeed, doesn’t look much worse than Meridiana’s business class. The seats apparently recline 126 degrees, and have roughly 46″ of pitch.
Corsair calls it “Grand Large Class” (well, at least in English), and it comes with lounge access, meals, amenity kits, etc.
On one hand, Corsair has a small fleet and their only flight to North America is to Montreal, so I’m not sure how useful it would be to most. At the same time, there’s almost nothing out there about the product, and I do have a thing for seemingly random airlines.
Has anyone flown Corsair? Should I fly them from Montreal to Paris?
New biz class coming to them - https://thedesignair.net/2017/07/07/corsairs-new-business-class-enters-service-in-september/
If you don't review them, who will?
Have flown Corsair twice, Halifax to Orly via Quebec City and Moncton to Orly via Mirabel back when they tried a beachhead in North America with partner Air Canada. Cheap compared to Air Canada and Air France/KLM. Tight seating, decent food. Fed the kids first then gave the adults complimentary beverage service. Grand Large looked like a lazy boy and were maybe 24 of 300 odd seats on the Airbus 330. Closed the curtain off...
Have flown Corsair twice, Halifax to Orly via Quebec City and Moncton to Orly via Mirabel back when they tried a beachhead in North America with partner Air Canada. Cheap compared to Air Canada and Air France/KLM. Tight seating, decent food. Fed the kids first then gave the adults complimentary beverage service. Grand Large looked like a lazy boy and were maybe 24 of 300 odd seats on the Airbus 330. Closed the curtain off so we could not see what they were up to in GL though. Traveling as 4 the savings were worth it. Allowed us a weekend in Paris before heading out to Marseilles. Only fly out of Montreal Trudeau now...a pity. Would use them again.
another vote for AT Club!
@Correction @Lucky
The linked photo shows a G, not an H.
Ben, you totally should fly this and fly Air Carïbes.
They fly primarily to Martinique, Guadeloupe, and St. Martin. It'd be an interesting opportunity to review essentially what I'd consider to be France's version of Condor.
I'd also be interested to see how well you are treated as a non-French speaking person (assuming you don't speak French), since these airlines mainly cater to French-speaking tourists.
This may be hard to do, but if...
Ben, you totally should fly this and fly Air Carïbes.
They fly primarily to Martinique, Guadeloupe, and St. Martin. It'd be an interesting opportunity to review essentially what I'd consider to be France's version of Condor.
I'd also be interested to see how well you are treated as a non-French speaking person (assuming you don't speak French), since these airlines mainly cater to French-speaking tourists.
This may be hard to do, but if you have SkyPesos or Flying Blue miles burning a hole in your pocket, you could try Air France's Caribbean service to position to Guadeloupe or Martinique. They have a few A320s (maybe even less) positioned in the Caribbean for flights between the French Antillies, Haiti, and Miami. It'd be interesting to see how it compares with the American and European services, since it's, well, Air France.
If not, Delta and American have services you could use.
Corsair please!
@Lucky, If you're saying that they are reasonably priced then it looks like (from the video) an great product. Seats look comfortable and the food looks delicious. How much of the video representation translates to the real life experience is what I'd be interested in seeing. If you're not going to do it I may just reposition myself and check it out! lol
Another random one would be TACV, the airline of the Cap Verdes, flying with their 757 over the pond.
Yes please review Corsair! I have booked 2 return ticket for this summer on this route and was hesitating to select grand large for the night flights! And yes they land at Orly, which is much more convenient to go to Paris than CDG. Else you could try Azores Airlines (1x weekly) or an old timer A310 flight on Air Transat!
How about you fly Corsair to Paris, but pair it with another french airline like Air Caraibes. Air Caraibes flies a350s with fully flat seats to Martinique and Guadeloupe from Paris. From there, it's just a quick American Airlines flight back to the US.
Just random thinking - but have you ever given thought to Aircalin's business class?
http://us.aircalin.com/en/comfort-services/classes/hibiscus-classe
Sound like Norwegian Premium with a 46 inch pitch, but with perhaps a better soft product to me.
https://thepointsguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/reclined-.jpg
I vote for Air Transat's new A330 Club Class, given their extensive route network to Europe. Plus the inaugural to TLV from YUL is next week on June 18!
Uzbekistan and Aer Lingus would be far more interesting to read a review of in my opinion. Plus, Riga would be a new city for you (I think?) and is one of my favorite cities in Europe. That being said, all your reviews are fantastic regardless of the airline. Keep up the good work, my friend!
@Lucky:
Actually it says F-HSEX with an "H" not a "G"
I'd rather see Uzbekistan Airways!
@ Ryan – SVA Lover's post was in response to a nonsensical comment on Lucky's Saudia post that suggested that Saudia's First Class on the 777-300ER, with a flat bed, "phenomenal" service and a five course meal, was akin to "premium economy on any given airline".
Agreed, do it. Easy to take a cheap flight from northeast USA and fly to Montreal to take advantage of pricing.
46" pith and 126 degree recline is much better than most PE cabins which are 38" pitch and 98-105degrees of recline. Not business class standards but better than PE
You should do it! No reviews available and they have interesting rates!
So Corsair has actually announced a new J class product which seems to be the old AF NEV seats in a 12-seat cabin. Even if it's not fully flat it will be interesting for French people who want J-style service but at low-cost prices...
http://www.air-journal.fr/2017-05-25-corsair-deploie-son-nouveau-siege-de-classe-affaires-5182030.html
Also they fly out of Orly South (which is the worst terminal at Orly and arguably the worst terminal in Paris) and not CDG ;)
This is a joke..
This looks more like premium economy on any given airline!!
I think the review for Meridiana would be much more intriguing
Do it.
There are plenty of Aer Lingus reviews on the internet
As the Quebecois say, "ouais"!!!!!