The Buzz about Low-Cost French Bee Airline

Let me guess, you’ve probably never heard of the low-cost French Bee airline! Well neither had I before I saw those oh-so-appealing $189 one-way Paris airfare prices advertised on Travel Pirates a few months ago.

And the truth is, the price goes even lower than $189 if you purchase your ticket far enough in advance. This was my first time flying a trans-Atlantic budget airline, so I was a little nervous about how “cheap” the comfort would feel.

Back when there was NO BUZZ…

Last April, I started looking into destinations for a big summer vacation. I’m constantly scavenging various travel deal websites for the best deals. Then, Travel Pirates posted about sub-$400 roundtrip airfare to Paris starting in May on French Blue Airline.

I thought to myself, WOW what an incredible deal, but how have I never heard of this airline?

So, of course, I searched Google for French Blue Airline and to my surprise, not much was popping up in the search results. I kept being redirected to French Bee’s website. Was this airline having an identity crisis? It all seemed a bit fishy!

Sure enough though, the French Bee Airline website advertised the same $189 one-way airfare from San Francisco to Paris. And the best part is, it’s a direct flight! 

I reached out to a friend who’s a travel agent to gauge her thoughts on French Bee Airline. Turns out, she had never heard of the airline either. At this point, I thought maybe this was a delayed April Fool’s Joke.

We later found out that the lack of information was due to the fact that when we took flight in early June, that route had only been in operation for 2 weeks! 

Background on Low-Cost Airline French Bee

Then, I found some legitimate background information on French Bee Airline…

Founded in 2016, the airline was originally named French Blue and operated only a VERY limited amount of flights between France and Punta Cana. French Blue was the first long-haul low-cost French airline. 

When French Blue decided they wanted to break into the United States market, JetBlue actually objected to another airline with “Blue” in its name.

They were forced to change their name to French Bee Airlines, which just officially passed in the last few months…the same time I was traveling with them.

What to Know when Booking a Flight

A couple things to note off the bat:

• Their website could use some UX updates. Some of the buttons don’t click properly and the pages aren’t as responsive as they should be.
• Unlike some other air carriers, French Bee Airlines is very transparent about their pricing for everything. Under the Services & Fares tab, you can find prices for upgrades, bags, food, seat changes, etc.  

Currently, their destinations include:

• Paris
• San Francisco
• Tahiti
• Dominican Republic
• Punta Cana
• And recently added, New York

With only a handful fleets in operation, there are limited flights per week to their destinations. In my case, there were 3 flights per week to Paris from SF. 

Which Fare to Choose?

There are 3 fare options to choose from: Basic, Smart, and Premium.

Basic Fare

As you can expect, the Basic fare is, well, B-A-S-I-C. You are allowed a hand bag (26 lbs/12kg), but no checked luggage. No meal. No refunds. 

FrenchBee Airlines can be similarly compared to a WOW Air (R.I.P) or Norwegian. Fares are able to stay ridiculously low because they pretty much don’t offer you anything but a seat to sit in.

Fares are able to stay ridiculously low because they pretty much don’t offer you anything but a seat to sit in.

This is the option I chose, so I could provide you with an adequate description of what it was like to travel on the low-cost airline French Bee.

Smart Fare

For $50 more each way, you get a carry-on, a checked bag, a meal, and a comfort kit smart. The comfort kit smart includes headphones, an eye mask, socks, a blanket, and a water bottle.

Normally with a Basic Fare, you only get a blanket. We were given the whole comfort kit. Maybe this was a mistake; I wasn’t about to ask questions.

French Bee Premium

This is your typical trans-Atlantic price point. For a significant jump from the Basic and Smart fare prices, you can get a more comfortable chair that reclines further, more food and wine options, and refundable ticketing. Ultimately, you’re getting something in between another carrier’s Economy and Business class for a fraction of the price.

Additional Add-On’s & Fees

Regardless of which fare you choose, here is a guide to additional add-on’s you may want to consider.

Do you have to Pay for Baggage?

If 26 lbs in a hand luggage doesn’t seem like enough for you to fit all your belongs, you may want to consider purchasing a checked bag. 

Since I was traveling with my boyfriend, we decided to purchase one 50 lbs/23kg checked bag each way for $45. Buying one checked bag and sharing saved us $55 each way instead of both purchasing the smart fare.

TIP: Book your checked bag at least 48 hours before departure. The people ahead of us at the airport check-in tried to buy their checked bag there and had to spend $95! EEK!

Purchasing Seats or Seat Upgrades

Whether you go with Basic or Smart Fare on French Bee Airline, there are several seat selection options to enhance your flying experience. With both fares, you must pay extra if you’d like to choose your seat.

On the way to Paris, we didn’t book seats and got placed in the 2 middle seats of the center aisle. Lucky for us, no one was sitting next to us, so we ended up having room to spread out.

On our return flight, we decided to pay $25 to choose 1 seat, hoping they’d move us both since we were on the same reservation. They did, but I can’t guarantee this will happen every time.

If you buy seats at the time of booking, they range from $17 to $45. Bulkhead and exit row seats are the most expensive. They charge a few dollars more for window seats than aisle seats.

If you’re looking for something a bit more intimate for you and your travel companion, there are a couple rows available each flight with only two seats in each section of the row. These are called Duo Seats, which can be chosen during booking on the Step 2 – Services page. You can find out more info about these here.

In-Flight Experience

The economy section of the plane has rows of 10 seats, set up in a three-four-three configuration. There are 376 seats in the economy section.

These are your standard economy seats with hardly enough legroom; 32” exactly. Seats are 16.4” wide and recline 12° with lumbar reinforcement and adjustable headrests. When reclined, the small tray tables were a bit hard to use. 

Entertainment

Each seat comes with an HD touchscreen television. There are numerous free recent release films, television shows, games, and music options to choose from.

One thing I find really cool about French Bee Airlines is that there are external cameras on the top and bottom of the plane so you can watch the plane fly.

There is a USB outlet in each seat, and WIFI is available for purchase ($9 for 10min or $49 for 4 hours).

What is there to Eat?

With the Premium Fare, you get two gourmet (by airline standards) meals for an overnight flight. Dinner includes an aperitif, appetizer, entree, dessert, coffee, and more alcohol. Champagne and wine are available at any time. You get a light breakfast before landing as well.

With Smart Fare, you get a slightly more basic dinner including an entree, dessert, and coffee.

With the Basic Fare, no food is included. You can pay $25 before take-off for a meal. Since I was trying to save money, I decided to pack sandwiches and snacks instead of paying.

There is an on-demand Blue Cafe menu on the chair-back screens with a wide selection of snacks, drinks, and alcoholic beverages ranging from $1-$10. These are available for purchase at any time.

Service

All the French Bee Airline flight stewards were very attentive and kind; constantly stopping by to see if we needed anything. I was very impressed

The girls wear these cute little denim dresses with blue handkerchiefs. 

Check-In Experience

We had two very different check-in experiences flying both directions.

San Francisco

Perhaps because this was a very new route at the time, signage in the airport was almost non-existent. There was no mention of a flight to Paris on French Bee (or French Blue) on any departure screens. The only mention of French Bee Airlines we found was on a sign at the car drop-off.

We talked to the airport information desk who informed us that check-in for French Bee Airline begins 3 hours prior to departure.

Once check-in was open, the process moved very quickly. We were in and out in less than 5min. Because this is a budget airline, all the flight attendants also handle check-in, so there were ample amounts of willing attendants.

Boarding was pretty efficient. We scooted our way to the front of the line so we could be one of the first passengers to board. 

The big negative: We sat on the plane for 2 hours waiting for take-off because half of the plane was stuck in customs. Because the French Bee Ariline from Tahiti to Paris connects through SF, all passengers had to exit the plane, go through customs, and re-board.

Paris Orly

We arrived 2 hours prior to departure and the lines for the French Bee Airline check-in counters were absolutely insane! The line wrapped around the whole terminal and took us about 45min to get through.

Boarding was its own mess as well. There was just a crowd of people waiting by the economy seating marker. As a result, departure was slightly delayed as well.

What else is Buzzing around the French Bee Airline?

Back in May when they first launched their air travel from San Francisco to Tahiti, French Bee was the only airline with direct flights. You could fly roundtrip for as little as $500. 

United has now added a route as well. And, they are combating French Bee Airline’s incredibly low prices with their own steals of $600 roundtrip.

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