Ulysse

What Ulysse does

Ulysse is a privately-held French online travel agency operating a web-based flight booking platform at ulysse.com, headquartered at Marles-en-Brie and structured as a Société par Actions Simplifiée with Axel Guidicelli as President. Its core product aggregates over 450 airlines for search, comparison, and purchase of round-trip, one-way, and multi-city flights, emphasizing transparency (no ads, no hidden fees, commission disclosed in price breakdowns) and human customer support with sub-30-minute response times via email and chat.

The platform layers several add-on products onto the booking core: the FlightClub annual subscription (€99-€149) providing automated check-in, priority support, and family/premium discounts; Ulysse Gift Cards (from €20) available in e-delivery, printable, and postal formats valid for two years across the airline portfolio; a Corporate Gift Card B2B offering targeting HR and rewards budgets; a never-expiring in-account Travel Credits currency; and Ulysse Flex, a cancellation-guarantee add-on underwritten by partner Koala that reimburses up to 80% for cancellations made up to two days before departure. Technology integrations are commodity-grade (Dalenys for payments, Help Scout for support, Google/Facebook for social login), and no proprietary AI/ML capabilities are disclosed.

Ulysse's business model combines transactional commission (1-30% of ticket price, blended low single digits on most fares), recurring subscription revenue from FlightClub, gift card sales (with breakage on unused balances), ancillary service fees (€20 modifications, €10 services, €5 seat selection, €13 baggage handling), and referral economics (€13 credit / €10 referee discount). Go-to-market is primarily direct-to-consumer through the website plus organic channels (newsletter, Trustpilot, referral), with sales-led corporate outreach for gift cards. The company reports 40,000+ lifetime travelers and operates without disclosed external funding.

Name

Ulysse

Legal name

Ulysse, Société par Actions Simplifiée

Website

https://ulysse.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ulysse is a French online travel agency operating a web-based flight booking platform aggregating 450+ airlines, serving individual travelers with transparent pricing and human customer support, supplemented by gift cards, a subscription membership, and a cancellation guarantee add-on.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Travel Agency

NAICS

Travel Agencies (56151), All Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (561599)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHABAJAD

Airline Ticketing & Fulfillment Platforms (ET/EMD/Order)

Travel & Hospitality/Airlines & Air Travel/Airline Distribution & Ticketing (GDS/NDC, Consolidators)

SECONDARYBPAMAIAO

Travel Management & Booking Infrastructure (GDS/Channel Managers/Booking APIs)

Business & Public Services/Web, Mobile & Digital Platforms/Travel, Mobility & Booking Platforms

Keywords

• Online travel agency
• Flight booking platform
• Airline ticket sales
• Travel gift cards
• Flight search engine

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Flight ticket commission: Ulysse earns a commission between 1% and 30% of the total ticket price on each flight booking. This is the primary revenue stream and is included in the displayed ticket price.
2. FlightClub subscription: Annual membership program priced at €99-149/year offering benefits including automated check-in, priority support, and exclusive discounts for families and premium travelers.
3. Gift card sales: Sale of gift cards for flight travel available in denominations starting from €20, with options for e-delivery, postal delivery (+€5), or printable format.
4. Service and processing fees: Fees charged for modifications (€20 per modification/cancellation per reservation), additional services (€10 per service), seat selection (€5), and special baggage handling (€13 administrative fee).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ulysse is an online travel agency that aggregates more than 450 airlines on its web platform, allowing consumers to search, compare, and book round-trip, one-way, and multi-city flights with no ads and no hidden fees. The core booking service is complemented by ancillary paid offerings including the FlightClub annual membership, individual and corporate gift cards, and the Ulysse Flex cancellation guarantee provided in partnership with Koala.

Product overview

Ulysse is an online travel agency (OTA) and flight booking platform structured as a single core product with several integrated add-on services. The core offering is the flight ticket booking platform (ulysse.com), which aggregates over 450 airlines for search, comparison, and purchase. This core is supplemented by the FlightClub premium membership (providing automated check-in, priority support, and member discounts), the Ulysse Gift Card and Corporate Gift Card sub-brands (physical, electronic, and postal gift card formats), the Ulysse Flex cancellation guarantee in partnership with Koala, the Ulysse Travel Credits internal currency system, and the Referral Program. The product portfolio functions as a unified travel booking ecosystem where the core booking engine is enhanced by financial (gift cards, credits), membership (FlightClub), and protection (Koala cancellation) layers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FlightClub: Premium membership program offering check-in services, priority support, and exclusive advantages for €99-149/year.
• Ulysse Flex
• Ulysse Gift Card
• Corporate Gift Cards

Products and services

• Flight Ticket Booking

Quantifiable outcome

• Customer support response time under 30 minutes during business hours
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• KoalacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Koala, a warranty company, to offer Ulysse Flex - a cancellation guarantee service allowing customers to cancel reservations up to 2 days before departure without reason required, with reimbursement of up to 80% of trip cost. This is a flagship differentiator for Ulysse.
• DalenyscoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processor providing secure remote payment infrastructure. Handles credit card transactions (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) with 3D Secure authentication. Ulysse never stores credit card numbers.
• 450+ airline partnerscoreOthersMulti-brand service offering access to over 450 airlines including both low-cost carriers (EasyJet, Ryanair, Vueling) and full-service carriers (Air France). Works with both scheduled and charter flights.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Skyscanner: Global flight metasearch and aggregator comparing hundreds of airlines. Directly comparable to Ulysse as a consumer-facing flight price comparison and booking platform covering 450+ airlines.
• Kayak: Major flight and travel metasearch engine that aggregates fares from hundreds of airlines and OTAs. Directly competes with Ulysse in flight comparison and booking with similar global reach.
• Kiwi.com: Online travel agency specializing in flight aggregation across budget and full-service carriers. Comparable to Ulysse as a direct flight booking platform with value-add guarantees.
• Momondo: Flight and travel metasearch engine popular in Europe. Comparable to Ulysse in aggregating airline fares for consumer comparison and booking.

Broad incumbents

• Google Flights: Search-engine-owned flight metasearch with massive distribution advantage. Overlaps directly with Ulysse's core comparison-and-booking flow and is the dominant scale player in the segment.
• Booking.com: Global OTA giant offering flights alongside hotels, cars, and attractions. Comparable to Ulysse in flight booking functionality but with much broader portfolio and brand.
• Expedia: Major US-headquartered OTA offering flight, hotel, and package booking. Comparable to Ulysse in flight booking, with broader portfolio and global brand.

Emerging players

• Duffel: Developer-focused travel API platform for booking flights across multiple airlines. Comparable to Ulysse in airline aggregation though targeting B2B/developer customers rather than consumers.
• Hopper: Mobile-first OTA offering flight and hotel booking with predictive pricing. Comparable to Ulysse in consumer flight booking with a differentiated digital-first approach.

Regional players

• Liligo: French-based flight and travel metasearch engine. Comparable to Ulysse as a flight aggregator serving European markets with overlapping airline coverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ulyssetravel
• Facebookfacebook.com/ulyssetravel
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ulysse-travel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ulysse