Is the Norwegian Gatwick to New York service really ‘low cost’?

The Norwegian service from London Gatwick to New York which I originally previewed back in October has now launched.   They have also started flying to LA and Fort Lauderdale from Gatwick, although I am concentrating on the New York service here.

The company has been promoting itself as offering £300 return tickets.  As the October post above shows, there was a LOT of availability at this level when bookings first opened.  (£300, remember, is less than the tax on a British Airways Avios economy redemption to New York.)

You could put that down to PR ‘bluster’ of course.  The key question is whether Norwegian can continue to offer low fares.

On the positive side, they are using brand new Boeing 787 aircraft which are very fuel efficient.  Using Gatwick also save them a few pounds per passenger in landing fees.  The downside – and it is a big downside – is that they don’t have any bankers on £4,000 return fully flexible tickets sitting on flat beds at the front.

I randomly priced up three ‘long weekends’ in New York this Autumn.  I looked for a day flight going out on Friday and an overnight flight coming back on the Monday.  Not coincidentally, this is exactly what I did myself last weekend.

The first problem is that Norwegian only flies on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  This is not great for the ‘weekend break’ market.  I assumed that Thursday to Tuesday would be the best comparator although, personally, that is at least one night more than I would want (and you are running up a higher hotel bill by staying longer).

Norwegian also prices in Euros.  I have added 3% to the converted £ price to reflect the credit card FX fee you would pay.

Finally, the Norwegian outbound flight is 18.40.  This is OK if you head to Gatwick from work, but if not you are effectively losing a day of your trip due to the 21.30 arrival in New York.  Coming back, the flight leaves at 23.50 from JFK which is pretty terrible given that your hotel will want you out of the door at noon.

Thursday September 4 – Tuesday September 9:

Norwegian: €699 (£573)

British Airways:  £599

Thursday October 23 – Tuesday October 28 (half term):

Norwegian: €583 (£477)

British Airways:  £585

Thursday November 13 – Tuesday November 18:

Norwegian: €545 (£445)

British Airways:  £585

Based on these prices, you would be crazy to take Norwegian for the September trip:

The flight times are not great

The days they fly are not terribly convenient

The flights are not particularly cheap, especially factoring in baggage and on-board food and drink costs

Norwegian has a very tiny fleet and you are running a real risk of being stranded if your aircraft develops problems

The October and November trips are more marginal.  Norwegian save you £110-£140 over British Airways.  However, with BA you could travel Friday morning and not Thursday evening and so save on 1 night of hotel cost.  You could also get a more convenient flight back (say 8pm) which would allow you to get into work in Central London at a sensible time on the day you land.

If you factor in the value of the Avios points awarded by British Airways (1 per mile flown in economy) which are enough for a one-way flight to much of Europe, plus the value of free food and drink, the BA option looks even better.  And if your BA plane develops a problem, there are no shortage of alternative flights.

A saving of £140 over British Airways is, if I’m honest, probably enough to fill Norwegian’s planes – but in terms of convenience, you are getting what you pay for.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.