Norwegian doubles frequencies of budget UK-US services

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• MDM says:

  6 Sep6 September 06:20

  “Norwegian”, “budget” & “saving” are not words i associate with each other!

  From a country that charges nearly a fiver for a can of cola and a chocolate bar, I would not expect a bargain!

  • sandgrounder says:

    6 Sep6 September 06:54

    A return from Oslo to JFK can be had for £192. £80 extra for a bag, seat selection and meal. Which is not bad really for the land of the £10 Big Mac meal. UK taxes are such a rip off!

    • Lady London says:

      6 Sep6 September 20:53

      + 1. I’m still recovering from the £9.coffee and cake I had in a cafe is Oslo that was like a much smaller Starbucks. And that was by no means the most expensive of most of the cafes!

• andystock says:

  6 Sep6 September 07:36

  Add the avios points earned and BA is a clear winner. Long Haul low cost simply dose not work from Europe as there are no first or buainess cabins to subsidise the cheap economy seats.

• Euflyer Tom says:

  6 Sep6 September 06:53

  Entirely agree with this analysis.

  Like the short-haul budget airlines, Norwegian do a good job in displaying impressive headline fares, but factor in all the extras/inconveniences and they can get decidedly less appealing.

  I’d take BA every time in the above scenario…

• CV says:

  6 Sep6 September 07:56

  As much as i hesitate to share deals from HDUK, it is relevant: If anyone wants a cheap deal to New York, according to HDUK there is a ‘glitch’ with the booking websites (e.g. Expedia) where if you book NYC as a multi city trip you can get an economy flight for £260 isn return, book LON – NYC – LON – Oslo (or Geneva, or a few other european cities). Make the Oslo flight the day after arriving in LON.

  • Head for Points says:

    6 Sep6 September 08:23

    I don’t think that is a ‘glitch’ per se – BA is selling very cheap tickets out of Oslo at the moment and Expedia is simply adding together 50% of a LHR-NYC and NYC-Oslo. That is how it is meant to work.

    Note that BA will want to check your bags through even if the Oslo flight is next day, although they can be talked out of it.

    • dave says:

      6 Sep6 September 08:49

      Booked lhr-jfk-lhr-oslo
      The lhr-jfk return flights are on vs
      Lhr-oslo is on ba the next day.
      Intend to skip Oslo flight.

      Hope luggage won’t go to Oslo.
      Do I inform ba or just no show

      • Moonman85 says:

        6 Sep6 September 08:54

        I did the exact same thing for valentines weekend and hopefully will meet my in to the nights bonus and so use my free nights in NYC

        Also whilst looking I think I found business class return on Aer Lingus from DUB-NYC for less than £600, a bit more money a bit more hassle as you have to get out there but a very good deal

        • Roger says:

          6 Sep6 September 09:27

          Check the fare. I think it’s one-way. If you need to come back, it’s more expensive. 🙂

        • Moonman85 says:

          6 Sep6 September 10:05

          Yeah not sure what I was doing with the Aer Lingus flights, the multicity ending at oslo works thoigh

      • Rob says:

        6 Sep6 September 10:21

        No show. If you tell them your fare will be repriced

    • CV says:

      6 Sep6 September 09:17

      I couldn’t find BA availability (which I’d prefer), it was all with VS. The onward flight to Oslo from LHR was then with BA, so given the mixed airlines i’d assume baggage wouldn’t be checked all the way through?

      But given the Oslo flight is next day, requiring an overnight in London, it shouldn’t be too hard to make sure the check in staff don’t check the bags all the way through.

      • ed says:

        6 Sep6 September 11:06

        if it has been booked as a “multi city” with seperate legs from nyc-london and then london-oslo then you’ll have absolutely no problem with checked baggage.

• Craig V says:

  6 Sep6 September 15:11

  As a longtime aerospace professional, I wouldn’t touch the 787 with a bargepole. The solution to a battery that goes on fire ISN’T to put it in a bigger box! The FAA should be ashamed. Boeing design & build quality has gone downhill. Could be all the Kansas car assembly workers they now reportedly use?

• Rich. says:

  6 Sep6 September 19:20

  Don’t BA also fly the 787 to EWR?
  Have to say I think your post is very biased, Raffles.

  Norwegian are trying. Let’s give them a chance. Their economy and premium offerings are better than that offered on a 22 year old 747 (BA)
  Gatwick also suits some if us.

  Ryanair are watching carefully, too. They have a proposed. Long haul model that would use 30-50 A350s or 787s.

  • richie says:

    6 Sep6 September 20:38

    sorry but as someone who has flown both i disagree.
    ba use the dreamliner on newark flights aswell remember! not all flights are on 22 year old 747s and even if they were , the service, free drinks, food, avios (doubled if silver or gold), smoothness of t5, heathrows connections to central london, cheaper car parking, all add up to make ba a better deal. especially when they are throwing out prices sub £400 return.

    • Alan says:

      6 Sep6 September 23:59

      Agreed with you until you mentioned the smoothness of T5 😉 Fine for connecting out UK -> International, but hate it on the return, immigration and security always so slow!

      • richie says:

        7 Sep7 September 07:51

        as a uk passport holder i am allways out in minutes if i dont have a bag to collect. the self service booths are quick. i have no experience of the ‘other passports’ line.
        and compared to gatwick, its a doddlle

        • Alan says:

          7 Sep7 September 10:46

          Hi Richie

          No, this is for connecting passengers I’m meaning – ie those of us flying to the regions rather than leaving at London. There used to be a priority queue for those with BA status but it has been stopped – last time I went through there was one desk and it was a 30 min wait due to some complexity of the person at the front. In retrospect I would have been quicker exiting and going landside, but that just sums up how bad the connecting experience can be at T5! (going the other way from domestic to international is absolutely fine as after a simple boarding pass check you’re dropped straight into the middle of the T5 shops!)

        • richie says:

          7 Sep7 September 11:30

          fair plan then, i have never done that as lhr is always my start and end dest.
          sounds like you would be much better going through the self service, going landside, getting the lift to level 5 and going back through security.
          especially with status as yu can use the fast track.

        • Alan says:

          7 Sep7 September 12:10

          Yeah, it used to be not too bad until they got rid of fast track on connections – I’ve done that once, out via ePassport gates and back in via normal security (although compared to EDI I find Fast Track at LHR pretty poor) – overall I still find Schiphol better for connecting, shame it’s a SkyTeam stronghold! 🙂

• Rich. says:

  7 Sep7 September 00:11

  The BA 787 is awful in economy, with a tiny seat and reduced leg room.
  I have been on Norweigian in premium and the seat, 47″ pitch? service and catering knocks the socks off BA wt+

  As regards Avios, I have hundreds of thousands that I mostly can’t use, but I did buy som via the Tesco pre order games at the rate of 1600 Avios for £5
  T5 is a zoo unless you are a GCH. Galleries club can hardly be called restful.

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