Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Norwegian Reward now offering free flights and upgrades – and adds new US routes

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Norwegian doesn’t sleep.

On the contrary, the amount of press releases landing in my inbox is pretty impressive for a relatively small airline which hasn’t been on the radar of frequent flyers for very long.

We covered their loyalty program here.  Even though it’s a revenue based earning and spending loyalty programme, there are decent benefits for frequent flyers and occasional leisure travellers can use their CashPoints to get money off their next flight.

787 Dreamliner at LGW small

The problem with revenue-based loyalty programmes, unfortunately, is that they aren’t very exciting.  CashPoints is a rebate programme – the more you spend, the more cash you get off a future flight.  There’s nothing wrong with that, but you can’t argue that it lacks the allure of a ‘free flight in First Class’ that Avios can offer.

Norwegian has woken up to this, and is offering free long-haul flights and upgrades.   This is a temporary offer based on your travel between now and the end of 2017, for redemption next year.

It is called ‘Limited Edition Rewards’ and this is how it works:

To receive a free long-haul flight – passengers must have flown 20 round trips (40 one way flights) and earned at least 3,000 CashPoints between 1st January and 31st December 2017.

To receive a free long-haul upgrade – passengers who have flown 10 round trips (20 one way flights) on Flex short-haul or long-haul tickets between 1st January and 31st December 2017 will receive a free upgrade to Premium on a long-haul flight in 2018. (Stay tuned for my review of Norwegian’s Premium product).  The upgrade will be valid for tickets booked in the cheapest LowFare category. 

Here is the small print taken from the Norwegian website:

  • The travel period for the free long-haul ticket and Premium upgrade is the entire year of 2018, except for the following dates:

1st to 15th January 2018, 21st March to 3rd April 2018, 15th June to 26th August 2018, 14th to 31 December 2018

  • The free ticket is personal and may only be used by the Reward member/customer who earned it.
  • The ticket is a round trip LowFare+ ticket to any of Norwegian’s destinations and includes seat reservation and luggage. Meals are also included on long haul flights.
  • The ticket follows the same fee, change and cancellation restrictions as ordinary LowFare tickets.
  • The trip must start and end at the same airport in the country in which the member resides.

More information can be found here.

Note that there is only a small booking window to lock in your free flight.  You cannot book until 1st January 2018 and you MUST make your booking by 31st January.  Any upgrade or free flight vouchers not redeemed by 31st January will be lost.

And new UK routes ….

This is also a good place to squeeze in the fact that Norwegian has also announced a couple of new US routes from Gatwick.

Chicago will launch on 25th March 2018 and Austin will launch on 27th March 2018.   This follows recent announcements of the first non-US long-haul routes to Singapore and Buenos Aires.

best credit card to use when buying flights

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (December 2024)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Avios. Click here to apply.

You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Category

General

Comments (27)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Clive says:
    11 Jul11 July 07:22

    Yes, but comparing to the number of flights needed on other carriers (for status) overlooks the possible price difference per flight… What is the average cost of a short haul flight on BA vs Norwegian and how much does that Silver cost? 🙂

    • Save EC Rewards says:
      11 Jul11 July 12:08

      I guess the point is I’d never see taking 40 flights to earn one as an incentive, but I may choose Norwegian if the prices/schedule suits me. So this is a bit like a train company offering Nectar points, it has no influence on my decision to travel them, but of course if I qualify I’ll claim my free flight.

      My favourite use of Avios at the moment is short minute flights booked either the day before or occasionally on the day. It’s great if your destination is not fixed and just want to go somewhere on a weekend (coupled with Hilton/IHG points)

  • Leo says:
    11 Jul11 July 07:37

    Seems that you have to fly an awful lot. I’m not sure if this really helps with the lack of “aspirational” value in the scheme. To be flying that amount in the first place it surely is likely to be work related only? Looking forward to that review though. Norwegian may be key in my plan to dump BA altogether.

  • Ade says:
    11 Jul11 July 08:29

    OT. This is completely unrelated but I was hoping someone on here might know the rules regarding being denied boarding. It’s a bit of a long story but basically BA did not let me on a flight to Glasgow yesterday at London City. I got a seat on another flight just over an hour later but I’m wondering if I should have been offered any compensation? Nothing was mentioned at the time but a few articles online seem to imply I should have been given information regarding this. Any help will be appreciated!

    • the real harry1 says:
      11 Jul11 July 08:33

      no compo if they got you to your destination no more than 3 hrs late arriving

      • Rob says:
        11 Jul11 July 08:36

        My understanding is that less than 3 hours doesn’t get you anything, although BA should have coughed up refreshment vouchers I imagine. There must be some come back though – if flight A at 6pm is £200 and flight B at 8pm is £100, there must be something to stop BA selling unlimited £200 tickets and then moving people to the cheaper service …..

    • Marc says:
      11 Jul11 July 10:47

      I think you’re entitled to 50% of the compensation = 125 EUR. You were denied boarding on your flight but got to your destination with a delay under 2 hours.

      • Ade says:
        11 Jul11 July 12:07

        Ah ok. Well that sounds promising! My only concern is that BA had made me standby for the flight in question. I had no idea they had done this. They just offered me a different flight due to my original one having a huge delay. Even though I never initiated the change or knew I was standby I have a feeling BA won’t see it like that! Thanks for all your help.

        • the real harry1 says:
          11 Jul11 July 12:23

          but it’s a black & white situation, I doubt if BA will be that difficult though it might mean you making the threat of legal action

          you were denied boarding, quite simply – but you were re-routed to get you in under 2 hrs delay, you will get EUR125 plus any legal costs you incur if they play difficult

  • Max says:
    11 Jul11 July 08:56

    Slightly similar tale of woe for me today – denied boarding by Flybe because I forgot my photo ID….OK my fault, but many airlines inc BA don’t even ask for photo ID so ever so slightly annoying. Am I due any compensation or refund at least of APD ?

    • Clive says:
      11 Jul11 July 10:21

      BA don’t ask for photo ID…? Flying where?

      • Max says:
        11 Jul11 July 12:39

        Domestic flight, it’s just crazy when you can get through security and they stop you at the gate. I know my forgetfulness but when I queried refunds they said they were a ‘no refunds airline’ haha are you kidding me? Not a great advert.

      • Alan says:
        13 Jul13 July 19:44

        Yep, work ID cards fine too 🙂

    • Save EC Rewards says:
      11 Jul11 July 15:48

      I almost got caught with this when flying Aer Lingus to Belfast (UK domestic, was booked via the BA site), I decided to take ID just in case and it was lucky I did.

  • flyforfun says:
    11 Jul11 July 12:47

    How soon do Norwegians “cash points” accrue? I bought one leg and hoped to get a few pounds off my next leg, but nothing has appeared as yet. Does the flight have to be flown? Just wondering as the tickets are non-refundable there I thought you’d get the cash back straight away.

    • ankomonkey says:
      11 Jul11 July 14:44

      Only ever flown 4 flights with Norwegian, but cash points accrued within a week of flying.

  • Glasgow23 says:
    11 Jul11 July 13:18

    O/T but I have recently booked a long-haul flight with Alitalia – I would normally avoid but it was a ridiculously good deal. What rights do I have if they become insolvent? Does EU261 apply or am I left to speak to my credit card company etc? Thanks!

    • James says:
      11 Jul11 July 15:23

      What makes you worried about them??

      • Rob says:
        11 Jul11 July 16:28

        Apparently Etihad’s loan to Alitalia is secured on its Heathrow slots. With only 3 Heathrow slot pair at present, Etihad is obviously very keen to get its hands on these. It would probably mean the end of Alitalia from Heathrow, though, irrespective of whether the airline survives – which, in one form or another, it clearly will because they almost always do. Sabena and Malev excepted.

        • the real harry1 says:
          11 Jul11 July 21:26

          didn’t Etihad also own 49% of Alitalia? or is that the same thing?

          nearly worthless in any case

          • Rob says:
            11 Jul11 July 23:01

            Same thing. They bought the equity and then lent the company money, secured on the slots (allegedly).

      • Fenny says:
        11 Jul11 July 21:41

        The flights are OK, but everything else about them is a total joke.

    • James says:
      11 Jul11 July 15:25

      If they were to go bust, you can just phone your credit card company and they will sort it, as it will be over £100.

      • Glasgow23 says:
        11 Jul11 July 16:07

        But presumably nothing beyond that (for hotels, replacement flights etc.)?

        • Angmo says:
          11 Jul11 July 21:24

          No, but thats why you buy travel insurance for bankruptcy/insolvancy mitigation.

  • random says:
    11 Jul11 July 22:22

    CFO resigned recently from Norwegian – just before Q2 results. Should be interesting to see if there are so skeletons to be exposed…

  • Hugo says:
    12 Jul12 July 00:04

    Warning – this is just another complaint line!
    “free flight in First Class that Avios can offer” ? I’m not knocking it as the discount is still very significant but at £560+ taxes and fuel ‘surcharges’ a pop it’s not “free”

    On the other hand, I am very very pleased with my shiny F ticket for my gf and I to KUL in August (thanks to Raffles 🙂

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

LIMITED TIME OFFFER: Get 80,000 WELCOME BONUS POINTS (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME SPECIAL OFFER: GET POINTS WORTH UP TO 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

SPECIAL OFFER TO 14TH JANUARY: Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!