Review: Norwegian Premium – better than British Airways World Traveller Plus? (Part 2)

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• Nick says:

  17 Jul17 July 07:18

  Was anyone else expecting a disaster in part two as I was reading the article…. such as a cabin crew strike or filthy plane or garbage service or some ancient tin can only to read it was an operational issue and you got better than BA any day apart from the food (only just). Norwiegan looks spot on to me good on them and hope that BA take note

  • JamesB says:

    17 Jul17 July 07:46

    Agreed, I doubt any other airlines out of their home bases could do mucb better than this, and in many cases it would likely be a whole lot worse. If you ask me, providing you with many hours notice and laying on a charter aircraft with better seats with only a 2.5h delay is a huge success for Norwegian. Whilst you acknowledge this in your conclusion I don’t think it’s fair to them to build the story with talk of disaster in part 1, I almost didn’t even bother reading part 2 for that reason alone.

    • JamesB says:

      17 Jul17 July 07:59

      Apologies Anika, I confused Nicks choice of words with my recollection of your ending to part 1, on double checking I see you merely used the word ‘unfortunately’. That said I was still anticipating a disaster like Nick mentions but with hindsight that clearly owed more to what I have previously heard about Norwegian than your reporting.

  • Clive says:

    17 Jul17 July 08:39

    Re ‘ancient tin can’ – given that the new Dreamliners are a selling point, I think for some people ending up on a twenty year old 777 without IFE would be a huge disappointment.

• Michael C says:

  17 Jul17 July 07:26

  As regards checking in late on the way back as you’d been informed take-off was late…am I right that Easyjet, for example, still requires you to check in according to the ORIGINAL timetable? Or is this only if you’re checking in luggage?!

  • Reddot says:

    17 Jul17 July 08:15

    I even had BA challenge me once at Heathrow and attempting to deny me checking in even though the flight was 2 hours late. I insisted and they gave in.

    • Clive says:

      17 Jul17 July 08:58

      We once had an airline text message us to check in later because our flight was delayed. I then read somewhere (can’t remember where) that you can only claim delay compensation if you checked in on the original timings (it makes sense that they don’t want to compensate people who were late themselves and would’ve missed the plane if it was not delayed.)
      It made me wonder if following an airline’s advice to check in later is actually a way for them to deprive you of a compensation claim?

      • zsalya says:

        17 Jul17 July 09:19

        I always regard such messages as helpful for telling me I can expect to eat at the airport (rather than cramming something in before leaving for the airport), need more to read etc, and don’t need to panic if check-in queue is long, but otherwise stick to original timing plans.

        • anikaanika99 says:

          17 Jul17 July 15:56

          Norwegian’s text said that the 23:00 flight was delayed, new departure time was 01:30 and check in would close at 00:30.

• Clive says:

  17 Jul17 July 08:06

  What is there best source for average on-time statistics? A one off delay isn’t as much of an issue as knowing it happens all the time, if it does.

• Vand says:

  17 Jul17 July 08:45

  Very common practice for Norwegian to switch out equipment on dreamliner routes. I was booked a couple of years ago OSL JFK in premium and Norwegian messaged that morning to say we would now be on a chartered airline. I didn’t take my chances – I cancelled (since they have to offer a full refund) and picked up a last minute BA flight (cheaper!) and got the avios instead. I’m still put off Norwegian long haul to this day because of that (but for short haul they are excellent)

  • Ian says:

    17 Jul17 July 14:25

    Agreed, it’s very common, and in my worst experience ended up with my flight being held at the gate for three hours, _after boarding with everyone strapped in_ while they attempted to reconcile their Dreamliner manifest against the HiFly A340 (25 years old, no IFE) that they had leased.

    The crew told me they had been on duty since 06:00 that morning, and it was 19:00 by the time we departed for the seven-hour flight. I have no idea how that was safe or legal.

    DY then declined my EU261 claim for the three-hour delay saying that it was a lightning strike that grounded their original aircraft, so the fact that their ground staff bungled the paperwork was irrelevant. I got paid in the end, but after the CAA intervened.

• Jessica Dante says:

  17 Jul17 July 09:38

  I think that that 11pm NYC flight is often delayed because of their tight schedule. I loved our LGW>JFK flight on Norwegian, but after a 6+ hour delay at JFK with that 11pm flight, with no food or water given for about 3 hours, and ground staff that only appeared at 2am to tell us they didn’t know anything, I wouldn’t recommend the airline.

  • Tom says:

    17 Jul17 July 15:16

    I agree that the 11pm flight is a killer. Even when on time it isn’t especially pleasant! The new earlier flights should be a win for that.. everything else I love about Norwegian!

  • Michael C says:

    18 Jul18 July 08:51

    Those East Coast night flights back are so awful due to the timing/”short” flight that I’m amazed there are not more daytime offers than the odd BA/AA early morning flight from JFK!

• Clive says:

  17 Jul17 July 10:34

  I wonder if there is a point in their fleet expansion where they plan to have a spare aircraft and crew of their own ready to cover for problems – I’d prefer to wait until that point…

  • Ian says:

    17 Jul17 July 14:29

    Unlikely. Their market segment is made up of people for whom price is practically the only concern. As long as they continue to have rock-bottom fares and successfully dodge EU261 claims, they have no reason to change.

• Heather says:

  17 Jul17 July 11:49

  I would probably second this writer’s opinion had it not been for the unfortunate experience recently. I was indeed looking forward to my first Dreamliner flight in premium class on Norwegian from Gatwick to Los Angeles. As it was likely to be one of my last flights after 40 years of travelling this route on other aircraft, I had chosen a window seat on the Premium Norwegian flight because of the price, and the seat. Whilst the enormous legroom is undisputed, I was extremely disappointed to find my seat did not function as it should! It wouldn’t recline properly and the leg rest wouldn’t work! Nobody could fix it until, I was told, “an engineer could come on board in Los Angeles”! That said, I was provided with half a dozen blankets (my idea) upon which to prop up my legs, though it wasn’t such a great solution. The only empty seat was in the middle row, between two passengers. I chose to stay at the window as it was a daytime flight, and I enjoyed the views. It is correct though, that if the passengers in front immediately recline their seats fully, put on their masks and cover their heads with blankets, as my fellow passengers did, it was nigh on impossible to get out. Even the passenger next to me, on the aisle, had difficulty. With no space at all next to the window to escape, I would consider an aisle seat next time.
  I enjoyed the meals, and the drinks, which were pretty much unlimited upon request. I found the entertainment system perfectly adequate, and caught up on as many films as I could in the time I had, though I did use my own headphones for the same reason quoted in the review.
  Norwegian were fairly reasonable about my complaint afterwards, but would not refund me the difference between Premium and Economy, offering instead £25 cash or 1000 cashpoints in a Gift Voucher. Having calculated 1000 cash points to be the equivalent of approximately £89, I accepted that compensation and hope my next flight on Norwegian will be more successful.

• mark2 says:

  17 Jul17 July 12:00

  Some people get very excited about the Dreamliner but on a recent trip we went out on 777 and back on 787 and there was no material difference.

  • clive says:

    17 Jul17 July 12:05

    If only someone had told Boeing and saved them all of that time and effort 😉

    • Rob says:

      17 Jul17 July 12:08

      I know some people who do swear they can tell the difference in how they feel when they land, given the different cabin pressure, but I admit I don’t. The slightly bigger windows are obviously handy but not so obvious. Generally, though, you are at least getting a shiny new aircraft. I did a 777-200 on JAL over Easter and it was a dump.

      • Talay says:

        17 Jul17 July 13:15

        I fly the A380 regularly on LHR-AUH and in reverse but sometimes you feel the pilot has the pressure up too long and I’ve complained as one flight really hurt my ears. Normally I hardly feel anything.

        So I don’t think it is so much to do with the plane as with the pilot.

  • AVM says:

    17 Jul17 July 15:30

    Flew on 787 only twice and on 380 once, but quietness and almost normal air humidity instantly made me a big fan of both. I remember having very nasty colds after flying long haul in old 777 (or 767, don’t remember) and inability to sleep because of extremely dry air (even in fully flat business seat).

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