Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Norwegian to increase London Gatwick flights and add more Premium seats

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

Norwegian has big plans to expand out of Gatwick, and the airport will be the first to experience an expanded Premium cabin.

In a clear bid to attract business travellers, Norwegian is pulling back from an exclusive focus on opening new routes and will instead focus on increasing frequencies to existing cities.

Gatwick will be the home for the 10 brand new 787 Dreamliners which will enter the Norwegian fleet this year.  These feature 56 seats in the Premium cabin which is 21 more than the current planes.

Norwegian premium

The medium term plan is to increase Gatwick – Los Angeles to 11 flights per week, Gatwick – Fort Lauderdale to 4 flights per week and eventually launch a third daily flight on the Gatwick – New York route.

It has also announced plans to fly from London to South America and Asia, with possible flights to Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing, once the airline receives access to the Siberian flight corridor.

In 2019 eight brand-new single-aisle Airbus A321neo LR will be added to Norwegian’s fleet with plans to serve the US East Coast and Midwest.  These are the same aircraft that Aer Lingus is buying to also use on the US East Coast.

The press release about the changes is here.

My review of Norwegian’s Premium seat is here.


best credit card to use when buying flights

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (September 2025)

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?

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card 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.

You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Your best beginner’s card – 40,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways American Express Premium Plus 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 Credit Card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher 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

6,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

36,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Comments (55)

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

  • Graham Walsh says:

    Re the Gatwick security offer, how busy will it actually be at 6:30am on the 22nd August? Took advantage of some cheap BA tickets with some Avios to Menorca for a summer holiday. As kids are free, the £2 fee is probably a no brainer to walk through.

    I was very lucky at STN this week as they opened a new security queue as I walked up. It took longer to zig zag around the queuing system. However on the way back, using standard passport control (no egates as with the kids) was not a pleasant wait!!

    • Graham Walsh says:

      Booked, now any recommendations on hotels at Gatwick for overnight and parking for a week. HI is coming out at £30 for the night (difference between parking and hotel night). Hilton seems crazy pricing!

      • Cate says:

        Have you tried Travelodge at Povey cross? They’ve recently refurbished and transport to/from LGW North and South (5m-10ins). Parking not undercover if that’s important.

  • Nick says:

    I will eat my hat if Norwegian start flights to Tokyo – the bilateral treaties with Japan are so restrictive it’s almost impossible for it to happen without a major invitation from the Japanese government (which won’t happen). China/HK are a distinct possibility though – if, of course, they decide they can afford the Russian overflight fees (which itself is questionable as they’re rather high!)

  • wally1976 says:

    I thought the £5 for guaranteed No1 Lounge Access stopped including the premium security on 31/8/17?

  • insider says:

    What are your views Rob on the ‘security’ of buying a Norwegian flight at the moment? Their full year results for 2017 looked absolutely terrible, any risk going forward?

    • Rob says:

      We have one for March, put it that way. Financially you are ok anyway via your credit card so the risk is only failure to find an alternative for similar cost.

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

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.