Norwegian Air

[Beaglemom3]

Interesting. Low introductory and regular fares look likely.

They have a $69 one-way introductory fare to Europe and I heard the CEO on the radio today speaking of a $300 R/T fare.

I will research their safety and on-time records.


https://www.norwegian.com/us/

So glad to have some competition to Europe, finally.


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[Ken555]

They've been around for a while. Lots of caveats out there which you should find with a little searching...the main one to me is that they don't have, or didn't have, agreements with other carriers in the event of problems and since they have so few flights if there's a problem you're talking at least a day if not more until you get a replacement airplane.


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[Beaglemom3]

They've been around for a while. Lots of caveats out there which you should find with a little searching...the main one to me is that they don't have, or didn't have, agreements with other carriers in the event of problems and since they have so few flights if there's a problem you're talking at least a day if not more until you get a replacement airplane.


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Yep, thought about that after that debacle with Aer Lingus last year. I had to fly Titan Air because of not enough backup, but they were good.

Time will tell on this, but I would like to see a fare-war to Europe come out of it. YMMV.

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[Ken555]

Yep, thought about that after that debacle with Aer Lingus last year. I had to fly Titan Air because of not enough backup, but they were good.



Time will tell on this, but I would like to see a fare-war to Europe come out of it. YMMV.



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These are two different scenarios. Aer Lingus has had scheduled replacements with charter aircraft. I was unlucky enough to get one earlier this year which put me in a coach seat when I had booked business (as the aircraft had no business class). Aer Lingus is also part of BA Avios and has, I believe, good relations with other carriers.

The Norwegian Air issue is different. They simply don't offer you other alternatives when there's a problem. I met several passengers at a hotel near LAX where I sometimes stay before early morning flights, and they were there because Norwegian had a problem with the previous day's flight and were waiting to hear if they had seats on the next flight. Almost any other carrier would have simply put them on a partner aircraft.

Price wars to Europe are already here, but will likely get more intense as time goes on.


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[elaine]

I booked a flight from Copengagen-Paris after a cruise for our family of 4 for $100 a ticket cheaper than on SAS or Air France. We have trip insurance, so it would cover us for delay. I wonder if trip insurance would cover us to buy tickets on another airline the following day if we got further delayed? I'll have to research that. We could arrive the next day in Paris, but the next day we will have a pre-booked tour. But, I couldn't resist a $60 fare vs. $160 PP.

 

[Bunk]

Norwegian Air says it is considering flying in and out of Westchester County and Hartford instead of the NYC Airports:


http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/06/us-norwegian-air-fares-idUSKCN0S02YF20151006

Norwegian Air CEO says $69 flights from U.S. to Europe around the corner

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA hopes to sell one-way tickets to Europe for $69 as early as 2017 by flying from U.S. airports that have low fees, Chief Executive Officer Bjørn Kjos said in an interview Tuesday.

Europe's third-largest budget airline is considering flights to Edinburgh and Bergen, Norway from U.S. airports that have little to no international service today, such as New York's Westchester County Airport and Connecticut's Bradley International Airport, just north of Hartford, Kjos said.

Average prices on such routes are likely to be closer to $300 round trip, Kjos said, compared with many of Norwegian's fares that run more than $500 today because of higher fees levied by busier airports.

The potential plans are part of Norwegian's broader move to cut prices and take share from traditional flag carriers that dominate trans-Atlantic flying.

While airlines such as Deutsche Lufthansa AG offer travelers hundreds of destinations via connections in airport hubs, Norwegian is aiming to make nonstop service to small cities that straddle the Atlantic more common, which keeps costs low.

 

[Ken555]

I booked a flight from Copengagen-Paris after a cruise for our family of 4 for $100 a ticket cheaper than on SAS or Air France. We have trip insurance, so it would cover us for delay. I wonder if trip insurance would cover us to buy tickets on another airline the following day if we got further delayed? I'll have to research that. We could arrive the next day in Paris, but the next day we will have a pre-booked tour. But, I couldn't resist a $60 fare vs. $160 PP.

I suspect flights within the EU have much less risk, and I wouldn't overly worry about it. I've flown low cost carriers in Europe before and expect I will again...soon. It's the long haul flights that I'd worry more about, since they have - perhaps - one flight per day on some routes (some less, some more) and that could cause more of a problem with schedule. It's also more likely you could, at worst, simply buy new tickets on another carrier for a short flight and it wouldn't be horribly expensive (all things being relative).


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[tashamen]

Europe's third-largest budget airline is considering flights to Edinburgh and Bergen, Norway from U.S. airports that have little to no international service today, such as New York's Westchester County Airport and Connecticut's Bradley International Airport, just north of Hartford, Kjos said.

That would be great! Bradley is my home airport, and I'd much rather fly from there to Scotland next time than from Boston.