Norway airline fares seem amazing.

Do you mean www.norwegian.com ?

I have used them a couple of times intra Europe - latest back from Venice (to Copenhagen) this summer - and I have always been satisfied; both with service and with precision.

You have to do everything yourself (carry luggae, lift it to the overhead, print your boarding card, etc.) and you have to pay for everything (except the seat is still free and the toilet is still free).

Good luck :-)

If Norwegian Air, then also see their ratings on SkyTrax. They have problems with their transatlantic Dreamliner flights. Also, their budget model applies fully to their long-haul flights.

We are just one data point; however, based on our one experience (four flights), we are very satisfied indeed. Loved the plane, loved the staff. We got what we paid for in terms of checked-in luggage. Our to-flight was via Oslo to Paris and our return was from Berlin also via Olso. I believe we paid about $400 less (per person) than a similar itinerary (via some other hub) on any other competitor airline. Flights were on time; our teenager was happy (so was I) to travel on the Dreamliner (first time for him ... and the rest of us), which is used by Norwegian for transatlantic routes (per my understanding).

You have to do everything yourself (carry luggae, lift it to the
overhead, print your boarding card, etc.) and you have to pay for
everything (except the seat is still free and the toilet is still
free).

BTW, drinking water is free as well (as long as you don't mind getting it in a cup - if you want a bottle, you need to pay), which we did not realize until our final leg!! ;-) You would need to carry your luggage around and lift it into the overhead bin on most (all?) airlines I have been in (but then, I have rarely flown outside of the 'cattle class').

Porcupyn

I've only flown them once on an intra-European flight. They reminded me of other budget carriers like easyjet.

If you are wondering why the price is below other carriers:

http://m.atwonline.com/open-skies/european-airlines-oppose-norwegian-entrant

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-carriers-accuse-norwegian-air-of-trying-to-skirt-rules/

Norwegian's rates to European destinations from the US sparked our European adventure into motion. Last month we flew from New York to Copenhagen for just under $250 per person one way on their Dreamliner plane. Our return flights from Gatwick to New York were roughly $100 more each.

Despite some mixed reviews (we read them too), we would rate our experience favorably. Seats were reasonably comfortable and roomy enough, and I'm a larger person. It is no frills in that you have to pay for everything and the in-flight meal prices are outrageous in my opinion. But we knew that going in.

Rates do vary depending on the destination, with Oslo being the least expensive the last time I looked -- not surprising.

We will be flying with them again.

Laura:

Those of us who have flown budget airlines understand their mode of operation. The links you share are right on the money.

That said, I've talked with Thai flight crew on Norwegian and the Indonesian stewards on Carnival cruiselines. By comparison ... there is no comparison. The flight crew has a much better lifestyle. The Thai crew member I talked with said that he previously worked for Qatar (apparently rated one of the top non-budget airlines) and he loved his job at Norwegian much more.

Porcupyn

Value this talk of airfares and Norway. Thank you. Now if rumors of a fare fight by US airlines against such competitive carriers comes on, maybe we can fly more often. Really can't accept "well fares just reflect demand " bland responses by US airlines, especially.

""Really can't accept "well fares just reflect demand " bland responses by US airlines, especially.""

Agree completely.

There was a story on the news the other night, if this matters to you, apparently Norwegian plays games with its country of residence so it doesn't have to follow all US rules and/or hire pilots at union rates. Didn't have the sound on but that was my sense of the story.

There was some dialogue between Norwegian Air and the U.S. Government when they were applying for rights to fly from Europe. Norwegian was using some international flight crews out of Singapore, and they were not on the same pay range as U.S. or even European pilots.

In a compromise, Norwegian is supposed to be using more flight crews from the U.S.--in order to get approval to fly here.

Norwegian Air --and Turkish Airways--should be welcomed to fly into America. Transatlantic flights are essentially controlled buy four airline alliances, and they're very good at keeping the seat supplies low--and the prices high. We need all the competition we can have.

2015 flights are at an all time high--and unfortunately the jet fuel the airlines are going to use this year has been prepurchased at much higher prices than they'd have to pay today. . It'll still be interesting to see if the four airline alliances are willing to drop their airfares in order to open up travel to more people. After the first of the year, I'd still like to see some cheaper airfares, and I'd be waiting to book flights for late Spring and Summer.

Nor surprising Norwegian is considered to be a better employer than Qatar, which treats its employees like it's still 1947:

http://www.equaltimes.org/qatar-airways-taking-workplace?lang=en#.VJxVD0AXECE

Another data point: my husband and I flew Norwegian round trip from Oakland to Oslo in September/October of this year and got the Dreamliner both ways. We paid about $650 rt per person for tickets. No frills (we didn't pay for meals ahead of time, but did buy some snacks while onboard on the way home), but a good experience. We also flew Norwegian for intra-Europe flights to/from Oslo/Edinburgh while we were over there. We did carry-on only on all flights and worried about our baggage weight (10kg) limit. I think our bags were only weighed once or twice during those four legs, so it really depends on who is doing the checking in. I would totally fly Norwegian again and have kept an eye on some of their sale airfares since we got back from our trip, even though we're in no position to be able to afford another trip so soon. :) A couple weeks ago they had a one-way from Oakland to Stockholm for $184 (in January/February, yes, but still)!

We've flown the Oakland/Oslo route twice now, and I've just purchased our tickets to do it again in August. My husband is from Norway, and we go regularly to visit family. We have been very pleased with Norwegian, and have also used them within Europe (Oslo/Paris), and prefer them to Ryan. For us, the convenience of getting on BART (3 blocks from our home), and getting off the plane in Oslo, with no layover, is incredible. We have had many trips in the past where we've missed connecting flights due to bad weather in NYC or Scandinavia, so this is a real game changer for us.

What's nice about the Norwegian.com website is that you can check a calendar for the month you want to go. There's often a wide variance in airfares that showup on that calendar.

Some days, their airfares are incredibly low by any standards. My question is are the major carriers going to adjust their Spring and Summer airfares from New York JFK, Orlando, Oakland and Miami to closer match Norwegian Air's fares?

I don't know about this yer, but last July we went to Berlin and Copenhagen, and we saw no drops from the majors to match the SAS or Norwegian discount flights.