Norwegian Airlines

Just type in "norwegian airlines' in the search bar at the top of the page and get 100s of sources to read

use seatguru to compare seat size and spacing ( 'pitch') of varoius airlines

You do know you will be charged for things you never dreamt you could or would be charged for, right? In a word, or two, travel LIGHT!

Norwegian has the newest fleet of airliners in the sky. They are equipped with Boeing's latest designs for interiors.
If you have access to Norwegian, to for it. And don't forget that they are Europe's third lsrgest budget airline with connecting flights all over.
We flew home from Dublin on their new generation Boeing 737 Max. Don't be surprised to see more of these new generation single aisle planes in the future. They are 40% more fuel efficient than older 737s and their maximum range from Europe is the Northeast U.S. They also have a smaller version of Boeing's 787 interior design. Only thing is they are missing the audio visual equipment of the 787s.

I've taken two flight last 60 days. both LGW to ORD. On that route they used those spacious 787 Dreamliners which in their version of economy to me felt like flying in Premium economy on e.g. United but nicer as the interiors do not have wear. Their entertainment system is modern. Bringing your own food and water is better than what most airlines have to offer and saves you more. You just have to be prepared. They give you more bang for your buck than most airlines for international flights IMO.

Our flight from Denver to Gatwick was on a 787. Very comfortable plenty of leg room compared to other recent flights I have had and plenty of entertainment options at the seat for free. 10 kg limit on carryon and they did weigh it. We did not pay for seat assignment but were put together in the middle of the plane. Brought our own food, The only extra we did was pre pay for one check bag for a family of four which we split back into our carryons when we arrived. Price with that was still much lower than our other options.

They're not always the cheapest option though. I looked at them for a premium economy flight from London to Orlando and it worked out more expensive than flying business class with BA and that's without taking into account the additional charges such as baggage, food and drink etc.

It's comfortable enough, I didn't notice much difference than with other airlines (I'm just under 5' though so space isn't too much of a concern). I will NEVER fly them again though because they cancelled my flight to Paris. They sent me a text in the middle of the night the day I was supposed to fly. I woke up to that, called them and no one would help me until they opened a hotline and they didn't know when that would be. They fly every other day out of Boston and the next flight was full, they offered the one after that which would have given us 1 night in Paris instead of 5. My friend got so frustrated she had them book us on their flight from JFK leaving the same day. Then, when the hotline finally opened, I called and they booked us on a Delta flight to JFK. We were able to tell our sob story to the gate agent and he was nice enough to put us in first class, but I will never fly them again because their customer service (corporate) was so bad. Now, their customer service at the airport and on the plane was fantastic!

Just beware that they are known for canceling flights and have a backup plan if you book with them.

Just beware that they are known for canceling flights

That is exactly why I won’t give them my business. I’ve read many horror stories like that, not that they’re unique in that regard. All the bargain lines leave you hanging like that. If British, American, or Delta have a mechanical you stand a much better chance of being on your way much sooner.

Indeed, they cannot delay with any problems they may have as they are not connected to any other airline, and yoiu are at their whim.

My daughter -in-law and son were just involved in two round-trips from Newark to Rome, hers for semester abroad, his to visit in the middle. Of the 4 flight segments, only one was on time. One was cancelled without notifying her until she was halfway to the airport (amazing, since they knew that the airplane itself had been cancelled that morning and did not fly from Rome to Newark. She was placed on a flight to Copenhagen 9 hours later, a flight that they made created on the spot, and made to wait 24 hours to then have them fly her to Rome -and charged for that ticket and her pre-paid luggage. She barely made her first meeting. Took two months to get her compensation. My son's flight was cancelled out of Newark, they did at least shuttle him to JFK for a Rome flight, this left 8 hours late. His return flight was off by almost 3 hours. That's 3 out of 4 messed up flights.

And the most mind-boggling aspect, for which I will always recommend never use Norwegian: Please read back to where they made d-i-l PAY to be flown from Copenhagen to Rome and PAY for her luggage, in spite of the fact that she had already paid for this from Newark to Rome. No option-you can pay this, or you can stay in Copenhagen. A company that can do this cannot ever have my business. I do not care if this was eventually refunded, they had to pay the bill up-front.

Good post, Larry. And then, speaking as a pilot, there is the issue of who’s in the ‘office’. I don’t care how safe planes are now, ‘stuff’ still happens. You want your kids being flown by virtual n00bs, as is the case with ALL the bargain lines because they don’t pay jack, or an ex-RAF, USAF, or US Navy pilot?

I hear the Dreamliners are nice, but we flew from Providence to Dublin in a pretty basic 737 and it wasn't fabulous. It was worth it for the money we saved, though.

They did weigh our bags and they do charge for everything. Come prepared!

Just booked flight Newark to Paris Orly in March. ($317 rt !!!)
This will be 3rd time flying with them. Last time out of Stewart airport in Newburgh NY) to Edinburgh and Dublin.
First thing you must know and totally understand. This is a low cost carrier. You pay for everything extra. (breathing air is complimentary).
Had no online check in, must stand in line at airport.
Does not have alliance airlines that they can book you on in case of a cancellation. (they do offer a very reasonably priced trip cancellation insurance)
With all that said, our experiences have been good. Flight was comfortable, seats not bad. Staff helpful and friendly.
I travel with carry on only, did check a bag coming home from Scotland once to transport some single malt goodies then...
In US they did check combined weights of all carry on items and seem to be pretty strict with it. If you try not to get away with anything, you should be good to go. I always look at Plan B options in case of a cancellation, other airlines, refundable hotel deposits etc.. Though haven't needed them.
We like to bring our own food, so don't have to wait for expensive food service. get on plane, eat if desired then put on the blinds, take my Xanax, put on my noise cancelling headphones, then goodnight!
I find it desirable because I'm a type of person that plans to the extreme and love to bag a bargain, but also know that you get what you pay for. So if you're looking for more flexibility, and less hassle. Pay more.
I like being on a direct flight for as cheap as possible, because frankly the flights are the least memorable part of my trip.

I want to say that Norwegian hires a lot of pilots and cabin crew who have spent previous time working for the Middle East 3 and were looking to switch to working for a company with better labor relations policies.

My 24 year-old-son who has traveled extensively throughout Europe on budget airlines and regularly travels between Boston and Moscow to visit his girlfriend flew Norwegian Airlines once and said never again.

I hear good reports about Norwegian. The things that give me pause flying them...

1. As noted by posts above, Norwegian has infrequent flights, so a cancellation can cut a significant chunk our of your vacation and/or result in increased costs due to rebooking flights.

2. As happened 2 weeks ago, low-cost transatlantic carriers occasionally go belly up without much warning, leaving passengers stranded.

3. Per airline analysts, Norwegian used creative accounting to make losses in what were good times for most of the airline industry (fiscal year 2017) look smaller than they were.

Apparently Norwegian has been pulling their 787's out of service to address problems with the Rolls Royce engines. They are replaced with leased charter planes and people are not happy.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i10702-k11526125-o350-Norwegian_changed_flt_to_Privilege_Style_Pros_Cons-Air_Travel.html

We flew Norwegian LAX-Paris earlier this month, and at first I really sweated the strict baggage limits. My wife and I shared one checked bag for a week's trip, and each had a rolling carryon and personal item. I took a RS rolling bag and she had a small American Tourister roller. At LAX, they weighed all bags except for the personal item. (Note that Norwegian has a combined weight limit for the carryon and personal item, but the agent didn't even look at the second bags.) On the return trip from deGaulle, the agent weighed all bags but the personal item. We weren't asked to use the sizer either way.

We purchased meals in advance, which was a mistake. They're tasty, but really small, and certainly not worth the $45 each Norwegian charges. The better move is to bring your own food or purchase their sandwiches at $7-8. But make sure you do it early in the flight, as they tend to run out of snacks and booze later in the flight.

My wife wanted extra legroom, so we went with exit row seating. This is nice, but on the 787 we flew (great plane, BTW), the exit row is next to the forward galley, so there's a lot of "traffic" and noise. The flight to Paris was packed, so no escape. The return flight was half full, so I moved to another row.

Our biggest complaint is that Norwegian does not yet offer wifi on its US-Europe flights. Luckily, we had downloaded books and music, so it wasn't too bad, but the inability to get news (we flew on Election Day night) was frustrating. While this isn't a dealbreaker for most, it is for us, and we won't use Norwegian again until they add wifi on these routes.

Service was average, the cabin crew friendly. I appreciated the ability to order drinks directly from the touch screen rather than hail a flight attendant every time I wanted one.

All in all, a decent experience, but the lack of wifi rules out flying Norwegian to Europe again for us. As long as you adhere to the baggage limits and are mindful of the other quirks of these budget airlines, it's a great deal for the money.

I'll admit the fact that they have a reputation for cancelling flights is concerning, although after several trips with them it has not happened to me.

I love the dream liner plane and really think it does contribute to less jet lag (they claim it's pressurized differently from other planes).

The price is usually unbeatable - even taking into consideration paying for seat assignment, baggage, meals, etc. I like that you can choose which things are important to you and only pay for those.

Last summer when I went to check in I found that due to a plane change the seat assignment I had made (and paid extra for) was now a middle seat instead of a window. They reassigned me to another window seat (but further back) and told me to go to the website when I got home and put in for a refund. I did and they actually did refund me the price I had paid for the seat assignment. Took 3 months but they did do it.

That 787 is a really impressive plane. And I think there's something to that pressurization thing. We hadn't flown across the pond in a couple of years, but we really didn't experience much jet lag on this trip as compared to the last time.

The British air travel authority recently reported that Norwegian was the subject of more complaints, as a ratio to the number of passengers, than any other airline serving Britain. Many centered on late arrivals and flight cancellations with little notice. But if you are going to be stuck in a plane, the 787 would be my choice. I particularly like the shade-free windows, which can be adjusted from light to dark electronically, although the controls are fiddly.

Norwegian continues to try different airports, announcing it wants fly into Canada, although the service has not yet started despite a summer-2018 target.