Have Cheap Flights with Norwegian Airlines Helped You Visit U.S. More Often?

We're visiting London and flying from London to Belfast soon to check everything out before we moved but we were shocked when we found $350 tickets straight from Denver to London round trip.  There's some catches, like you can't reserve your seat, or get meals without paying $45 extra each way, but we're just packing our own meals.  You also have to pay to check a bag, but we travel out of our backpack usually anyway.  We were just shocked that we could make the trans-Atlantic journey for so cheap.

We're looking forward to using the deals to visit family more often than we originally planned.

No, we find that time is harder to come by than money for both us and for our families.  I used a very cheap WestJet flight when they first opened the route to visit a friend in Canada I hadn't seen in a few years.  But in general I go for a direct flight on my chosen days at my preferred times to make it easier for myself and my family.

That's great if it'll help you though!

I opt for direct.  I've got two young kids and knowing when the door opens on the other side that the journey is over means a lot.

I contemplated Norwegian this summer as they fly to Sanford (north of Orlando) which is two hours from my parents.  The fare was considerably lower than BA which flys direct to Tampa (20 minutes from parents).  We did consider it.  By the time we added in some bags (required for bringing home USA products) it wasn't a big savings.  Sure enough about two weeks later BA flight prices dropped and Tampa was the same price anyways.  So win win.

Actually, that WestJet flight was a bit of a pain.  I went London to Toronto to Atlanta all on the same day and then Atlanta to Toronto to stay 5 days to London on the way back.

The flight itself wasn't bad.  There were no meals or inflight entertainment (bought sandwiches and tablet), but it took off late, landed more than 2 hours late, I had to clear customs, ran through the damn airport which seemed to have no signs, missed my connection and was stuck in Toronto airport for 8+ hours until a free seat was available on a much later flight.  I had to rearrange with family and it was a mess.  I swore at that point to never fly non-direct again, though I probably would if visiting a friend like I did.  It was late taking off and landing again on the Toronto to London flight and messed me up there too.

Several airlines do direct from London to Atlanta and I'll stick with those for convenience. 

nah. it's made me consider it, but the cheap tickets (around £200 for london to boston) go SO quickly that I just can't get them.

but it's usually only in the £350 range for me to fly direct with virgin to boston, so I typically do that. when I travel to the states i take a mostly empty large suitcase (or have loads of cadburys in it) and then return with new clothes/coats/sheets/anything made from cotton that is a pain to find in the uk/american foods. definitely have to check a bag, and i don't want to take off more time from work than necessary so the direct flight is nice.

a few years ago i flew icelandair - i think it was about £300 roundtrip when virgin was £400 - and it took SO much longer. the flight to boston is usually 6 hours, with iceland added in it was about 12. that just wasn't worth it.

My family is in WNY, there are no direct flights or cheap flights there so I fly direct to Toronto. But it's still never as cheap as that, and the quality of the airline matters when you have disabilities and need accommodation. There are some airlines I'll never use again even though they are sometimes more affordable!

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My family is in WNY, there are no direct flights or cheap flights there so I fly direct to Toronto. But it's still never as cheap as that, and the quality of the airline matters when you have disabilities and need accommodation. There are some airlines I'll never use again even though they are sometimes more affordable!

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My parents want to relocate to an area with no direct flights.  I offered them a list of acceptable cities or to pay them off to stay.  They think I'm joking.

My parents want to relocate to an area with no direct flights.  I offered them a list of acceptable cities or to pay them off to stay.  They think I'm joking.

Yeah, it definitely makes it way more difficult to see them. I'm OK with a 2-3 hour drive from Toronto, but the traffic there has been getting more and more horrendous so I'm not sure how much longer that'll be a good option. I love Toronto as a city and have many friends there so I'm always happy to visit.

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After having tried almost every possible permutation over the last 21 years I now stick to direct flights where I can pay a little extra for additional legroom and choose my seats in advance.

The worst situation is having a layover when entering the US and having to re-go through security and face the massive lines.

My parents flew back on January 1.  They were able to save $700 by flying through Philly. 

My mom said if she had been handed the $700 as they finally got off their flight in Tampa, she's not sure she would have taken it.  Hopefully they will get better at planning (they tend to book late) and just get direct flights at the better time.

If a budget airline flew direct, I would be 100% happy to book (assuming it was still affordable after adding bags).

Hey KF - we are trying to get to Anna Maria for mid-May and while we have taken the Tampa flight before on BA, its such a crap plane and we think we can do slightly better (bit of an adventure) doing a slightly different route through Miami. Or at least it gives us more options (BA makes me cranky!).

What is that drive like from MIA? We would probably pad the trip with a few days either side so we arent doing like we did last fall in driving 4 hours after a 11.5 hour flight (I really thought I was going to vomit I was so tired, thankfully other half was driving!) but I guess I am trying to figure out if its worth it. I've never been to Miami or that part of Florida, although Boy has.

I'm jealous of those who can take direct flights! I'm from the Cleveland, Ohio area and there are no direct flights there... in the past I've seen directs to Detroit, Pittsburgh- why not Cleveland?  I'd even take Columbus.

Last summer I flew Manchester-Boston-Cleveland with Thomas Cook for about £550, which is the cheapest fare I've paid in years. Only downside was a five hour layover in Boston (six hours on the way back to the UK though, oof), but it actually wasn't that bad. I've had to run like a crazy person before to catch my flight, so although it was long it was also nice in a way to relax, get dinner, watch a movie on my laptop. Plus just getting off the plane, going through immigration, rechecking luggage, going through security again, and finding your gate take up a ton of time.

If I go visit my parents they are north of Milwaukee an hour so any flight home means a 2.5 hour drive from Chicago. Its a pain but I can usually convince my mother to stop at the excellent pizza place in downtown Milwaukee on the way.

WOW and Icelandair just started a bunch of new services, including one to Kansas City. I don't imagine anyone is going to start Milwaukee anytime soon!

If you know where to look (google flights) /work the fare classes it can be pretty easy to get decent fares (some amazing deals out there right now in economy) or even premium+/business class fares for fairly reasonable prices and not much of a premium over economy. A few tricks involved backing out into a start point in Europe (Dublin, Stockholm, Oslo, Sofia tend to be excellent starting points) and checking from there. We also run a lot of money through a BA credit card and play the Avios game - best used for upgrades or shorthaul into Europe. All this tends to work best if you have flexibility or can fly on shoulder seasons like late Spring or early Fall.

I do like Norwegian and have taken them plenty of times shorthaul to Sweden and would probably consider them longhaul to the US. However, even considering traveling light with a wheely suitcase and going somewhere on the east coast for a few days (buy cheap electronics,see a museum, etc), it still isn't going to compare to what I can get on BA for a flight that short.

Hey KF - we are trying to get to Anna Maria for mid-May and while we have taken the Tampa flight before on BA, its such a crap plane and we think we can do slightly better (bit of an adventure) doing a slightly different route through Miami. Or at least it gives us more options (BA makes me cranky!).

What is that drive like from MIA? We would probably pad the trip with a few days either side so we arent doing like we did last fall in driving 4 hours after a 11.5 hour flight (I really thought I was going to vomit I was so tired, thankfully other half was driving!) but I guess I am trying to figure out if its worth it. I've never been to Miami or that part of Florida, although Boy has.

Miami to Tampa is a five hour drive, if that helps.

Planes are hit and miss.  Always a 777, but the age can vary.

Iceland air now flies direct to Tampa so you could do the Iceland thing.

I’d definitely recommend flying to Orlando though.  Hour and a half to Tampa, big competition for rental cars.  Orlando is so fun - it’s not just for kids!  I’m a bit biased, I lived there for 8 years and LOVED it!

nah. it's made me consider it, but the cheap tickets (around £200 for london to boston) go SO quickly that I just can't get them.

Try skyscanner.com.  That's what we used. It probably helped too we bought these tickets in January and they fly out in March.  When we bought them there were multiple options for $350 route from Denver.  I just know when I was growing up, we though of European tickets as $800 minimum.  I was shocked to find other options.