Time to start planning that winter getaway or summer trip to Europe. Norwegian Air (www.norwegian.com) is coming to Boston and they are offering crazy cheap prices. You're probably thinking, "Okay that's wonderful but I'm not really sure that Norway is on my list of places to visit" Sidenote: It should be. If you saw the Disney movie Frozen, those fjords look pretty grand. Anyway, great news is Norwegian is offering flights not only to Norway but to the Caribbean and many other popular European destinations. What else is interesting is that, unlike most airlines, you don't even have to fly through their hub (Oslo, Norway in this case) to reach your destination. Many flights to Europe make a stop in London and the flights to the Caribbean are direct. Service to the Caribbean starts in December, just in time to escape the snow, and destinations include 2 islands in the French Antilles-- Guadeloupe and Martinique. Prior to Norwegian these islands were tough to reach--often requiring 2 or 3 stopovers. I think this is going to be great because these islands are new for Americans and different than the usual, heavily visited Virgin Islands, Bahamas or the Dominican Republic. They are considered overseas territories of France, so the natives speak French and the local currency is the Euro. I heard you can get some pretty good croissants too. Sounds pretty good to me! And tickets cost as little as $250 r/t. Direct. In the winter. You can't even get direct flights to Florida for that price! Incase you're wondering, accommodations are very well-priced too. A fully-loaded, private, modern villa perched up on a hill with an infinity pool overlooking the Caribbean Sea can run you as little as $2000/wk. It's a no-brainer that my husband and I will be taking advantage of these prices with our friends this winter :)
Service to Europe starts in May and incase you didn't know springtime in Europe is just lovely. I searched some popular European routes for travel in May 2016 and here's what I found. We're talking several hundred dollars cheaper than other airlines, FYI.
Boston to Barcelona $601 r/t
Boston to Rome $628 r/t
Boston to Nice $630 r/t
Don't live near Boston and want to snag one of these deals? That's okay, Norwegian is coming to other major U.S. cities too including New York, Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Los Angeles, San Fran and Las Vegas.
One thing that is important to note about this airline is that Norwegian is considered a "low-cost" carrier so like many others grouped in that category they offer different ticket options. The prices I've provided above include your carry-on but not a checked bag. If you're like me and can't possibly figure out how to carry on for a week's vacation, you will want the next tier up which is Lowfare+. Slightly more expensive depending on the route, Lowfare+ includes a checked bag, a meal, and seat selection. Worth it in my opinion and still saving you lots of money. And no need to worry about the aircrafts themselves-- Norwegian has a very new fleet including the modern Boeing Dreamliner 787 for long-haul flights to Europe.
Happy travel planning and I hope you found this information useful. If you decide to do it, I'm very interested in hearing your experience flying with Norwegian. I'll be sure to share mine when I'm back from paradise.