21 Apr Flying Norwegian

Before I start, I had no idea the hashtag #NeverFlyNorwegian even exisited. I had an amazing experience and when I got home I was googling other reviews and shocked to find out they have terrible ratings. Please keep this in mind as you read my glowing review.

I booked my first Scott’s Cheap Flight deal in January shortly after signing up for his premium list. His premium list is $39 a year, and in the first week I was emailed this deal: Denver to Paris direct for $398. I checked the Norwegian website and sure enough, those prices were there, that price included taxes and a carry-on bag. I bought the ticket without batting an eye. I have never, ever flown to Europe for under $400.

I booked the flight and didn’t think too much about it until a few days before. I was shocked to see that both directions I was flying a new Dreamliner. I feel like this was my first Dreamliner flight – I have flown A380’s and 747’s but not a Dreamliner that I can recall.

How could this be so cheap? Well Norwegian charges for everything from a checked bag to a bottle of water. If you do fly them, read in advance and decide if this is a good deal for you.

I’m a light packer so the carryon was fine for me, the max weight is 10kg (22 lbs) and I was under both ways. I didn’t pay any baggage fees in either direction. I also brought a water bottle and filled it on the concourse before I boarded.

The day before though I started getting nervous that the flight was getting full and I NEEDED a window seat to sleep on the overnight flight so I caved and purchased a window seat for $45. I ended up doing this both ways. My friend that traveled with me did not buy a seat and got a window both ways – so the moral of this story is, you can probably risk not paying for a seat, but that was not a risk I was willing to take.

The plane was sparkling, and the seats had decent leg room and were relatively comfortable. The in flight entertainment was excellent, and the overhead bins were very spacious. The cabin itself reminded of Emirates A380 cabins. Since you had to pay for meals we ate dinner before boarding and I only spent $7 on an in flight sandwich. On my way back I spent $10 on a sandwich and a coffee. The food was average, but I didn’t feel ripped off.

You can purchase a meal in advance if you want, but the price tag is hefty, I would rather just eat before or bring a snack on board. I surprisingly liked that full meal service wasn’t part of the flight for two reasons: the carts weren’t blocking the walkways the entire flight, and the smell of food wasn’t filling the cabin.

They claimed that the lighting and air pressure in the cabin helped reduce jetlag. I can’t confirm that – I felt like there was heavy pressure at times on the flight back, but I could have been lucid dreaming.

I both liked and disliked the windows. They don’t get fully dark, but they are very large and you can change the setting to make it lighter or darker. The default setting while flying overnight is dark and I thought I was seeing a cool pink sunset/sunrise, but it was actually just really sunny outside.

The only thing that surprised me was that there was no onboard WiFi. They have WiFi on some flights, but not on most long hauls.

Grand total for flight, reserving a seat each way, and snacks: $505. This is still by far the cheapest direct international flight I have ever taken from Denver – by several hundred dollars.

I would recommend at least this route, but again read the reviews and decide if this type of budget travel will work for you.

Read about my spring in Paris here!