5 Reasons Norwegian Is The Best Low Cost Carrier In Europe

One remark. The Wizz hand-luggage policy described is not accurate anymore (since 1-2 years ago). They allow a full sized hand-luggage on board with the lowest fare. Only a 2nd personal item is not allowed, but this is fairly standard in Europe as well.

My favorite low cost carriers in Europe are Norwegian and Easyjet. I haven't flown Wizz but have flown Vueling and will do my best to avoid flying it again.

I've flown Norwegian few times, and Ryanair many times in the past (didn't fly either one in the last year though) and I've never seen any bag being weighed on any Ryanair flight, though I've seen it begin done at LGW once, on a flight to Rome, and it was weird they were only doing it on one of the two queues...

I need to disagree with you on the long haul operations:

- engine issues with their 787 that lead you to be dumped onto cheap charters that have nothing to do with the experience advertised... and awful communication about it (i mean i get where they are coming from, they are advertisingg brand new 787 with air pressurization technology to help you fight jetlag and you end up on wamos 19 yr old 747)
- grew up way too fast in some outstations (eg JFK has 5 flights departing within 2 hours) which led to awful ground experience regardless of class flown (no online check in, 60min to check in a bag, 20min to use kiosks, T1 security, ...)

The one thing I agree with you is their premium hard product, which is superior to BA, VS and AA (but soft is totally lacking, eg food options, no socks/eyemasks, ...)

I actually hope they get acquired by LH instad of BA. Some competition out of the UK would not hurt.

JB

Actually Wizz changed their policy and now allows a full size carry-on on board, Ryanair also allows a full size carry-on for free even without priority but you might have to gate check it if you don't have priority.

On a worldwide ranking it would be hard to beat Kulula. Once in a while with a Kulula ticket you may even end up on a BA branded flight and get a meal served in flight.

Wizzair has changed their policy a few months ago. Now they do allow a standard carry on.

If Norwegian actually installs their 787 premium class seat on their narrowbodies - I may consider flying them within Europe.

As much as we rag on US Carriers, I think Europe has it far worse.

I took a trip on JetBlue with a friend from the EU who was shocked the snacks, WiFi, and TV were free and couldn't believe how much legroom we had. In the EU you're lucky if you're above 30" of legroom, and here we are scoffing at 32-33".

Another friend took a trip on Alaska (which we laugh at as having a pathetic first class) and was shocked how nice the seats were for a mere 2 hour trip.

Even Spirit has nicer front seats than Air France for a short haul flight. Let that sink in.

Hi James, what about EasyJet? I've flown them a few times and thought it was pretty great.

One other thing about their long haul, and I NEVER thought I would be saying this - even their 737MAX flights are enjoyable.

My girlfriend booked the first one we ever took (Stewart -bergen) and I was scared shitless of a transatlantic flight on that tiny thing. Thought it would be the most uncomfortable ~8 hours of my life. However, after 3 RT's in their 737's, I've noticed that they all fly to places that are not hot spots, and we have had our own row on each segment. That withcombined with the awesome crews (and a good amount of wine) made them very enjoyable flights.

Most full service airlines charge for baggages? Which one? Except there is no smting like basic economy. Flew austrian, Lufthansa, condor amd di not noticed

For the casual traveler, would you say that interlining is still one potential strength of legacy carriers? Just among family and friends I hear so many issues about a LCC flight getting cancelled and the airline not having another opening for 2-3 days.

My personal view ... Norwegian schedule is not that frequent: and that’s a big negative point. You may have a fantastic onboard product, but it is limited; and that’s the price Norwegian pays - if they’ve had a network as big as Ryanair or EasyJet, they wouldn’t offer all those perks, and the crew wouldn’t be that friendly.

Sorry @alpha, but I don’t think you can get cheaper than a lunch menu ticket in the USA with JetBlue: nothing is free, you pay for it!!

"‘It’s okay, you made it! You can relax now. Can I get you a glass of water?’"
Did you accept the offer? And when they brought you the glass of water, did they say "5 euros please"?

Also at least in Copenhagen, Norwegian doesn’t use remote stands like the other low cost carriers.

It's a good airline - I've never been disappointed - but the fact that it's financially unsustainable can't be ignored.

I always laugh at the idea that people complain about airlines when the fares now are barely higher than the fares 30 years ago - the US airline industry is sustainable now because they have consolidated so much and it must be better to have 3 profitable carriers than 6 flawed ones.

Norwegian is great, but someone else is paying for your trip. Either IAG or LH will be paying for it soon, but I'd expect the free ride to end......

While not in Europe I don’t mind Jetstar when it’s cheap what’s your thoughts on JQ James?

Unless you've flown all the low-cost carriers in the world, it's pretty presumptuous to state that "without question, Norwegian is the best LCC I've flown in Europe, if not the world", don't you think?

Hmmm, Norwegian was very strict about the weight of hand luggage back in March from LGW... I ended up just putting a few heavier items in my pockets (eg battery charger).

I was flying Norwegian from CDG to JFK and there they asked me to weigh my carry on luggage together with my laptop bag. The lady at the counter gave me quite a hard time for being over the allowed weight. (I think I was over 9 kg) I gave her a sad look and was about to open my luggage to chuck some jeans and other possible “heavy” items when she let me pass. It was not a fun experience, however, I would still travel via Norwegian because of their good service and new planes.

@ William - Norwegian didn't even have scales or a measurement stand at the gate so were never going to measure hand luggage on this flight.

@ Varun Susarla -- given BA and Lufthansa don't have larger seats on narrow bodies it is extremely unlikely Norwegian will do this.

@ Alex - easyJet get better and better with every flight I take with them. They are much stricter on hand-luggage and have a more annoying boarding process where you have to queue outside the plane at some airports but they're one of the better LCCs.

@ Fonzi - British Airways to start with! I'm talking about short-haul European flights.

@ VS - read my article. It was not for me it was for two late arriving passengers behind me. They accepted the offer and were not charged, nor did I expect them to be.

@ Moragn - Jetstar is okay. I don't seek them out but don't actively avoid them either. Their MEL T4 set-up is truly awful though. I do find the Jetstar passengers to be the worst part of flying Jetstar - have a look at their Facebook page to get a sense of the sort of ignorant, entitled people who fly them.

Absolutely agree with this although I would say easyJet is pretty close and although almost never partake the few times I have the buy on board was surprisingly good quality!

I would also agree WizzAir and Vueling are the worst. Vueling is absolutely the pits and worse than Ryanair yet escapes without anywhere near the heat or criticism it deserves - so glad you are drawing attention to this!

Nicely put, I definitely agree that Norwegian is the best of the lot. The article doesn't even mention one cool point: they usually board through front and aft doors simultaneously. Rows 1-16 board through jet bridge, 17-32 through stairs. It doesn't look like much, but it significantly accelerates the whole process.

In fairness, though, Wizzair updated their cabin bag policy last November, so that it's more in line with other LCCs. Also, I'd guess that seat pitch varies only based on the physical seat type, since there's no way Wizzair A320s have more seats than, say, Easyjet or Pegasus A320s.
Also, the name of the airline is Wizzair, not Wizz 😉

Want to experience the very worst in legroom in Europe? Try Iberia Express and their 28" pitch. It's possible because they still have business class up front, whereas LCCs space out their seats evenly from front to back.

I do not fly Norwegian because of their policies with cancellations. They offer rebooking to another Norwegian flight or full refund. I have KLM platinum for life and SAS diamond so I’ve flown a lot and had many cancelled flights, and they (and many others) have rebooked me to competitors to get me to my destination as quick as possible. All major airlines are members og IATA som they may by decent priced tickets from competitors when flights are cancelled. Norwegian is not a member, so if a flight is cancelled you hve to rely on hour luck (or HiFly after 48 hours...)

https://www.norwegian.com/uk/travel-info/delayed-and-cancelled-flights/cancelled-flights/

Norwegian does not fly to Vienna, my hub airport. Shame. So for us, flying out from this part of the world - Norwegian is, well, only one of them. From low cost carriers I'll take EasyJet or Eurowings anytime. Flying to all major and not so major airports across Europe, simple booking, both have loyalty programs (with Eurowings you can also earn Miles & More miles), friendly staff. Luggage, yes, Eurowings are bit stringent...

So if Norwegian is so great, I suggest they start flying from more airports as well maybe 😉

Not sure that I'd call Flybe a LCC. I regard them more as a regional airline given their flights to the likes of Newquay, Exeter, and the smaller west coast airports in France. Was served a snack and drink on a recent flights between Edinburgh and Manchester, and they often have their own lounges at these regional airports - not exactly LCC behaviour.

Have to agree with your comment about the JQ gates at MEL T4 - feels like you are walking to Essendon Airport to catch your flight 🙂

I've flown Norwegian twice, from Gatwick to Copenhagen to Riga. The experience was good, apart from one thing, the smell of jet fuel when you taxi on a 737. This is a 737 and not Norwegian, but it does encourage me to try and look for flights not on 737s.

I absolutely love Norwegian but I do find them a little unreliable sometimes in terms of punctuality but not everything can be great