I boarded through the second set of doors, where I was greeted by two very friendly flight attendants and pointed left into the premium economy cabin. Norwegian's 787-9 has a total of 56 premium economy seats, spread across eight rows in a 2-3-2 configuration. The seats take up the entire space between doors one and…
Continue reading: Review: Norwegian Premium 787-9 London To New York
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I flew on them recently and had a similarly positive experience. I've noticed the crews seem to vary completely from flight to flight. On the first flight they were almost all Asian, the second, based completely in NYC.
My 787-9 was a bit differently configured in that only part of the front cabin was Premium Economy, the rest was regular. I wonder if they would get the 787-10 too.
Flying Norwegian tomorrow for the first time (out of AMS) and hope the promised 787 will actually be a 787
But honestly this "premium" experience looks rather meh
The airport is Republic Airport in Farmingdale, NY. Its just a tiny private jet airport with a few charter flights out of it.
Airport is Bethpage, L.I., operated by Grumman (Gulfstream Biz Jets) or whatever they call themselves nowadays. This is not where the planes are built. Not sure what they use it for.
You guys are all wrong. That is Sheghnan Airport in the Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan.
Would totally be willing to try Norwegian Premium on my NY-LON flights. I usually can't justify paying business on this route as the flight is quite short and there aren't many good deals and this Premium product seems better than most airlines' premium economy.
@Pierre - Bethpage has been closed for many years now. Grumman moved out, save for a small operation, in the early 2000s. The hangars where they built the lunar modules and early F14s are now movie studios. The massive F14 FAL out in Calverton is also closed now as well, and is used for tech startups.
The airport pictured is Republic Airport in Farmingdale, where Fairchild Republic was headquartered in the midcentury. Many WWII and Korean War era fighters were built there.
Today its an executive airport used by charter jets etc. The New York Islanders team plane is based there. I grew up not far from there, and many in my family worked for Grumman from the 50s right up until they left in the 1990s and 2000s.
Honestly for a daytime flight, it looks pretty good. I would definitely book it if the price was right.
I think their seat back system for ordering and paying for food is genius.
So much easier and more efficient than a cart system.
@Lucky - that single photo got me thinking. Long Island was known as the Cradle of Aviation for a long time. Roosevelt Field in Hempstead (a massive old army air field that is now where Hofstra University, the Nassau Coliseum and a mall now sit) was where Charles Lindbergh started his first transatlantic flight from.
Grumman, which later became Northrop/Grumman were headquartered in Bethpage, where they had a single runway operation for many years. They built the lunar modules for the Apollo missions there, and also the first F14 prototype. They also had a massive final assembly line for the F14 out in Calverton, with a runway so long they could land the space shuttle on it if need be. There is a very cool F14 full size model on display on the north end of whats left of the Calverton Airport, near the national cemetery. And a big office complex in Oakdale, NY. They moved out taking a ton of high paying jobs from Long Island in the 90s and 2000s. C'est la vie.
Fairchild built the famous P-47 fighter for WWII at Farmingdale, the airport you have pictured. They also built many many bombers and some of their first jets there before they moved south. In your picture on the right hand side (north) the FAL was where that strip mall is between the two runways. There are still some buildings still (barely) standing near the railroad tracks too.
And there was also a large bombing range and training facility for WWII fighters and bombers based out of Westhampton (FOK).
Long Island is rich in aviation history, a lot of cool stuff happened here, the lunar module probably being the coolest. There is a very cool museum at Roosevelt Field that showcases all the history, if you're ever on Long Island (god knows why at this point) you should check it out.
I still think you should review some more transatlantic premium economy products because a. It's an up and coming product with more airlines installing it and b. I'd think you'd really be amazed value for money wise if you think Norwegians service was like business class.
I flew with them in Economy and found the service to be just as excellent. The crew also does a lot more work, since theyre constantly delivering orders. And yet unlike legacy carriers, they were all in a good mood.
Great review and I agree - it's VERY annoying when the crew "take control" of the windows (or the air vents for that matter). I remember on one flight from New York to Hong Kong, I enjoyed a spectacular show of the Northern Lights over Greenland for 2 hours. I would not have had that memorable experience would I have had to dim or lower the window shades.
Just an FYI. There is a button on the right side of the seat that extends the foot rest.
I flew Norwegian LGW to SEA direct in premium economy for about $700. It was very good (enough) for a daytime flight. Especially, when the alternative was using 57K AA miles PLUS $500+ with a stopover and a day later than the one I wanted. Hope they stick around for my next trip to London when there aren't any good award seats.
I've found Norwegian's premium to be an excellent product for the price, especially for morning flights returning to the U.S. when I don't want to sleep much.
The No.1 Lounge at LGW is dreadful, but the OneWorld lounge Norwegian uses at LAX makes up for it.
Ah, I didn't realize that you could order extra alco drinks for free from the screen. I assumed the attendants were being mean in not coming round with drinks periodically
Will remember that next time. I never even switched on the screen
I flew from LAX to LGW in their premium economy. There are many positives about the flight, but the seat was incredibly uncomfortable for such a long flight. If you have long legs, the space is not great.
Plus, when the person in front of me reclined, rising from seat was difficult and I was an the aisle. I think the seating would have been bearable if the flight was shorter, but for 11 hours it was excruciating.
I also suggest you pack eyeshades. Their electric windows only darken somewhat and the map at the front was shining right in my eyes the entire time.
As Bob mentioned, the leg rest does extend (quite a long way) with that odd button in the side of the armrest. Like you, I think shoulder room can be a bit narrow but it's actually better than some of those ultra-narrow flat bed seats. The crews are always absolutely lovely. And I think the value is just exceptional
@ Evan -- Intro has all the details:
https://onemileatatime.com/africa-trip-report/
I paid $650 one-way.
Does anyone know if Norwegian offers premium for its flights out of Europe to non-US destinations?
Those who said Republic for the airport in the photo - spot on. Its 5 miles from my home. Many of the incoming JFK flights on this path go overhead and I like to do spotting. Likewise, flying outbound, I always try to spot my home from the plane, but its a different departure route.
Yay, a Premium Economy review! I'm flying PE on SAS next week, and Air France later this year. Always look forward to PE reviews as they are a good balance of price and comfort/quality.
Oooh good to see IFE ordered food and drinks becoming more common! I’ve only seen it on Norwegian and Air New Zealand.
Norwegian PE is definitely a welcome product and is perfectly satisfactory for daytime flights. Nighttime not so much. I could not sleep at all in their seat. Need a flat bed for overnight. Not enough leg support and not enough recline. I have never tried their economy on transatlantic and I am not looking forward to.
So much single use plastic. Ignoring the environmental destruction and the personal health issues surrounding such items and there's still one other glaring factor which makes me so perplexed as to why more people don't at a minimum bring their own drinking vessel - drinking out of those rigid plastic cups is abominable!
Thinking of bringing your own champagne flute from now on Lucky? Maybe it would have improved the 'battery acid' profile of the sparkling wine
@Lucky, at first I assumed you sent James on this trip, and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw your name on the by-line. You survived a premium economy flight! So proud of you.
But I am a bit confused by your various “comparisons” and comments about Norwegian’s PE product vs other airline’s PE products. How can you make those comparisons when you hardly ever (possibly never) flown those other PE products?
Nevertheless, I really hope you or others at OMAAT do review more Premuim Economy products. In the past, you have said that there is not much “differentiation” between PE products. And that is just not true at all. And your own review and the various comparisons in your article is ample proof of that.
Premium Economy is something that many of us “normal” people can realistically afford or aspire to. And it would be very, very helpful to have access to the same sort of in-depth reporting that you are so good at.
For example, I have flown PE on Qantas and British Airways and there is a HUGE difference, even though they price the products more or less the same. Qantas is much better. British Airways PE is a joke and a massive rip off.
I see your comments provided the most important fact which was the price of $650 one-way. The next question is whether you found that to be good value compared to other options. Personally it sounds better than UA E+ (which is free to elites) but is it $300 better when you can find economy tix for $350? Maybe. However i gather it compared poorly to the true lie flat business class seats which we have occasionally seen at $2500 RT from west coast (or even $2200 on TAPs new route as reported by OMAAT). So maybe Norwegian PE works for the budget crowd, but not an option for those who want true C. And maybe not much savings compared to other PE products.
Doesn't look like a bad way to cross the atlantic, and I've never heard of such an early morning departure for New York before, so that is great that you were docked at the gate by only 9:15am EST.
Thank you for sharing!
I wonder how many people who say their wine tastes of battery acid have ever drunk actual battery acid?
It’s a ridiculous comparison to make!
Hmm, to me it still looks like a stuck-in-the-middle product like all PE. Only slightly better than Y, and usually not worth the price premium. The system for ordering drinks and food is great, though. Wish all airlines would implement this.
Hey Lucky, for the card swiping, are EMV Chip cards supported? Because there is a system along those lines that have been implemented in India but half the time, it doesn't work because EMV chips can't exactly be swiped.
Thanks for the review Lucky, but this doesn’t look like an exceptionally good value to me. On a r/t basis heir fares are not noticeably cheaper than BA, AA or Virgin for example on this route.
The legroom looks excellent but as per your comments the seats don’t actually sound that comfortable, while the food and wine look lower quality than what is served on the legacy carriers (which isn’t a great standard already). And most of all no status or mileage benefits!
It seems useful for a repositioning leg but can’t see myself ever choosing this in any other context. This might soon be a moot point though - Norwegian having to refinance some aircraft to get enough cash to meet their covenants is not a great sign...
"and there’s still one other glaring factor which makes me so perplexed as to why more people don’t at a minimum bring their own drinking vessel"
lol
@Kerry are you comparing Norwegian costs to J or PE fares. They are a lot cheaper than business - as for PE I think the general consensus on the net is that Norwegian Premium is far better than the PE products which cross the pond, you only have to look at the legroom.
I flew PE return JFK-CPH last month. Value for money 10/10, Aircraft 10/10, crew friendliness & service 9/10, seat 6/10, space 6/10 (with front seat reclined), Entertainment 6/10, Food 5/10, Boarding 5/10. I will fly Norwegian PE again at the right price.
I think their seat back system for ordering and paying for food is genius.
So much easier and more efficient than a cart system.
I flew the morning flight from JFK to LGW in December. I found almost everything completely fine, but I didn't have the same excellent flight attendant experience that I've read about. I encountered 4 different crew members. The purser and a woman who brought me a snack mid-flight were pleasant and very friendly. Unfortunately though, the two men in premium economy were definitely not friendly. One had a lot of attitude and the other just seemed incompetent.
No big whoop, but I was expecting a nicer crew.
Good lord that flight time is brutal - 6 AM departure from LGW so if you're going from Central London you need to wake up at what, 2 AM? Sheesh.
Republic Airport/FRG/KFRG is a really nice GA hub, not overrun with corporate jets like TEB, so lots of light stuff still uses that airport.
I disagree completely....
Found “Premium” to be a severe misnomer....
For one, I was not allowed into the lounge at Gatwick on my last flight...
The seats are so-so...the food is AWFUL, as is the entertainment....
Give me any other airline JFK-LON......
While J is always the nicest and best way to go, the $’s have occasionally been insane lately; and it’s obvious that many of us have used PE recently as an alternative. Lucky's review of the LON/JFK route is accurate, yet I've only used it going eastbound, where the flight is amazingly short, compared to other European destinations. In fact, most FF's seem to have dinner in the Lounge, and then try and rest until arrival in London. The main advantage of using Norwegian (even if no EQM's or EQD's) is that there is no penalty cost for a one-way, and even last minute bookings can occasionally be quite reasonable. But a very nice alternative for when J is insane lately (especially for OneWorld FF's) is Iberia, who are delivering a quite nice hard and soft PE product combination.
That is stand # 9 at JFK. All aircrafts going into that gate has to be towed in due to the angle of the gate and the pilots won’t be able to see the marshaller.
I cant' believe this is a Norwegian Airline thus a cultural window to Norway but they don't even offer Herrings or Salmon or any typical Norwegian smoked or fresh fish for their meals onboard.
Norwegian food is not renowned for being Gourmet food but their salmon is very famous so they should offer at least some smoked Salmon sandwiches.
My experience with Norwegian Airline has led me to never book with them again, no matter how inexpensive it is in their business class. I booked a business class flight from New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG). We were delayed from boarding without explanation, which was no big deal because things happen. The business group all boarded the plane and when we stepped onto the plane, the attendant pointed us to our left. I said "Wait. We are business class." The response was "We don't have business class." The quality of the seats were less than a typical economy class- tiny, no tech, no leg room... Apparently, this was a charter service that Norwegian uses when they can't accommodate everyone. The lady next to me received a phone call 3 months and again 2 days earlier informing her that the plane was being switched and if she wanted to she could cancel and get a partial refund. I received no such call. I was given more than one explanation as to why this was happening. I actually began to panic because the plane felt very old and I was nervous about it going over the Atlantic. A Norwegian customer agent talked to me at my seat and tried to assure me it was going to be ok. He added that he just had another passenger experiencing the same thing last week. I was booked on Norwegian for my way home, Paris to Oakland so I was stressed out through my whole vacation thinking I would have to be in that tin can again for 10 hours. Luckily I was in a normal Norwegian plane on the way home. I tried multiple times to contact Norwegian to ask for a refund but I never got a response until I posted something on Twitter. I was contacted right away. I was offered a 2/3rd refund. However, the only way I could receive this refund was to give them the details of my bank account so they could deposit the refund there. My bank advised me not to do this but I had to take the chance to get at least something back. It was all very stressful.
We actually flew out economy to Miami in February 2020. Thought the flight was ok for economy, although my husband said the seats where very narrow for a Dream Liner, which we have traveled on before with Thomson's several times both economy and premium. We asked how much to upgrade at Gatwick, they said £259 each, we didn't upgrade as it was a day flight and said we probably would on the way back from LA as it was a night flight back. Food was ok on the way out to Miami and had to buy a drink but got wine with our meals.
On our return from LA we where able to upgrade to premium for $400 each, ouch. But couldn't sit together. Luckily the chap sitting next to hubby was happy to swap. There were a few seats free. Great we thought. The steward came round with water, orange juice and apple juice before we took off. I asked if I could have a prosecco. No, not available. I thought this strange. Settled in, thought the seats where ok, definitely wider than economy with more room to stretch your legs out. Time for dinner, they came round with the drinks trolley, hubby asked for a vodka and coke. Got told he would have to pay for spirits, only wine and soft drinks are included. Really!!! Meal was delivered not given a choice. Just got told it was chicken. Someone got a vegetarian meal which I think was pre-ordered. The meal was awful. Not sure what the so called starter was I think couscous. (Couldn't eat it) the chicken was dry the vegetables tasteless and burnt. (Didn't eat that either). I am now beginning to think why did we upgrade. Entertainment was exactly the same as economy with old films. Very poor choice of entertainment. Didn't change at the end of the month, like other airlines. . I watched my iPad. Well lights out as it was a night flight. Put the seat back and you could put the foot rest up, which made it uncomfortable as it has a end to it, so you. couldn't put you legs straight. I'm 5'7", hubby 6 foot. Didn't get much sleep as too uncomfortable. Also if the seat in front of you was back. It was very hard to get up to go to the loo without knocking the seat in front and disturbing them. Hubby wanted a drink of water, so went to the front where we thought the crew would be. No one to be found. Didn't even give you a bottle of water in your seat when you first got on. (Odd) I have never known premium to BE SO BAD.
NEVER again will I fly Norwegian Air. Terrible. If I could give ghen a minus I would, feel totally robbed of $800. Wish I hadn't bothered. The couple behind us compared it to Ryanair.
i have flown NOrwegian Air 6 times out of Fort Lauderdale. Sometimes economy other times in Premium Economy. Either way i am very satisfied with their service and offerings. I wish they were back in business. Their prices were great, I got to fly a new plane and I luv'd not having to travel to Miami to get a flight to Europe.