There are many airlines to choose from when flying transatlantic. One common trait that many have are that they are quite expensive. A single economy ticket can reach up to $1,000 one way. Low-cost airlines such as Norwegian Air and Wow have tried to remedy this with the Low-Cost Carrier Model and failed for one reason or another. Norse Atlantic Airways looks to give the low-cost transatlantic market a shot. We had the opportunity to recently fly Norse From New York JFK to Berlin Brandenburg aboard one of their Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s. We were eager to see how the low-cost transatlantic model stacks up against the competition and if the cost savings were worth it.
About Norse
Norse Atlantic Airways is a handful of new startup airlines that have emerged following the pandemic. The airline was founded in 2021 aimed at providing low-cost fares from Europe to destinations throughout the United States such as Florida, New York and California utilizing Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliner. They had their inaugural flight on June 14th, 2022, from Oslo to New York JFK. Their start has had some setbacks with cuts already being made to their route Network with Los Angeles being canceled and some routes seeing frequency reductions. To ease off this burden Norse began subleasing some of their 787 Dreamliner’s during their slower seasons.
Our Flight
We Booked a one-way ticket from New York JFK to Berlin Germany departing the night of September 26th. Like many low-cost airlines, we had a cheap base fare of $131 a person.. You can also choose a premium economy option adding a first class style seat for significantly more. After our $131 Base Price we paid for 1 checked bag each and seat selection for a fee. After taxes and fees our fare came out to $504 for 2 people. This fare did not include selected meals which were an additional $30. Given this was a late night flight we opted to skip this option. The booking interface was quite transparent about these fees and there were no hidden surprises. Checking in online was a rather smooth process like many other airlines. We had an issue with getting our boarding passes online. The ticketing agent at the airport was able to print out our boarding passes for no extra charge.
Onboard Experience
Boarding was a simple process with group numbers assigned starting with premium economy in group one up to group 8. We boarded in group 8. Stepping aboard the aircraft we got a glimpse of the spacious layout the 787 awards passengers. The front Premium seats were in a 2-3-2 layout with the rest of the economy cabin played out in a 3-3-3 configuration sporting Norwegian Airs old seats. Our aircraft previously operated for Norwegian, so this was no surprise. Soon enough we were airborne and on our way to Germany.
Shortly after takeoff the crew began the inflight service starting with meals for those passengers who selected a meal option followed by the buy on board service. Looking at the buy on board magazine there were plenty of snack and beverage selections with surprisingly fair prices. The attentive cabin crew came by, and we made our selections. Only a few minutes later they came with our snack and drink purchase. A bit later in the flight we wanted blankets, so we simply rang our call bell ordered a blanket and received it in a few minutes costing us $5.00.
The Inflight entertainment options were on the more basic side compared to many legacy airlines. While it was adequate for the flight, more options would be nice to have. After catching up on a little rest we woke up to the second meal service which meant we weren’t far from landing in Berlin. Like the first service we simply summoned the crew who got us our selections in a friendly and efficient manner. Its worth noting that Norse Atlantic Airways does not accept cash, but they do accept most major credit cards onboard.
As our 787 descended into Berlin, we couldn’t help but think how simple yet enjoyable our Norse Atlantic Airways experience was. Since it’s a low-cost airline we knew that nothing was free and quite honestly that is more than ok. If you didn’t want any food or items, you can cross the Atlantic for dirt cheap and receive a nice aircraft with adequate seats to complete the journey. As previously mentioned, many airlines have failed at the low-cost transatlantic market in the past. Let’s hope Norse Atlantic Airways has greater success.
Our Ranking
The bottom line is that Norse Atlantic Airways is a strong contender when looking to fly transatlantic for cheap. It’s worth trying out. Here are our final rankings for Norse:
Booking: 4/4
Check-In: 4/4
Seat: 2/4
Food: 3/4
Crew: 4/4
Total: 17/20 Points