Right now on Norwegian, you can book one-way trips for an incredible price with a “LowFare” ticket in September and October. From New York and Los Angeles, prices are only $175 to Paris and $220 for the return trip back to the US. The fare from Miami is starting a little higher at $299.

Previously, Norwegian has rolled out great deals like $240 flights to London, while WOW Air upped the ante with $99 one-way flights to Europe. The current LowFare of $175 to Paris includes all taxes, but you still might have to pony up for a few extra fees depending on how you like to travel. We’ve talked at length about the extra fees that can add up on budget airlines like WOW Air. Expect to pay for everything from seat reservations, checked baggage and meals.

Related: 8 Tips for finding cheap flights to Europe

However, if you just want to jet off to Paris with a small carry on and don’t care where you sit, you can grab a round-trip LowFare ticket for only $395! But being a bit more realistic, you’ll probably need to pay around $40 extra for a checked bag. Or an even better option might be to upgrade to LowFare+. This sale fare is still only $265 to Paris from New York and includes a seat reservation, checked bag and even meals with wine. Throw in the return LowFare+ ticket, and you can still get to Paris and back for only $575.

Even though oil prices have been falling since 2015, airfares to Europe have still not budged much. Finding any roundtrip fare for under $1,000 can be a challenge. However, maybe that is finally changing with airlines like Norwegian raising the stakes. You can contemplate the future of airline fares later, though. Right now, book your ticket to Paris, because these fares are only on sale from February 18 to 21, 2016.

Related: How we scored a $298 flight to London on Norwegian

The post Airfare Alert: Norwegian launching nonstop flights to Paris for $175 appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Travel blogs have been abuzz in the last few weeks in the wake of Iceland-based WOW Air’s announcement that they will be offering summer 2015 transatlantic flights starting at $99.

How is this possible? Is it really possible? There must be a catch, right?

Before we dive into the analysis of these deals, let’s take a moment to review Iceland’s recent and rather exciting low-cost passenger airline history.

Related: Creative and cheap ways to fly from the US to Europe

A little bit of history

Before there was WOW Air there was Iceland Express (2003-2012), which also flew transatlantic routes. The airline flew from Iceland’s Keflavík Airport (near the capital, Reykjavík, and the country’s main international airport) to Chicago, Boston, Orlando, Newark and Winnipeg.

Iceland Express ran the most irreverent in-house airline blog around and was a generally very appealing airline. The airline encountered serious logistics turbulence in 2011 when its operator abruptly terminated flight operations, and it turned to a Czech Airlines charter flight subsidiary for replacement aircraft. I flew the airline once after this shift occurred, and the experience was very uneven. The safety information on seats was in Czech, and the experience felt drained of any kind of branded Icelandic personality. It sort of felt as if the airline was in freefall; a few months later, Iceland Express was absorbed by WOW Air.

WOW Air was established in 2011. Like Iceland Express, it’s been cheeky from the start, though its brand has been more self-consciously stylish (just check out those flight attendant uniforms) and flashy than the older low-cost airline.

The transatlantic low-cost mini-boom

This year two airlines—Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet and Norway’s Norwegian—began selling inexpensive no-frills flights across the big pond for as low as $240 roundtrip. Let’s take a quick look at what the two airlines offer.

WestJet flew a seasonal route from Toronto via St. John’s, Newfoundland to Dublin this past summer, which it will reintroduce in 2015. This fall, deepening its reach into Europe, WestJet announced a Halifax-Glasgow route for 2015.

Norwegian’s assault was a bit broader from the get-go. The airline launched direct flights between four European gateways (Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm and London Gatwick) and several US destinations: New York, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Oakland and Los Angeles. (Note that Oakland can only be reached from the three Scandinavian hubs as of yet.) As this investigative piece by Patrick Collinson in The Guardian shows, a return journey at the lowest advertised fare is all but impossible to snag.

WestJet and Norwegian’s forays provide a context for understanding WOW Air’s new routes. All three airlines’ lowest fares are incredibly cheap, though they also go quickly. In the established tradition of low-cost airlines, they’re also perk-free.

So what’s the WOW all about?

WOW Air will operate flights between Baltimore and Keflavík (with connections on to Copenhagen and London sold as single fares) from May through October 2015; flights between Boston and Keflavík (and also on to Copenhagen and London) begin in March 2015. Starting outbound single fares are advertised at $99, while fares returning from Europe will start at $125.

Availability is the kicker. I searched about a dozen dates on WOW’s website to find available flights from Baltimore and Boston in the US and Keflavík, London, and Copenhagen. Every April itinerary I looked for was fully booked, and itineraries into the summer and autumn were all well over the lowest $99/$125 per-sector fare advertised.

The best alternative that I came up with: a $327 roundtrip from Boston to Keflavík. This is, it must be said, a very good fare, even with additional charges of $100 or so roundtrip. (It is also plainly over the lowest $224 return fare.) WOW’s lowest fares clearly went very quickly, so the early birds scored the best deals.

Last month, Jaunted published an exhaustively detailed report on nabbing a $99 fare, which came to $164 once additional charges and “perks” were taken into account, and did not include in-flight costs like food and beverages.

Speaking of perks and fees… 

Flying on today’s transcontinental low-cost airlines require a shift in attitude. For many major carriers, from Air France to American Airlines, everything—meals, snacks, water and a seat reservation—is included. So if you don’t consider it acceptable to shell out $4 for a bottle of water, then you might not be ready for the low-cost air experience, where everything extra will cost you.

Want to bring a checked bag? Expect a steep fee. Want to choose your seat so you can grab a window view? Be prepared to have your credit card ready. These fees can quickly add $25, $50 or even $100 to a one-way ticket. On the flip side, if you don’t need many comfort amenities and are just looking for a seat, airlines like WOW and Norwegian could be just up your alley.

Is it worth it?

Yes. Well, probably—with two big caveats. First, research actual (as opposed to advertised) costs. What other add-ons (checked luggage, meals, reserved seats, seats with extra legroom) will be charged on top of your base fare? How heavily will these charges add up? Will they transform an apparent bargain into an average fare?

Secondly, do you want to end up in one of the destinations these airlines serve? If not, price out your connection onwards. Is the resultant fare less expensive than a direct fare on a conventional airline? Do your research and think seriously about your goals and intentions as a traveler.

WOW Air, Norwegian and WestJet’s routes provide new ways to chart out budget-friendly transportation to Europe. For most potential customers, the resultant bargain will be higher than the lowest advertised fare, though it will probably still be less expensive than a legacy carrier fare.

View these fares as tools. They might work swimmingly; they might not quite cut it. But they’re now part of your cost-cutting arsenal, budget warrior.

The post WOW, $99 to Europe? Yes, but the devil is in the details appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

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Norwegian offers $240 flights from US to London

Questions over Gatwick services

With respect to its proposed Gatwick venture, Norwegian is facing a barrage of criticism from US-based legacy carriers and pilots’ unions who fear that the company’s low-cost model may threaten the cushioned comforts which they have enjoyed for decades. The coming weeks will reveal whether Norwegian really does get to launch its proposed routes from LA, Fort Lauderdale and JFK into Gatwick in July.

Even if it does go ahead, the Norwegian operation is merely a blip in the pond. We are talking about one Gatwick-based plane flying the company’s three US routes in and out of the airport—providing in total just six flights each week from the USA to London. The market for transatlantic flights is reshaping to reflect new patterns of consumer demand. Many punters nowadays want to fly direct to Europe from regional airports around North America.

Shortest transatlantic crossing: 4 hours

This summer sees a number of interesting new routes that tap regional markets. So British Airways this month launched a new non-stop route from Austin to London Heathrow, and Westjet will start the shortest transatlantic flights of the season on June 15 with its new route from St John’s (Newfoundland) to Dublin.

The ever-reliable OAG flight database shows a block time of 4 hrs 15 mins for the sector, so the 2000-mile route will require less than four hours in the air, barely enough time to enjoy supper and have a quick snooze before the plane is descending to touch down in Ireland. One-way fares start at $275 (Canadian dollars)—and that includes all taxes, fuel surcharges and checked baggage.

New daytime flights to Europe

Europe Airpost may sound more like the mailman than an airline. But this French cargo airline also carries humans. It’s an unusual choice for transatlantic travel, but this summer the airline offers the only daytime flights from Canada to Europe. Avoid the pain of an overnighter with Europe Airpost’s direct daytime flights from Halifax (Nova Scotia) to Glasgow and Paris. The service will operate in July and August only, using Boeing 737s with space for 128 passengers

From lesser airports direct to Europe

Many of the big airfare search engines may overlook useful carriers that could be just what you need for your routing. Casting around and checking individual airlines’ websites may reap handsome rewards. How many travelers from the Twin Cities or the Pacific Northwest would think of checking the Condor website for direct flights to Germany? But in fact the carrier has summer-season direct flights to Frankfurt from both Minneapolis-Saint Paul and Seattle—and, for that matter, even flies non-stop this summer from Fairbanks (Alaska) and Whitehorse (Yukon) to Frankfurt.

Basel or Riga? Why not fly direct?

Another carrier that features less prominently in the imagination is Air Transat, which from June thru September this year offers scheduled non-stop flights from Montreal to Basel.

Choosing a less-obvious airline may allow you to route directly to your chosen destination in Europe. If you are heading out of the Big Apple bound for the Baltic States, you might assume that there are no direct flights and opt to travel via London, Amsterdam or Copenhagen. But there is one airline which has reliably served the New York to Riga route for years—and that is Uzbekistan Airways. The flight time is just under nine hours on the airline’s Boeing 767.

Check out less obvious carriers

Opting for an obscure airline may bring advantages. The fastest schedules on the New York to Brussels route are not achieved by any US or European airline but by the Indian carrier Jet Airways which offers a daily flight from Newark to Brussels. If you are heading to Italy and, like us, you think that Middle Eastern style is hard to beat, then consider using Emirates’ new non-stop service from New York to Milan. Five different carriers compete daily on the route, four of them flying out of JFK and one from Newark. We think that Emirates is the best of the JFK options.

Singapore Airlines from the USA to Europe

On the busy route from New York City to Frankfurt, four different IATA carriers are in head-to-head competition, between them offering six non-stop departures every evening from New York. Our top choice is the least obvious one, namely Singapore Airlines which flies the flagship Airbus A380-800 on the route. It’s not the airline’s only transatlantic service. Another very useful link is the Houston to Moscow route, where Singapore Airlines jealously guards its enviable position as sole operator of a route that appeals to more than merely oil executives.

The post Flying across the Atlantic: Creative and cheap ways to get to Europe appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Today, increasing awareness of climate change has meant that budget air travel in Europe is often targeted as an environmental disaster. On the consumer side, passengers are overwhelmed by a huge number of fees and charges—for checking a bag, for checking in at the airport, for preferred seating, for using a particular credit card—all of which continue to creep upwards.

The stories told about low-cost carriers tend to focus on the distance of secondary airports from the cities they purport to serve, the rudeness of staff, the inflexibility of various charges and the difficulty in obtaining refunds for canceled flights.

People continue to fly budget airlines in great numbers, of course, but they’re not enjoying themselves. How could things be improved? How could a budget airline actually build a fan base?

Here are five suggestions for improving budget airlines in Europe:

1. Offer transparency in marketing and pricing.

An airport named after a city 100 km away does nobody any favors. Acknowledge location and market around it. Eliminate last-minute charges for the use of a particular credit card. While you’re at it, get rid of perks like early boarding that make embarkation so regimented and unpleasant.

2. Provide a carbon offset opt-out option.

Under this proposal, passengers would be able to click a box to remove the carbon offset option from their flights and save a euro or two. Some would do this. Many would not. Here’s a better and more radical idea: get tons of press by announcing that all flights will be carbon offset in their entirety.

3. Develop a simple, well-scrubbed aesthetic.

Budget airlines shouldn’t be grubby. They should be enveloped in simplicity, ease, and lightness. Colors should be gentle and music should be soft. Flight attendants should have nice uniforms that reflect the airline’s aesthetic. (They should also look rested, competent and pleased to be at work.) License a pleasant 30-minute electronic score for boarding.

4. Offer tasty snacks for purchase.

If ancillary income is the key, offer something worthwhile—tasty treats with some real relationship to the departure or destination city. Also, keep mark-ups in check. On-board mark-ups need not be extortionate.

5. Brand around location.

Souvenir items sold in flight shouldn’t be anonymous. Why stock the duty-free cart with items that can be found in any international airport when cute objets of local relevance make better gifts? Fill the in-flight magazine with the insights of interesting people who populate the route map’s destination cities.

Your recommendations

Can you think of other ways that budget carriers could improve their service? Do you agree or disagree with these points? Tell us about it in the comments section.

The post Flight Memo: 5 ways to improve European budget airlines appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.