allturnleft

I am planning an Alsakan trip next year
Already too late for a 241 or any redemptions
BA are charging £4400 for a Lon ANC rtn in J
In Sale BA are £2400 rtn to SEA in J £2200 rtn in W and £2000 rtn in Y
Alaska Air is £600 rtn SEA to ANC in F

Norwegian have just started a route to seattle for £1200 in premium fully flex return

Surely this is a no brainer; their premium looks better than BA W and is at the front of a dreamliner

The other competitors are Virgin which have also recently started a SEA service andoffer a LHR to ANC for £2400 (through booking) ; but the thought of the VS inward facing coffins in J didn't entice me for £600 extra per person though did like the guaranteed connection for a reasonable price

Am I missing something but this seems serious competition and in acompleyely different price league to BA. Internet reviews of the Norwegian premium product seem favourable

Firipu

Have you looked at ex-EU?

londonba2014

Not all Norweigan long haul are great when I've used them. Modern aircraft and IFE, friendly crew and good seat comfort.

Have a great trip!

allturnleft

Ex DUB worked out £1900 LHR to ANC but the thought of all the extra legs would ruin the saving for me and still more than Norwegian

frenzie01

I mean £1.2K for premium eco is certainly not a bargain, but looking at other prices, not bad...

Ldnn1

Indeed I wouldn't be too keen to drop £1.2k on a non-business seat to SEA on any airline.

corporate-wage-slave

I suspect this is BA's worst nightmare - that is to say when passengers to the USA walk from WTP to Norwegian. Assuming, that is, the BA higher priced WTP seats also remain unsold. That said, the cheapest WTP seats to SEA next year are going at £821 return (no refunds, £150 change fee), rather than £2k, which I presume must have some hefty date constraints.

I can see a bit of evidence on BA's LGW services to the USA that they keep half an eye on Norwegian's prices, but it only goes so far. For example the core principle of separate pricing for each leg on Norwegian is up against the Saturday Night rule on BA, and BA will want to maintain that rule as much as they can, since it is used to separate business and leisure markets. There is also the fact that BA extracts more money from USA based travellers - via higher fares originating in the USA - which also gets subverted by Norwegian's more open model. BA is also competing in terms of adding seats and thereby depressing prices.

Up to this point BA at LHR doesn't appear to be influenced by LGW's markets, but it is very influenced by what Delta is doing. However if BA does perceive that it is losing out then there are tools open to it which aren't open to LCC (e.g. BAEC specific offers such as 2-4-1 style promotions).

It will certainly be interesting to see where this increased competition on BA's most valuable part of its network is going to take us.

Flexible preferences

Taking the closest comparables LHR SEA return, Norwegian does seem to stack up well against BA for WTP (£1200 vs £2200).

However, it is less clear-cut against CW - a £600 premium each way for the CW product including flat beds doesn't seem unreasonable. Also, BA is a financially secure airline, Norwegian seemingly less so.

sorp222

Why does this matter?

BingBongBoy

Several colleagues who work for different private aviation operations had moved a lot of their business over to Norwegian, based mainly on price... Lasted a couple of flights, and then went back to their original carriers based on service, support and schedules.

Norwegian have turned out, for many of them, to not be very flexible when it comes to re-arranging travel when aircraft have had trip changes meaning crews need to change their positioning itineraries. Irrespective of their tickets being fully flex etc.

So, glad the OP has decided to exercise their right of choice and hope they enjoy it and they don't fall foul of any of the support shortcomings of Norwegian if anything goes wrong.

Have a good trip!

Flexible preferences

Security of the said £1200 ticket and its inherent travel plans.

V10

I'd suggest that a majority of passengers don't base their travel plans on the financial health of their airline. This will only come into play when reports start appearing in the mainstream media that bankruptcy is imminent.

Flexible preferences

Yes, that sounds about right to me too.

Andriyko

I don't think many passengers will be aware that Norwegian may be running out of cash and may not be around at the time of their flight, nor will they be aware that that airline may not be very good/flexible in re-arranging travel, as BBB mentioned. When there is a £1000 difference in price, most (everybody?) will purchase the cheaper ticket.

Flexible preferences

Yes, I agree. However I believe the OP is considering whether booking with Norwegian is a 'no-brainer' vs BA, and whether or not most people consider Norwegian's financial health or support, it may be relevant context when the OP is considering the options. It is interesting the thread has moved from the OP's specific circumstance and thread subject to 'many/majority of passengers'.