Hezu

I would say the chances are quite slim: the financial troubles is one thing, but perhaps more importantly I seriously doubt that all pandemia related issues (especially entry restrictions) would be gone by then and therefor it would not make sense to fly these longhaul routes.
I have no experience with Norwegian's long haul flights, but I believe in general Norwegian has provided quite decent on board product with competive prices. And even some unique routes as you mention. Therefor it is bit a pity if the airline goes down, but certainly they have made some less impressive business decisions that has lead to this point.

iahphx

Why would this be past the time to dispute with your credit card company? Did you buy the tickets with a USA credit card? If so, you're not past any time. File immediately. There is zero chance that Norwegian will fly that route in June. Is it even still on any schedule?

BTW, this issue keeps coming up and amazes me: who gives a struggling airline $2k many months in advance for flights? Why? I haven't paid $300 in the past year to fly across the Atlantic. Why would you pay so much money so far in advance to a low fare airline that might not be around? You've heard of airlines like Air Berlin, right? There's a rule of reason on this stuff, folks. At least do some research before you buy your next ticket. Sites like theflightdeal and secretflying will get you across the Atlantic for cheap, on airlines that will still exist.

iflyjetz

I don't think there's a simple answer for you. I suspect that the SFO-OSL route will not fly, as it isn't the highest demand route in Norwegian's system.

If you bought the ticket through a reseller such as priceline, you will have to discuss this with them.

I assume that Norwegian has not formally cancelled your flight so about the only thing you can do right now is to be armed with as much information as possible. Here's one article that may help a bit: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gabriel.../#657042d745ef

I would call your credit card company and ask what would happen if Norwegian goes out of business, and even if they say tough luck, I'd still file for reimbursement if/when you aren't able to travel.

There is also some information posted on Norwegian's website that you might want to take a look at.

rove312

I posted a similar question upthread (post #535 ) and didn't get an answer here. In my case (although I booked it for family members who wanted to arrive in Rome at the same time as us, flying separately) I got an email with a cancellation number saying essentially "give us time." I'm not sure if it was here or elsewhere they said to allow 4-8 weeks, which would take it to mid-May. On the Chase site, there's no longer a "dispute this charge" link on that charge, but would it be reasonable to send Chase a secure message asking about it? As the airline has shrunken to near nothing, should I still give them until the 8-week mark?

zoneflyer

Much appreciated for all the response. Agreed that the chances are slim and I should prepare for the worst. The tickets were paid by CSR and Chase have a time limit of 60 days to dispute any charge, still possible to shoot a message and ask but not giving any high hopes.

As for booking in advance, everyone has their reasoning. Planning a trip to Lofoten requires early booking on basically all accommodations and transportation especially for Summer high season, and to fit the timing of all transfers seamlessly requires securing advance ticketing. Prices for summer peak season was never cheap on any cross Atlantic flights anyway. Of course, this was the norm before the pandemic. Most likely iahphx never had planned trips before and just jump on any sub $300 fairs he could get his hands on.

wf789

No one expected him to take any shares as the issue price had a big discount. (Share price ~100, issue price 33,-)
Fredriksen guaranteed that in case the issue was not fully subscribed, he would subscribe the remaining up to 800 million NOK.

iahphx

I plan many trips far in advance. The beauty of knowing you want to be somewhere many months in advance gives you the opportunity to look for incredible airfares. Sadly, these days, this also means constantly getting refunds. But I get them. I'm now starting to focus on what to do with my $200 roundtrip Air Portugal flights for June. Looks like I'll need another refund. I'm also holding tickets to London and Paris for August at about $250 roundtrip on BA and AA. Fingers crossed on that one. But, worse comes to worse, I'll never lose money on these tickets and I probably won't even have to take any vouchers. The key is doing your homework. Know what's too risky to buy, and never drop a lot of money on non-refundable travel. If you spend 1 minute a day looking at a website like secretflying, you will almost certainly never wind up in your situation again.

iflyjetz

I took his point as to not book deep advance tickets on an airline that has had multiple financial crises for the last several years. Every time they were dead, some last minute dumb money came in and bailed them out. I was personally stunned that people could be that stupid with their money to sink it in this airline.

While I understand the desire to take a direct flight, it sounds like that routing has never had enough passengers to make it viable for any airline.

I still remember watching an interview of a tourist in Hawaii in spring 2008. He flew with his family to Hawaii on Aloha Airlines round trip tickets. While there, Aloha went out of business. He rebooked on ATA Airlines. And ATA went out of business before they flew home. By that point, flights were completely full to the mainland and he probably paid many more times on one of the remaining carriers. He probably got his fares for Aloha and ATA refunded by his credit card company, but I suspect he could have flown round trip to Hawaii multiple times for what he ended up paying to a surviving carrier.

Often1

Have your flights been cancelled? If so, then you are due a refund under Norweigian's own COC, as well as US and EU rules. You will need to request a refund and then wait 7 days, at which point you may initiate a chargeback. If you cancel, all you get is a credit voucher which is about to become worthless.

If Norwegian ceases operations due to insolvency, you will have a direct claim immediately.

As to the broader issue, the suggestion above was simply that Norwegian has been on the rocks for several years. People have been stranded, have had their departure airports and timings changed, and all manner of problems. While Covid-19 may have hastened the end, this has been a risky booking since it was made.

Often1

That depends on local tax law. Whether it is better to take a write off on an aircraft which can't be leased back out because the worldwide market has a 3-5 year supply of parked aircraft or to take the lease in shares and then write those off is largely determined by how fair market value is determined in one's taxing jurisdiction(s).

WindowSeatFlyer

Which days? ExpertFlyer currently shows flights on Mondays and Fridays.

s0ssos

Actually depends on how you mean transportation. Rental cars or the bus? The bus has pretty decent availability (schedule) and is very nice (though you cannot always get the one with the bathroom, sadly). Accommodations are also not hard, if you don't mind staying at a hostel type environment. I think the high costs of everything there make it seem like you need to plan a lot, maybe?

zoneflyer

Not yet, but expecting to get more information sometime next month with the current situation. Good to know a refund is still possible if Norweigian can hang on until June. However, if worst case comes to ceasing operation, I recall that Chase removed financial insolvency from their trip cancellation insurance policy for CSR sometime back. In this case, I may have run out of luck. Understood that I was taking risk booking ahead for Norweigian, and aware of their financial troubles but did research a bit before making the decision. Under normal circumstances, it seems like the pattern of recent bankruptcy for troubled budget airlines were mostly after summer peak season when entering slow winter season. With this in mind, we bite the bullet to went ahead with our plans. Clearly that people in this forum has more experiences and insights than me, it's lesson learned and to avoid in the future.

June 26th.

Indeed, it's one of the more expensive destinations that we were planning. Our reservation includes a week of rental car and a couple better Rorbuers in Reine and Ballstad, those were usually booked out far in advance. Gladly, at least I can get those refunded without much hassle.

WindowSeatFlyer

Norwegian Air Shuttle CEO writing an open letter on LinkedIn – “we are still fighting like dogs”

“Tuesday April 21 was a dark day in our history and I feel personally really sorry for all the great Red Nose Warriors we have disappointed. It is important for me to underline that we are still fighting like dogs and the extraordinary general meeting on the 4th of May is vital for our FINANCIAL RESTRUCTURE and to get access to the 3bNOK in liquidity from the Norwegian government.

At the same time we are constructing a stronger NEW NORWEGIAN that will continue after Covid-19. With this in place we will fight our way back so we can rehire the majority of our great colleagues that we lost yesterday. At the end it is all about ensuring our customers and Red Nose Warriors that Norwegian will live after Covid-19 and that we can return proudly to the sky as in the picture.”

Jacob Schram

CEO Norwegian

-------------------------------------

Explainer: Why Norwegian Air matters to Norway

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian Air (NWC.OL), the budget carrier that changed the way people travel across the Atlantic, is fighting for survival as the coronavirus pandemic deepens the company’s financial straits, forcing it to furlough staff and cancel flights.

WHY DOES THE AIRLINE MATTER TO NORWAY?

While governments across the world are trying to shore up national airlines, Norwegian Air is particularly valuable to its home country because of Norway’s vast geography, which stretches more than 2,200 kilometres across fjords and mountains, with few train lines to transport locals and tourists.

Its capital Oslo is closer to Munich than to its own northernmost mainland town, Hammerfest. The journey would take 24 hours by car.

As a result, domestic flights by Norwegian and its rivals Wideroe and SAS (SAS.ST), play a more important role in Norway’s infrastructure than airlines in many other countries.

Often1

Don't confuse insurance with protections available on a consumer credit card. The former is a third-party service offered as an enticement to you to take on a specific card. But, it has nothing to do with chargeback.

Card issuers also track bankruptcies carefully. If your carrier is not operating as a result, processing the chargeback should be close to immediate (and certainly within a day or two).

Card issuers hold back a percentage of charges made so that they do not get stuck with the loss. As a vendor's financial situation worsens, the holdback is increased. There is no reason for you, as a consumer, to wait longer than the required