Ryanair, Spirit etc. would put you in exactly the same situation if impacted by a similar event. You keep saying this isn't normal and you are right. But part of the deal of booking a low cost carrier is that when things aren't normal, it goes terribly. To expect a LCC to turn into a full service carrier in disruption situations is simply irrational. They won't talk to you, they will avoid you, they will try not to refund you. That's the business model.

You play a numbers game with them, hoping that the 95% of the time it works ok saves you more money than the 5% of the time it doesn't and it will cost you. You're just finding out what the 5% looks like now.

I personally don't like that gamble, so I don't fly low cost carriers.

I'm booked on the same route, but in mid-May, and since the grounding I haven't made any pre-paid reservations on the far side and keeping my fingers crossed. I'm waiting to see how they start handling late-April flights and will then book accordingly. For $320 I can't complain too much,and I'm fine with a DUB re-route (in which case I'll just rent a car there instead of at SNN) and drive the extra couple of hours to Galway, which is where I was heading for a 5-day getaway. I'd be equally fine with a connection out of Kennedy or Newark. And honestly if they're keeping a Dreamliner on the SWF-DUB route, that would probably suck less than a closer arrival airport on a Max-8 anyways.

https://www.independent.ie/breaking-...-37947978.html

new about Norwegian replacement planes

I love how they refer to Providence, RI, as "Boston" and New Windsor, NY. as "New York."
I guess they're using the Ryanair "logic" where Bratislava is marketed as "Vienna."

The irony is it's far easier (and I'd argue faster, too) to get from Bratislava to Vienna than it is to get from Stewart to Midtown Manhattan. Not to mention far more picturesque.

In my case it's an hour's drive at highway speeds, and minimal tolls, from my home in northern NJ to SWF, whereas JFK is typically 1.5 to 2 hours, and close to $35 in bridge tolls. Plus the uncertainty of bridge/tunnel traffic that could make it much longer if there's a wreck or some other problem.

I spoke to Norwegian customer service again today. For our flight (PVD-DUB on 4/25) the rep was still not able to issue a refund when I asked again. According to her, our flight is not canceled and they have not made any changes to the planned airports. They have reassigned a different plane to our route - a 737 that is not a max 8, and we will be flying PVD-DUB, not bussing to SWF. Same seats as we had requested on the original. I'm a bit doubtful of this info but will continue to check on this every few days until our flight. I was told they were starting this as of mid April. I requested an email confirmation but was told nothing had changed from the one I got when I booked. Other than the plane!

So, should this go poorly for you (chasing the refund for months, possibly getting no refund), will you post your experience? How many hours have you invested in this endeavor so far? What's your time worth?

Let me toss out another scenario you don't seem to have considered. What if Norwegian shuts down operations while you're on your vacation? What's it going to cost you to get home? Hint: prices will rise dramatically due to demand exceeding supply.

There are links to reports in Irish media to this effect upthread, so I see no reason to doubt it. They were using a standard 737 when these routes first launched so there is no reason they cannot do this again once they find a spare aircraft

There's a BIG difference between a flight cancellation and an airline going out of business. For the last year, I've been expecting a race between WoW and Norwegian as to which airline would go out of business first. WoW 'won'. Norwegian's next.
Based on your posts here, you have been under the false impression that Norwegian is equivalent to financially stable airlines. It isn't.