My first trip with Norwegian was a good one. My expectations began low as the flight was so cheap; I was expecting a long haul version of Ryanair.
Seat Allocation With Norwegian, you pay just for the flight and anything else like bags, plane meals and seat allocation are extra. We didn’t pay for seat allocation, we were too stingy. But we were seated together on a fully booked plane which, after many separations on Ryanair on half empty planes, was a welcome change.
The Plane The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a new plane and god does it feel like it. It has a whole host of improvements which make your long trip that little bit better.
The lighting This plane has smart interior lighting which is meant to mimic the time zone of the country you are travelling to. I am a big fan of mood lighting so this went down well.
The Dreamliner smart lighting (Image taken from Norwegian Air website)
The windows If the lighting doesn’t do it for you, the windows are 65% bigger and have buttons which allow you to gradually adjust the amount of light which comes in, turning from normal to a deep shade of blue. Miles better than the traditional pull down screens.
Entertainment system Like most, the entertainment system comes with plenty to watch from films, shows and even documentaries about how the plane was built. But the Dreamliner goes many steps further.
They have taken lots of individual processes and merged them into their entertainment system. For example, all announcements, including the safety demonstration come through your screen. If you are mid way through a film, it is simply paused. Your spotlight and calling for assistance is also there. You can check the flight progress, arrival and time zones and read up on the area you are visiting. But the best bit is the snack bar. You can order food and drink right to your seat by simply swiping your card in a slot below the screen. Genius. No fiddling with controls on your seat, no magazines being passed round, no need to disrupt staff or neighbours and all super easy to use.
The cost This fancy Dreamliner seamed too good to be true considering I paid $300 return to California. I expected extra strict rules on baggage and to be paying a small fortune for water on board to make up for it but it just wasn’t the case. Earphones were a mere $3.
The Benefit For me, I loved flying Norwegian. It was the first time ever that I have not had jet lag; the mood lighting and windows weren’t 100% responsible but I am confident they helped. And the modern features of the new Dreamliner were well planned and executed making that 10 hour flight much easier.
The staff were also the calmest I have ever seen them. Dinner service was efficient and quick. No shuffling of bags to fit them in the overhead lockers, no up-selling of duty free (also in the entertainment system) or fiddling around with magazines and change. And I bet there’s a whole host of other improvements the plane offers its staff.
Outcome For the price I paid, I am one happy customer. I genuinely felt they had looked at the problems of the user when flying both before and during the flight and resolved them with style. Virgin should be worried.
P.s I do not work for Norwegian, but maybe I should.
