Fly to America for only £149!

Budget airline Norwegian is offering flights to America for just £149 – but there’s a catch.

Low-cost airline Norwegian is currently offering bargain prices on flights to New York, starting at just £149. That’s for a one-way flight to JFK airport in New York.

They’ll be flying at this cost for three days a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

The catch

Flights are being snapped up extremely quickly, and there are only a couple of flights left to book in the next eight months (you can't book further than that in advance). As I write, there is just one seat left with the £149 price tag, on a plane due to fly out on February 24th.

Return prices are slightly more expensive, set between £150.20 and £240.20. But the £150.20 return prices are now all set before the remaining £149 flights. So you won’t be able to take advantage of those in the current bookable period, though it might be a price to look out for when the next month’s flights become available for purchase.

You can expect to pay £180.20 or more for your return flight if you shoot for either of the remaining dates, adding up to a total of £392.20.

These prices don’t include hold luggage or meals. For £35 extra each way, you’ll be able to take one piece of hold luggage, and enjoy breakfast and dinner. You can also reserve a seat if you pay the extra fare. That will make the overall ticket price £462.20, and if you pay with a credit card, there’s a £4 surcharge per reservation.

To be realistic, you’ll probably want to take hold luggage on a transatlantic flight, and you’re likely to want to be fed too, as the flight to JFK from Gatwick is almost eight hours long, while the journey back is six and a half hours. However, if you’re just planning a short break and could go without luggage, and take food from the airport onto the plane instead of booking a meal, you could save a nifty £70 on your trip.

How it compares

Norwegian has set the lowest prices for flights to New York, so it might be worth checking the site on 1st August to see if more £149 flights will be available in April 2015. Remember, these are likely to go very quickly too!

Iceland Air is offering the same flights for £487.50 during early 2015, but you’ll have to make a stop to catch a connection in Reykjavik. That price includes one piece of hold luggage and a meal. Though it’s a little more expensive, Iceland Air still has flights at this price during the first few months of 2015.

If you were to fly with British Airways, leaving on 24th February and returning on 3rd March, you'd pay £585.31 for your flights. With Virgin, you'd pay exactly the same. So even if you miss out on the £149 flights, you can still save almost £100 by choosing to fly with a budget airline.

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