norwegian air cuts us flights

The service wasn’t the best. The leg room was abysmal. Getting a refund for a canceled flight was nearly impossible. And now Transatlantic flights on Norwegian Air Shuttle are a thing of the past.

Norwegian Air Shuttle was a low-cost carrier based in Europe that sought to make cheap flights from the US to Europe as commonplace as cheap domestic flights. For a time, they were even running cheap flights to the Caribbean from the US. But they were hit hard by the pandemic, and while they’re still in business, they’ll only be operating in Europe from now on.

We had booked clients on Norwegian Air a few times over the years, and whenever we sold those tickets, we found ourselves giving a laundry list of caveats about what to expect in terms of comfort, service and (lack of) amenities.

Don’t get us wrong—we completely understand the appeal of cheap airfares. But we also think that the days of looking for the lowest common denominator when it comes to travel are quickly fading into the distance.

As a travel agency, we have the ability to book travel through a Global Distribution System. Maybe this looks like a bunch of gobbledygook to you, but we see the airline’s inventory for each flight on a given route.

Increasingly, clients who used to book travel on their own have started coming to us for their bookings. Even a simple flight and hotel is more complicated than it used to be. And we can help a lot, in that regard.

• We have complete access to airline inventory and pricing through Amadeus, our Global Distribution System (GDS).

• We can access bulk and consolidator airfares and can ticket group air (for more than 10 travelers on the same itinerary).

• We have access to preferred rates at hotels in our hotel program.

• At hundreds of luxury and boutique properties around the world, our rates include exclusive perks and amenities.

There are also things we can’t do.

• We don’t control airline schedule changes.

• We can’t override airline policies and fare rules.

• If airlines charge for baggage or advance seat assignments, we don’t have a magic bullet to get them to waive those policies.

However, even though we don’t have a magic wand to suddenly make the airlines do whatever we want, the biggest advantage that comes from booking with us is that we take care of you before, during and after your travel. After all, a deal that you find on the internet isn’t going to be much of a bargain if you’re miserable on your trip. And if something goes sideways while you’re traveling, that on-line booking site isn’t going to return your phone call.