£275 economy flights to the USA are back for the first time since the pandemic

We have been saying for a few weeks now that there are definite signs of nervousness in the travel industry about forward flight bookings after the Summer 2023 peak has passed.

We saw it in the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic sales, with business class tickets to the USA back around the £1,300 mark. JetBlue has been offering sub-£1,300 business class from Gatwick to the US for some time now, for Autumn travel.

Yesterday we covered an SAS flash sale offering £1,225 business class flights to New York which did NOT require a Saturday night stay.

Down at the back of the aircraft, we now have the return of sub-£300 flights to the US East Coast.

Norse Atlantic, the low cost carrier operating out of London Gatwick, has launched a sale to celebrate one year of transatlantic flying.

Here are the headline fares, which are lower than anything we have seen for a long time:

• London Gatwick to Boston from £275 return
• London Gatwick to New York JFK from £295 return
• London Gatwick to Washington DC from £309 return
• London Gatwick to Miami from £319 return
• London Gatwick to Orlando from £319 return
• London Gatwick to San Francisco from £335 return
• London Gatwick to Barbados from £349 return
• London Gatwick to Los Angeles from £365 return
• London Gatwick to Montego Bay from £419 return
• London Gatwick to Kingston from £419 return

The good news ….

…. is that these fares are easy to find. In fact, they are a little lower than the headline numbers above.

I had no trouble finding New York at £289 return for September.

The bad news ….

…. is that Norse is a true low cost carrier, in the Ryanair mould.

£289 gets you a seat and a SMALL underseat bag. That’s it.

You do NOT get:

• food
• seat selection (and Norse will, in my experience, deliberately give you the worst seat on the aircraft if you don’t pay – read this article)
• a carry-on bag, except for the small underseat bag (if you have a handbag, this takes up your underseat allowance)
• checked luggage

Here is evidence from my last Norse Atlantic trip that – if you refuse to pay – you are likely to be given the worst seat available even if the cabin is empty:

The lack of luggage allowance is the biggest issue. For a short weekend break in New York or Boston I think most people could actually manage with a small underseat bag, assuming handbags are left at home.

Clearly if you’re heading to Barbados for a week then the costs are going to add up – you’re going to want to eat on the way, you will have a suitcase, you may want to ensure you have decent seats. You’re probably into British Airways or Virgin Atlantic pricing territory by that point and they may have better flight times or more resilience if your aircraft develops issues.

Why you should fly Premium instead

The real bargain with Norse Atlantic is its Premium cabin. Pound for pound, this is the best value premium product in the air, at least flying from the UK.

Do you know that Norse’s Premium seat has EIGHT extra inches of pitch vs BA and Virgin Atlantic? Here is our comparison of the Norse Atlantic premium seat vs British Airways World Traveller Plus and Virgin Atlantic Premium.

Rhys reviewed Norse Atlantic’s Premium seat to the US here.

You can have a look around the sale fares on the Norse Atlantic website here. The promotion is running for a week.

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How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (April 2025)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.