It’s no secret that I love to travel, but sometimes the actual act of traveling is less than enjoyable. Flying to a destination can mean an expensive taxi ride to the airport, waiting in hours of lines, and getting hit with baggage fees. A bad flying experience puts a damper on the start of a long awaited getaway. But, what if I told you there are some flying experiences that make the act of traveling actually enjoyable? Enter Norwegian Air, a low-cost long haul airline that’s making flying easy.

Norwegian air started with the promise of making air travel affordable for everyone. To help keep costs low Norwegian flies out of smaller airports that have lower fees, such as New York Stewart International Airport, where I recently flew to Scotland from. Stewart is a small airport about 80 minutes outside of Manhattan located near Newburgh, NY. I recently had the opportunity to try out the Norwegian experience flying from Stewart to Edinburgh, Scotland. The difference between flying out of a small airport, like Stewart, versus a large one, like JFK, was clear the moment I entered Stewart. The Stewart experience was quick, uncomplicated and easy. This difference was much appreciated!

Since Stewart is outside of NYC, the distance could be a factor to people wanting to fly from there. Luckily Norwegian makes it super easy (and affordable!) to get from midtown Manhattan to Stewart via a shuttle. The airline times out your flight departure with the exact shuttle you need to make your flight. The shuttle was comfortable and the ticket cost is less than a standard cab to JFK. Once at Stewart, it’s easy to see the benefits to using a smaller airport. I sped through the bag drop line, not having to pay a cent since my suitcase was under the generous Norwegian weight limit of 32 kg. Moving on, the security line was a breeze as well. I think I was through it in under 5 minutes!

Onboard the plane, the seats were comfortable and spacious. Stewart to Edinburgh is a Norwegian MAX route which means there’s only one class (coach) and it’s a single aisle plane. I was comfortable on the overnight flight and slept a good portion of the way, feeling rested and ready to go when we landed in Scotland. I also want to mention the kindness of the Norwegian staff. My flight was cancelled due to storms in Scotland, and then my rebooked flight was cancelled again due to storms in New York, and the Norwegian staff were incredibly helpful with getting me rebooked on the next available flight. It’s a huge bummer when travel plans get interrupted due to weather and dealing with the kind people at Norwegian made a frustrating situation better.

I had a great experience both with flying Norwegian and departing from Stewart International Airport. If you’re in the NYC area and looking for an affordable ticket to Europe, definitely check out Norwegian’s offerings from Stewart. The kind staff, quick airport experience and comfortable flight make it a great airline that I’m sure to use again.

Norwegian offers more than 500 routes to over 150 destinations across the globe. The Norwegian fleet is young- the average age of their planes is 3.6 years old, so when you fly Norwegian you know you’ll be on a new aircraft that offers great space and a quiet ride. The newer planes also mean less fuel is needed, so less emissions go into the environment. A great flying experience that’s also green is A+ in my book!
I received a free flight experience courtesy of Norwegian to review. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that make My Darling Passport possible!