Primera Air launches new discount flights to Europe from $99
Editor’s note: Primera Air ceased operations in October 2018
We always get a little giddy here at EuroCheapo every time a new budget airline enters the transatlantic market. Along with booking an affordable place to stay, securing a low-cost flight to Europe is key to keeping your vacation expenses in check.
So we’re excited to see a brand-new player bringing cheap flights between the US and Europe. Primera Air will be kicking off its transatlantic service in April with non-stop flights from New York to London with more routes rolling out later in 2018 to Paris and Birmingham.
Primera is an Icelandic-owned and Latvia-based company that already operates a number of routes across Europe. Now they’re ready to expand their service with a brand-new fleet of planes, the Airbus A321neo. Launching with a similar concept like Norwegian and WOW Air, Primera will be offering several tiers of tickets from super cheap with no frills to more expensive with a number of perks.
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Introductory fares on Primera Air
Right now, Primera is only offering service from three destinations: Boston (BOS), New York – Newark (EWR), and Washington, DC (Dulles Airport). They have been advertising rock-bottom fares of $99 each way, and although a lot of those tickets have sold out, we are still able to find incredible deals including several tickets under $200. For example, a flight from Newark to London in late April is only $179.
Primera breaks their tickets down into Light (the cheapest option with no perks), Comfort (includes seat reservation, a checked bag, and meals), or Flex (all of the Comfort perks but the fare is refundable). If you choose a “Light” ticket, you can add on extras one at a time. For example, a seat reservation starts at $39.99 and a checked bag costs $44.99. They also offer a Premium Cabin, but the prices are way out of cheapo budget for us to even consider this option.
The transatlantic experience on Primera
I’ll be flying Primera in a few months from Paris back to New York City. I was able to find a €169 ($207) one-way flight direct from Paris (CDG) to Newark (EWR) in early June, an amazing deal for this time of year. Combined with a one-way ticket from Norwegian at $170, the final cost for a round-trip ticket to Paris was just $378. That’s a very nice price for a trip to Paris over Memorial Day weekend and during the French Open.
We’re looking forward to flying on Primera Air, and we’ll be reporting back about our experience. Right now you can read about transatlantic flights on the Primera website, but until we climb aboard, it’s hard to predict what the flights will be like. As we’ve learned (sometimes the hard way), these budget airlines can be fantastic deals, but the devil is always in the details.
Have you bought a ticket on Primera Air? Let us know how your experience in the comments below!
About the author
Looking for 2 adults to fly from Houston, TX. To: Brussels, Belgium. One. Week it’s for a funeral. Don’t know when but soon. Don’t need a room.. so what ever day we leave we have to be back example: left Wednesday returned Tuesday. Thank-you.