Norwegian slam on carry on luggage fees – effective 23rd January

In a move with minimal notice, Norwegian is changing the amount of hand luggage you can carry on a flight.

Expect to pay £9 to tote your large cabin bag aboard the plane if you’re flying Norwegian Long Haul… and you brought the lowest price fare – Image, Economy Class and Beyond

Under their old fares (for tickets booked before 23rd January 2020, you were entitled to:

• One carry-on bag free-of-charge.
• One small personal item to be placed under the seat in front of you (e.g. a small handbag or slim laptop case)
• You can also bring one bag of duty-free goods purchased at the airport in addition to your hand baggage allowance.

The total weight for these tickets are

• LowFare, LowFare+, Flex, Premium: 10 kg
• PremiumFlex: 15 kg
  

Again, if you booked your tickets before 23rd January 2020 – you are on these older luggage limits.

Well, the new limits are in and apply from 23rd January 2020 – and prepare to pay if you’re travelling on the lowest fare that the airline offers. As promised:

• LowFare, you get 1 under seat bag (30 x 20 x 38cm), limited to 10kg. No larger overhead cabin item allowed
• LowFare+ will get you 1 under seat bag and 1 overhead cabin bag  (55 x 40 x 23cm), both which must weigh below 10kg combined
• Flex, Premium, PremiumFlex will get 1 under seat bag and 1 overhead cabin bag (55 x 40 x 23cm), both which must weigh below 15kg combined
  

If you want to bring a bag to go in the overhead bin (eg a wheeled carry-on bag) on a LowFare, you will need to pay extra – between £5 and £9 per segment. According to the “Optional Service Charges” page, this is split down as

• Domestic and flights between Norway, Denmark and Sweden: 5 GBP
• International short-haul: 7 GBP
• International long haul (Flights to/from U.S., Thailand, Argentina, Brazil): 9 GBP

Again, this applies from the 23rd January 2020 – and is now live.

The full changes are loaded at https://www.norwegian.com/uk/travel-info/baggage/hand-baggage/

Check before you book and before you travel

Sometimes, I’m tempted with the absolute cheapest fare to get to A to B – and I deal with the consequences of that afterwards. However, I do ensure I check the terms and conditions of my ticket very carefully for gotchas like this.

In a lot of cases – for short trips (or if you’re a light packer) a small bag may do the trick – providing you can live with it consuming your footwell space).

If you need to take two bags with you aboard an aircraft (and normally there’s a good reason – it could contain outfits, equipment and so on), either buy up the LowFare+ or pay up the excess.

It will make your life easier.

As for the cash-grab? I suspect it will hit those who least expect it when booking a cheap ticket.

Again – read the terms and conditions.

However, the change seems rather rushed, to say the least….

H/T – Spotted by WandrMe via Twitter. 

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