If you haven’t heard, there is a new player in the low-cost carrier market from the US to Europe — Primera Air. They are launching flights from Newark and Boston to London, Paris, and Birmingham. Flights are now bookable from April 2018. Primera is marketing prices “from $99“, though the best I’ve seen so far is $139 one-way.
The Deal
- Cheap flights on low-cost-carrier Primera Air from New York / Boston to London, Paris and Birmingham
- Bookable now (for travel from April 2018 on) here at Primeraair.com
Quick Thoughts
As noted above, I haven’t yet found any $99 dates, though I see plenty of availability at $139. Note that the cheapest fares (“light”) only include 1 free carry on up to 10kg and do not include seat selection. Still, if you’re traveling for just a weekend (which is conceivable from NY and Boston) and/or you can travel light, this could be a solid deal. Also note that like other low-cost carriers that operate out of secondary airports, they fly into London Stanstead. If you’re into budget carriers, that could be a net positive as Ryanair also flies out of Stanstead and occasionally has some stellar deals like two pounds round trip to Denmark. I know everyone loves to hate on Ryanair, but I’ve taken my share of (dirt-cheap) flights with them and lived to tell the tale.
The Primera Air site allows you to see a week of availability at a time. While the “light” fare provides no seat selection or baggage beyond a 10kg hand-carry item, the “Comfort” fare includes both a checked bag and priority seating – and even a meal. Furthermore, the most intriguing thing about the Comfort fare is that it allows a name change. That’s interesting because it might take some of the risk out of booking speculatively — as long as you think you could find someone else to take the ticket (and for $139, that’s seems like it might not be such a long shot). Note that I’ve never booked anything with Primera Air and can’t speak to the ease or challenge of a name change.
Flights back from Europe to the US are more expensive as they always are with these discount carrier sales. However, I would either use miles to book a one-way home or hunt for a deal on another carrier for the way home rather than book these fares as a round trip. If you’re traveling carry-on only, you may even be able to grab one of those aforementioned Ryanair sales to see a second destination and position for an award or cheap cash ticket home.
To search for fares, go to primeraair.com.
H/T: Slickdeals
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If you click the (i) next to COMFORT it says “Name Change (for a fee)”. The Flex ticket states it is included.
You’re missing an “a” in primeraair under “The Deal” section URL spelling (the link itself is correct). Was just typing in primerair and couldn’t figure out why I kept ending up on Home Depot site.
Haha. Thank you, Steve! Fixed it.