New cheap flights to Europe bookable from April 2018

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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