- This week I fly on an airline
that's been resurrected from the dead
and an airline who in their former life
threatened to sue me,
as I take a flight on the UK's Norse Atlantic Airways.
Well, good morning from a cold, miserable,
and damp Gatwick Airport.
I only got in here about 12 hours ago,
but now it's time to go home.
Now, I'm flying on an airline today
that loads of you have asked me to fly on,
but I've always been a little bit unsure
and I'll explain why in a little while
because today I'm heading home
on an airline called Norse Airlines.
First step today was to check in
and it seemed like staff morale was on a high this morning.
Hi, good morning.
How are you?
- Where are you traveling to?
- [Noel] Miami.
- Traveling on an ESTA or visa?
- [Noel] Visa, in the back.
- Did you say at the back?
- [Noel] Yeah.
There you go, that's the one, yeah.
- And what bags do you have on you?
- [Noel] Just my carry on.
Just this one.
- Can you put this on there?
- Oh yeah, sure.
Thank you.
Thanks very much.
Have a good day.
That was nice and easy.
Let's go and see if security will be just as easy.
Norse Premium doesn't get you fast track security,
but whenever I fly through Gatwick, I like to buy it anyway.
It's just five pounds, but it can save you a massive wait
in the security line.
Oh, that was all nice and easy.
Very friendly guys here on security today.
But I need to now go and get something to eat.
And I think I need to give you
a little bit of a history lesson
about the airline I'm flying on today, Norse.
See, a few years ago there was an airline
that you might remember called Norwegian,
or should I say Norwegian UK,
who flew Boeing 787 Dreamliners across the Atlantic
as a sort of low cost airline from here in Gatwick
to places like Miami and New York.
Thank you.
And now, Norwegian weren't a bad airline as such.
I flew on 'em a few times
and they were generally pretty reasonable.
I flew on them in, I think, 2019
and made a video about them.
It wasn't a bad flight.
There was a few issues that I mentioned in the video,
but other than that, it was a pretty reasonable flight
from the US back to Gatwick.
Put the video out.
A few people commented on the issues that I'd had.
I didn't think anything else of it until a few weeks later
and I get an email from the vice president
of Norwegian Air UK,
and I'm thinking, okay, this guy's probably messaging me
to figure out how they can help me
because I had a few issues and obviously
the video had gone out and everything.
But no, the email was to say that they were going to sue me
because I said things that they didn't like about Norwegian,
and effectively they threatened me
and said if I didn't take the video down,
then they would be suing me.
Great customer service.
Naturally, me being a pleasant and lovely gentleman,
I replied and politely told them to go shove it
and I kept the video online,
and didn't hear anything back because they went bust.
Yes, queen.
Anyway, not long after, a new airline sprung up.
And they were called Norse, who, like Norwegian,
flew in Boeing 787s.
Actually, the exact same 787s that Norwegian flew.
They operated route from here in Gatwick
across to New York and Miami.
They were like a low cost airline.
They even had some of the same management
as the old Norwegian airline.
- That's suspicious.
- So you can understand my hesitation
to not want to fly on them again this time,
but, fingers crossed, it might actually be all right.
That is a good sausage.
Alright, time to go and get on board.
Let's go and see what Norse have in store.
Bloody hell, this is a long walk.
Right down to gate 27,
but it's like the furthest gate at Gatwick.
and they're boarding already apparently.
Crikey.
All right, so we said they were boarding
but they're not boarding.
It was a rouse to get everybody down to the gate.
Worn out now.
- [Announcer] Once again, ladies and gentlemen,
a very good morning.
Here at gate 27, the Norse Atlantic airways flight to Miami.
- [Noel] And it was at this point I noticed
I'd been given the ominous four S's on my boarding pass,
which meant I've been selected
for the rubber glove treatment.
- Just a quick random security search for me, sir.
- How are you doing, sir?
- [Noel] Good morning, how are you?
- Yeah not too bad.
All it is, it's literally we have to a random screening.
- [Noel] Yeah, course.
- A quick swab of your bag, electronics.
By the looks of it, you've got a few electronics,
maybe a laptop and stuff. - Yeah.
- [Noel] Just an iPad.
- And there you go.
Hope you have a safe flight.
- [Noel] Thanks a lot mate.
Yeah, no problem.
Thank you, see you later.
It was all relatively straightforward though,
and I was soon on my way down to the plane.
Good morning.
Thank you.
- Cabin crew there, please.
- [Noel] Thank you.
Hello, good morning.
How are you?
- Good, how are you?
Excellent.
You wanna go through that door.
On the right side.
- [Noel] Thank you.
- Hi.
- [Noel] Hiya, good morning.
- Thank you.
- And welcome on board the Norse Boeing 787.
If this seems familiar, it's because it kind of is.
I've actually flown on this exact plane.
This was the plane I flew on when I flew on Norwegian
and they tried to sue me.
I've got four S's on my boarding class today,
which I actually figured meant sue sue sue sue.
But actually, it didn't, it means extra security search,
but it's actually not too bad.
This is a premium economy cabin.
You get a nice decent amount of leg room.
Got me bag of...
I was gonna say potato chips,
but I can't because everybody moans at me
for speaking American if I speak American.
Everybody moans at me for speaking English
because I live in America now.
I can't win.
Anyway, I've got my Walkers potato chips crisps there.
There's my leg room.
You get a blanket and a bottle of water at the seat.
Quite nice.
I think there's an arm rest TV,
which we'll go through in a little bit.
Good morning.
And there's my view out of the window.
We sat around for a bit waiting for them
to offload some bags of some passengers
that hadn't turned up.
And after an hour's delay, started our taxi out
to get on our way across the Atlantic.
And airborne from Gatwick heading to Miami.
Albeit taking off an hour late
because of a passenger who didn't show up,
but they got rid of her bag and we're on our way.
Walkers crisp time.
You cannot underestimate how good these taste
after you've not eaten them in so long.
I decided to fire up the entertainment system
and have a look at what there was.
Think gave out some rather crappy earbuds,
which I had to use as I'd forgotten the AirPods.
But there was a good selection of movies and TV box sets.
There's no flight map though,
just a flight information screen
sharing our ever increasing delay into Miami,
which was a little concerning
as I'd only got a two hour connection there.
But soon it was time for lunch.
Off the chicken bread.
Chicken bread?
Chicken breast.
Not gonna lie, it doesn't look the most appetizing
and it comes with wooden cutlery, but we'll give it a go.
It's very dry and very chewy.
It's not the best.
- [Announcer] It's time for the Noel Philips loo review.
It's a bit tiny, not exactly very spacious.
We'vve got the toilet, which is a bit mucky down there.
There's toilet paper and a wet floor.
That's actually quite good.
And this is the sink and a nice Dreamliner mirror.
So yeah, the meal was...
Meh.
But then you're not...
You've gotta remember you're not flying on
an actual full service airline here.
This is a low cost airline, so...
I guess you kind of get what you pay for to a degree.
Although we didn't pay quite a lot for this flight.
I'll mention that sort of later in the video.
- [Announcer] That was the Noel Philips loo review.
- We carried on across the Atlantic
and I managed to binge watch the entire first season
of "The Last of Us", which was a fantastic show by the way.
We coasted into Canada overhead Moncton
and got a great view of Boston, followed by New York City
as we flew down the eastern seaboard.
The entire city of New York with its millions of people
and we can just see it, all of it, at once, out the window.
Isn't that amazing?
One thing that I did find interesting
was that although the flight crew were based in London,
the entire cabin crew were Miami based.
From chatting to them through the flight,
the premium cabin crew lived in Puerto Rico and Cuba
and commuted into Miami to operate these flights.
Thank you to this week's video sponsor Surfshark,
who always comes to the rescue
whenever I want to watch some British TV when I'm traveling.
Surfshark is a VPN provider
and what that means quite simply is that
you can use their software to connect
to the internet from anywhere in the world
and make it look like you're just at home,
which has some really good benefits.
For instance, I could be sitting here
by a sunny pool in Vietnam
and watching some "Top Gear" on my phone.
It lets me watch "EastEnders"
here in the middle of the Australian Outback.
Oh yeah, I'll have a Castlemaine XXXX, mate.
Cheers.
Surfshark even lets me catch up
with "Only Fools and Horses" while I'm here in New York.
Now Surfshark are offering you a massive 83% discount
plus three months free when you use my promo code,
Noel Philips, at the link on the screen now.
What are you waiting for?
Even baby shark approves.
All right, then we have about an hour
until we land into Miami,
and a mystery box has turned up.
Ooh, what will it be?
Let's see.
That was a bit of a letdown, wasn't it?
Some sort of...
Oh, is it quinoa and like a bit of a tart thing.
I'll have a little bit, I think.
Might save myself for...
Well, on my next flight, hopefully, if I make it,
out of Miami.
It's fair to say that this second snack service
was barely edible.
I managed about a forkful of the still frozen
quiche thing they gave me
before my thoughts turned to me connection in Miami.
We were still an hour delayed,
meaning that I'd got just 30 minutes to get off the plane,
through immigration, across Miami Airport,
through security and to the gate
before they closed boarding.
It was time to break out my running shoes.
My flight to Miami today cost me US $1700.
Flights in their economy class start at just 300 though
while flights in premium with other airlines
started around $2,000.
Despite the delays and terrible food,
I still think Norse gives good value for money
if you're looking for a cheap transatlantic flight,
just be sure to take your own lunch.
As soon as the seatbelt sign turned off,
I took my place on the starting block,
ready for the great Miami Marathon of 2024.
- I have a flight too, around the same time.
- [Noel] I've got global entry, so fingers crossed.
- Yeah, me too.
Unlike you, I have to wait for everyone to de-plane.
- [Noel] Oh gosh, yeah.
- But I made it last time, so I should be okay.
We are global and you have the passes to come together.
- [Noel] Yeah, exactly.
So fingers crossed, we might be home in time for dinner.
- Yeah.
- All right, we're off the plane.
One hour, exactly.
Let's see if we can do this.
Fortunately, global entry was a breeze today
and I was through passport control in just a few seconds.
Alright, seven minutes after landing
we are through immigration,
if I can find the right...
The right escalator.
Now we need to get to H concourse
to get my flight back to Houston.
I only had to walk half of Miami airport today,
but it was still crazy busy.
Eventually I made it to the H concourse though,
where it started to come unstuck
as I'd banked on my Clear membership
getting me straight through.
- Hi sir, you have Clear?
- [Noel] I do, yes.
- Oh, right now pre-check is going faster.
- [Noel] Sorry?
- Right now pre-check is going faster.
- Pre-check is going faster, is it?
Okay, I'll do that then, thank you.
Faster, however, definitely didn't mean fast
as security took me about 20 minutes to get through.
- Go left. - Thank you.
I'm through security.
I don't even know what time it is.
What time is it?
I've got 20 minutes.
I dunno if we're gonna do this.
Let's go and figure it out.
Of course, my next flight had to go
from the furthest gated H concourse,
so I legged it through the airport to discover my fate.
Would you look at that?
I only think we've gone and made it, you know.
Oh, there you go.
We've made it.
They're just about to start boarding.
Wow, that was close.
So there we go then.
A 35 minute connection, international to domestic in Miami.
Is it possible?
Well, yeah, just.
Should you do it?
Probably not.
And should you allow a two hour connection like I did?
Well probably not, especially without pre-check
and global entry and all that lot.
But anyway, that's why I've got it.
I'm here now.
I'm about to get on my plane back to Houston.
I hope you've enjoyed this video on Norse.
Let me know what your thoughts were down in the comments.
As always, be kind to one another
and I'll see you on the next one.
Bye for now.