Review of Norwegian flight Oakland Oslo in Economy

Airline Norwegian
Flight DY7064
Class Economy
Seat 19J
Aircraft Boeing 787-8
Flight time 09:40
Take-off 03 Sep 14, 18:45
Arrival at 04 Sep 14, 13:25
DY   #10 out of 22 Low-cost airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 96 reviews
oriolgutierrez
Published on 14th July 2015
BCN - OSL VY8538 Y / AIRBUS A320-200 - 17/08/2014: http://flight-report.com/en/report-8376.html
OSL - OAK DY7063 Y / BOEING 787-8 - 18/08/2014: http://flight-report.com/en/report-8375.html
OAK - OSL DY7064 Y / BOEING 787-8 - 03/09/2014: HERE
OSL - BCN VY8539 Y / AIRBUS A320-200 - 04/09/2014: No report.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in SF for four nights after our cruise to Alaska. The hotel was great and the lobby was truly spectacular! It is the biggest in the world.
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The hotel was located in the Financial District area which was very quiet at night perhaps too much.
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Ferry Building from our room.
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Mainly due to the large quantity of bags we had, we decided the best way to get to Oakland Airport would be using a private transfer. The hotel provided us with the transfer at a good price. The van was waiting for us just outside the hotel.
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To get to the airport, we drove through the Bay Bridge's lower level.
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Following Oakland Airport directions.
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We got to see as well the Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors among others.
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We got to the airport quite early since we were tired and had nothing to do. I was surprised by the airport's design, it reminded me of the classy American airport that we see in movies, never seen a similar one in Europe.
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We dropped our bags quickly as there was nobody in the line and cleared the security controls quickly too. The airport was empty.
I could see plenty of Southwest airplanes which for an European like me are not easy to spot. I guess I had the same feeling Americans would have for example in Barcelona Airport with Vueling.
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Norwegian's advertisement at the airport. I wouldn't be flying with them to Barcelona as they had no scheduled flights there the day this flight was arriving to Oslo. I had to book separate flights with Vueling.
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Our flight was scheduled to be on time.
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Southwest Boeing 737-800.
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American Eagle (Mesa Airlines) CRJ-900 and Allegiant Air MD-83.
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More Southwest 737s.
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Southwest 737-700 towards Ontario.
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Oakland Airport's seating areas. The airport looked rather dated and showing its age but was easy to navigate.
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Cargo airplanes, UPS Boeing 767 and MD-11.
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We went to the gate to see the inbound plane.
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The crew that would be in our flight.
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Finally the Boeing 787 arrived. It was EI-LNF, a 3 months old airplane, practically new. I was glad to see it was a Dreamliner as a couple of days before, Norwegian used a wet-leased 25 year old Boeing 767. Not only the age looked a problem to me, also what worried me was that the plane doing this same route a few days ago had to stop in Reykjavik to refuel. I was looking forward to fly again on the Dreamliner and was lucky enough to avoid flying another aircraft.
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Boarding was a breeze, very well-organized by the crew as we boarded by rows.
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Our scheduled flight time would be 9 hours 50 minutes.
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Oakland Airport's air traffic control tower.
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Southwest 737 before lining up with the runway.
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V1, rotate. Positive climb, gear up. Views of Oakland shortly after rotating.
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The Dreamliner's mood lighting.
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The cabin was pretty comfortable and the pitch was decent, better than I expected it to be considering Norwegian is a low cost carrier.
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The IFE was one of Norwegian's Dreamliner highlights, it was the best IFE I've ever experienced in an airplane. Live 3D map of our plane.
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I enjoyed very much this view, it was like being in the cockpit.
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There was a wide selection of music, movies, games and documentaries.

The price I payed for the ticket didn't include any meal so I ordered a sandwich through the snack bar. I was not particularly hungry as I had dinner before boarding the plane.
Views of the cabin with about 2 hours of flight-time left.
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I fell in love with the there of the Dreamliner's wings, they are simply amazing. Also the windows were much bigger and provided customers a better experience, allowing more light into the cabin.
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A friendly flight attendant gave my young sister this food box, it was the breakfast that was given to those who had bought a ticket that included meals. She was very kind!!
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Descending into Oslo Gardermoen Airport.
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Spoilers deployed. Reverse thrust.
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We are in Scandinavia! I could see Norwegian, Icelandair and Finnair airplanes during the short taxi to our gate.
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Last picture of the Dreamliner! It was an great experience to fly on this plane!
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Verdict

Norwegian

7.8/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi9.5
Buy-on-board menu5.0

Oakland - OAK

7.2/10
Efficiency9.0
Access5.5
Services6.5
Cleanliness8.0

Oslo - OSL

8.8/10
Efficiency8.0
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.0

Conclusion

Although Norwegian makes you pay for everything even on this long-haul flight (10h), the Dreamliner is a great airplane to fly on and truly improves the low-cost long haul experience. The pitch was decent however I would have liked it to be a little better considering it was a long flight. Unless you buy a ticket that includes meals, you'll have to order from a short variety of sandwiches and snacks you'll have to order through the Snack Bar in your IFE, I'd recommend to buy a ticket that includes meals as the snacks and sandwiches you can have if not are very expensive and lack of flavour and quality. The IFE is the big plus, wide selection of movies, music etc! I'd recommend Norwegian Long-Haul mainly because of their 787s as their service is minimal. Anyway, it was an overall nice experience!

Related

5 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 141523 by
    Mathieu 2067 Comments
    Hi :)

    Thank you for sharing this flight on DY's 787 :)
    Lucky you are, you didn't fly on the old 767 (probably leased to an asian airline ?).

    The cabin is pleasant and the wrew too.
    How much is the BoB ? More expensive than if you pay it online before the flight ?


    See you,
    • Comment 320694 by
      oriolgutierrez AUTHOR 20 Comments
      Hi Mathieu!

      Yes it was indeed great to fly on the 787. I believe the aircraft was leased to EuroAtlantic Airways, the Portuguese airline.

      In regard to your second question, when you buy your ticket online, you can either choose the basic fare called LowFare which includes just a random seat on a certain route or the LowFare+ which includes free seat selection, free meals and one checked bag per person as well. I booked the LowFare but if I were to book now, I'd definitely book the LowFare+ as if you want to choose your seat and check a bag it is definitely worth it. If you book the LowFare, you can only order sandwiches and snacks through the called Snack Bar on your IFE, these are 10 dollars and are tasteless so for a 10 hour flight I'd go for the LowFare+. Besides, the LowFare+ includes regular meals which in the flight if I am not wrong was a chicken tikka masala with rice and a salad.

      Hope to have solved all our doubts!
      Oriol.
  • Comment 141536 by
    fernousdu972 1074 Comments
    Thanks for sharing!

    The 767 was probably used to replace a 787 undergoing maintenance or facing some technical issues probably.

    The cabin looks pretty great. Nice PTVs, I did expect to see such huge and high quality screens with a low cost carrier.

    Nice looking airplane, with an amazing wingflex.
    • Comment 320767 by
      oriolgutierrez AUTHOR 20 Comments
      Thanks for your comment.

      Yes the 767 was used because one of Norwegian's dreamliners was grounded because of technical problems.

      The cabin is great, I also wasn't expecting PTVs of such a quality on a low cost carrier that is why Norwegian surpassed my expectations.

      Oriol.
  • Comment 141604 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Thanks for sharing! Reports on the Norwegian 787s are kind of rare. The cabin looks really sleek and modern and the mood lighting looks really cool. The hard product is definitely quite good for a low-cost carrier, especially the IFE. Great pics!

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