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How to fly to the USA for less than £300
Flying to the USA with budget carriers Norse, PLAY and JetBlue could save you hundreds of pounds - but we also found British Airways and Virgin can be cheaper.
We found round-trips to New York for as little at £275 with new Scandi low-cost carrier Norse. The catch? You can’t bring more than a T-shirt or two. This is Norse’s economy light fare, which only includes a small under the seat bag. Likewise, JetBlue could fly you to the Big Apple and back for just under £450, again with just an under the seat bag.
Our snapshot research reveals that the key to squeezing value for money out of no-frills carriers is flying off-peak and packing light. While Norse was cheaper than British Airways and Virgin Atlantic by nearly £100 for flights in October, even with a proper cabin bag included, when we compared flights to New York for August, the cheapest ticket was actually with British Airways (which includes a 10kg cabin bag in its economy basic fare). Go with Norse and you would pay £192 more for this same trip after adding a 10kg cabin bag for £49 each way. If you want to eat a meal during the eight-hour flight, that’s another £24 each way with Norse whereas this is included with BA.
Cheap off-peak flights to New York
Airline | Route | Flight time | Cheapest return fare | Cheapest return fare with cabin bag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Norse | LGW to JFK, direct | 8h 10m | £275 | £375 |
JetBlue | LGW to JFK, direct | 8h 17m | £433 | £433 |
Virgin Atlantic | LHR to JFL, direct | 8h 25m | £424 | £424 |
| British Airways | LHR to JFK, direct | 7h 45m | £461 | £461 |
PLAY | LGW to SWF , 1 stop in Reykjavik | 11h 15m | £564 | £656 |
Table notes: Prices collected on 3 April 2023 for flights departing on 12 October and returning on 17 October 2023. Flight time is the outgoing flight time.
Check prices of New York hotels in October
Cheap peak flights to New York
| Airline | Route | Flight rime | Cheapest return fare | Cheapest return fare with cabin bag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
British Airways | LGW to JFK, direct | 8h | £587 | £587 |
PLAY | STN to JFK, 1 stop in Reykjavik | 11h 15m | £602 | £694 |
Virgin Atlantic | LHR to JFK, direct | 7h 45m | £624 | £624 |
JetBlue | LGW to JFK, direct | 8h 18m | £664 | £664 |
Norse | LGW to JFK, direct | 8h 10m | £681 | £779 |
Table notes: Prices collected on 30 March 2023 for flights departing on 3 August and returning on 8 August 2023. Flight time is the outgoing flight time. *Price of ticket with additional fee for a cabin bag.
Check prices of New York hotels in August
Norse did come out cheapest for our trips to Washington DC and Orlando in August, but only beating BA by £11 on the Orlando flight. Norse’s economy classic fare, which includes a 23kg checked bag, 10kg cabin bag and a meal, came out at £893. The same flight with BA’s economy standard fare, again with a 23kg checked bag, 10kg cabin bag and a meal included, was £904 and for that you get free standard seat selection at check-in too (Norse wanted to charge us over £11 per seat for this).
Cheap flights to Washington DC
When it came to our flights to DC, there was no denying which airline was cheapest. Norse could fly you there and back in August with 23kg of hold luggage, a 10kg cabin bag and a meal included with a £781 economy classic ticket. That’s £50 less than the next cheapest fare from PLAY (828) and a whopping £370 less than Virgin Atlantic (£1,150), the most expensive in our comparison.