A little over a month back, I wrote about “Beijing, China- $291 Roundtrip, A Deal Too Good To Pass Up.”
Around 10 days later, reports started coming out about the coronavirus. At first it didn’t seem to be bad but as the days passed, the reports got worse. I decided to call Expedia to cancel my flight without penalty. I wrote an update about that $291 roundtrip deal to Beijing.
After canceling, I was left with a little over two weeks to find another deal or I’d end up home during February break.
My 8 year-old Lucas wanted to go back to Paris but we also considered destinations like London, Madrid, Amsterdam or even Latin America. Basically, the deal I found would dictate where we went.
I was close to booking a deal to London for around $330 per person but that fell through. Flights to Paris and Madrid were much pricier than expected, so they never really materialized as a real option.
I started seeing deals to Amsterdam for around $350 per person but hesitated to buy the flight since it was with Norwegian Air.
Norwegian is one of Europe’s largest budget carriers. The problem is that they charge extra fees for just about everything. Basically, that $350 flight to Europe can end up costing a lot more if you need to check a bag, want to pick a seat assignment or eat a meal during the flight.
The most basic and cheap fare on Norwegian only allows for an underseat bag which weighs up to 10KG. You can’t use the overhead bin unless you pay!
After passing on the deal, I felt that I should’ve looked even closer at it…
I kept monitoring prices to a variety of destinations but nothing looked great. Then, a few nights later, the deal to Amsterdam on Norwegian was back.
I decided to look further into the added fees the airline charges. With only Lucas and I going on this potential adventure, we wouldn’t be bringing a lot with us.
Our flights were $356 each making two tickets from NYC to Amsterdam $712. I felt that 10KG of luggage each would be enough weight but putting the bags under our seats would not work, at least not for me.
For an additional $12 each way, I was able to book space in the overhead bin. This also allows me to bring a rollaboard on the trip. I figured that Lucas and I could make one rollaboard and one backpack (which goes under his seat) work. I can also bring a small personal item/ bag but the weight of my items still can not exceed 10KG.
Final Thoughts:
I’m really looking forward to returning to Amsterdam. I visited the city around 20 years back so I expect it to be much different, especially since I’ll be traveling with an 8 year-old. This will be Lucas’s first visit to the city and The Netherlands will be his 65th country! This should be a really fun Father-Son Trip!
In the end, I feel that paying $736 for two people to fly from New York to Amsterdam is a very good deal. What do you think?
