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Following the announcement that Norwegian has leased HiFly’s A380 for its London to New York route, tickets have become available. The aircraft is still in its previous Singapore Airlines configuration, meaning premium suite seats are available starting at $614.

The Experience

Singapore Airlines A380’s feature 12 suite seats which are sold as the best seats on the aircraft. No expense has been spared creating them. Featuring a leather seat that turns into a fully flat bed, the highlight of the suite is that it is completely enclosed from the rest of the aircraft. There are 4 suites located either side of the aircraft. Accompanying these are 4 “twin” suites in the middle. These twin suites have a retractable screen dividing them. Couples allocated both seats are able to combine the beds to form a double bed.

When offered by Singapore Airlines, the suites have a full turndown option available when turned into a bed. This is unlikely to be offered by Norwegian. Passengers flying in Suites will get the same food service as passengers in the Business Seating Area. Norwegian lists this as a “3-course Premium dinner” and a “A Premium breakfast or light evening meal”.

Securing A Suite Seat

With Norwegian only selling two classes of seating, it seemed uncertain how it would be possible to book one of the 12 Suite Seats. Unfortunately it seems as though you’ll need a little bit of luck to come by one. A Norwegian source said that passengers will have seats randomly assigned. Of the 72 premium economy seats, there will be 12 lucky passengers who will have a private suite. This corresponds to a 16.67% chance. They also said that Premium passengers will not be able to buy upgrades to suites, missing a potential way for the airline to make a lot of extra money off of passengers.

There may be a trick to reserving these elusive seats though. A Facebook user said that booking his flight through a third party, Amadeus GDS, allowed him to access a seat selection portal and claim seat 2F. Of course, the airline always reserve the right to not honour seat reservations.

Premium Upgrade

It’s not all doom and gloom for the other 60 Premium passengers. On their website, Norwegian state that a premium seat does not turn into a lie flat bed. All of the seats on the aircraft configured for Business Class do turn into lie flat beds. Only the aircraft’s economy seats do not lie flat. People booking this flight in the hope of getting one of the suites may be disappointed, though it will be a welcome surprise for any passengers expecting a B787 with the regular Premium seats.

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Comfortable seat in the Premium cabin with with a 109 to 117 centimetres (43 to 46 inches) seat pitch, giving you up to 140 centimetres (55 inches) of legroom.

In Summary, whilst it may seem unlikely to get a suite, any Premium seat sold on the HighFly A380 is an upgrade from Norwegian’s typical offering. If you are looking to book a flight on one of these days, it could be prudent to ensure you book the A380 flight. What’s bad about a “free upgrade”?