A new budget airline option between the UK and USA

There was something of a media fanfare surrounding  “long haul budget airline” Norwegian Air’s launch of UK-USA flights this year.

However, from October 2014, a second budget airline will make a less publicised entry into the transatlantic market.

With routes commencing on 25 October, Jet2.com will begin flying to New York Newark (EWR) from Newcastle, Leeds Bradford, East Midlands, Manchester and Glasgow. All but the Leeds Bradford route currently have sub-£400 round-trip tickets available.

At the time of writing, best return (whether UK-Newark or Newark-UK) prices we could find are as follows:

• Leeds Bradford-Newark: £411.20
• East Midlands-Newark: £326.40
• Glasgow-Newark: £385.60
• Manchester-Newark: £392.60
• Newcastle-Newark: £360.

(these include the current 20% discount available)

Whoever you are flying with, £326.40 for a UK to New York flight is an impressive price.

Bear in mind that Jet2.com is a budget airline, so do not use it with any illusions about the romance of transatlantic flying. With a bit of patience and flexibility, however, you just may be able to snag a great value flight between the UK and USA.

With BA return flights between the UK and New York going as low as £402, however, we strongly recommend that you shop around before committing to a Jet2.com budget flight.

This post is very deliberately timed. Today and tomorrow (18 and 19 August, UK time) is your last chance to get 20% off all Jet2.com flights.

We wait to see exactly how the likes of Ryanair will respond to this broadening of the budget airlines’ horizons, but a price war could make life very interesting…