Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love. And what could be more romantic than scoring a special Valentine’s Day travel deal to spend with your special squeeze? But finding deals, like finding love, requires determination, a lesson that can be learned from that romantic classic ANIMAL HOUSE.
When things looked blackest for the men of Delta House, when administrators “confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn't steal,” did they give up? No! Instead, they screamed “Road trip!” As philosopher-king Bluto put it.“When the going gets tough..The tough gets goin'”
Something similar seems to happen at Norwegian Air. The company’s financial problems are well known, they are dropping their Caribbean routes at the end of March as part of the retrenchment, and meanwhile, the free spenders at Emirates Airlines are reportedly sniffing after Norwegian’s pilots.
So what does Norwegian do?Scream “Sale! Sale! Sale!
On Norwegian’s dedicated Valentine’s Day sale site, deals include Chicago to London Gatwick, $169.90 on dates in February and March and $135 in April, Denver to Paris CDG in April for $179 (April in Paris; how's that for a Valentine's Day gift?)
If you want to take advantage of these deals, or others like New York-Stewart to Shannon, Ireland for $95 in March, April and May, or SFO to London, $145 in April, you’ll need to act before 23:59 on February 14, 2019.
We found the deals so tempting that my wife and I purchased a pair of tickets from LAX to Madrid in April, $159.90 outbound, $249.90 return. (Norwegian’s return fares are generally higher than outbound from the US.)
Of course, Norwegian is a low-fare airline, so there are the usual caveats, which is Latin for “you want to eat something?”
In that case, you might spring for Low Fare +, which includes meals (two on our flight from LAX to Madrid), a piece of luggage up to 44 pounds (20KG) and the ability to pick your own seats. LowFare+ adds $90 each way, so for us, what would have been $820 for a pair of tickets ended up costing $1177 for the pair plus “extras.”
Still, Norwegian had a not-so-secret weapon that made us see these $590 round-trip tickets as quite reasonable—a non-stop flight. When I checked Kayak, it appeared that only Norwegian flies the 5826 miles (9400km) from LA to Madrid, with a non-stop 10½ hour flight. While we could have saved $55 per ticket (before the extras) on British Air, a seven-hour layover in London, New York or Paris each way did not appeal.
Emirates
Emirates positions itself as a luxury airline, on the other end of the scale from Norwegian. Yet they too cannot resist a Valentine’s Day sale. Their twist on it is what they call a “Valentine’s Day companion fare” sale, to allow "travelers to explore some of the most romantic destinations around the world together.” So according to Emirates, the companion sale prices below are for two people.
Some economy fares on Emirates include NY JFK to Milan, $799 to Milan (MXP), $999 to Athens (ATH) from Newark (EWR), $1999 to Dubai (DXB) from NY JFK, and Houston (IAH) to Bali, (DPS) $2199.
If you’re planning to splurge on a bucket list trip, tickets from JFK to Milan in business class will cost $6599, a pair of business class tickets from either Chicago (ORD) or JFK to Dubai (DXB) is $9999, and business class from Houston to Bali (DPS) with your significant other is $10599 .
The five-day Valentine’s Day sale runs through 11:59pm EST on February 17th, 2019,. It is valid for travel between February 21st, 2019 and April 14th, 2019.
Alaska
Baby, it’s cold outside, but Alaska has a hot deal for Valentine’s Day. But like Norwegian, it expires at midnight Valentine Day’s night—so act fast.
Like Emirates, it’s a companion fare sale, or two-for-one, which coincidentally helps airlines fill seats at a slow time of year. (The deal is available on flights through March 14, 2019.) The flights on sale are from Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco to East Coast cities, including Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore-Washington and New York (JFK and Newark.) San Francisco to Nashville and San Francisco to New Orleans are also included.
To get the deal, shop on AlaskaAir.com and use the discount code COAST2COAST during booking. And while love, like the best things in life, may be free, you will have to pay taxes and fees on the second airfare of this companion package.
Amtrak
Finally, how does half-price transportation for you and your sweetheart to a romantic destination of your choice sound? You won’t even need a passport. On Thursday, February 14th, Amtrak is releasing a buy-one-get-one-free Valentine’s Day sale. Customers can buy one ticket and get the second one free for nationwide travel between Mar. 25 and July 29, 2019, with no blackout dates.
With the Buy One Get One Free Sale, two customers can travel together in coach from Chicago to Kansas for as low as $69, from San Francisco to Portland for $92, or from Washington, DC to Charlotte, NC for $90. If those deals for two aren’t cheap enough for you, how about Portland (ME) to Boston for $29, or travel from Seattle to Portland with your sweetie for $35?
Amtrak offers free Wi-Fi on most trains, as well as the dubious freedom to use phones and electronic devices at all times (no “airplane mode”). You can also travel with small pets on many trains, as well as two personal items and two carry-on bags. And in jab at the airline industry, Amtrak notes that it has “large spacious seats with ample leg room” and no middle seats.
The deal is available between February 14 to February 18, 2019, and is valid for travel between March 25 to July 29, 2019
