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In December 2015, Norwegian launched service from New York, Baltimore, and Boston to Guadeloupe and Martinique. This month they also launch service between Fort Lauderdale and Guadeloupe. Right now you can book the flights for as low as as $168 roundtrip between Baltimore and Guadeloupe for this coming January and February.

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Norwegian is the low cost carrier that Scott’s featured a few times recently for roundtrips to Stockholm, Oslo, and Madrid in the $250-$400 range.

Now under the Open Skies agreement between the United States and Europe, Norwegian flies to two Caribbean islands that are French overseas territories.

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Contents of this post:

  1. Cheap Fares
  2. Optional Extra Fees
  3. Some Fares Cheaper in Dollars, Some in Norwegian Krone
  4. Why Guadeloupe
  5. Big Trip Idea: Baltimore > Guadeloupe > French Guiana > Europe, Mid-East, or North Africa > Baltimore
  6. Best Way to Buy the Ticket

$178 Roundtrip to Guadaloupe

Search and book on Norwegian.com with their low fare calendar.

During January and February, you can find $49 southbound fares on Tuesdays and northbound fares on Saturdays for $119 and up .

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There’s even a return date available in March for $119 if you’re looking for a Spring Break trip.
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Currently travel is bookable on Norwegian through late March 2017. There are $168/$178 roundtrip fares sprinkled throughout January, February, and March.

Extra Fees

All the cheapest fares are in the “Lowfare” bucket. That comes with one free carry on that weighs up to 10 kg (22 lbs.) Check out Scott’s post on one bag travel.

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Everything else costs extra.

Your first checked bag is $18 each way. Seat selection is $18 each way. If you want both, you can get a LowFare+ fare for $25 extra each way that includes one free checked bag and seat selection.

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The eat on board menu is limited, but you can preorder from a bigger selection.

All the add ons are expensive, so I suggest traveling with just one carry on, packing snacks, and taking whatever seat they give you for free. Then you can’t beat a $168 roundtrip to the Caribbean.

Pay In Dollars or Krone

Flying Norwegian, fares between the United States and Europe price cheaper on the Norwegian-facing site in Norwegian Krone.

In the past, I’ve found that base fares to the Caribbean are actually cheaper in dollars on the US-facing site, but if you want the LowFare+ fare that includes a free checked bag and seat selection, those add ons are cheaper when purchasing in Norwegian krone. To do that, start on the Norwegian version of Norwegian.com. Use Google Chrome to translate the page to English. Pay with a card with no foreign transaction fees.

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If you want to save a few bucks, price your award out in dollars and krone to see which is cheaper.

FYI, I currently can’t get the Norwegian version of the website to show me any flight results past this month unless I open it an icognito window, so you might need to try that as well.

Why Guadeloupe

Allow me to outsource this to Norwegian, which wrote Reasons to Visit the French Carribbean.

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Photo by Arcadiuš

As French possessions, Americans can enter without a visa for tourism of under 90 days.

Big Trip Idea: Baltimore > Guadeloupe > French Guiana > Europe, Mid-East, or North Africa > Baltimore

Flying Blue’s current Promo Awards are pretty crap this month for those that wish to start their awards in the United States because there are none that originate the USA. However, you could couple the cheap flight between Baltimore and Guadeloupe ($49 for that southbound leg) with Flying Blue’s Promo Award between French Guiana and Europe for only 15,000 Flying Blue miles in economy or 56,250 in Business Class.

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You can take an Air Caraïbes flight to get between Guadeloupe and French Guiana–looks like direct flights in February cost as little as $171 one way.

Then use one of these underpriced awards between Europe and the United States to return home. I’d avoid returning from London though and instead choose a low departure tax city in Europe instead.

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Flying Blue’s definition of Europe includes Israel, Morocco, Tunisia, or Algeria so you could potentially make one of those places your third stop before heading back to the United States.

Best Way to Buy the Ticket(s)

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

Put the ticket on your Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®. You can make travel purchases with the card and then retroactively remove the charge from your statement by redeeming Arrival miles in your online account. A $168 flight would be 16,800 Arrival miles. Here’s How to Redeem Arrival Miles. The card currently comes with 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days.

If considering the Big Trip Idea, you could also put the Guadeloupe > French Guiana leg on your Arrival Plus card. A $171 flight would be another 17,100 Arrival miles. You still wouldn’t be anywhere near to maxing out all your Arrival miles you’d earn from the bonus, so you could use the remaining ones towards hotels and other travel expenses on the trip.

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