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If flying with Norwegian within the Nordic countries or from the Nordics to Europe (and having only carry on luggage), one can proceed directly through security and to the gate without boarding, etc.

My question is: how do I get my seat assigned and do I have any influence on what seat I get?

From the Norwegian website:

Direct to Gate is a new service available to our passengers who travel with hand luggage only on a flight within the Nordic countries and from the Nordic countries to Europe.

All you need to pass through security without being checked in is either your travel document or SMS ticket (if you have a smart phone). You must arrive at the gate at least 20 minutes prior to departure for domestic flights and flights between the Nordic countries and 30 minutes prior to departure for flights to all other destinations.

NB: I know I could do online check-in and select my seat, but the question really is how does seat assignment work with direct to gate, possibly influencing the seat one is assigned or choosing the seat is secondary?

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    Presumably, they just do the check-in at the gate so that's where you would choose a seat. 20-30 min sounds like a reasonable (if somewhat short) check-in deadline for smaller airports. If you don't have luggage, it does not make much difference whether you check in on some machine before the security check-point or directly at the gate. They just need to make arrangements to make sure passenger without a boarding pass can get to the gate in the first place.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Feb 8, 2015 at 21:16
  • Don't you select a seat prior to receiving the SMS ticket?
    – JoErNanO ♦
    Commented Feb 19, 2015 at 18:56
  • @JoErNanO that's the whole point - no sms ticket is required. direct to the gate means my booking confirmation takes me all the way to the gate, without the need for any online/sms check-in or the like.
    – greyshade
    Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 17:42

2 Answers 2

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Have you ever done on-line check-in super early (20h before departure) and found the plane already really full when trying to select a seat? That's because on many airlines, people get assigned seats by the system at the time of booking.

At the check-in counter (or when you phone in to get a special seat), the personnel can bump around passengers who have "soft" seat assignments (but not those who pre-reserved a specific seat, or who have checked in already), and thus may be able to give you the seats you want. For the soft seat assignments, you may have some influence by selecting your preference regarding "aisle" or "window".

What Norvegian seems to do is simply use the system-assigned seats to allow you to proceed to gate faster. This means less man-hours for them to devote to check-in, and potentially more flexibility at the check-in counter to bump people around, since those without luggage don't lock in their seats until they reach the gate.

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The easiest way is to make an online check-in and print your boarding pass at home, there you can choose your sit or the sit is assigned automaticaly. The other way (I'm not sure if it's available in all the airports) are the Norwegian self-service kiosks, where you type your confirmation number and some other detail and the boarding card is printed automaticaly. Remember that the gate closes 30 prior the departure, so even with this option you should be in the airport at least 1h before the flight in case of some stuck in the security check or anything else.

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    However, the cited text seems to imply that you do not have to go to the self-service kiosk, so I'm a bit lost when you suggest to go there.
    – yo'
    Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 11:02
  • What you are basically saying is that Direct to Gate is what other airlines have been calling online/self-service check-in without baggage drop-off for the past couple of years?
    – JoErNanO ♦
    Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 11:11
  • -1 because: I know that online/sms check-in is possible - see my note in the question itself.. the point is that with direct to the gate no check-in is supposed to be required and you proceed directly to the gate with your booking confirmation.. the question is how does that fit the usual procedures?
    – greyshade
    Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 17:41

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