So I got tricked into going to Iceland 🙂 …I’m totally kidding. As I mentioned in my recent monthly recap, I kept hearing about Iceland because of IcelandAir’s marketing push showing how they will add a free stopover in their gorgeous country to any flight.
And when I was looking at options that meet all my criteria for taking a EuroTrip this year for my Partner’s first time in the continent, I stumbled upon IcelandAir. They had by far the best deal for the money and time so I decided to bite the bullet, book them for my trip to Europe, and add a free stopover to see Iceland on the way. During that adventure I learned many things. Let’s get into them!
Booking
While playing around on IcelandAir’s website I found something VERY interesting. Most airlines let you do something called “Multi-City,” which is where you arrive and return from different airports.
However, these are often the same cost as flying multiple one-way tickets. Some airlines offer discounts for doing these, but not all. And if you don’t get a discount, it’s not a great deal because all the flights are linked together on one ticket so if you can’t make the first flight for example, the whole itinerary is fucked.
But IcelandAir seems to be different 🙂 . They have a “Multi-City” option, but my ticket cost LESS as a roundtrip ticket to one city on a different airline, which is usually the cheapest way to fly (compared to one-way or multi-city tickets). So I was intrigued just by that and was able to book a flight from Boston to Zürich and then return Amsterdam to NYC for less than the cost of a regular roundtrip. Say WHAAAT?
And on top of that, I was able to add a Free Stopover of up to 7 days in Iceland to my trip so I would be visiting 4 countries for the price of 2 basically. I chose the max amount of 7 days in Iceland and paid a grand total of $940 USD for this itinerary. I was floored.
And this included not the most basic of IcelandAir’s economy offerings, but Economy Standard, which was worth it to me because it includes 1 checked bag per person (which costs $76 in advance of the flight) and an included seat (instead of paying extra to choose a seat in advance like you have to on most airlines these days).
I thought that a checked bag per person would come in handy because like many Schengen area countries, IcelandAir has a limit on the weight of your carry ons. In this case it is 22lbs, which is actually exactly what my 40L Backpack usually weighs.
So I was planning to let my Partner use my included checked bag since he brings two rollys bags with him (working comfortably as a nomad can involve a lot of technology 😉 ).
I was also able to book 355 days in advance and I did so. I’m all about advanced planning 🙂 . So let’s see what happened when the day of my flight came around.
Flights Details
- When: September 2024
- Where: Boston, MA (BOS) to Reykjavík, Iceland (KEF)
- Flight: FI630
- Flight Time: 5h 15m
- Seat: 23E
- Distance: 2,430 mi
Boston Logan (BOS) AIRPORT
Check In
My Partner and I arrived at Boston Logan Airport and found the check in counters for Iceland Air. There was no line for Business or Economy so we walked to the front and talked to the employee to get our boarding passes and check our bags.
My plan to be all chivalrous and let my Partner use my included checked bag was foiled because the employee asked if we wanted to check another bag for free because the flight was full. So he got to check his second bag for free and I checked my backpack since it was included in the cost even though it would have met the carry on requirements.
I later got an email that looked like spam but apparently wasn’t. It also said they were looking for volunteers to check bags for free because of the full flight.
Security
So we left with our boarding passes and unfortunately didn’t notice that they did not say TSA Pre-Check on them. Uh oh! This is a quirk I noticed on the Iceland Air website. I’m not sure if this is the same for any non-US airline, but when I bought the tickets, there wasn’t a section to add a Known Traveler Number for our Global Entry card to show that we have TSA Pre-Check. So learn from my mistake and check your boarding pass before leaving the counter if you have Pre-Check as well.
You have to go back into Manage Booking after buying the ticket to add this information. So now I know and I’ll never forget because I had to go through the regular security line for the first time in years – and it was an experience 🙂 .
It was about a 20 minute wait, but we surprisingly didn’t have to take anything out of our bags. We just put our bags in a bin, took off our shoes and put those in the same bin and then pushed the bin forward onto a conveyer belt. We then waited because they were cycling through using the full body scanner and the regular one. It was a bit chaotic, but we got through fine.
The Gate
Then we arrived at the gate which was a pretty small space and we didn’t see any seats available so we walked to the nearby food court area and found some squishy seats to chill in. I then connected to the Free Wifi and started reading a book.
Boarding was supposed to start 1 hour before take off at 8pm for an 8:50pm departure. At that time, there was an announcement that boarding was delayed until 8:30 because of a small mechanical issue – Uh Oh.
The Drama
At 8:12 I got a text from IcelandAir saying that boarding would start at 8:35pm. Interesting. I did appreciate them keeping us posted and would obviously prefer to fly in a plane where everything works.
At 8:20pm I got a notification from my beloved TripCase that my flight time was officially pushed back 30 minutes to 9:20pm with a delayed arrival of 30 min. I love TripCase because it helps me easily organize all my travel plans and because they somehow always alert me before the actual airline about flight changes. It’s like magic.
At 8:28pm I got an email from IcelandAir that didn’t look sketchy like the baggage one, saying the flight was pushed another hour to now depart at 10:20pm. Then there was an announcement saying the crew had to leave the plane because it’s being towed elsewhere to work on the mechanical issue and that employees might not be at this gate, so to monitor our emails. They said that people with connections will receive an email rebooking them. So this isn’t looking good.
Then at 9:20pm, (when would have started boarding if the 10:20pm takeoff was happening) there was an announcement that the flight was cancelled because they couldn’t fix the mechanical issue. Womp womp.
We were told that our checked bags could be picked up at baggage claim and that we would be emailed new flight info. They also mentioned that we would be reimbursed for a hotel so I started searching for one on Boston’s free wifi.
However, I then got an email from IcelandAir saying they would reimburse $200 total for a hotel – which made me laugh out loud. Last minute hotels were starting at $600 per night. My Chase Sapphire Preferred reimburses $500 per ticket so $1,000 for this trip for me and my Partner together for a hotel, transit and food during a long travel delay.
However, I then received the email from IcelandAir with our new flight and it was a full 24 hours after our original flight so a hotel wouldn’t be ideal since we would be kicked out around 11am and have to wait until the evening for our flight. We could book a second night in a hotel or find another plan.
Another plan materialized when my aunt was randomly going into Boston anyway and was able to pick us up from the airport and let us stay with her for the night. After we knew where we would sleep that night, I got to planning.
I had to find another car service to Boston the next evening, so I sent out some requests and started looking into several backup plans if they didn’t work out. I also realized that our new flight had us in aisle seats (we prefer window seats), but when I went to Manage Booking, it said I couldn’t change it online.
I tried to contact their Chat Support about it and was told someone would respond to me soon – but I never heard from anyone. I was ghosted by a chatbot. I tried again a little after that, and I’m not sure if it was a human or a bot, but someone did finally respond and said that I had to go to the check in desk to talk to someone. Alrighty then.
While in Manage Booking, I checked out our passenger info and saw that our Known Traveler information was blank so I added that in and crossed my fingers our boarding passes the next day would actually reflect that change.
After all that, I reflected on this silly turn of events. I had been tracking this daily flight to Iceland for several days and it was always on time and then this happened 🙂 . I really don’t have the best travel luck.
We were going to miss one of our 7 days in Iceland and not be able to pick up our rental car on time or stay at our first Airbnb, which looked really cute. Oh well. I usually don’t have tight travel plans like this so it’s not ideal, but we were able to roll with the punches without too much hardship.
THE NEXT DAY
The next day we once again arrived at the airport (after riding a car service through a torrential downpour because there’s gotta be more drama right 🙂 ).
Check In
There was once again no line at check in and we were seen right away. However, while the woman who helped us the day before was kind, fast and efficient, this guy was not listening to anything I said. I had to ask 3 times to change our seats – he just ignored me when I spoke the first two times. It was strange.
However, when he finally did listen, he helped and told us that the only available seats on the plane were in the very back row, which I knew was worse based on SeatGuru because it doesn’t really recline.
So we were going to be sitting in the middle of the plane and one of us would be in the middle seat. Oh well. I can’t remember the last time I did that so maybe the variety will make me appreciate my window seats more going forward 😉 .
He then threw our bags onto the belt unnecessarily hard. I’m not sure what that was about…but luckily, when I checked our boarding passes, they did say TSA Pre-Check so that’s something!
TSA Pre-Check
There was no line in TSA Pre-Check and we were done in literally 5 minutes, most of which was just me waiting for my bag to go through the scanner. Sweet!
The Gate
We arrived at the gate and there were more seats this time surprisingly. The seats were comfy and had outlets at each one, which was nice. I then connected to the free wifi and started writing my Tuesday blog post because I was behind 🙂 .
THE JOURNEY
Boarding
A little before 8pm we actually began boarding for our 8:50pm flight! I had been tracking our inbound flight on FlightAware so I knew our plane was at Boston airport already.
It was about 10 minutes before 8pm when they made the boarding announcement. Curiously, everyone stood up and clogged the walkway despite signs all over the terminal saying to stay in your seat until your group is called. We stayed in our seats like the rule-followers we are 🙂 .
The IcelandAir employees then announced that Saga Class (their Business Class) and people who volunteered to check their bags at the gate could board first. Then they called Row 25 and above to board, so like 140 people moved forward at once.
We were Row 23 so we stayed seated, but then the employees called Row 20 and higher and people were still standing in a glob around the gate so we kept having to ask if someone was in line or not – most were not (despite being in the line…). Once we figured out who was ACTUALLY in the line, the IcelandAir employees announced that everyone could then board.
So I guess that’s why everyone just glombs together – they call the groups so quickly that it basically doesn’t matter. Overall it seemed a pretty inefficient way to do things that I did not enjoy 🙂 .
When we got to the front of the line, we removed glasses and masks and got our picture taken while handing them our boarding passes and passports. Then we headed towards the plane.
The Flight
On the plane, the flight attendants greeted us and told us which side of plane to find each row.
They also mentioned that the outside row of the plane has bigger storage areas so people should put all rolly luggage there.
We then found our seats and noticed that we were given blankets, which was nice. At the same time, I also noticed a not great smell and wondered if they had just finished cleaning out the bathrooms or something. Luckily that smell would dissipate before we took off and did not return.
The FAs then made announcements in Icelandic and then English as people got settled in their seats. After everyone was seated, the lights went off and a security video played. I then thought I could use the TV, but wasn’t able to. It just kept playing ads and didn’t respond to my touches on the screen. Uh oh.
I noticed other people’s TVs were working and they were scrolling through movie options while I was just bombarded with ads for Icelandic companies. I tried everything I could think of to make my TV work and resigned myself to asking a FA once we took off and reached cruising altitude when my Partner came in with an idea.
My TV had been looping a 5 minute ad with a timer at the bottom. He had me wait until the end of the 5 minutes and then touch the screen at that moment and it worked. Wow. I worked in advertising and this is a horrible user experience, but I guess they need to get that ad money. It was nice that it was all for Icelandic companies instead of like gambling sites.
Once I had access to the entertainment system I saw that they had over 300+ shows to watch, 223 of which were in English, as well as 72 movies and lots of music and a map of where we are. Cool.
I then put on my go-to brainless plane movie that is somehow on every plane I’ve been on for years, Godzilla vs Kong, and rested my eyes. About an hour after take off, FAs came around to give us drinks, which according to the in-flight magazine included water or juice while soda costs money. There were also snacks or food for purchase.
About 1.5 hrs before landing, FAs came around the dark cabin offering water and I took some. I couldn’t sleep so I finished my bad monster movie and watched Dune until we got the landing announcement. At that time FAs came around to collect trash and we descended into Iceland!
Reykjavík–Keflavík (KEF) Airport
We were quickly let off the plane and followed signs to Arrivals.
Customs
We reached Customs and because we’re US citizens we joined the “Other” passport line (compared to the EU one). A sign said the line would take 5 minutes, but it actually took about 15 minutes.
We were waiting in a room with a bunch of covered machines and one person behind a desk that we needed to talk to. My Mom had said that when she arrived the day before, (like we were planning to…) that they only asked her how long she was in Europe and if she was declaring anything.
They had a few more questions for us because we were staying for 2.5 months and they seemed concerned since it wasn’t a standard vacation answer. They told us to make sure we didn’t overstay the automatic 3 month visa and sent us on our way.
We then continued following Arrival signs and went by a giant sign that said “Exit to Iceland” (very helpful) and went down an escalator towards the baggage claim area.
Baggage Claim
In the baggage claim area, there was a TV with flight numbers and for our flight it said “bags on belt”. That was fast! And indeed they were on the belt. We grabbed our bags and hit the ATMs that were right there because I had read that some parking spots around the country require cash.
However, Spoiler: None of the ones we encountered did. I was able to pay everything on my phone via website or the ParkaApp and we had to figure out how to spend this cash the day before we left the country.
Arrivals
We continued to follow signs to the exit where I met my Mom and headed to Blue Car Rental to begin our circumnavigating of Iceland, which I cataloged on my Instagram.
Reimbursements
After we were done exploring this gorgeous country, I started the process of applying for reimbursements for our troubles. I knew that Chase would at least pay for my expenses that day, but along the way I discovered something interesting.
IcelandAir Declaration Of Cancellation
As a part of the process to apply for reimbursement for a trip delay that I charged to my Chase Sapphire Preferred card, I had to get a Declaration of Cancellation from IcelandAir.
So I went to the IcelandAir website and clicked on “Confirmation of disruption.” I submitted the form and received a response immediately that looks like it was in an incorrectly set up form because it said:
Dear passenger,
This message serves as official confirmation that flight FI630 , scheduled on 26.9.2024 from BOS to KEF, was delayed by 0 minutes. The cause of the delay was AIRCRAFT DEFECTS..
Booking number: X
Passenger Name/ Ticket number: X
Best regards,
The Icelandair team
Wow – that’s not at all correct 🙂 . I replied immediately asking that they reply with correct information since the flight was definitely not delayed 0 minutes because it was cancelled and even in their own email they say it was delayed because of aircraft defects so this makes no sense.
I heard back from them the next day with an email that said a flight on a date that was not when I flew was cancelled. Oh boy. I responded again pointing out how this information was incorrect.
While I waited for their response, I realized that the email they sent me the day of the cancellation telling us it was canceled might count for what Chase needed because it even said it was canceled because of airplane defects.
So I submitted that to Chase because IcelandAir despite responding faster than any airline I have dealt with in this situation, did not provide correct information and I would prefer to wait and receive correct information instead of this back and forth.
However, while I was on this IcelandAir webpage, I also noticed that it said there was an EU Regulation 261/2004 that could provide compensation if a flight was delayed or cancelled. Now that’s interesting 🙂 .
I looked through the requirements listed and I met all of them so I did a Hail Mary and filled out that form as well thinking nothing would come of it, especially given my challenges with IcelandAir’s email customer care team. I received an automated confirmation email saying they would get back to me in 8 weeks and didn’t think anything else of it.
Chase Trip Delay Reimbursement
For the first time in a long time, my claims process with my Chase Sapphire Preferred card was not seamless. I went through the entire claims process online, filled out multiple forms and uploaded all my required documents only to be hit with an error message and a note to call them. *sigh* Great.
I was in Italy at the time so I turned on Airplane Mode and called Chase in the US over Wifi. The customer service person was kind, but basically said that things were changing on their end (but they weren’t clear on what exactly was changing) and that at this time I needed to fill out a physical form they would email me to submit my claim. Fine.
I did receive the emailed form and I filled it out with the same information I already typed out and re-uploaded all my documents. I then heard 15 days later that my claim had been approved and the reimbursement had been sent to my card as a credit.
However, Chase claims that you only need to submit an itemized receipt for food costs over $50 and that for less than $50 your credit card statement is enough. Apparently that is no longer true because I didn’t get a reimbursement for my meal and the reason listed was because I didn’t have an itemized receipt while in the same paragraph it said itemized receipts aren’t needed for less than $50 charges….so that seems to be a lie. I’ve noted that for next time and am annoyed with the apparently intentional confusion Chase is spouting there.
EU Regulation 261/2004
Shock of shocks – I heard back from IcelandAir one month and 5 days after I submitted that form about EU Regulation 261/2004 and it said that I would be receiving €600 per person (about $643 USD) because of these travel delays. WOW!
This made me wonder if this is why IcelandAir offered only $200 for a hotel, but if that was the case, I would think they would tell us about this regulation and the available reimbursement, but no one did. I just stumbled across it. Anyway, if you want to read more about this regulation and how it might apply to you, The Points Guy did a great write up about it here.
THE REVIEW
So that’s what happened, but now let’s get into the actual review portion and what I thought of the experience 🙂 .
Customer Service
Overall I was very happy with the customer service at IcelandAir. There were some anomalies like that one man who checked us in on the second day, didn’t listen to me speak and threw our bags onto the belt. It’s also good to know that their chat support isn’t great and that the people who respond to cancellation declaration requests might be understaffed and are as a result not on top of details.
However, everyone else I encountered was absolutely wonderful and I think I’ve had more contact with every level of IcelandAir customer service because of this experience than I usually would with a new-to-me airline. 99% of the people I dealt with at the airport and everyone I talked to on the plane were lovely. Kind, helpful and efficient.
I also was very impressed with their communication. US airlines make you stand in an enormous line after a flight cancellation and talk to someone who looks like they’d prefer to stab you than help you in finding a place to sleep in a strange city they have stranded you in 🙂 . IcelandAir was the opposite – I received updates and information from all sides (which was probably my fault for checking a box I don’t remember).
I got texts, emails and seemingly constant updates about this unfortunate situation and instead of standing in a line forever, I received emails with my new flight and a request to accept it or contest it as well as the information about their (lackluster, but maybe fair in light of EU Regulation 261/2004) reimbursement options.
Everything was done super quickly and efficiently and I was very impressed by it. When I’ve had similar situations happen with US carriers, it was a much worse experience. IcelandAir’s communication was top notch.
Seat
As background, I don’t fly on budget airlines in my 30s. In my 20s when I had $5 to my name I was all about RyanAir and their subsequent stresses when I was living in Europe. However, once I had ‘enough’ I started to value experiences over costs and my airline preferences adjusted accordingly.
I don’t fly budget airlines like Play, RyanAir, Frontier etc and I was surprised to hear from someone that IcelandAir was considered a “budget” airline. In my eyes budget airlines are the ones that charge $5 for a flight and then $50 if you don’t do something small and silly like printing out your ticket in the digital age (that’s how RyanAir tried to get me a few times).
After hearing that I was a little concerned. Was IcelandAir a secret budget airline? Would the seats be uncomfortable plastic like RyanAir in my 20s? Would the service be horrible? As you know from the above, the service was lovely and I can also say that the seats were quite comfortable!
There was a fair amount of legroom on our plane except in seats B, D and F which seemed to be where the TV equipment was stored so there was less foot space. Overall though I was very happy with the seat’s comfort and was even impressed that the headrest can be adjusted up and down. Fancy 😉 .
Food
The food offered was non-existent, but maybe that’s where they’re getting that “budget” label. I was happy to drink some juice and be offered water at regular intervals. I always travel with my own snacks even when I’m inundated with champagne and cavier in first class so this wasn’t an issue for me, but heads up in case you don’t usually bring your own nibbles. You’ll need them on IcelandAir or have to pay for snacks.
In-Flight Entertainment
My drama understanding that you have to actively watch 5 minutes of ads before being able to access your TV was the other “budget” stamp on this experience. However, now that I know that’s what you have to do it’s not that big of a deal.
On the TV you have buttons to call the attendant and turn off your light since the ceiling is super high in this giant plane. You can also charge your phone on the TV and use wired headphones.
However, here’s my other complaint that I can confirm is an anomaly now that I’ve taken other IcelandAir flights: my headphone jack was super finicky to get it to work in both ears. I had to turn it around and around until I had sound in both ears and if I shifted, I had to reconfigure it to work.
This obviously wasn’t ideal, but also not a huge deal. If we were on a long flight during the day, I would have mentioned it to a FA, but on a night flight I just messed with it like twice and went on with my day.
One other curious thing was that announcements didn’t come through the TV, but only over speakers in the ceiling so I had to pause and try to hear the announcement, which I often couldn’t very well.
And lastly, if you stay on the in-flight tracker channel for a few minutes, ads start popping up there. They really are getting that dollar 🙂 .
Despite all that, I’m still impressed that this plane had in-seat TVs since they are becoming rare on US domestic carriers. They seem to all be switching to “stream on your own device” options and a lot of times that doesn’t even work.
CONCLUSION
So that was my first experience with IcelandAir – and because it’s me, it had to be drama-filled 😉 . I had a few minor issues with my experience, but overall I was very impressed with IcelandAir. They were great at everything that matters to me the most: comfort, kindness and communication.
In fact, I was so impressed that I’ve already booked more flights with them for 2025 🙂 . IcelandAir makes flying to Europe more comfortable than ‘budget’ airlines that I wouldn’t even consider in my old age. IcelandAir is also surprisingly affordable once I realized they don’t care about the arrival or departure locations of a roundtrip flight.
I’m also very impressed with EU Regulation 261/2004 and that IcelandAir’s marketing push for Iceland seems to have completely worked on me. And rightly so. Iceland is wildly gorgeous and I can’t wait to go back next year.
What’s your favorite airline recently?
That free 7-day stopover is a really neat perk. I want to go back to Iceland some day, I’ll have to remember that. Of course, I’d imagine it’s harder to take advantage of for non-FIREd people with limited vacation days. 🙂
I just got a Chase Sapphire Preferred card myself. I know it’s good for accumulating points for travel, but I don’t know all the benefits it offers yet. I’m taking notes on your experience!
Highly recommend the free stopover! I was looking to go back to the UK to hang with a friend at the height of the summer season and when I added IcelandAir options with a stop there it changed the game. The roundtrip flights were 1/2 to 1/3 of any other cost I saw. It was wild AND I would get to see the beauty of Iceland again so I’m going back 🙂 .
Congrats on your Chase card! I’m all about their trip delay protection, which is what I talked about here and the only perk I’ve used to date, but they also have rental car insurance, lost baggage insurance and some random other things that I suggest you check out. Before I explored their benefits fully I paid unnecessarily for extra US car rental insurance for example.