There is only one Good Reason to Fly ICELANDAIR
Sure, if you’re like me, you love cheap travel like bitches love my bling.
If you’re really like me, you love cheap travel enough to know that ICELANDAIR has a reputation of being one of the cheapest ways to get to Europe. This is sometimes, mind you. Sometimes.
The way they offer that cheap fare is because Icelandair has a stopover in Iceland on its way to Europe. In an attempt to bring tourists into Iceland, Icelandair offers overnight stopovers for nothing extra. It’s like kidnapping, really. You can add days to your trip in Iceland with a click of a button. I was fond of the idea of spending a little time in Iceland. Hell it was adding another country to my whirlwind four country trip to Europe, even if it was just an hour, so I jumped at the cheap price and hopped aboard.
The first leg of the flight was the most uncomfortable and miserable flight I have ever taken. The plane was overheated to the point that people were sweating, the single drink they offered was warm and they offered it with derision, they didn’t offer food and if they did it was at least six dollars for a spring roll. (This leg of the flight was the same temp both ways) The flight to Iceland was almost as long as a flight to London and then we come to the stopover in Reykjavik. Or Keflavik, as the one horse city about 60 km outside Reykjavik is actually called. An hour to sit in an airport where a hat costs ninety dollars and, I shit you not, they play Icelandic Polka music on repeat overhead. No seriously, for an hour, the same four minute Polka song was playing over and over and over….and over again. This song was something one would expect in a theme park, or a torture chamber, not an airport terminal that smelled like fish. A couple Icelanders walked by with their luggage whistling along and I wondered if this repeat thing was common for Iceland.
There was nothing to see in this airport. No Icelandair employees in sight, no airport security in the main waiting area, just the cold embrace of that FUCKING polka song. Until two minutes before boarding the next flight, I had no clue where I was or if I would be getting out of Iceland alive. Yet, on my way into the terminal they did take the time to RECHECK my luggage with a sign that says, “America’s Security Measures Don’t Live Up to Our Standards.” (or some equally self important shit relative to that) I found this ironic when I arrived in Charles de Gualle and literally walked from my plane to the street without a customs check or so much as a passport stamp. There was NO CUSTOMS. But America is the one with low standards. Sure.
Anyway, the point to this is, Icelandair adds miserable hours to your trip, hours of misery in overheated planes with little to no customer service on board or in terminal, they won’t bump you up for any reason, they give first priority to Icelanders when assigning seats, (literally, a woman with a small baby asked to be moved to sit with her husband, they said the flight was full, then gave the extra seats to a couple college students that were friends with a flight attendant), and they literally have no redeeming qualities save for price. Honestly, I will pay the extra $100 for non-stop, a proper sandwich, and comfort.
So, in conclusion… the only good reason to fly Icelandair is to go to Iceland. They have a monopoly on Iceland and are the only way to get in or out of Iceland barring fishing vessel or being kidnapped by flying monkeys. The landscape is beautiful and the people are friendly (outside the airport staff). I actually got to see a blue hot spring in the middle of snow covered black volcanic tundras from the plane. I then realized how amazing the place must be if those springs are just sitting beneath the flight path of Keflavik airport. So, if you want to visit this island, then by all means, fly Icelandair, cause otherwise you’re not getting in. But if you’re planning to venture all the way across the pond to any other country in Europe, pay the extra. Fly Virgin Atlantic or AerLingus or British Airways (all of which I’ve had good experience with), but never voluntarily choose an airline that feels justified in epic sucking by monopolizing.
I have spoken. Now fly, my beauties.
Fly!
Sorry Caitlin but I totally disagree! First there’s no monopoly, there is a number of airlines flying in and out of Reykjavik. Plus huge competition on the north atlantic. Secondly there is number of reasons to fly Icelandair than just the fact they fly to Iceland:
1. The fares are fair
2. They have fantastic inflight entertainment
3. Seat pitch more than other airlines and comfortable seats
4. They have variations of meals and the quality is good
5. No other airline has better on time performance between Europe and USA
6. Airport in Keflavik was last month chosen the best in Europe
Sorry… I’m a big fan of the airline and I think what you say above is unfair.
Andreas
You’re absolutely right! If you want to fly Finair or Air Berlin, you can get to Iceland from a couple cities in Europe. If you want to get there from America you can fly any number of…oh wait. Yes, I do see that… guess it is just Icelandair.
Well, other than that you’re totally spot on!
1. The fares are fair, a good amount of the time!
2. The inflight entertainment IS fantastic! I got to watch X-Men Origins:Wolverine four times! Once for each miserable flight there and back.
3. The extra inch of recline is totally worth it.
4. They did have two different kinds of 6 Euro spring rolls, it’s true.
5. They have a five star arrival rating from Reykjavik to Copenhagen, which is utterly fantastic. Arriving on time everywhere else is lacking severely (by three stars or less), but Copenhagen must be where the Europe rating system for on-time arrival is decided.
6. Best airport in Europe!? Holy cow, that’s amazing! Let me look that up…
Munich. Munich was voted last month as best airport in Europe by Skytrax Airport Awards. Year before it was Zurich, year before that it was Munich. Again. Close runners-up this year were, oh… Zurich again, and Amsterdam. So I see the confusion. Zurich is in Iceland, right?
I respect that you haven’t had a horrendous experience on Icelandair, but that by no means changes the experience I had or the validity thereof…on all four flights. If you want to express your opinion I am all for it, but you can’t proclaim my feeling the way I do as unfair if it is justified. I call it as I see it, and when I landed nauseous and miserable after two hotbox flights from hell, my opinion was definitely affected.
I am glad they have had a good impact on someone. Just sad it wasn’t me. :/
Recently flew through Reykjavik, back in May, on my way to and from Norway and I must say, I really have to agree with the bad in-flight customer service. In my opinion, the flight attendants were quite snooty. I was casually dressed for travel, but they tended to offer drinks or food to the lady sitting next to me, who was older and dressed rather nicely. It really was an uncomfortable flight, I couldn’t find a way to sit that didn’t hurt, really.
The airport itself was bare, though when we went through customs (again) we were getting delayed but got assured that our flights would wait for us (and they did). Also, my little entertainment screen wouldn’t work on my flights back home, and when I pointed it out, I had to notify them several times that it wasn’t working. They reset it, but it still wouldn’t work, which made the flights seem even longer with very little to keep busy.
Definitely feel the flight attendants could use a bit more training in the customer service area, mostly.
Christine,
We are soul mates.
Thank you my brother from another mother.
I recently flew with Icelandair (from Halifax to London) this August and it looks like you guys caught them on a bad day. On board, the attendants where nothing but nice, and there was ample space, even in economy class. While the price of certain food was ridiculous, a lot of the small snacks and drinks were considerably cheaper than other air lines like Delta and AirCanada. There inflight entertainment system was fantastic, a broad range of movies and music honestly made the five hours fly by, no pun intended.
The airport in Keflavik, including the washroom was spotless and the layout made changing gates a breeze. As for the “hat costs ninety dollars”, of course it’s going to be over-priced. Have you ever been to an airport giftshop where things were priced fairly? Tourists will pay with their limbs for that shotglass/mug/t-shirt/hat and they know it. I agree that the amount of visible security guards was minimal but when their is only one or two flights arriving at a time, the A-Team isn’t really needed.
I hope you give Icelandair a second chance as it was certainly one of the better air lines I have traveled with.
Hey Emily,
I do a considerably large amount of traveling abroad for the average gal, so I’ve definitely gotten VERY picky, but after flying Alitalia, I’d definitely choose Icelandair over that abomination… Any day.
Good to know they’re not always terrible.