Not exactly state of the art, but nice for the relatively short flights they make.
They're the same seats used for Virgin America's First Class. Sure, they're not Singapore Airline's Suites but what do expect? Overall, excellent given the prices.
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Originally Posted by christianj
Why would any airline even spend the money to upgrade to a seat like this when virtually everyone else is upgrading to at least a semi-flat bed seat in C? Since I live near BWI and travel in C to FRA frequently I would love to use Icelandair but not with their current seats or those you had a link to. Crazy!
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Originally Posted by alanw
Not crazy. Their longest flight is 5 hours.
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Originally Posted by christianj
That doesn't mean that people in C wouldn't like to get a couple of hours of sleep if they provided an angled flat-bed seat on a 5 hour flight. Can the costs to retrofit with the seats they picked actually be that much cheaper than angled flat-bed seats?
Also just realize they no longer offer service from BWI since Jan. 13.
Icelandair's fleet remains mostly composed of narrowbodies, & the plan is for that to remain even after the current fleet has gone. I know B787s are on order, but they're simply too big for most the markets Icelandair serve & they've said this. They're looking at the next generation 150 seat size aircraft currently under wraps by the major aircraft manufacturers.
Narrowbodies don't accomodate larger seats that efficiently. Narrowbodies also (on the whole) don't have that much range that would require to remain remotely competive (eg. HKG-LHR). As already pointed out, most of Icelandairs flights are comparatively short compared to their competition, & their fares lower. The flights do not warrant a bed.
Finally, the cost of a bed vs. a seat are pheneomenal. A reburbished seat like the one being installed by Icelandair can cost around $5000. A basic lie-flat angled bed can cost nearer $25,000. Emirates reported their original Suites on their A340-500s to cost some staggering figure ($100,000-200,000?). The more capable the seat, the more it costs. A lot of this is also due to electronics.
This company trades in airline seats. You can enquire further there.
We bought the least expensive tickets today before the promo ended BOS to KEF rt for under $500 all in. I was not able to reserve any seats since our fares were so inexpensive. Is it worth calling the airline asking for a aisle seat? Do they sell upgrades at the gate? Any fare qualify to buy upgrades? Is it worth enrolling in their ff program? I noted somewhere they may be part of points.com for whatever that is worth? Any comments appreciated. Glad to hear it is a short flight. We will be in KEF in early May at the Hilton. Thanks.
Congratulations on getting that fare. That is a very good deal for May, which is just outside peak tourist season.
It might be worth a call to res to see what they say. If you get a "no", I'd try again the next day. It has been my experience that things like this can change with who you talk to.
You can also pull up a seat map for your flights. Just go thru the booking process on icelandair.com, select the highest coach fare, and go thru the process of name, etc. You will get a box on the bottom of the screen to check, if you want to choose seats. Check this box. Skip the next page with passport info, and you will get the seat maps, prior to entering any cc info.
You can look at the seat map and then exit.
I've been a gold card holder in the FI program for the past 3 years. It was working out well to meet my needs until they changed the fare structure and award points last summer. To make it short, it is difficult to find any value in the FI program these days.
In the old days, you got 5000 pts for a rt to KEF, any fare. Now, points are based on fare paid, and the cheapest fare now earns only 500 points. There are no purchasable upgrades. I went for the gold card, as they will upgrade you if you have the card, space available. Which made it nice, but now there is no way realistically to earn 80,000 pts in 12 months for a gold card on coach fares. Even the most expensive coach fares would take 11 round trips from MSP to Europe, where in the past, 10 trips (any fare) was enough to qualify.
I'm on FI in 3 weeks to ARN, and I'll post about any new IFE.
Iceland is a fun place, and you will enjoy it, but there is little value in the FF program there, IMHO.
The first plane is already flying. They say they'll have finished the retrofits of their entire fleet during Summer of 2008. The only negative is that they will charge $10 to activate the AVOD system.
This is all part of a programme called "New Icelandair" which also includes new uniforms (which have yet to be unveiled...)
Programs: AA LifeP/2MM, CO Plt, UA 1K/MM, WN, Hilton D, Hyatt D, SPG Plt
Posts: 5,370
My flight is later next week. As I have a cheapy fare I understand I can only get a seat assigned at BOS. I can get a boarding pass with a seat assignment at the Hilton in KEF. I bought prepaid tickets online for the bus into town. My rate at the Hilton has gone down from 18,000 plus to a little over 10,000. I think that is the proper amount of 0s. The price is now around $140 USD.
If anyone has anything else that may help my trip it is appreciated. I am not looking forward to the flight in economy. I know I will survive. Thanks.
My flight is later next week. As I have a cheapy fare I understand I can only get a seat assigned at BOS. I can get a boarding pass with a seat assignment at the Hilton in KEF. I bought prepaid tickets online for the bus into town. My rate at the Hilton has gone down from 18,000 plus to a little over 10,000. I think that is the proper amount of 0s. The price is now around $140 USD.
If anyone has anything else that may help my trip it is appreciated. I am not looking forward to the flight in economy. I know I will survive. Thanks.
Could you provide some more information - how long are you staying, your interests, how much you're willing to spend, are you there on a Friday or Saturday evening...
Programs: AA LifeP/2MM, CO Plt, UA 1K/MM, WN, Hilton D, Hyatt D, SPG Plt
Posts: 5,370
We will arrive AM from BOS and have one night at the Hilton. Leave the next later afternoon to BOS. We will be there Sat evening. Iceland is a place each of us has thought of on our "B" list so to speak. When the opportunity came up it was a go. Cost is not that much of an issue. We are both conservative. Time of course will be a issue. Thanks much.
If anyone has anything else that may help my trip it is appreciated. I am not looking forward to the flight in economy. I know I will survive. Thanks.
Perhaps a note about the Fly-Bus might help. The bus will take you to the BSI terminal in Reykjavik, and from there some passengers get off for transfer to mini-vans. Some of the hotels served by the Fly-Bus are located on streets too narrow for the large bus, but there are other reasons as well. I have done this many times, staying at the Radisson Saga, and always have had to transfer.
Staying at the Nordica, you will probably stay on the big bus, but it is always confusing for first time travelers when you see people getting off the bus. They usually make an announcement when the bus arrives at the BSI terminal about who stays on and who transfers, but if you have any doubt, just ask the driver.
Coach is not all that bad on Icelandair. Seat pitch is better than most US domestic airlines, and the flight from BOS is 5 hrs, so unless you get a middle seat, it works out to be acceptable. I have found service to be hit or miss. Sometimes you get a hard working crew, sometimes not. Just after t/o they will come thru with the meal service, clean up, and after that most passengers are asleep for the rest of the flight. So going eastbound is always a "not much happening" kind of flight.
I pulled up the seat map for your flight (FI630 on 5/2) and it looks like the back 1/3 of the plane is mostly open, but there are many like you, who have to wait for seat assignment at the airport. FI also holds back on the front 10 rows of coach for Saga Silver and Gold frequent flyers, which also get assigned at the airport (or the Kiosk at Nordica). I tried to paste a copy of the seat map here, but FT will not accept it. I tried to paste it into a PM for you, but that doesn't work either. Drop me a PM with an e-mail address and I'll paste a view of the seat map there, if you are interested.
If you have time, it may be worth it to get to BOS early for check-in, to get the best possible seat.
I flew MSP-KEF-ARN-KEF-MSP 2 weeks ago, and I never did get a plane with the new seats and AVOD, so perhaps you will have better luck. I had 4 different a/c on this trip, so perhaps the changes are taking a while to complete. It does look quite nice.
I've been flying FI for over 10 years now and have been happy with the experience. I moved all my Europen travel over to them several years ago, to gain the FF points for a Gold card, which provides space available upgrades, which have run at over 90% the past 2 years. My card just renewed, but with the change in point accrual, this will be my last year as a "gold". Needless to say, the entire industry is in for major changes with the price of oil as it is.
We will arrive AM from BOS and have one night at the Hilton. Leave the next later afternoon to BOS. We will be there Sat evening. Iceland is a place each of us has thought of on our "B" list so to speak. When the opportunity came up it was a go. Cost is not that much of an issue. We are both conservative. Time of course will be a issue. Thanks much.
I would suggest doing the "Golden Circle" day trip = takes in Gullfoss waterfall, Geysir hot spring and Thingvellir, site of the worlds first parliament and a geological wonder where you can literally have 1 foot in Europe and 1 foot in USA. If money is not a problem, organize a private taxi doing this - you'll save lots of time...
Definately go out on the town on Saturday evening - the bars dont fill up til 1 am - so I'd go at 12:30 to get a seat at a bar...
On an afternoon flight to the USA --- assuming you the do the bar run --- I'd sleep in late and opt for the flyBUS that stops at the Blue Lagoon. It's heaven on earth!!!
Have a wonderful trip. BTW are you a Boston native....
Programs: AA LifeP/2MM, CO Plt, UA 1K/MM, WN, Hilton D, Hyatt D, SPG Plt
Posts: 5,370
Thank you so much. And I mean that lots. A couple things please. About how much would that private taxi tour be versus bus tour? How does one know if the flybus will stop at the Blue Lagoon on the way back to KEF? Can I incorporate a Blue Lagoon tour into that private taxi tour? When should be do the Blue Lagoon? Is the Iceland economy really that bad?
Nope. We are both west coast people. ? Can I check in 24 hours in advance at the Hilton to get an aisle seat? We arrive into BOS before 6 PM Friday on UA or CO. Any Lounge at BOS for us? I have UA and NW Lounge cards.
Thank you so much. And I mean that lots. A couple things please. About how much would that private taxi tour be versus bus tour? How does one know if the flybus will stop at the Blue Lagoon on the way back to KEF? Can I incorporate a Blue Lagoon tour into that private taxi tour? When should be do the Blue Lagoon? Is the Iceland economy really that bad?
Nope. We are both west coast people. ? Can I check in 24 hours in advance at the Hilton to get an aisle seat? We arrive into BOS before 6 PM Friday on UA or CO. Any Lounge at BOS for us? I have UA and NW Lounge cards.
I will PM you. Thanks.
This is a link to the "taxi tours" page of the largest cab company in Reykjavik. http://www.hreyfill.is/en/taxi_tours/ They have a number of tours on offer, "southwest complete" is basically a golden circle tour. It looks like it costs 5 times as much as the bus tour. I'm sure you could incorporate the blue lagoon into it as well...
This is a link to the flybus. http://www.re.is/home/flybus/ The small print below the timetable says that an 11 am departure stops at the blue lagoon before dropping passenger of at the airport at 2.30 pm.
You can indeed check in at the Hilton the day before.
I'm afraid I'm not an expert about lounges at Logan...
Icelandair's fleet remains mostly composed of narrowbodies, & the plan is for that to remain even after the current fleet has gone. I know B787s are on order, but they're simply too big for most the markets Icelandair serve & they've said this. They're looking at the next generation 150 seat size aircraft currently under wraps by the major aircraft manufacturers.
Narrowbodies don't accomodate larger seats that efficiently. Narrowbodies also (on the whole) don't have that much range that would require to remain remotely competive (eg. HKG-LHR). As already pointed out, most of Icelandairs flights are comparatively short compared to their competition, & their fares lower. The flights do not warrant a bed.
Late Eos did have 4 abreast flatseats (staggered) on 757. Unless BA has cancelled Open Skies in view of the fate of Eos, Open Skies has 4 abreast flatseats (back and forward facing, like Club World on 747 upper deck) on 747.
Could Icelandair make use of extended range Bombardier 110?
Can I check in 24 hours in advance at the Hilton to get an aisle seat? We arrive into BOS before 6 PM Friday on UA or CO. Any Lounge at BOS for us? I have UA and NW Lounge cards.
I will PM you. Thanks.
Braniff has given some great suggestions. If you are into wild nightlife, definitely do visit the club scene in central Reykjavik on Sat night, but as mentioned, nothing happens until 12:30-1am.
Also alcohol is quite expensive (700ISK, about $10, for a draft beer), so if you plan on doing any serious drinking, I'd recommend getting your favorite beverage at the duty free store upon arrival in KEF. One reason nightlife starts so late is that Icelanders spend the earlier hours at home drinking there, as it is much less expensive that way. Which is also why the bar scene is so wild; when it does start, everyone has been drinking for a while.
Icelandair uses terminal E in BOS, as does NW, There is a World Club right there, which will help pass the time. The ticket counter for Icelandair opens about 3-4 hrs before scheduled departure, so you should be able to get there about the time it opens.
You can used the kiosk at Nordica to check-in and get your seat assignments for your return flight, or you can do it on-line if you have computer access.The only problen is that check-in is only available at icelandair.is, which is in Icelandic. But it is not all that difficult, all you need is the confirmation code and your last name. Full info here:
For the average Icelander, the economic crisis is something they read about, but it doesn't really have any consequences as of yet, except for higher prices It is not like there is an economic downturn there, with unemployment and such. Here is a link to a blog that talks about this, which you might find interesting: (scroll down to "Someone should take away all their toys...")
Just one more. Here is a link to a web cam that does a 180 degree panorama of Reykjavik. It is located by the Nordica, as you can see the Hilton sign as the camera swings back and forth.
Flew GLA-KEF return back in March. On the outbound, standard crappy overhead screens but on the return got the opportunity to try out the new AVOD in Y. There was no charge for the use of the system.
The AVOD is a touch-screen system that takes a little while to get used to. I felt the responsiveness was not as fast as say using a remote control. The widescreen is a decent size. There was a fair amount of stuff loaded on the system, movies, tv and kids shows, but the quality and selection were poor, a lot of really old stuff on there.
The new leather seats in Y were no different than what EI or FR do, so not a lot to get excited about. They say on their website that the new seats provide more room. I've travelled FI a bit and the leg room is no different than when I first started flying with them six years ago!
It's here...
