A Trip to Iceland in the Middle of Winter - A warm review of FI E / E+ and more
Feb 26, 2017, 8:13 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: ORD
Programs: United 100K, Etihad Gold, Marriot Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 578
Now its time to get to the airport and catch the flight. It takes about 45 minutes to get from Reykavik to Keflavik, where the airport is located. There was a nearby gas station so filling up was easy. It did take about 20 minutes to return the car to Sixt, and a lot of people waiting owned Sixt a bunch of money for crashing their cars. Luckily I got the skill to avoid those issues, so no damage for me. We then take a stupid bus to the terminal.... make sure you have lots of time to return the rental car.
Now time to check in for my flight:
Iceland Air FI853, KEF to ORD, distance 2963, and 7 hour flight time. 757-200 TF-ISS, formally owned by American. Economy Comfort Class.
Check in was quick and efficient, and after security we were in the crowded terminal. The SAGA lounge was in terminal C, and the surrounding area was completely deserted:
Saga lounge:
Pretty good spread, nothing too special just some chocolates and appetizers. No service in the lounge, pretty much a nicer version of a United lounge.... except there were very few people in it:
The boarding was a bus gate
but once we got onboard we got a nice surprise:
Basically we got a saga seat, but no saga service. They actually put up a pretty impressive sheet to keep us out of the sage area. However the seat was very comfy:
8 people got the mini saga upgrade. Note the normal economy comfort is basically United economy plus but with the middle seat blocked. Here is a leg room shot:
some swag, I really liked the headphones with the wooden trim on them:
And we did get to choose as many items from their food plate for economy. In P.E. the food and alcohol are included in the price. I got the tapas box full of some tasty cheese and sausage:
7 hours later we arrived in the USA. Customs was fast but it took about 20 minutes for our bags to show up.
Icelandair is great for getting to Iceland. Using it for connections to Europe sounds risky. There were a bunch of people on my flight who were connecting from the continent, and got stuck in REK since the flight left without them. If they do ever expand their service to multiple flights per day it will greatly increase flexibility. Right now if you miss your flight its going to be tough to get on any flight back to the US since they all leave around the same time.
Also their frequent flyer program is very attractive. 80,000 elite points will get you to their highest status which gets you lounge access and unlimited upgrades. This is something I'll evaluate if travel back to europe ever picks up. Thanks for reading my trip report!
Now time to check in for my flight:
Iceland Air FI853, KEF to ORD, distance 2963, and 7 hour flight time. 757-200 TF-ISS, formally owned by American. Economy Comfort Class.
Check in was quick and efficient, and after security we were in the crowded terminal. The SAGA lounge was in terminal C, and the surrounding area was completely deserted:
Saga lounge:
Pretty good spread, nothing too special just some chocolates and appetizers. No service in the lounge, pretty much a nicer version of a United lounge.... except there were very few people in it:
The boarding was a bus gate
but once we got onboard we got a nice surprise: Basically we got a saga seat, but no saga service. They actually put up a pretty impressive sheet to keep us out of the sage area. However the seat was very comfy:
8 people got the mini saga upgrade. Note the normal economy comfort is basically United economy plus but with the middle seat blocked. Here is a leg room shot:
some swag, I really liked the headphones with the wooden trim on them:
And we did get to choose as many items from their food plate for economy. In P.E. the food and alcohol are included in the price. I got the tapas box full of some tasty cheese and sausage:
7 hours later we arrived in the USA. Customs was fast but it took about 20 minutes for our bags to show up.
Icelandair is great for getting to Iceland. Using it for connections to Europe sounds risky. There were a bunch of people on my flight who were connecting from the continent, and got stuck in REK since the flight left without them. If they do ever expand their service to multiple flights per day it will greatly increase flexibility. Right now if you miss your flight its going to be tough to get on any flight back to the US since they all leave around the same time.
Also their frequent flyer program is very attractive. 80,000 elite points will get you to their highest status which gets you lounge access and unlimited upgrades. This is something I'll evaluate if travel back to europe ever picks up. Thanks for reading my trip report!
Mar 5, 2017, 10:30 am
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: ORD
Programs: United 100K, Etihad Gold, Marriot Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 578
thanks everyone.
A few final words: Despite being the middle of February the weather was in the mid 50's most of the trip except for the last day when we kept getting caught in flash hail storms.
Both of the Hiltons I stayed at were swarmed, and Reykavik was very crowded. But even the tourists attraction that were just an hour outside of Reykavik were pretty empty. It was Presidents day holiday in the USA that week so i think we had a lot of people like me just hopping to Iceland for the long weekend.
The Hilton Canopy was significantly better than the Nordica, location was near a bunch of shopping and bars (like the big Lebowski), and they had an evening reception with some good local craft beers. The point being there was not really much of a need for an executive lounge at that property.
A few final words: Despite being the middle of February the weather was in the mid 50's most of the trip except for the last day when we kept getting caught in flash hail storms.
Both of the Hiltons I stayed at were swarmed, and Reykavik was very crowded. But even the tourists attraction that were just an hour outside of Reykavik were pretty empty. It was Presidents day holiday in the USA that week so i think we had a lot of people like me just hopping to Iceland for the long weekend.
The Hilton Canopy was significantly better than the Nordica, location was near a bunch of shopping and bars (like the big Lebowski), and they had an evening reception with some good local craft beers. The point being there was not really much of a need for an executive lounge at that property.