Iceland in economy – a very good trip
Mar 22, 2017, 5:37 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Epsom, Surrey
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 104
Iceland in economy – a very good trip
OK, I know it’s a trip report, and there is probably a sub-forum for it, but given the occasional downer on BA (including my last own flight report) I thought I’d leave it here. No in-flight piccies, as nothing worth moaning/bragging about!
Why go?
Late Feb was my birthday, and I hate birthdays, so some time in between hangovers over the Christmas and new year period, I booked flights for the wife and me to Iceland. Why Iceland? Why not, it’s a place we’ve always wanted to go, and neither of us are scared of the cold.
Heathrow to Keflavik
Taxi to the airport, myself and wife off to Iceland, mum happened to be heading to Ireland as well, so she jumped in with us. All of us HBO, with BP printed and ready to roll. With myself and wifey being Silver, we were able to use the fast track security (for the first time, as since getting silver we’ve not used LHR). Brought the mother figure through as well.
Well, it was nice and quick, it actually felt like fast track. Granted it was Saturday morning so not biz heavy, but nice not to have to wait too long.
Headed straight for the South lounge, wifey guested in my mother. Mother is a frugal Irish nurse, so has never set foot in an airport lounge in her life. The lounge was pretty busy, although nowhere as manic as North looked. Despite being busy, we got seated very easily, and had a selection of coffees (for some) and booze (for others). My uncle was flying on the same flight as my mother, so once he cleared security he rang me and I met him at the lounge entrance to guest him in (2 silvers means 2 guests
). Again, first time in a lounge, and being of true Irish stock he sank a few beers fairly sharpish before they headed for their flight, leaving wifey and I.
Priority boarding was enforced, which was good as I had a rather heavy bag with a lot of camera gear in it. Making use of Silver, we had selected the exit row at time of booking (was classed as BA holiday, owing to car hire). I prefer the exit row to Club Europe as CE doesn’t give me enough leg room.
Take-off was pretty much on time, and the flight was unremarkable. BOB didn’t come into the equation as we had bought water from WH Smith, and wifey had got herself a mini Fortnum & Mason picnic cool bag thing. It was really rather nice. Cabin crew seemed to be spot on, although we didn’t have much interaction with them.
My only grumble with this flight was an odour of something horrible. It smelled like dried vomit. We checked the surrounding area but nothing was visible. One of those things I guess.
Landing was smooth, and passport control was quick.
On arrival, there is a big duty free shop, but vodka is over twice the price of UK duty free prices (Smirnoff blue £11 /litre vs £24 /litre). Stock up on board or at T5 if you can.
We had rented a car with Avis through BA, making it a holiday (so got Avios bonus). First choice car was not available, so got given an ‘upgrade’ of a BMW X1. Nice enough little thing.
The trip
I’ll not go into huge detail, but will show a few pics.
When we landed it was just starting to snow. By the time we woke up it was getting on for 2ft deep. It turns out that overnight there had been the largest single snowfall in Reykjavik for 80 years. We had planned for a couple of nights in town anyway, so it didn’t affect us.
We spent the next week covering the South coast. Daytime was clear sky and bright (and very low) sun, night time was windy and -11c. Despite the mega snow the main roads were perfectly clear, the minor roads had some snow and ice. The X1 had winter tyres, so driving was fine.
Accommodation
Having been to Norway and Sweden a couple of time, we knew full well how expensive Iceland would be, so generally we opted to rent apartments rather than stay in hotels. We did a big shop in the supermarket and topped up a couple of times. Cooking for ourselves certainly kept the costs down (a few beers and 2 burgers in Reykjavik during the 6 nations set us back around £100 – shopping for the week was around £130).
Destinations
Reykjavik
Expensive for pretty much everything, there is however some very nice architecture such as the Harpa building, and the Hallgrímskirkja church.
Hallgrímskirkja church
Harpa building
Vik
A nice little place to stay, the main attraction here for us were the sea stacks at Reynisdrangar and the arch at Dyrhólaey.
Vik
Reynisdrangar
Dyrhólaey
Hofn
We stayed in Hofn mainly because it was in between 2 of the major attractions we wanted to see – Jökulsárlón lagoon, and Stokksnes. However, during our time here we were treated to a wonderful display of the aurora, as there was a period of good solar activity (KP6 for people into that sort of thing).
Jökulsárlón
Stokksnes
Aurora
Skogarfoss
Heading back to Reykjavik, we split the journey (in case of bad weather) and overnighted within hearing range of this waterfall. As it was our last night we had a slap up meal with a good few beers. The bill was staggering!
Skogarfoss
Random Icelandic pony
The golden circle
Making our way back to the airport we hit the main tourist sites that comprise the golden circle – Thingvellir national park, Geysir, and Gullfoss waterfall. The driving here from some of the tour operators was pretty poor – obviously time is money to them.
Thingvellir
Gullfoss
Keflavik – Heathrow
Hire car fuelled up and dropped off, we had to wait a while for check-in to open (OLCI wouldn’t let us have BP’s). There was a priority queue. Once check-in opened (4 desks I think) they dedicated 3 desks to priorty and just 1 to the rest of the waiting passengers, much to their disgust. There was a lot of grumbling, particularly when the agent would shout “Next priority please”.
A couple of beers in the bar and headed for the gate (BA don’t have lounge access here). Priority boarding again in effect, we pushed back a few minutes early. Flight was totally uneventful, we had the exit again, and had brought a sandwich in the airport, so no BOB to report on.
Cabin crew were all good again, although we still didn’t have massive interaction as didn’t need BOB.
We landed about 30 mins early, and passport control was empty, so we were out before our taxi had even turned up.
Conclusion
Iceland is a truly beautiful country, but very very expensive, and getting very busy. We turned up at one of the named sites only to turn around and head off, as I didn’t fancy jostling with the occupants of 10+ coaches for a photo.
The BA flights were pleasant enough by themselves, but everything was made much better by virtue of us having silver. That little bit of ‘status’ meant we got free seat selection, fast track security, extra baggage if needed (even though we went HBO the fare wasn’t), the lounge, priority boarding etc.
The lounge was good, security was good, the BA staff we dealt with were good. They were probably the best BA flights I have had in a while – everything just worked as it should.
A much, much better BA experience than when we used a 2-4-1 in J to Costa Rica (filthy plane and dire food).
Apologies for the length, but I tend to ramble thoughts onto hard drive whilst travelling if we have down time
Why go?
Late Feb was my birthday, and I hate birthdays, so some time in between hangovers over the Christmas and new year period, I booked flights for the wife and me to Iceland. Why Iceland? Why not, it’s a place we’ve always wanted to go, and neither of us are scared of the cold.
Heathrow to Keflavik
Taxi to the airport, myself and wife off to Iceland, mum happened to be heading to Ireland as well, so she jumped in with us. All of us HBO, with BP printed and ready to roll. With myself and wifey being Silver, we were able to use the fast track security (for the first time, as since getting silver we’ve not used LHR). Brought the mother figure through as well.
Well, it was nice and quick, it actually felt like fast track. Granted it was Saturday morning so not biz heavy, but nice not to have to wait too long.
Headed straight for the South lounge, wifey guested in my mother. Mother is a frugal Irish nurse, so has never set foot in an airport lounge in her life. The lounge was pretty busy, although nowhere as manic as North looked. Despite being busy, we got seated very easily, and had a selection of coffees (for some) and booze (for others). My uncle was flying on the same flight as my mother, so once he cleared security he rang me and I met him at the lounge entrance to guest him in (2 silvers means 2 guests
). Again, first time in a lounge, and being of true Irish stock he sank a few beers fairly sharpish before they headed for their flight, leaving wifey and I.Priority boarding was enforced, which was good as I had a rather heavy bag with a lot of camera gear in it. Making use of Silver, we had selected the exit row at time of booking (was classed as BA holiday, owing to car hire). I prefer the exit row to Club Europe as CE doesn’t give me enough leg room.
Take-off was pretty much on time, and the flight was unremarkable. BOB didn’t come into the equation as we had bought water from WH Smith, and wifey had got herself a mini Fortnum & Mason picnic cool bag thing. It was really rather nice. Cabin crew seemed to be spot on, although we didn’t have much interaction with them.
My only grumble with this flight was an odour of something horrible. It smelled like dried vomit. We checked the surrounding area but nothing was visible. One of those things I guess.
Landing was smooth, and passport control was quick.
On arrival, there is a big duty free shop, but vodka is over twice the price of UK duty free prices (Smirnoff blue £11 /litre vs £24 /litre). Stock up on board or at T5 if you can.
We had rented a car with Avis through BA, making it a holiday (so got Avios bonus). First choice car was not available, so got given an ‘upgrade’ of a BMW X1. Nice enough little thing.
The trip
I’ll not go into huge detail, but will show a few pics.
When we landed it was just starting to snow. By the time we woke up it was getting on for 2ft deep. It turns out that overnight there had been the largest single snowfall in Reykjavik for 80 years. We had planned for a couple of nights in town anyway, so it didn’t affect us.
We spent the next week covering the South coast. Daytime was clear sky and bright (and very low) sun, night time was windy and -11c. Despite the mega snow the main roads were perfectly clear, the minor roads had some snow and ice. The X1 had winter tyres, so driving was fine.
Accommodation
Having been to Norway and Sweden a couple of time, we knew full well how expensive Iceland would be, so generally we opted to rent apartments rather than stay in hotels. We did a big shop in the supermarket and topped up a couple of times. Cooking for ourselves certainly kept the costs down (a few beers and 2 burgers in Reykjavik during the 6 nations set us back around £100 – shopping for the week was around £130).
Destinations
Reykjavik
Expensive for pretty much everything, there is however some very nice architecture such as the Harpa building, and the Hallgrímskirkja church.
Hallgrímskirkja church
Harpa building
Vik
A nice little place to stay, the main attraction here for us were the sea stacks at Reynisdrangar and the arch at Dyrhólaey.
Vik
Reynisdrangar
Dyrhólaey
Hofn
We stayed in Hofn mainly because it was in between 2 of the major attractions we wanted to see – Jökulsárlón lagoon, and Stokksnes. However, during our time here we were treated to a wonderful display of the aurora, as there was a period of good solar activity (KP6 for people into that sort of thing).
Jökulsárlón
Stokksnes
Aurora
Skogarfoss
Heading back to Reykjavik, we split the journey (in case of bad weather) and overnighted within hearing range of this waterfall. As it was our last night we had a slap up meal with a good few beers. The bill was staggering!
Skogarfoss
Random Icelandic pony
The golden circle
Making our way back to the airport we hit the main tourist sites that comprise the golden circle – Thingvellir national park, Geysir, and Gullfoss waterfall. The driving here from some of the tour operators was pretty poor – obviously time is money to them.
Thingvellir
Gullfoss
Keflavik – Heathrow
Hire car fuelled up and dropped off, we had to wait a while for check-in to open (OLCI wouldn’t let us have BP’s). There was a priority queue. Once check-in opened (4 desks I think) they dedicated 3 desks to priorty and just 1 to the rest of the waiting passengers, much to their disgust. There was a lot of grumbling, particularly when the agent would shout “Next priority please”.
A couple of beers in the bar and headed for the gate (BA don’t have lounge access here). Priority boarding again in effect, we pushed back a few minutes early. Flight was totally uneventful, we had the exit again, and had brought a sandwich in the airport, so no BOB to report on.
Cabin crew were all good again, although we still didn’t have massive interaction as didn’t need BOB.
We landed about 30 mins early, and passport control was empty, so we were out before our taxi had even turned up.
Conclusion
Iceland is a truly beautiful country, but very very expensive, and getting very busy. We turned up at one of the named sites only to turn around and head off, as I didn’t fancy jostling with the occupants of 10+ coaches for a photo.
The BA flights were pleasant enough by themselves, but everything was made much better by virtue of us having silver. That little bit of ‘status’ meant we got free seat selection, fast track security, extra baggage if needed (even though we went HBO the fare wasn’t), the lounge, priority boarding etc.
The lounge was good, security was good, the BA staff we dealt with were good. They were probably the best BA flights I have had in a while – everything just worked as it should.
A much, much better BA experience than when we used a 2-4-1 in J to Costa Rica (filthy plane and dire food).
Apologies for the length, but I tend to ramble thoughts onto hard drive whilst travelling if we have down time
Mar 22, 2017, 6:26 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Epsom, Surrey
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 104
We went to Abisko in Sweden, meant to be fantastic for the lights. Had 3 nights of cloud and only managed 1 decent display. Yet on that same trip went to the light polluted Tromso and had a cracking display.
When we were planning Iceland, we didn't even consider what the lights would be doing, this trip wasn't about them. We turned up to reasonably clear skies and massive solar magnetic activity, and had some stunning display (dancing curtains of light moving across the sky, rather than a dull glow).
Whichever you choose, even if you don't get lights, the scenery makes up for it. there is a desolate yet rugged feel to both places, although as ever different regions have a different 'feel' to them.
A colleague of ours went to Iceland 2 weeks after us, for a week as well. Not a hint of the lights.
Winter is obviously better, as it gets darker earlier. Other than that, the further North you are, the better the chance.
Sometimes they are there, but very hard to spot with the naked eye. A camera sensor on a 30s exposure can tell you if you are looking at a cloud, or at a faint aurora.
The aurora photos above were 4-6s exposure, at a relatively low ISO (1600). This translates as pretty bright auroras
Mar 22, 2017, 6:42 pm
#4
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 40,210
Superb photo gallery. ^
I had a deep desire to go to Iceland in the early 70's for a hiking/camping holiday but the air fare back then was very expensive so never got around to it. Thanks for the report.
I had a deep desire to go to Iceland in the early 70's for a hiking/camping holiday but the air fare back then was very expensive so never got around to it. Thanks for the report.
Mar 22, 2017, 6:44 pm
#5
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,399
Thanks for posting ^
Very impressive photos - which explain why you were travelling with "a lot of camera gear ...." !
Your confirmation of very high prices in the country, together with your experience of certain locations being almost unpleasantly crowded, doesn't really sound like an ideal combination. But, given all else that you say, it makes me interested to visit - especially when I see photos as good as yours (did I already mention the photos ......??!!).
Very impressive photos - which explain why you were travelling with "a lot of camera gear ...." !
Your confirmation of very high prices in the country, together with your experience of certain locations being almost unpleasantly crowded, doesn't really sound like an ideal combination. But, given all else that you say, it makes me interested to visit - especially when I see photos as good as yours (did I already mention the photos ......??!!).
Mar 22, 2017, 7:26 pm
#7
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
Programs: BA GGL, NH SFC, IHG Diamond, Radisson VIP, HH Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 835
Lucky you! I was there earlier this year, the weather was not particularly good. I extended my business stay to the weekend for pleasure, but it was rainy & stormy through the weekend even though we had many sunny spells in the weekdays whilst working. The South Coast tour was sort of bootcamp. That's my luck.
Mar 23, 2017, 1:31 am
#8
In Memoriam
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: North
Programs: BA Silver; IHG Gold Elite; Hilton Gold
Posts: 382
Loved Iceland. Went a couple of weeks ago - dreading the credit card bill. Gulfoss is magnificent.
Flew Icelandair from Manchester. Fare included hold luggage, free seat selection, soft drinks on board and a loyalty scheme that earned enough points to buy two small boxes of Pringles on the return flight.
IFE too.
Impressed with your photos. We missed the Northern Lights. I've seen them from the M62 though!
Flew Icelandair from Manchester. Fare included hold luggage, free seat selection, soft drinks on board and a loyalty scheme that earned enough points to buy two small boxes of Pringles on the return flight.
IFE too.
Impressed with your photos. We missed the Northern Lights. I've seen them from the M62 though!
Last edited by PeacefulWaters; Mar 23, 2017 at 2:54 am
Mar 23, 2017, 2:56 am
#12
Join Date: May 2016
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, Accor Gold
Posts: 1,429
Great pics, Iceland is a lovely place but you need to suspend all notions of value for money 
Great to see another outstation with no lounge access. I guess they'll all be Cruzified eventually.
Great to see another outstation with no lounge access. I guess they'll all be Cruzified eventually.
Mar 23, 2017, 3:24 am
#14
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,953
I haven't been to Iceland but always wanted to go. This trip report really makes me want to do it sooner rather than later. Thanks londonsean69.
I was lucky enough to see the northern lights in Tromsø a few years ago (there is a trip report if you want to see). I have been thinking of heading further north in early 2018 and planning a trip to Svalbard.
I was lucky enough to see the northern lights in Tromsø a few years ago (there is a trip report if you want to see). I have been thinking of heading further north in early 2018 and planning a trip to Svalbard.
Mar 23, 2017, 3:34 am
#15
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Kent, UK
Programs: M&S Elite+
Posts: 3,654
Great photos! We went there for a few days over new year last year. It was quiet over new year, so that is definitely a good time to go. Painfully expensive, but thoroughly worth it. Iceland should be on everyone's list of places to go, it is a stunning country.