Recently completed a second trip on Icelandair from the US to Europe with a stop over in Iceland. I found the experience to be below expectations and would not recommend Icelandair for transatlantic service unless you really really want to go to Iceland. Some Key Points:

1. From Seattle, the best airfares on Icelandair include NW to MSP. The AS option via BOS was an additional $60 (and worth it in my opinion) and a required night in Boston on the return. NW service was awful as usual, impolite (even hostile) agents each time I had contact with them.

2. Icelandair only honored online seat selections for 1 of the 4 flights, on three occasions I was issued a boarding pass with a middle seat after having selected either a window or an aisle online and verified on CheckMyTrip. How and why I was moved around the aircraft is a mystery.

3. Charging for soda and juice is unacceptable. (They even charge for water if you want more than a small glass). Oh, and the Flightbar menu shows a picture of Jacob's Creek, though the only wine stocked was Gato Negro.

4. It is a myth that Icelandiar is cheaper than other airlines, I regularly find cheaper fares to Europe that are either non-stop or one-stop from SEA and include complimentary drinks. So, Icelandair can take more time and be more expensive.

5. Some of the middle seats I was assigned did not include video programming because of the business class curtains, beware not all middle seats are created equal.

6. Check-In at KEF for flight to Europe, absolute absurdity, the line was well over an hour wait and many people were standing in line outside in the cold, at 30 minutes prior to departure, the ground staff made no effort to assure people that the planes would be held, you can imagine the panic in the crowd. For anyone who might be forgiving of long check in lines, Icelandair knows the number of people who will be arriving each morning, and given that 70-80% of the passengers arrive on the Flybus, they also know when they will arrive at the airport. A local told me that Icelanders either arrive 3+ hours early to hit the shops or 20 minutes early after the line clears, so the line madness is a regular occurance at KEF.

7. Waiting over an hour for baggage in Europe.

8. They subcontract out the ground staff in Europe, at check-in I asked about the middle seats and was told there was nothing that could be done until getting to Iceland, amazingly enough the same group of agents moved to the gate and when i asked a different agent at the gate, I was able to get a new seat.

9. Inherent Risk, while standing in the check-in line at KEF, nervous about missing the flight, it isn't like there is a later flight that day from Iceland to Europe (except LHR and CPH).. you miss a flight for any reason and it is a full 24 hour wait. And there is no other carrier that they could (if they would) re-book you on.

The FA's are really nice though and the planes were clean. But that just isn't enough to settle for lower quality transportation at a higher cost.