Iceland travel
Feb 16, 2012 | 8:45 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 71
Iceland travel
Looking to book a trip to Iceland in the near future and wondering what my options are to get there. Fro what I can tell my only real option would be to collect Alaska Air miles and then convert to Iceland Air at a rate of 75k for buisness. Is there any other options or routes/airlines out there? I know the Alaska card only yields 25k and can supposedly be churnable but that would still take 9 months for one ticket if they in fact approved it each time. For a little more info I'd be flying out of JFK most likely but my home airport is BDL.
Feb 16, 2012 | 9:43 am
#3
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,677
Especially if you go on the shoulder season or off season, Iceland Air sometimes has some pretty cheap flights at least from the east coast, FWIW. Never flown there but have researched it in the past and the prices (Economy) were cheap enough I would've paid rather than used miles.
Feb 16, 2012 | 9:59 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 71
Thanks for the responses. I didn't really think there were too many options for miles use and travel to Iceland and it seems I was correct. Good call on the flights not being to to pricey. Econmy class special rate goes for about $600 during certain times which isn't horrible. Still wish there were more options for a business class redemption.
Feb 16, 2012 | 10:17 am
#5
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Miami, FL, USA
Posts: 4,104
Thanks for the responses. I didn't really think there were too many options for miles use and travel to Iceland and it seems I was correct. Good call on the flights not being to to pricey. Econmy class special rate goes for about $600 during certain times which isn't horrible. Still wish there were more options for a business class redemption.
Feb 16, 2012 | 10:28 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORF
Programs: Amex Plat, AA, BA Silver, Marriott Plat, Choice Gold, HHonors Gold, IHG Diamond
Posts: 3,860
Icelandair can be an option if you're considering a trip to one of their European destinations because they'll allow a stopover in Reykjavik without increasing the fare. You could combine Iceland with another city to make your dollars go further.
Business class on Icelandair, though, isn't much to write home about. No fully flat beds; instead, the seats look similar to BA's World Traveller Plus seats. The flight's only six hours to Reykjavik so not the worst flight you could take, but if you're paying yourself, economy class or their economy comfort, with 2x2 seating rather than economy's 3x3, is probably a better value.
Business class on Icelandair, though, isn't much to write home about. No fully flat beds; instead, the seats look similar to BA's World Traveller Plus seats. The flight's only six hours to Reykjavik so not the worst flight you could take, but if you're paying yourself, economy class or their economy comfort, with 2x2 seating rather than economy's 3x3, is probably a better value.
Feb 16, 2012 | 2:22 pm
#7
Join Date: May 2008
Location: ORD
Programs: UA Silver, HH Gold
Posts: 102
Has anyone found a site or service to check FI award availability online?
Even logged in through their own site it appears the only option is to submit a full manual reservation request incl credit card or call. I looked through expert flyer & KVS and unless I missed it, I don't see it listed there either...
btw - Is it weird that I am SO averse to calling anyone, like Alaska Mileage Plan, to check for availability that I've spent probably an hour cumulative searching online instead of just picking up the phone?
Even logged in through their own site it appears the only option is to submit a full manual reservation request incl credit card or call. I looked through expert flyer & KVS and unless I missed it, I don't see it listed there either...
btw - Is it weird that I am SO averse to calling anyone, like Alaska Mileage Plan, to check for availability that I've spent probably an hour cumulative searching online instead of just picking up the phone?
Feb 16, 2012 | 3:12 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Worldwide
Posts: 12,952
Has anyone found a site or service to check FI award availability online?
Even logged in through their own site it appears the only option is to submit a full manual reservation request incl credit card or call. I looked through expert flyer & KVS and unless I missed it, I don't see it listed there either...
Even logged in through their own site it appears the only option is to submit a full manual reservation request incl credit card or call. I looked through expert flyer & KVS and unless I missed it, I don't see it listed there either...
http://Help.KVSTool.com/#Classes
Feb 16, 2012 | 3:19 pm
#9
Join Date: May 2008
Location: ORD
Programs: UA Silver, HH Gold
Posts: 102
Being a KVS Tool member, you can check FI Award Availability in C -- please see:
http://Help.KVSTool.com/#Classes
http://Help.KVSTool.com/#Classes
Feb 16, 2012 | 3:24 pm
#10
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: NYC
Posts: 511
Looking to book a trip to Iceland in the near future and wondering what my options are to get there. Fro what I can tell my only real option would be to collect Alaska Air miles and then convert to Iceland Air at a rate of 75k for buisness. Is there any other options or routes/airlines out there? I know the Alaska card only yields 25k and can supposedly be churnable but that would still take 9 months for one ticket if they in fact approved it each time. For a little more info I'd be flying out of JFK most likely but my home airport is BDL.
The best reason to do this is because you get a free stopover in Iceland with continued travel to over 20 destninations in Europe.
I did Iceland and Stockholm for just over $700 R/T.
I thought it was worth it.
Not a bad deal.
Feb 16, 2012 | 3:41 pm
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Worldwide
Posts: 12,952
Feb 16, 2012 | 3:49 pm
#12
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: most of them
Posts: 3,284
This is quite helpful. I am considering a trip to Iceland for next year. Hopefully the IAD direct flight will still be going then. I was considering splashing out for business class but will certainly consider the economy comfort now instead.
Feb 16, 2012 | 9:03 pm
#13
Company Representative - ExpertFlyer
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,928
Results from ExpertFlyer.com
Code:
Awards & Upgrades Search
Departing JFK on 07/16/12 12:00 AM for REK
Flying FI on booking class Z
Frequency
Flight Stops Depart Arrive Aircraft Reliability Class Description Code Seats
0 Connections
FI 612 0 JFK KEF 75W Unavailable Business - Award & Upgrade Z 4
07/16/12 2:05 PM 07/16/12 11:40 PM NA / NA
0 Connections
FI 614 0 JFK KEF 75W Unavailable Business - Award & Upgrade Z 3
07/16/12 8:40 PM 07/17/12 6:15 AM 88% / 40m
Feb 17, 2012 | 6:30 pm
#15
Join Date: May 2009
Location: DCA
Programs: US Chairman, Marriott Platinum, PCR Platinum, and SPG Gold
Posts: 1,244