wayner92

I just returned from a trip from YYZ-KEF (stopover for three days), KEF-LHR (stay for 6 days), LHR-KEF-YYZ with my wife and 8 year old daughter. We were in Saga class on all legs. Saga class appears to be the top class for Icelandair but it is really more like Premium Economy in most ways - most of my flying is on Air Canada and other Star Alliance airlines.

A few comments on the experience.

• Seats are ok but are like Business class domestic seats on AC. At least the seats are better than Lufthansa European Business class which is a joke.
• IFE is ok with about a 12 inch screen but a relatively limited number of movies.
• Boarding is crap for premium passengers, especially since on many flights you have to take a bus out to the plane.
• At KEF the only lounge is on the domestic side of passport control. That is a PITA if you are doing a Europe-NA flight with a stop in KEF. They should really change this as you have to go through passport control twice.
• Food and drink in the lounge at KEF was pretty good. The Plaza Premium lounge that they use in YYZ isn't great. They use the Aer Lingus lounge in LHR T2 which is okay but it is a LONG way from the gate.
• Just like AC, Icelandair uses T2B in LHR. That is one of the world's worst terminals as you have about a 1km walk plus extremely long escalator ride to get from main terminal to gate. Why didn't they build a people mover for this terminal?
• Food on the plane was ok but the appetizer on several legs was some sort of herring or other fish that may be popular with Icelanders but IMHO it is totally gross - and I normally like fish. In general food was inferior to what AC serves on TATL routes.

Stopping in Iceland does somewhat break up the flight from Canada to Europe as it is roughly halfway and the flight from YYZ-KEF is pretty much the same distance as YYZ-YVR domestic flights. We flew during the day on both directions so the lack of lie-flat seats was not really an issue.

So I would give Icelandair a B- grade for this service. It is about 2/3 the cost of an AC Business class ticket to LHR, but probably is about the same as AC Premium Economy which is a more comparable product. Things that they should work on fixing is an additional lounge in KEF on the international side of passport control, more movies for their IFE, and more food choices.

edit - One thing that I forgot to mention is that with Saga class you get wifi from gate to gate for free. That sounded pretty good but the internet connection was very slow and it only worked about 60% of the time. When it did work it was MUCH slower than the internet service that I have used on NA flights with AC and Delta.

duvin

This is true only if you connect to non-Schengen countries in Europe. For Schengen-connections you only go through passport control once in each direction (as Iceland is in Schengen).

Ditto

Icelandic Air is a LCC, so they don't have any "proper" business class as that doesn't really fit their business model, comparing their Saga class to other airlines Premium Economy or "US First" is probably more appropriate in terms of hard product.

As for LH European Business, that is the case for most European airlines narrow body jets.

Braniff

Exactly. The UK is their only European destination outside of Schengen. All others are in Schengen - "domestic European."

I actually find the biggest hassle in coming from Canada is that they make you go thru transit security. I find it hard to believe that the US complies with European standards (no transit security) but Canada does not.

TFKEF

Putting transit passengers from Canada through security was abolished in early 2016.

raria

Does anyone else think that naming something "Saga" is not a good idea?

A saga typically involves a long and not happy story!

Concerto

I thought Icelandair was one of the posh carriers with outstanding service and F&B, a bit like SAS used to be. So it must have changed enormously. Thanks for the feedback, interesting to know.

Braniff

This is very good news. I have a trip coming up next month. Thanks TFKEF

Zembla

The seats are indeed similar to domestic first in the US, for that reason alone you can't compare it with J on most other airlines crossing the Atlantic. A second reason you can't compare it is that Saga class is a lot cheaper, except for the occasional promo fare on said other airlines. But the service and the food, I like it very much on Saga Class and in my experience it is on par and sometimes even better than quiet a few of the said other airlines.
IMHO, Saga Class is a pretty good deal if you don't compare it to J on the usual suspects, and don't set your expectations accordingly high.

wayner92

I did mention that above - that Saga class is more comparable to AC's Premium Economy. But the fares are less for premium economy as well so you are paying a comparable price for a comparable product. And some of the other perqs on AC, like doing proper priority boarding are a plus. And with an airline with real business class presumably there is a possibility of getting upgraded from Premium Economy to Business.

As an aside - does anyone know why the KEF airport is so freakin' far from Reykjavik? You drive for 45 minutes through a desolate landscape to get to the airport - why couldn't they have built it 50km farther north on the outskirts of the city?

Ditto

50KM is not that unusual, ARN & LHR are some examples of airports with similar distances, though both have a fast train service

NewbieRunner

KEF was originally built by the US military. There is a smaller airport in Reykjavik (RKV) originally built by the British army and currently used for domestic flights and flights to Greenland. The latter is unlikely to be expanded as it's too close to the city centre.

Zembla

Which IMHO is fine. Busy airports close to city centers create noise and other forms of undesirable pollution for its people. Even though I don't live in Reykjavik I think it's fine where it is, and getting from and to the airport is a fast and very predictable affair because of virtually no congestion.

Billiken

Do arriving Saga class passengers have access to the Saga Lounge in KEF?

TFKEF

As already mentioned by other posters, KEF was originally built by the Americans as a military airfield during WWII and was used as a NATO base throughout the Cold War. There wasn't even a dedicated civilian terminal building there until 1987.

There have been serious proposals to build a new airport closer to the southern outskirts of the city to take over the current functions of RKV which the city authorities want to shut down but it is unclear if that is feasible or not. KEF is pretty far away from Reykjavík measured in distance but measured in travel time it is hardly that far compared to many other cities around the world. Improved ground transport could shorten that time further and would probably be better use of money than a whole new airport closer to Reykjavík.