My Experience Flying Icelandair
- Abigail Gaston
- Jun 14, 2018
- 8 min read
I went out on a limb and chose to fly Icelandair as opposed to my go-to, Delta, for a trip from Newark International Airport (EWR) to Amsterdam (AMS). Hey, I love to try new things and adventure is an ingrained piece of me, so why not venture out and try a different airline? I mean, the price point was there, $425 roundtrip via Expedia.com, and my boyfriend and I were planning to go anyway!
I guess you can consider this a “review post” seems that is pretty much what is to follow. So, read on if you are interested in hearing about our experience with Icelandair. You may find yourself interested in traveling to Iceland, Amsterdam, or some other really cool destination that Icelandair is known to have a continuous travel path to and if you are with okay with what you read, Icelandair may be a good option for travel for you.
The Backstory:
October, I began planning a Netherlands road trip. We would fly into Amsterdam, pick up our rental car and head on out. Along the way, we would stop at four different Netherlands countries and end it all with a two and a half day grand meander of Amsterdam.
Upon searching for flights, I noticed that those flying out of Detroit were sort of pricey. Previous knowledge told me that departing from the east coast (New York, New Jersey, Boston, and Pittsburgh) to the Netherlands is typically cheaper so I set my notifications to these cities. Within a few days I had an awesome price point out of EWR through Icelandair. I was a little nervous; Delta does a great job spoiling me, but hey, what is living if you don’t take chances in life, right? With that, I confirmed our flights!
Instant Ticket Appeal (the basics): 5 Stars based on zero competition at the time of purchase
As you already know, the ticket appeal is really what sold me. Yes, I had to book additional tickets to and from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport (cheapest flights from DTW to New York City), but they were less than $200 total and I used points anyway, so there really was not an expense there.
The fact of the matter is that Icelandair’s ticket price was far too good to to not book. Flights from Detroit were around $900 round trip and although they were likely to fall, sources were telling me the decline in price probably was not plummeting below $700. My travel party and I were heading to the Netherlands during one of the most traveled times of the year, the Holland Tulip Festival, and we were flying into Amsterdam, which is the home of the festival. With that, the ticket price teasing and taunting me was likely the best I would see, so I went for it.
Communication: 2 Stars and only because of the kindness of the Newark attendant
Again, I purchased the Icelandair tickets via the Expedia.com website. I understand that Expedia is able to offer amazing prices, so much lower than others at times, because they either get a special discounted deal from airline companies or they purchase fares from airlines, like IcelandaIr, that are the absolute basic. This is totally fine if you know exactly what you are purchasing.
In this case, I unfortunately did not know what I was getting because the communication presented to me was either incomplete or incorrect on Expedia’s side and the lack of response from Icelandair when I inquired about it did not help either.
The electronic information post purchase that I received from Expedia stated “Economy.” According to Icelandair’s website, I understood Economy to receive two free checked bags and a carry on (their baggage is actually really great as long as you understand what each fair consists of; discover more on this under). I wanted to make sure that what I was seeing in the “My Trips” section on Expedia’s website and in the emailed confirmation Expedia sent me compared to Icelandair’s bags explanation was correct. If we needed to purchase bags; I preferred to do this online as opposed to at the airport; completing the purchase online is a cheaper add on by $30.
Recap; what I saw was that we (my friends and I) had “Economy” fare tickets. Economy fair is allotted 2 checked bags and one carry on (pretty great). About two weeks before our trip, I reached out to Icelandair via their messenger with my confirmation number, name and flight number, as well as a basic explanation of my question… I never received a response. As you can imagine, life gets pretty busy and I did not follow-up after my original message. The day before our vacation, I remembered that I had not heard back. So, I once again went to the Icelandair website and looked at three sources for ticketing and still, my tickets stated “Economy.” With our impending vacation being less than 24 hours away, I had plenty of loose ends to tie and things to do, so I went with the facts and hoped for the best.
Without getting into the whole conversation, I am sure you have better things to do than to listen to my explanation of a chat I had with an airline attendant, when we arrived to the Icelandair gate, a very nice and personable gentlemen informed us that we actually had “Economy Light” fair. This meant that we basically just had the seat on the airplane; nothing extra and we would need to purchase bags. I kindly explained to him the above and his response to me was very friendly and sympathetic. The attendant stated, “I know exactly how you feel; the same thing happened to me once. I purchased airfare through Expedia and all the documentation presented to me led me to believe I had purchased one thing but the reality was that I ended up having to pay quite a hefty fee for bags and a seat." In the end, he told us that he was so frustrated with the inaccurate information that he contacted Expedia and they actually refunded him the entire amount he had to pay extra that he had not planned to, due to the misleading information presented by Expedia to him. In the end, each of us ended up paying $100 for our one checked bag from EWR to AMS.
A few days prior to the end of our trip, I began thinking about our bag situation again. We were going to have to purchase a bag home too and if this was the case, I wanted to at least get the discounted price of $70 as opposed to the airport price of $100.
With that, I tried probably 15 times to purchase bags via my phone; however, each time I went to finalize the purchase, the Icelandair website sent a message stating, “Our system is unable to complete your request; please contact the airline or try again later.” Finally, I just tried calling the number presented to me and I could not get through. I tried four different phones; two US cell phones, a cell phone of a friend who lives in the Netherlands and a landline at the hotel. None of the phones could reach the 1-800 number.
Upon arriving to the Icelandair check-in counter in Amsterdam, I tried to explain to the attendant the issue we had; however, she was not as friendly as the gentleman at the Newark airport and coldly informed us that she basically did not care to hear about our issues and we would need to contact customer service later.
To all of my friends in customer service, sometimes a little compassion is often what people wish to be given when they have frustrations with a product, place or experience with the company you work for. You may not actually be able to help someone resolve an issue but your demeanor and care goes a long way. The gentleman in Newark was a far better representation of who I imagine Icelandair would want to be a face of their company.
When I arrived home I emailed both Icelandair and Expedia regarding the issues above. Expedia replied within a few days with a basic standard apology, nothing more. Icelandair has yet to reply to my email.
Add-Ons (Bags, Meals/Food & Drink, Seats): 4 Stars - Good bag policy for all classes but "Economy Light," $100 is still just absered to me
The Icelandair bag allowance is actually pretty good. The only time you have to purchase bags is with the “Economy Light” (probably the most expensive I have seen throughout my travels), the Economy Light fare really is only economically beneficial if your trip does not require checked bags (judgment based solely on my opinion). However, I am curious how close the Economy Light and Economy Standard end up being in price after bags are purchased. If they are fairly similar, it may be better to purchase Economy Standard if you are checking bags and avoid the hassle.
Saga Premium Flex, Saga Premium – 2 bags up to 70lbs each
Economy Comfort – 2 bags up to 50lbs each
Economy Premium Flex – 1 bag up to 50lbs
Economy Standard – 1 bag up to 50lbs
Economy Light – Zero bags (available for purchase)
Additional bag information on the Icelandair website: https://www.icelandair.com/support/baggage/allowance/
Meals, Food and Drink: 5 Stars - Food was quite good
You have the option to pre-order and pay for your meals, which is nice if you prefer to do this as you get first dibs and don’t have to worry about the plane running out of an item of your choice. However, you can also purchase food while in flight as well via credit card. The food is pretty good and reasonably priced for an airplane. I did order a turkey and cheese sub sandwich meal. It was actually served warm, which I hadn’t anticipated, and was delicious.
Seats: 4 Stars - Comfy and roomy compared to some other airlines I have flown
As with pretty much any airline, you can choose your seats ahead of time (first come, first serve) via the Icelandair online website. The seats were actually more comfortable and roomy than some of the other airlines I have flown and when I sat down; there was a complimentary pillow and blanket that increased customer comfort.
In-flight Satisfaction: 4 Stars
Flight Attendant Customer Service:
During all four flights, flight attendants were kind and courteous. There was a minor issue with one of our carry on bags. Basically, the overhead space is not necessarily designated for the row you are in, at least on Icelandair, therefore your bag can end up anywhere in the plane (well, should be within viewing distance at least). Our overhead space above our row was completely full from a person four rows ahead of us and the one person, who had a bag that needed to go in the overhead bin, had to have their bag put in a bin four rows back. He was apprehensive about this because of valuable items in the bag, understandable. He did very kindly ask the flight attendant if the overhead space above the row is supposed to be reserved for that row and she just walked away and did not come back. I think she did not know how to answer the question and therefore she just sort of ignored him for the length of the trip. If anything, it was more comical than annoying or frustrating. No harm done; we joked about it afterward.
Entertainment:
Icelandair offers in-flight entertainment in the form of a television screen in the back headrest of each seat. The offering consists of movies, television programs, games, neat info on Iceland, etcetera. Most movie selections are a bit dated; however, it is still a nice feature to have during a long flight.
Restrooms:
There were plenty of restrooms on the plane and they were very clean and offered lotion as well, which is a minor feature but nice, as one thing I notice when flying is your skin does become dryer than normal.
Overall, my flight experience with Icelandair was good. I understand that the misunderstanding with the bag fees lies quite a bit in how the information was displayed by Expedia; however, I do hope that Icelandair increases their monitoring of messages, as I do not feel it is acceptable to not return emails of their customers.
Also, despite not anticipating paying $200 for my bags, I do understand the baggage fees. Economy Light is a good option for individuals who may only need a carryon or if the price with the $70 each way bag fee ($140 total) truly is better than any other flight option. For me, even $625 ($425 flight + $200 for bags) is still a good price compared to what I saw during my investigation of flights to Amsterdam.
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