This is by no means like the Wideroe fares of last year (a couple of hundred dollars roundtrip to Europe from the US), but I think that this may help some people with travel plans to Europe, especially if you would like to visit Iceland and catch the Northern Lights!
Icelandair Fare Sale
Icelandair sent out some fare sales they are running from their destination cities in the US to many cities throughout Europe. There are a few things to note with Icelandair:
- No partners so no using award miles (unless with their own program, but fuel surcharges exist)
- Free stopover in Reykjavik (all of their flights to Europe from the US transit there so you have the opportunity to build in a side trip there)
- One-ways price out at close to half of a roundtrip (not something you are going to get with most other airlines)
- Not a bad airline to fly economy on (I did it for a couple of hours and it was definitely a fine experience)
Fare Details
The cities in the US and the dates the fares are valid for are:
- Boston – November 8 – December 15
- New York (JFK) – January 11 – March 22
- New York (EWR) – March 5 – March 19
- Seattle – November 12 – December 11
- Washington, DC – November 11 – December 10
- Denver – November 12 – December 14
$586 from Boston to Reykjavik roundtrip
Obviously, this is more of off-peak time for Icelandair as most of their tourism influx is in the summer. Still, if you wanted to get to Europe, it is not a bad way to do it. Having the flexibility of the one-way option is great as it allows you to use miles to go to Europe and then purchase a fare to come back from Europe (especially if you were going to use miles that would leverage a high surcharge at you). The price of the one-way ticket is only a little more than some surcharges you might pay on an award ticket ex-Europe! Of course, it would be cheaper on the one-way if you used it coming from the US, but the best deal still sits with the roundtrip purchase.
The fares must be booked by September 12 and the roundtrip prices require a Saturday night stay. The fares are valid on any day of the week.
Prices
Some of the fares being offered are as low as the $700 range for all-in on a roundtrip ticket to cities in Europe while the cheapest options are reserved for travel to Iceland itself. The cheapest you can find is $586 for a roundtrip from Boston (most of the cheapest fares are out of Boston). That is a pretty good deal to visit what became one of my favorite countries! The cool thing about visiting in the winter (yes, it will be cold and be dark a lot!) is the ability to view the amazing Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights). This time of year is a great time to catch them. See my post on 24 Hours In Iceland for what I did while there.
This won’t be great for everyone, but it could certainly provide a nice opportunity to visit a very interesting country at a lower price. Even though you cannot use award miles, you can still use points from a card like the Barclaycard Arrival that allows you to wipe out travel expenses at the rate of 1 mile per cent.
