Icelandair deal June 24 - worth the upgrade? Zurich best destination for Berner Oberland?

No idea about Saga class or whether it is worth it. Zurich is your best airport to go to Muerren. Rail connections right from the airport.

It's really an individual thing. For me $100 would be the equivalent of $1 for someone wealthier. It's relative.

But yes, I've found moving up to Saga or premium is far more restful a flight than coach, but sometimes it's just too expensive.

I agree - and the jump from Economy to Saga was HUGE for the flights we were looking at. However, today's deal was terrific for economy - we booked two RT tickets DTW-KEF-ZRH for a bit less than a single DTW-AMS-ZRH RT flight. So, that seemed like a great deal!

Our first Icelandair flights...and I'm sitting on the correct side of the plane to see any potential Northern Lights for the trip there. No stopovers this time - but we hope to have a longer trip to Iceland in the future.

Thanks for your help!

Laurie

We have flown Icelandair at least a dozen times because #1 - their flight is the shortest flight time, and #2 - they always have the best rates. Make sure you take along something to eat because all we get in Economy is free drinks, although they do have meals/snacks for purchase. We have always had exceptional service from the flight attendants. Reykjavik airport is a breeze to make a flight connection.

Second the suggestion to pack a lunch. There is a middle ground between economy and Saga which is paying for an extra legroom seat selection.

We fly Icelandair often, and the food in economy is fine. The hand and cheese baguette is good, for airplane food, but is what I always choose. You could of course bring something with you, but I didn't want you to think there is nothing decent. We always fly economy, and it hasn't killed me yet;)

The one thing to note with Icelandair is that they are very strict with luggage size and weight, at least out of SEA. My last trip was February and they were putting every single bag, including Saga class, I the sizer, and then tagging them if approved. An agent was at the sizer making sure of every detail. They will also check your personal item for size and weight. The underseat area is smaller as the mechanical boxes are down there, so you really need to be able to squish your bag under that.

Mikliz97, good point. The only time we got busted for a carry on was on Icelandair. We purchased a few sweaters in Iceland and the bag became too bulky. It was a bummer because the wait to pick up checked bags can be long.

And as for eating airline food, well, I like it because it's something to do and usually not that bad. We always bring snacks, too, and sometimes a sandwich, but never something stinky like salami or tuna fish. Ugh.

If you bring healthy snacks like nuts and seeds it can keep your appetite at bay.

I flew back to Munich from Newark with Icelandair three days ago. I had offered €600 for a Saga upgrade for the EWR-KEF leg (the upgrade prices are per segment!), but it was rejected as too low. In hindsight, I'm glad it was, because I booked a seat directly behind Saga class for around €50 instead, which offered more legroom than I could use. And from this seat I could see that the Saga seats didn't recline either or at least not much further than the Econony seats; so there is no greater chance of sleep either. The on board selection of food is sparse, unless you book something in advance. I had booked a three-course Icelandic meal, which wasn't cheap, but it was good and a bargain compared to the hot dogs and pizza slices on offer at the airport. You get enough non-alcoholic drinks, but your beloved bedtime beer is only available al peso d'oro.

I found travelling with Iceland Air very pleasant overall. The only inconvenience is the transfer in KEF, which is calculated so tightly that it only works well if the flight schedule is adhered to. Unfortunately, this was not the case on the return flight because a passenger collapsed during boarding at EWR and so her suitcase and of course all those blocking it had to be unloaded again. The result was a transfer time of only 20 minutes in KEF with hectic running. I made it (my bag still hasn't) because I was able to use one of the automatic gates for Schengen entry; I don't know what happened to the travellers who had to join the immense queue, which easily numbered 200-300 people. In any case, we departed on time. Lesson learned: it is even more important to pack everything vital in your hand luggage than on a direct flight.

Thank you all for this information about your Icelandair experiences. I'll check and see if we can book the intermediate seats for a little more legroom. We saved so much on our flights in total that a little extra for more space sounds like something to consider.

I am so excited that we were able to take advantage of that one day deal...and we are planning to fly carryon only, so hopefully the tight connection won't be a challenge for us.

I appreciate your stories - thank you!

Laurie

This note on the website gave me pause. We were thinking maybe we’d upgrade to more legroom on just the first leg and see if it made a difference for us. Then I read this:

***“Please note that purchasing a seat with more legroom does not guarantee or give you a legal right to a particular seat (e.g. 7A or 7B) nor does it guarantee a window, middle or an aisle seat, although we try to honor those requests. What you are purchasing is a seat with more legroom in a certain price category.”***

Has anyone had this happen?

I am picking my window seat so my view is north in hopes of seeing the northern lights. I’ve seen faint glows in past trips to Europe…this seems even more promising as we head to Iceland. I would be frustrated to be moved, especially if I’d paid more for that seat!

Wondering what the likelihood is of this seat changing?

Thanks!

From our experience with Icelandair, we have always gotten the seats we picked out and paid for extra legroom.

We too have always gotten the seats we purchased, FWIW.

Also, always received the seats I paid for when paying for extra legroom seats.