Hi,
Looking at May, 2016 travel r/t from NJ to Munich. Lufthansa, non stop flights, are currently $3,300 for two adults. Icelandair, with similar departure times from both NJ and Munich, includes a 1 hour stop with change of plane, for $1,900 for both.
Has anyone flown Icelandair to Germany with such a short stop with plane change?
Thanks.
Paul
Has anyone flown Icelandair to Germany with such a short stop with plane change? Yes. I had no problems, but I would get a quorum of opinion before taking my one experience as gospel.
Just FYI, I had a friend that flew Icelandair back and forth from US to Germany with a stop in Iceland for a day or two. Icelandair had some specials then that included the hotel and trips during your short stay in Iceland. Looks like they still do it. I always thought it would be something for me to try one day just to experience Iceland.
I flew to Frankfurt (or was it Munich?) on Iceland Air several years ago. I think 1 hour will be OK because Iceland's airport is really small and has only so many flights going out in a day. As the previous poster suggested, I would also recommend an Iceland layover - it turned out to be my favorite part of the trip. Iceland Air/ Iceland tourism board heavily promotes this layover - I think it's good for a max 7 days at no extra charge.
By the way, does Air Berlin fly from NJ (Newark?) to Munich too? You may want to check out their prices to compare.
Yes, we know we can stay in Iceland for no extra charge.` Our amount of time might not allow for a stay, although we'd like to. No, Air Berlin doesn't fly from NJ. Closest is JFK in NY. Thank you.
I already commented on the other post, but note that the "free of charge" stopover means that although there is no charge to stop over, if the fares are higher on that new day of travel it will cost you more. Let's say that the one-way fares are Tuesday $550, Wednesday $550, and Thursday $750, if you switch from all travel Tuesday to a two day stopover with part travel Tuesday and part travel Thursday it will cost you more. We have tried to stopover at no charge but it hasn't worked out that way.
Also Condor Airlines is heavily expanding into the US but is not currently serving the NYC area. They offer nonstops to Germany and free meals at Icelandair prices.
We have friends who prefer Iceland Air from Seattle to London over all other options. They do not do a stopover, and have not had any problems with the one-hour plane change at Rekjavik ( in three flights). It is a small airport and the airline apparently does a good job of coordinating the incoming and departing flights.
If we weren't so tied to British Airways we would give them a try. Just remember that in Economy you will pay extra for a meal---it is not included.
You could fly Norwegian Air Shuttle from JFK to Gatwick, and then take EasyJet into Munich--cheap, cheap.
Norwegian Air Shuttle indicates they could book you from Munich to JFK on Wednesdays and Thursdays in May.
See Norwegian.com
We have flown Iceland Air several times through Keflavik on to Europe & back. As Agnes has already pointed out, the Reykjavik airport is small and connections are easy.
Just be aware that Iceland Air, while not quite a discount/"no frills" airline, is an airline with lower service standards than the majors. That having been said, on occasion I have found their First Class seats priced to be virtually the same as the majors' coach seats and have therefore tried their First Class service. I found it equivalent to domestic First Class (i.e., simply wider seats with better food and fight attendant attentiveness).
We've also done the "free stopover." Suggestions and observations:
Please ask if I can help any more.
We did it few years ago with 5 days layover. It was open jaw to Munich and back from Amsterdam. One ticket was 1300 U$. But roundtrip Seattle - Reykjavik was 1600. They really tried to be competitive. 1 hour stop should be more than enough. Besides those are connective planes. In the case of short delay I think they would wait.
I've flown Iceland Air 3 times to Europe and never had any problem with the 1 hr stop at Keflavik, it's a small airport and easy to get from one gate to another (even with passport checks) within that time. One time because of flight delay we only had 35 mins and still had no problem. I like flying Iceland Air.
We few Icelandair from Denver to Iceland last April, but this was for a trip to Iceland itself. By all indications, they have efficient arrivals, transfers, and departures all figured out, so if they say they can get you onward to Munich in the timeframe allotted, you can count on it. We're considering Icelandair from Denver to Norway (with a quick transfer at Keflavik airport in between) in 2016.
As noted earlier, they charge for meals in Coach, but we were allowed to bring food onboard and eat our own dinner. You just have to get your food past Security at the airport in the US.
Wow. Thank you for all the terrific info.
Paul
I flew with them round trip 2 years ago from Frankfurt to Seattle. Great flight and I only had a 40 min. layover between flights. Was quite worried about it until everyone assured me it was enough time. I even went to the Trip Advisor forum for Iceland to ask them too. Everyone said not to worry about it, so I didn't. It was plenty of time. You just get off the plane and walk to the next one. They hold flights if yours is delayed as it is all Iceland Air.
Bring your own food or buy theirs. No free food. Good entertainment system though and comfortable seats.
We just flew Icelandair out of Boston into Frankfurt and out of Munich back to Boston. Both ways we only had a 55 minute layover and we still had time to hit the restrooms and purchase something to eat. We would definitely fly with them again because we saved so much money. On both trips, however, we had to take a bus from the gate to the plane. As a result, we had to board the plane by climbing a set of steps. Something you might want to take into consideration if you have any issues with steps.
Thank you everyone.
I highly recommend Icelandair for any trips between U.S. and Europe. I have done the SEA to KEF to GLA and return and find them to be very professional and comfortable. Their aircraft are 757s so you may want to get aisle and aisle seating to be more comfortable. And as others have said the airport at Keflavik is very small and even though you may have short connection you should have no problem. My wife and I now do all of our Europe traveling going by Icelandair thru Keflavik rather than Amsterdam by another carrier.
Paul: We recently flew Washington DC to Munich on Icelandair going through Reykjavik. No problems. All indications are that they will hold connecting flights to accommodate any delayed flights arriving from North America. The one hour transfer is plenty of time. Please review others' comments about the no-frills aspect of Icelander. We elected to upgrade to Economy Comfort or whatever they call it. The benefit is that you get to share a three-seat section between two passengers with the middle seat converting to a table of sorts; and, you get some additional leg room. And, for the Reykjavik to Munich leg (and return) you travel in a business-class seat. Additionally, the Economy Comfort affords you access to their airport lounge or the lounge associated with them in NJ. We found the upgrade was well worth the added cost.
Thank you for all the excellent information and sharing your stories. Very helpful.
Paul
