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Icelandair is a hybrid of a low cost carrier and a legacy carrier.  While their service is certainly low frills, unlike ultra low cost carriers, you do get 1 checked bag and the ability to pick your seat, even with a basic ticket.

a plane flying in the sky

Icelandair announces flights to Cleveland from Reykjavik

Yesterday, Icelandair announced that they will be starting service from Cleveland Ohio to Reykjavik.  While this is exciting in its own right, part of Icelandair’s plans are using Iceland as a stopover for people traveling from the US to Europe, and connections are timed appropriately.  You can even take advantage of a free stopover in Reykjavik on your way to/from Iceland.

Icelandair already flies to 12 other US cities

  • New York City
  • Philadelphia
  • Washington DC
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Minneapolis
  • Orlando
  • Tampa
  • Denver
  • Seattle
  • Portland
  • Anchorage

a map of the world with orange lines

as well as Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Halifax in Canada

Service to / from Cleveland will begin in May 2018 and run 4 days / week.  It has not been announced yet which 4 days of the week Icelandair service to Cleveland will run.

Using miles on Icelandair

Icelandair is a partner of Alaska Airlines, which means you can earn and redeem Alaska MileagePlan miles on its flights.  Unfortunately, the fuel surcharges are a little higher than other flights

a screenshot of a flight schedule

Sure $100 isn’t THAT bad, but on a flight from the US to Europe, most other carriers charge $5.60.  Fuel surcharges are ~$140 if you continue to Europe and on a roundtrip even just to Iceland, it’s $234.  Considering you can often find roundtrip CASH fares for ~$400 or $500, I’m not sure I’d want to pay 45,000 miles AND $234.  As you can see, Icelandair does offer business class but it is not a lie-flat seat.

This is great news for those of us in the Midwest – I’ll definitely be looking at Icelandair for my next flight to Europe – what about you?


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