When to buy airline tickets - Iceland?
 

Hi everyone,

I will be going to Iceland this August. I have been checking for several months and the airline tickets are just so expensive. Has anyone had any experience with Icelandair and their "lucky fares"? Right now tickets are running around $1100. I will be flying out of Charlotte, NC - connecting in Boston or Baltimore and then on to Reykjavik. I keep hoping that prices will drop, but then again I don't want to wait too long and not get a flight. Any auggestions?

Thanks so much,
L

Are your dates flexible? I'm going to Iceland in late August (returning Labor Day weekend) and am paying considerably less than $1100. And for what it's worth, today's fares are about $50 less than the price I locked in eight weeks ago.
If you check the regular Icelandair booking engine for one of their gateway cities (I checked JFK) you'll see that fares starting the week of August 20 are lower than the high summer fares.

I just checked yesterday and I swear they were around $550 with three weeks notice.

Unfortunately I have set dates. I will be running in the Reykjavik marathon which will be on August 18th. I keep checking everyday but prices are still around $1100 roundtrip from Charlotte.

Hi Lexi,

I am so jealous. We were in Reykjavik for Cultural Night and Marathon Day in 2005. What a great time!! Our original plans were to run in the 5K fun run, but it was at the end of a two week adventure packed trip around the Ring Road and we were worn out by then. We were told that over half the residents of Iceland are in Reykjavik for Cultural Night.

We paid about $800 for our flight from BWI and were able to save a couple of dollars by booking our own super cheap connecting flight from Detroit.

DKW

If you have to connect in Boston or Baltimore,maybe you would be better off booking the round trip w/ Iceland Air from one of those cities, and taking say Jet Blue or US Airways from Charlotee to Boston -
we have in the past found great rates from Boston, so maybe that will bring the price down for you -

Thanks for the replies! I think we are going to buy the Icelandair tickets today. I have looked at Expedia for booking the whole trip and also the prices for booking each leg on my own...either way I try it's around $1100. Right now it looks like we will fly CLT to BWI to KEF and the return will be KEF to BOS to CLT.

DKW - I would love to hear all about your trip. Did you do a trip report?

Hi Lexi,

I did post a trip report. Here's the link:
: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34670021

You might also try booking seperate flights to one of the Iceland Air gateway cities. I also reside in CLT & summer IS the most expensive time to go to Iceland. I would also sign up for their "Lucky Fares" if you have not done so. Mnpls is a new gateway I believe, they may have some deals leaving out of there... Best of luck.

Thanks DKW!!! I can't wait to read your report...I may have some questions if you don't mind.

SAnParis - I think I have tried every combination possible out of CLT to get to one of Icelandair's departure locations. So far, it seems BWI and BOS are the cheapest and they have the better return times. I have signed up for the "lucky fares" but have yet to see any for my travel dates.

Thanks to all for your help and advice!

My husband & I went to Reykavik during that time last year.

I ran the Reykavik marathon too (it was great but be prepared for the wind coming off the ocean the last 5k).

We paid $1100 going through Boston. It was the cheapest I could find and I scoured the internet.

Do you have accomodations? It was really hard to get a room as Cultural night is very popular. Most of Iceland is in Reykavik at that time. We ended up staying at a guest house for part of the time.

Good luck & enjoy the run!

Queenie - Thanks for the wind warning! I am really looking forward to it. We do have a hotel already, actually booked it back in January.

I figure this is a once in a lifetime trip so if it's $1,100 for plane tickets then so be it. :-)

The last lucky fares (that I rec'v'd last week) were for fares in the $700 range from their gateway cities of course. Not much better than what you are finding. Might a package deal help ? Check out the Iceland Air website.

I actually am looking for a flight from jfk to iceland in july. Dates are very flexible (would like to spend 4 or 5 nights there). The lowest rate I am finding is $930. Any suggestions?

Hi Dr_Andrea -

unless you can postpone your trip till after August 20 the flights are that expensive. I had been checking for about the past 6 months on flights out of JFK, BOS and BWI and the price never changed. I ended up buying my tickets two weeks ago out of BWI and paid $879. You can sign up for Icelandair's "Lucky Fares" - they could offer a last minute cheaper ticket.

L

You will just love Iceland. I have been in the winter months (considerably cheaper airfare) and I love it. I really want to make it during the summer at some point.

Have a great trip! You will love the uniqueness (is that a word) of the country and its beautiful landscape!

I was looking to purchase tickets from NYC to Iceland and it was around $1,100. I figured out that if I booked a ticket from NYC to Glasgow to Iceland, it was more then $300 cheaper... I have no idea why, but it was much cheaper... try it. We were able to go to Iceland and Scotland.

hey everyone/ I'm going a slightly different route. I live in the DC area, so that's a plus for cheap flights.... My b-day is in Sept, and I've planned to go solo, so I've opted for a weekend pkg- [flight, hotel & little tour & coupons, blue lagoon visit before flight home...] everything should run @ a little $1,300 for 1/ so *my* question is should I hold out for the price to come down a little more or purchase now? I'm noivous! :-S [but also a little excited!] :">

There are so many posts on here about the right time to buy airline tickets. Dont you read them? There really is no right time to buy, since airline prices fluctuate all the time.

Wow, guess I got pretty lucky. Aside from the error fare that happened a while back (JFK - KEF ~$60 all in/RT), I did pretty good. BOS - KEF (3 nt stopover) KEF - AMS (5 nts), AMS - BOS (layover KEF) for $560 all in. Going in Sept, bought ticket about 2 or so weeks ago.

September is still not too bad @ $717. Must be those high season summer months that are the killer.

Good luck

Shane