Great Icelandair Business Class Transatlantic Fares | One Mile at a Time

In the interest of full disclosure, One Mile at a Time earns a referral bonus for purchases made through some of the below links. These are products and services we use ourselves, and are the best offers we know of. Check out our Advertising Policy for further details. Thanks for your support!

As noted by Frequent Miler, Icelandair has some fantastic business class fares for travel between various points in the US and various points in Europe for this upcoming fall and winter. Obviously there's a lot of uncertainty, but this is at least worth being aware of.

Icelandair's great business class fares

Icealndair has roundtrip transatlantic business class fares in the range of $850 to $1,100 for travel later this year and early next year:

t
• These fares are valid for travel between October 1, 2020, and February 18, 2021
t
• There's no minimum stay requirement
t
• Availability is pretty wide open
t
• These fares are available from a variety of US cities, including Boston, Chicago, New York, Seattle, and Washington
t
• These fares are available to a variety of European cities, including Dublin, Frankfurt, Helsinki, London, Oslo, Paris, and Stockholm
t
• There are similarly good fares originating in Europe for travel to North America

The amazing value of a free stopover

The real reason to consider these fares isn't because they're cheap as such, but rather because Icelandair allows a free stopover in Iceland on a roundtrip ticket. This is a way to experience Iceland for several days while enroute to a city in Europe.

For example, taking the same fare as above, you can choose to have a stopover in Keflavik between Boston and Helsinki on either the outbound or return, and all you have to pay is the additional airport fees.

This is the real reason that great Icelandair fares are so noteworthy.

Earning miles on Icelandair

If you're looking to earn miles for your Icelandair flight, the best option is to credit to Alaska Mileage Plan. These fares book into the "A" fare class:

t
• This earns 125% elite qualifying and redeemable miles
t
• Mileage Plan elite members earn anywhere from a 50% to 125% mileage bonus
t
• Through December 31, 2020, Alaska is offering a minimum of 10,000 miles per partner ticket, though most people should reach that threshold anyway

A warning about Icelandair business class

Even though Icelandair's premium product ("Saga Class") is called business class, expect it to be more like premium economy on other airlines. These aren't fully flat beds, but rather are seats similar to what you might find in domestic first class.

As a result you'll want to manage your expectations. Consider this deal either if you really want to earn Alaska miles, or if you want a stopover in Iceland.

Icelandair's Saga Class seats on the 757

No one knows the border situation in the future

Lastly I think it's worth noting the obvious caveat that no one knows how the current pandemic will evolve, and which borders will be open in the future. That's why I'd generally shy away from this deal, unless you have specific plans to visit Iceland, and/or unless you have specific reasons to travel between a North American and European city.

The good news is that Icelandair has a flexible booking policy at the moment. If you book your ticket by September 30, 2020, with a departure date up to September 30, 2021, you'll be able to change your dates of travel without paying a change fee (though a fare difference may still apply).

Bottom line

Icelandair has some great business class fares between the US and Europe at the moment, which allow a free stopover in Iceland. Unfortunately these fares are only valid for travel later this year, and unfortunately there's still a lot of uncertainty about the future.

Nonetheless I think they're good enough to at least pass on, and everyone can decide for themselves if these deals make sense...