Iceland options on OW RTW award

[gilly]

I'm in the ideas and early planning stage of another OW RTW award for next year. I've been plugging options in to the OW planner just to see routing options but have noticed there is no ability to click on KEF at Iceland.

I've searched the AFF threads for up to date info on this but can someone please tell me whether KEF is serviced by any OW routes?

Ideally I'd travel direct from Europe-KEF-North America but if this is unlikely then Europe-KEF-Europe-North America. If not then am I best to just make a separate side trip to KEF during the RTW award?

 

[Hvr]

Click on this link: Where we fly - oneworld

And then on the interactive map link. Then click on Iceland. It will show you where there are OneWorld flights from KEF: (TXL, DUS, HAM, MUC and VIE).

Happy travelling.

 

[doctau]

When I was looking at a *ONE* a few months ago, AB flew there from DUS and TXL. The route map on oneworld Online Timetable. shows those and also HAM, MUC and VIE (the last only via their LCC subsidary Niki, which you might not be able to use an on award). I don't think you any OW carriers fly between KEF and North America, so a side trip might be best.

 

[gilly]

Thanks to both of you for that! I'll see what works out. If I have spare miles and can get award flights I might be able to return from Iceland to Germany and then head to the US from there.
Cheers!

 

[grubbidok]

It will depend on when you fly. Most of the legacy carriers (Icelandair being the obvious exception) fly into Iceland only during the peak summer season. From memory although Air Berlin do fly from Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Munich they are all seasonal flights. Delta are the only NA legacy that fly into KEF, so no OW flights to/from NA at all.

The LCCs have far better year-round availability - and you can get flights quite cheaply if you look around. It may be easier to fly to a European base and get a cheap LCC fare from there (I can't recommend WOW highly enough as a model LCC - though you should note that only their LGW, CPH, CDG and SXF flights are year-round). Iceland is *definitely* worth the diversion, in either winter or summer! Peak season starts in June - I would try to get in the first fortnight of June, as after that it can be difficult to secure accommodation as the place struggles to keep up with tourists (the number of tourists each year outnumbers the population by 2:1!). The peak shoulder (i.e. May) is often good too, as everything is cheaper (car hire, flights, accommodation), the sun is still out late (9-10pm) but sometimes tourist centred attractions will not be open in the smaller towns.

My recommendation would be to get your own car and not rely on tours, and don't get sucked into getting a 4WD unless you *really* intend to go on the F Roads (a small car is all you need and your wallet will thank you each time you fill up), and to give yourself 1-2 days more than you *think* you'll need. The entire country is spectacular, and you're bound to find diversions that you'll want to explore further.

 

[JohnM]

Iceland is *definitely* worth the diversion, in either winter or summer! Peak season starts in June - I would try to get in the first fortnight of June, as after that it can be difficult to secure accommodation as the place struggles to keep up with tourists (the number of tourists each year outnumbers the population by 2:1!). The peak shoulder (i.e. May) is often good too, as everything is cheaper (car hire, flights, accommodation), the sun is still out late (9-10pm) but sometimes tourist centred attractions will not be open in the smaller towns.

My recommendation would be to get your own car and not rely on tours, and don't get sucked into getting a 4WD unless you *really* intend to go on the F Roads (a small car is all you need and your wallet will thank you each time you fill up), and to give yourself 1-2 days more than you *think* you'll need. The entire country is spectacular, and you're bound to find diversions that you'll want to explore further.

I agree with this.

I included KEF in a DONEx some years ago when BA flew there from LGW and when transferring LHR-LGW was not open-jaw and therefore did not cost a sector. Looks like BA have ditched KEF.

I went on the shoulder in autumn and drove the full circuit around the country. A very interesting place. The interior, just looking from the edges, is seriously rugged and you will see why the monster 4WDs are so common but you'd have to be very keen, intrepid and knowledgeable to travel into the really remote areas.

I would suggest a small SUV rather than a conventional car just to have a little more ground clearance if you do want to venture off the sealed road onto some of the kinder tracks leading to a little experience of the moonscape that the inland terrain offers.