IcelandAir Brings the Fun to Air Travel

Many airlines love to thank you for choosing them during the standard spiel from flight attendants and pilots. On IcelandAir, they may as well skip it. If you're flying from the United States to Iceland, you have one choice - and IcelandAir is it.

While that's bad news for competition, take heart in the fact that IcelandAir is a premium airline that, with few changes, could be among the most pleasant airlines I've ever flown.

A Step Back in Time

When was the last time you boarded an airliner and saw a flight attendant wearing pillbox hat and black gloves? It gives the IcelandAir staff a classy retro vibe. The airline even names its airplanes: The Boeing 757-200 that I boarded for my flight from New York to Keflavik (and back) was named Surtsey after a new volcanic island that emerged from the sea in the 1960s.

And crossing into the aircraft itself is a revelation of how pleasant a commercial airplane can be. Despite being just short of 20 years old, Surtsey was immaculately clean, softly lighted and equipped with on-demand entertainment systems at every seat. I was able to watch a movie, some TV and even use the system to take a few lessons in mastering Icelandic phrases. Or maybe I should say "get schooled" rather than "mastered." That's a tough language!

There was also plenty of legroom between rows. Also kind of fun: Each seat had an Icelandic phrase and its translation on the headrest.

Stomachs Run on Empty

After boarding at JFK, it didn't take long for the crew to start handing out free bottles of very nice Icelandic glacier water. That was especially considerate considering a nearly two-hour delay in taking off - we spent most of that time sitting on a taxiway.

Aside from the on-demand entertainment, that was the last of the perks. No free meals or drinks. Considering this is otherwise a slick, classy airline, I'm a bit dismayed - especially for the price. Flying to Keflavik was only marginally cheaper than Qantas flights that were more than twice as long (Los Angeles to Auckland, Los Angeles to Sydney). In contrast, the Qantas flights also included free meals, snacks and drinks along with some very friendly service. The IcelandAir staff was uniformly pleasant, but nowhere near as exuberant as the Australian crews on Qantas.

Odds & Ends

Beautiful plane, good service, comfort, entertainment - all are impressive on an IcelandAir flight. Bring some snacks, and you can overcome the meal quibble. It makes IcelandAir somewhat less of a value than other airlines - but if you want to shop in Reykjavik, hit the hot tubs at the Blue Lagoon or backpack the Landmannalaugar highlands ... well, you have no alternative.

Our return flight from Keflavik was equally pleasant. Since it was a daytime flight, we even got to enjoy a view of Greenland - where there was nary a shred of green to be seen. It looks beautiful, but incredibly desolate, cold and unforgiving.

Also, travelers will soon be able to earn domestic frequent flier mile on IcelandAir flights. Granted, it will only be on Alaska Airlines and its Horizon subsidiary, but it's a start.