Yesterday afternoon I received an e-mail that Delta was starting service to Reykjavik, Iceland next June. The once daily flights will depart late from JFK, arriving the following morning in KEF and return late morning from KEF, arriving just before 1pm into JFK.
- Delta 52 JFK-KEF departing 11:35PM arriving 9:20AM +1 day
- Delta 51 KEF-JFK departing 10:50AM arriving 12:55PM
I have wanted to visit Iceland for quite some time, especially after the currency crash in late 2008 that made traveling to Iceland much more affordable. I chuckled when I read Lucky’s thoughts on the new service because I thought about posting something very similar last night.
My take is slightly different, though. While I would not be opposed to using my SkyPesos for a seat in Business Elite to KEF, my Delta miles are earmarked for a trip on Air Tahiti Nui to Tahiti next February. Instead, I am hoping for a fare sale, say for no more than $400, that will get me to KEF and back on Delta.
From Iceland, I would tack on a trip to Continental Europe using UA miles. For redemptive purposes, Iceland is considered in Europe so a trip to Berlin or Rome would be 25K miles for economy or 45K miles for business class. SAS is the only Star Alliance carrier that serves KEF daily (via Oslo) so a long layover in Norway may also be possible. Additionally, Lufthansa offers seasonal service from Hamburg and Düsseldorf and Austrian Airlines offers seasonal service from Vienna.
Matthew, more then just SAS offers service to KEF. Lufthansa has a seasonal service from HAM and DUS and Austrian has a seasonal service from VIE. Very hard to get reward seats on LH and OS! I did my trip to Iceland when it was only 20K for EUR TO EUR with UNITED. Did SK FRA-OSL (20 some hour layover to see OSL) then SK OSL-KEF on the way back did SK to OSL then to ARN then to FRA on LH. It was a good trip for only 20K. One thing to note SAS uses ICELANDAIR lounge and would NOT let Star Gold in the lounge. I emailed SAS they told me they should have let me in.. This year a buddy went also turned away with *GOLD
@Damian: Thanks for the clarification on Star Alliance service–I have updated the post.