Review: Icelandair 767-300ER Business Class

If you’re looking for a lie-flat bed, Icelandair’s “Saga Premium” business class is certainly not for you. But if you’re looking for excellent service at a good price point, Iclelandair is worthy of consideration.

A $512 fare drew to me to Icelandair. That was more than fair for a nine-hour flight from Reykjavik to San Francisco, but I cannot see myself paying much more for what amounts to an upscale premium economy seat.

The aircraft was parked at a remote stand, so passengers queued up in the gate area to board a bus to take us to the aircraft. The bus was delayed, trapping a gaggle of passengers in essentially a small holding pen in the gate area for far too long.

Icelandair 863
Reykjavik (KEF) – San Francisco (SFO)
Tuesday, August 20
Depart: 05:oo PM
Arrive: 06:55 PM
Duration: 08hr, 55min
Distance: 4,204 miles
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300ER
Seat: 5A (Business Class “Premium Saga”)

Jumping off the bus, I sprinted up the stairs in order to capture a few pictures of the business class cabin before it filled with passengers.

Icelandair 767-300 Business Class Seats

Icelandair’s Premium Saga Business class features 25 seats, spread over five rows in a 2-1-2 configuration. Seats are really more like premium economy class seats…recline is very limited and legroom is sufficient, but not generous. In short, the seat is like a domestic first class seat in the USA or Australia or a premium economy seat on British Airways.

That said, there were certainly some business class touches like a very comfortable blanket and pillow.

I was not able to sleep/nap on this flight, though the daytime hours of the flight also contributed to this. This seat would be a no-go if I wanted to sleep on an overnight flight in the opposite direction.

Icelandair 767-300 Business Class Cleanliness

The cabin was not very clean. I found trash, including food, around my seat.

Icelandair 767-300 Business Class Lavatory

I changed into my pajamas on this flight, giving me a chance to check out the lavatory shortly after takeoff. While very spartan, it was clean. When I changed out of my pajamas toward the end of the flight, the lavatory was still clean.

Icelandair 767-300 Business Class IFE + Wi-Fi

Seatback monitors provide a selection of movies, TV shows, and music. A total of 55 movies were available and there was only I found interesting that I had not already seen: V is Vendetta…all the way back from 2006.

Business class passengers receive free wi-fi onboard. I was looking forward to high speed internet onboard this flight and it did work well…for the first two hours. Then it cut off and remained off for the rest of the flight. With a fairly limited IFE library, I actually had a few moments to pull out a book in read.

Not because I did not have work to do, but because the in-seat power port did not generate enough juice to keep my laptop charged. This is a recurring problem with my three-prong laptop plug. I was able to find a workaround by plugging in my adaptor into the plug, then using a USB C to USB C cable between my laptop and the adaptor. While that was not sufficient to charge my laptop up, it did stop the drain (at 18%).

Noise-cancleling headphones were provided.

Icelandair 767-300 Business Class Meal Service

Icelandair offers all passengers the chance to pre-order meals up to 48 hours before the flight. Economy class passengers receive a 10% discount when they pre-order versus pay onboard.

Unfortunately, I blundered in failing to pre-order a meal for this flight, even though I booked months in advance. I was really looking forward to trying Icelandic lamb, but wound up with a choice between a cold tapas platter or beef short ribs. Here’s the menu for the flight:

Service began with a choice of beverage and cheese biscuits. Preparing for the red meat, I ordered a glass of red wine. A hot towel was also offered.

Meals, like in premium economy class, were served on a single tray with appetizer, main course, and dessert. No salad or soup was offered.

The appetizer was lemon-marinated Arctic char with pickled fennel and dill seed aioli…the best part of the meal.

Braised beef short ribs can be hit or miss on an airplane. If they are stringy and tender, it’s one of the better airline dishes. If well-done but not tender, it is one of the worst. I won’t say the main course was horrible, but let’s just say I preferred the potatoes, mushrooms, and green beans to the beef.

I skipped the chocolate and caramel mousse for dessert, but drank a cup of coffee.

Flatware:

Snacking

Dinner after takeoff was the only formal meal service of the flight. Throughout the rest of the flight, snacks were available, including:

• Olives
• Cheese
• Pringles
• Nachos
• Almond/cranberry mix
• Protiene bar
• Stroopwafel
• Chocolate

Business class passengers can also request food from the economy class buy-on-board menu.

Five hours into the flight I was hungry once again and ordered some junk food…including potato chips, a stroopwafel, and a tapas box that included meat, cheese, breadsticks, and bruschetta.

To go back to my theme, this was more like a premium economy offering than business class. I should not have eaten this junk food…it gave me a pretty back headache soon after.

A couple hours before landing, I requested a pizza from the back. It was soggy, but tasty.

Icelandair 767-300 Business Class Amenity Kit

An amenity kit included hand lotion, lip balm, and moisturizing spray from Hannes Dottir, an Icelandic brand. Contents also included a dental kit, earplugs, eyeshades, socks, and “do not disturb” stickers.

Icelandair “Icelandic” Touches

Icelandair offered many Icelandic touches, including the catering, bottled water, Hannes Dottir products, and instruction in the Icelandic language on pillows, blankets, and seat covers.

Icelandair 767-300 Business Class Service

I won’t say it made up for everything, but service was very nice, especially by flight attendant Lara. She was kind and attentive. I really appreciated her wonderful smile and her dutiful monitoring of the cabin throughout the flight.

Service is such a critical aspect to the business class experience and I appreciate so much when flight attendants do not just disappear between meal services but keep an active eye on the cabin.

We landed on-time in San Francisco.

CONCLUSION

Check your “business class” expectations at the door and you’ll enjoy friendly service. Pre-order you meal and you can enjoy a genuine Icelandic speciality. But don’t expect a lie-flat seat or even generous recline…that’s not the Icelandair model.