ATX Fun — Austin-San Antonio Fun, Travel & Educational Opportunities
How Austinites Can Have Fun, Travel Cheap, Learn Something, Save Money and Enjoy Life!
If you can get to Chicago, Newark (NYC), Pittsburgh, Boston, Baltimore-Washington, Los Angeles or San Francisco, you can fly to Iceland for as little as $200 round-trip on WOW Airlines this Spring!
Look for date pairs March-April-May-June on Google Flights.
WOW flies new highly-efficient aircraft, so fares are low. But, expect for things that are free on “normal” legacy airlines, like seat selection, snacks and checked luggage.
Read more at The Points Guy.
WOW is an established airline and flies clean new aircraft. It is expanding its network to cover more cities in North America, along with an existing large network in Europe.
Iceland has beautiful natural attractions, including geysers, waterfalls, glaciers, volcanoes and hot springs, and a very attractive populace.
The WOW Air website is easy to use. You can find it at http://wowair.us/
WOW is a very reputable airline based in Iceland, with many destinations in Europe. WOW trans-Atlantic flights stop in Iceland.
WOW charges for many things that are free on other airlines, including water, so be sure to take an empty water bottle with you through security and fill it before approaching the gate.
For most of the past week I’ve been in Iceland, a beautiful country with very friendly people who are fluent in English. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, one that I highly recommend.
I used WOW Airlines’ very low fares from Baltimore (BWI) to Reykjavik (KEF) and back, with Southwest Airlines award travel from Austin to Baltimore and back.
The flight from BWI to KEF was delayed by about 3 hours due to a strike by Icelandic air traffic controllers. This strike apparently occurs every few days. Upon arrival I took the Flybus shuttle to the Radisson Blu Saga hotel, which had a room available even at 10 AM. This had been booked last year, when Club Carlson had a ‘2 nights for the cost in points of one’ sale going.
After the first 2 nights at the Radisson Blu Saga, I transferred to the Radisson Blu 1919 hotel for the same deal. The two hotels are about 1/2 mile apart.
My days in Reykjavik were filled with a must-do Golden Circle tour, a hop-on-hop-off (HOHO) bus tour of Reykjavik, hot-tubbing at one of the local public geothermal pools (Vesturbaejarlaug, an alternative to the tourist-favored Blue Lagoon), attending a theatrical comedy called “How to Become Icelandic in 60 Minutes”, taking the ferry to Vithey island nature preserve, and walking all over town.
Among the must-sees in town, easily reachable by the HOHO bus, are the dramatic spire-like church Hallgrimskirkja, the Harpa music hall and the Pearl geothermal facility.
I’m not an adventurous eater, so I chose American favorites like hot dogs and Subway for several meals. For those so inclined, there are restaurants that advertise fried puffin and whale steaks. Other available delicacies are foal meat, boiled sheep’s head and “ALL parts of sheep except the fur.”
The weather was sunny and warm some days, and overcast and long-sleeve-shirt cool other days. It rained only on my last day there, during the Flybus ride from Reykjavik out to KEF.
If you are considering a trip to Iceland in order to view the Aurora Borealis, note that it is only visible at night and there is no night during the summer. However, during my nighttime flight from BWI to KEF there was a period when we were over northern Canada and the sky was still dark. During that time I believe I saw a weak aurora…it was dim but had moving areas that indicated it wasn’t merely high-altitude clouds.
This sale is only good today until about 1 PM Eastern time.
Departing Germany, Vienna and Zurich, arriving Chicago and New York.
Best bet: Fly to Europe on WOW, return on AirBerlin.
WOW Air is a reputable airline based in Iceland, that sometimes offers $99 fares from the U.S. to that nation. That deal has returned to their website.
As with other ultra low cost airlines (think Spirit, RyanAir), there are lots of fees that serve to increase the price. These include seat selection, food, checked baggage, and “overweight” carry-on luggage.
WOW Air flies modern aircraft with a purple-color theme. They depart from Baltimore, Boston and Los Angeles in the United States, and fly through Iceland (airport code KEF) to a variety of airports in Europe.
Some sample fares: Washington, D.C. to Reykjavik $99, Boston to Frankfurt $189, Los Angeles to Amsterdam $199.
Return fares are higher, but still inexpensive when compared to the better-known airlines.
Some friends of mine flew WOW Air last June and gave a thumbs-up. I plan to follow their lead later this year.
The free weight limit for carry-ons is only 11 pounds, so my plan is to use a 2-ounce gym bag made of ripstop nylon for the purpose. There is no provision for a second “personal” item like a purse or laptop bag.
Carriers include KLM, Aer Lingus, Jetairfly, Norwegian Air, and WOW Air. There are some very inexpensive trans-Atlantic fares available right now.
WOW flights route through Iceland, which can be a nice stopover. Note that some of these airlines tack on extra fees for things like checked luggage, etc.
Norwegian Airlines is a trans-Atlantic ultra-low-cost carrier, like WOW. This planned new route is bound to put pressure on the legacy airlines to keep prices down.
Bring a second bag containing “an umbrella, camera, infant diaper bag, assistive devices, outer garments (e.g., coats, hats and wraps), reading material and food for the flight.”
A similar idea may work for other airlines that drastically limit carry-ons, like WOW Airlines…review their policies before you fly, and even take a printout with you to the airport.
There is no mention of vests with pockets stuffed with gear, like the ScotteVest.