Traditional low-fare favorite flying Reykjavik-Denver beginning in May. Hooray!
Once upon a very long time ago, international airlines all quoted the same air fares for the same routes on the same dates. All except one — Icelandic Airlines, which did not belong to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that effectively cast fares in concrete. Now, Icelandair plans to add Denver International Airport to its route map in May. I can hardly wait.
Icelandic Airlines in the Old Days
Students and other thrifty travelers loved Icelandic, despite the aircraft that were always a generation behind the times — hence the low fares. The ad, above, is from way before my time, when the carrier was still flying prop planes and when air travel was a true luxury that few could afford. Flying roundtrip between New York and Europe brought fares within reason — sort of.
I took great advantage of the carrier’s $135 roundtrip winter youth fare between New York’s JFK International Airport and Luxembourg because they considered you a youth until you were 3o. The price you paid for the cheap ticket was an obligatory stop in Reykjavik. All passengers had to deplane in the middle of the night eastbound and during the day westbound, but since Iceland is far enough north, it was always dark. We’d all stumble off the plane in the eerie glow of an airport night and buy stuff at the duty-free shop — on the way over, post cards and stamps, and on the way home, great wool knits, canned fish and booze.
Icelandair Today
In addition to flying modern Boeing aircraft, Icelandair now goes to eight Scandinavian cities and 15 elsewhere in Europe from Reykjavik and serves eight North American cities — nine when Denver comes on next spring. They got seating in Economy, Economy Comfort and Saga Class, which seems comparable to business class on other carriers but for considerably less. They’re offering n intriguing Mile High Getaway inaugural package starting at $679 per person for air and a mini-getaway to Iceland — extendable, of course.
