Airlines used for flights from IAD to Oslo and from Stockholm to IAD

[CharTrav]

For some unknown reason I was unable to take advantage of Viking Air for Viking Homelands in 2016 (started a roll call for that a while ago), which means that I have no control over the airline or itinerary we will be stuck with. When we did the Grand European Tour with VR last year I was able to research and present to VA a list of 4 itineraries that met my criteria of reasonable times between connections and on my frequent flyer airline. So the question I have is for those who took or will be taking flights out of or through Washington Dulles to Oslo or from Stockholm - what airline were or are you booked on? Thanks!

[id4elizabeth]

I can only answer for the Stockholm part - we did SAS from Stockholm to Heathrow, and then Heathrow to Dulles on United. Upgraded to Business using FF miles for the United flight, but ended up with Global First! :D

[CharTrav]

First? Wow! Not a chance I would get that. But perhaps it also means that the ticket fare class was upgradeable (H or above). Good news indeed. Thanks!

[CharTrav]

First? Wow! Not a chance I would get that. But perhaps it also means that the ticket fare class was upgradeable (H or above). Good news indeed. Thanks!

 

 

Ashamed to admit -- I'm sadly out of date with United [emoji53] . Now it's just a matter of how much copay you're willing to part with. The miles aren't so bad. 20k is doable.

[JEBurton]

I can only answer for the Stockholm part - we did SAS from Stockholm to Heathrow, and then Heathrow to Dulles on United. Upgraded to Business using FF miles for the United flight, but ended up with Global First! :D

 

Looks like we'll be on SAS arriving at Heathrow from Norway, then switch to United for the flight home to IAD. There is only a 1-hour connect time at Heathrow. I believe United and SAS use terminal 2.

 

Do you have any thoughts/advise about the short connect time at Heathrow?

 

Thank you,

J Burton

[id4elizabeth]

Make sure you get your boarding pass in Stockholm for the United part of the flight - otherwise you have to stand in a long line to get your United boarding pass. An hour is going to be tough at Heathrow. We had a little over 2 hours but we did have a bit of time to hangout in the First Class lounge. It's a very long walk - at least a 30 minute walk. Not sure about the terminal numbers - we just kept following signs. If your first SAS flight is on time I think it's doable - just tough.

[CharTrav]

I thought all the international flights from Heathrow depart from that ginormous Terminal 5? Re boarding passes, SAS and United are part of the Star Alliance. Given the experience I've had with Lufthansa, also part of the Star Alliance, when checking in online (the only way to go) with SAS, the SAS site will handle checking you in all the way home. Which means boarding passes for both flights.

[Symmes99]

We just returned from the Homelands cruise. We used Icelandair from IAD to Stockholm, then from Bergen to IAD on the return. Simple connection each way in Iceland (there was also a short stop in Norway on the return but we did not have to leave the plane). The tough part for us was the 4.5-hour drive home to Pittsburgh after landing at IAD at 7:00pm. We flew Business Class for $1,974 each person. Business Class is like the configuration you see on NY-to-LA flights: just big seats with a decent (but not lay-flat) recline). The longest flight segment is only 6 hours 20 minutes, so the seats were fine.

[CharTrav]

Glad you got home ok. Sorry about your drive. Thank heavens I don't live that far from IAD (about as much as I'll share on this public forum btw. [emoji6]

[lovetosew]

We booked with Viking Air to go along with our Homelands Aug 8/15 oceans cruise. It was Delta but because of our cabin class Viking made our TA wait to book with Delta until 60days out before; and not one day before. We could not sit together on one of the longer flight segments and as of this post are still hopeful that we will be lucky to have a seat change. We have always done our own air and perhaps this is a good lesson. Viking needs to change this policy. Cabin class should have no bearing on how we may want to fly.

[TravelDad]

We are using Viking Air for the 12/22 cruise. We have had our flights and seats reserved for a couple months. Our TA knew our preferences and Viking made the seat selections. My understanding is that Viking has the reservations but doesn't actually ticket until 45 - 60 days out from cruise in case there are changes done by the airline. Our first reservation was done through British Airways and recently they changed our flight from London to Barcelona to a different airport in London. With the changes, we wouldn't get into Barcelona until that evening, effectively losing a whole day. Our TA contacted Viking and since the flights weren't ticketed, they were able to change our flights to a different airlines getting us into Barcelona much earlier in the day.

[Advisorj]

Also did to Stockholm and from Oslo with Iceland, but in coach. This was set up by Viking and our seats were not great, but the flights and connections were ok. Coach seats are tight and food for purchase only. Viking needs to treat flyers as well as they treat the cruisers on the ship. Some early booking or flexibility would be nice. Still it is better to change planes in Iceland than in Heathrow.

[Viking Cruises]

We booked with Viking Air to go along with our Homelands Aug 8/15 oceans cruise. It was Delta but because of our cabin class Viking made our TA wait to book with Delta until 60days out before; and not one day before. We could not sit together on one of the longer flight segments and as of this post are still hopeful that we will be lucky to have a seat change. We have always done our own air and perhaps this is a good lesson. Viking needs to change this policy. Cabin class should have no bearing on how we may want to fly.

 

Dear lovetosew,

 

We regret your experience with Viking Air fell short of expectations. Please feel free to contact us at tellus@vikingcruises.com to discuss the details of your concerns. We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

[CharTrav]

Odd. Referring to my post that started this thread (so won't repeat here), not only was I able to pick our flights (and thereby control the connections) but also picked our initial seat assignments. Which I didn't really care about given my plans to upgrade to United EconoPlus. I did hit a hiccup because I couldn't do that until the tickets were actually issued. When I discovered this, I pushed hard and got our tickets issued well before the usual 60 days prior. Then promptly hopped on the United site to upgrade or seat assignments for the legs operated by United.

 

Regarding our Homeland Cruse next year I'm still clueless about why I was NOT able to choose the Viking Air option. I was told it was because we're starting our trip in Oslo (doing the pre-cruise extension). [emoji53]Go figure.

[eaglewatchers]

Viking Air booked us IAD through Heathrow to Bergen and Iceland Air via Reykjavik back to IAD from Stockholm. I was able to change our coach seats on both by contacting the airline directly (British Air using online interface, Iceland Air over the phone). Heathrow connection of 1 hour was WAYYY too tight. We almost didn't make it! 80 min in Iceland was fine on the way home.

 

Seat size depends on airframe. Airbus 380 (British Air) is pretty tight but has two aisle so you can "walk." B 757-200 with Iceland Air a bit less cramped, but food ( for purchase only) was pretty bad.

 

Air travel 2015 = Greyhound bus of 1970.