Viking Air Stopover in Reykjavik

[ericosmith]

We had to cancel our first ever Viking cruise Bergen to Reykjavik on boarding day do to a death in the family.  We have a previously booked British Isles cruise departing from Bergen next summer.  I'd still like to see some of Iceland and Norway but airfares next summer are currently about double what Viking is offering.  I'm told that Viking will book Icelandair but does anyone know whether they will book it with a stopover in Reykjavik?  

[LindaS272]

Call Viking Air and ask them. I know on regular fares Icelandair allows variously stopovers of a few days to a week (depending on class of fare), but I have no clue if a contracted fare with Viking Air would allow the same.

[duquephart]

6 hours ago, ericosmith said:

We had to cancel our first ever Viking cruise Bergen to Reykjavik on boarding day do to a death in the family.  We have a previously booked British Isles cruise departing from Bergen next summer.  I'd still like to see some of Iceland and Norway but airfares next summer are currently about double what Viking is offering.  I'm told that Viking will book Icelandair but does anyone know whether they will book it with a stopover in Reykjavik?  

 

Reykjavik is their hub of course but I imagine it depends on where you are coming from. You might find yoursel in Copenhagen as well.

[ericosmith]

Coming from Detroit and went through Reykjavik on our first aborted attempt as it was the least expensive and most direct connection.  I realize I'll have to pay the Viking fee but wondering if they'll even allow the stopover.  

[WanderingBrit]

The only answer that matters is the one you'll get from Viking themselves, you're going to have to ask them.

[Peregrina651]

3 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

Reykjavik is their hub of course but I imagine it depends on where you are coming from. You might find yoursel in Copenhagen as well.

 

Doubtful. All flights from the US are to KEF.  

[ropomo]

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Doubtful. All flights from the US are to KEF.  

 

Not necessarily. Our Viking air for Viking Homelands routed us on the marathon route of ATL to Toronto to Copenhagen to Bergen. 23.5 hours home to ship. Viking insisted that was the only routing at the time that had business class available.

[duquephart]

3 minutes ago, ropomo said:

 

Not necessarily. Our Viking air for Viking Homelands routed us on the marathon route of ATL to Toronto to Copenhagen to Bergen. 23.5 hours home to ship. Viking insisted that was the only routing at the time that had business class available.

 

On Icelandair?

[duquephart]

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Doubtful. All flights from the US are to KEF.  

 

Indeed. But I don't think they fly to Bergen from anywhere. At least not when I flew - it was SAS between Copenhagen & Bergen. My guess would be somewhere - Reyjkavik - Copenhagen - Bergen.

[ropomo]

Air Canada ATL to Toronto to Copenhagen, Iceland Air Copenhagen to Bergen

[OneSixtyToOne]

5 minutes ago, ropomo said:

Air Canada ATL to Toronto to Copenhagen, Iceland Air Copenhagen to Bergen

We flew Air Canada into Toronto once and almost missed our connection. We will never fly them again. The connection required a 15 minute walk then a long line at passport control. The flight was late and they kept telling us we had plenty of time. When we got to our gate they had already released our seats and told us the only way out of Toronto was a flight the next morning to Montreal, then to Europe. After a half a dozen passengers made a scene they ended up letting us board. One couple had their First Class seats pulled and ended up in the very last row of coach for the flight to Barcelona. Worst travel experience of my life.

[WanderingBrit]

12 minutes ago, ropomo said:

Air Canada ATL to Toronto to Copenhagen, Iceland Air Copenhagen to Bergen

Sounds like a seat availability issue.

 

For Icelandair Saga Premium from Bergen to O'Hare we routed

Bergen - Copenhagen (SAS)

Copenhagen - Keflavik (Icelandair)

Keflavik - O'Hare (Icelandair)

 

As is my won't I'd booked tickets waaaaay out in advance, so had plenty of seat choices. Cost less than Viking wanted to charge for "business" tickets too.

[LindaS272]

Icelandair was supposed to fly us into Bergen (Sea-Tac to KEF to Bergen) in September 2019 but a week before, they changed our flight out of KEF to an hour before we were due to land. Viking re-routed us an hour after we landed to Oslo for overnight, then to Bergen the next day for embarkation. So in 2019 they were supposed to fly into Bergen, don’t know what they’re doing now.

[ericosmith]

For the record...just flew this 3 weeks ago.

DTW to KEF direct leaving DTW at 8:30 arriving KEFat 6:30am the following morning.

KEF to BGO direct leaving KEF at 10:15am arriving BGO at 2:35

 

My question is if I pay Viking their add on fees for selecting my own flights and dates will they book me with a stop over in Iceland that is easily doable on the Icelandair website but with a considerably higher cost than the Viking cost.

[pavementends]

53 minutes ago, ericosmith said:

For the record...just flew this 3 weeks ago.

DTW to KEF direct leaving DTW at 8:30 arriving KEFat 6:30am the following morning.

KEF to BGO direct leaving KEF at 10:15am arriving BGO at 2:35

 

My question is if I pay Viking their add on fees for selecting my own flights and dates will they book me with a stop over in Iceland that is easily doable on the Icelandair website but with a considerably higher cost than the Viking cost.

 

On another itinerary- I paid for Air Plus and asked about a stopover on the return. They wanted to charge additional for the deviation.

 

I canceled Viking air- got a full refund- and booked myself for about 1K less per person.

 

This of course depends on the particular itinerary.

[Mich3554]

One way to do this is to schedule a deviation, and get yourself from London to Reykjavík on your own.  Viking will get you home from there.  By booking a deviation, you can add days on the front end of your cruise, and while I’ve not looked, flights from London to Reykjavík are probably cheaper.  
ETA:  Next June, flights from London to Reykjavík are well under $200 pp.
We did something similar on our GE river cruise last year.  We booked to arrive early in Amsterdam, stayed in Budapest at the end for several days, took the train to Prague and toured there 5 days before flying home from Prague…..this was using Viking air plus.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Mich3554

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, ericosmith said:

For the record...just flew this 3 weeks ago.

DTW to KEF direct leaving DTW at 8:30 arriving KEFat 6:30am the following morning.

KEF to BGO direct leaving KEF at 10:15am arriving BGO at 2:35

 

My question is if I pay Viking their add on fees for selecting my own flights and dates will they book me with a stop over in Iceland that is easily doable on the Icelandair website but with a considerably higher cost than the Viking cost.

Viking Air is going to have to tell you this. Other people may have done it through Viking Air, but it’s going to be dependent on your cruise & their contracts with Icelandair at the time.

 

As an example, we tried to get Saga Class on Icelandair coming back from KEF to Sea-Tac in July on the “free” air upgrade to premium economy, but Viking said no go—Saga is treated as business class. So we paid for our own Saga return. However, Clay’s friend Hunky on their cruise after ours, posted that he was able to get Saga Class as PE through Viking’s “free” air upgrade out of North Carolina to KEF.

 

Depends on your cruise, your gateway, & Viking’s contracts.

Edited August 15, 2023 by LindaS272

[Peregrina651]

5 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

Indeed. But I don't think they fly to Bergen from anywhere. At least not when I flew - it was SAS between Copenhagen & Bergen. My guess would be somewhere - Reyjkavik - Copenhagen - Bergen.

 

Icelandair flies from KEF to Bergen; i was booked in that flight in 2020 -- before it was cancelled.   I can't remember if they offer Saga class on those flights.  

 

 

 

[CurlerRob]

There are direct flights between KEF and BGO, but I believe they are limited to the summer months - June to August, if I recall correctly. The rest of the year you will route via OSL or CPH.

 

They do offer Saga class on those flights (unless, as happened to us, an unexpected equipment change had no Saga class seats - that was due to the grounding of the 737 Max). 🍺🥌

Edited August 16, 2023 by CurlerRob
Addendum

[ericosmith]

I flew Saga class KEF to BGO on 7/14.  It's also available on the schedule I'm looking at next year.