Iceland Meets Thread

Going to the BL upon arrival actually works pretty well. Most flights seem to land around 6:00am. A quick Duty Free stop, get your luggage, and some coffee and the actual wait for the BL bus is very short.

The recommendation is to leave conditioner in your hair then wear the shower cap the whole time. Also, bring some hair oil deep conditioner to use once you get to the hotel. That will get your hair back to normal almost immediately.

The in water massage is actually one of the best experiences of my life. Not so much for the massage, which was nice but a bit light to the touch for my taste, but for the warm, quiet pool they float you in afterwards. It was the most relaxed I think I've ever been. It was a great way to start our trip.

The restaurant there, Lava, is amazing. We had the tasting dinner and it was excellent. My foodie friend and I were very impressed.
 
Going to the BL upon arrival actually works pretty well. Most flights seem to land around 6:00am. A quick Duty Free stop, get your luggage, and some coffee and the actual wait for the BL bus is very short.

The recommendation is to leave conditioner in your hair then wear the shower cap the whole time. Also, bring some hair oil deep conditioner to use once you get to the hotel. That will get your hair back to normal almost immediately.

The in water massage is actually one of the best experiences of my life. Not so much for the massage, which was nice but a bit light to the touch for my taste, but for the warm, quiet pool they float you in afterwards. It was the most relaxed I think I've ever been. It was a great way to start our trip.

The restaurant there, Lava, is amazing. We had the tasting dinner and it was excellent. My foodie friend and I were very impressed.
Thanks for the info, @aggiedog! It *does* sound like a nice way to de-stress & start a trip!

Sayhello
 
You're welcome. I was going to come back and clarify that most flights from the US arrive around 6:00am. The advice to try to arrive before 10:30 is valid, and I'd say really no later than 9:30 landing time if you really wanted to do the BL. A 10:30 flight would give exactly enough time to get there, change, walk in, get wet, get out, dry off, eat lunch. It was also the most crowded 10-2, even with timed, ticketed entry.

I'm assuming if going thru ABD, it will still be a timed, ticketed entry, meaning you need to get there within 30 minutes of your entry time. There is a bit of a line even with the Premium pass, and storing your luggage, getting a locker, showering, changing, and working up the nerve to get in the water takes at least 30 minutes, probably a bit longer. If you want to take advantage of the free facial mud mask and drink, and be able to enjoy just sitting in the thermal waters, I'd want to be arriving no later than 10:30 to the BL.
 
So, is anyone doing a preday in Iceland?

Trying to sort out how we want to structure flights. Coming from a small town, it's kind of a brutal day if we just leave home headed to Iceland. (One of the "better" options, both travel-time and price-wise, is actually to fly from here to CLT to LHR and then back to KEF!) It seems like we might do better to fly to Boston or New York on the Thursday, then fly Icelandair from there overnight on the Friday. Thus doing our "preday" in the US.

Is there a ton extra to do in Reykjavik? I feel like this ABD does a good job actually of hitting the highlights. So if it's the usual ABD super high price to add a night at the hotel where we start the Adventure, I'm thinking it might not be worth it for us to just try to recover from travel. Thoughts?
 


There are flights from NYC and Boston that actually leave around 4pm and arrive Iceland about 11:30. If you could get to NYC or Boston early Friday, you could catch one of those, and not have to do the overnight flight. I think that is what we are going to try to do.
 
Icelandair has afternoon departures from Dulles. We're flying in Thursday evening, don't want to face the overnight flight.
 
There are flights from NYC and Boston that actually leave around 4pm and arrive Iceland about 11:30. If you could get to NYC or Boston early Friday, you could catch one of those, and not have to do the overnight flight. I think that is what we are going to try to do.


Ooo, I hadn't seen those. Thanks!
 


I'm still trying to figure out the flights. I really, really wish Icelandair had flights or some sort of code share with some airline that flew out of Columbus, but they don't. It makes me nervous to fly same day on different tickets, even if I have hours to spare. :) ABD recommended United, but I'm pretty much done with them. I'm hoping they find something better than that (and the Delta flight with the 7.5 hour layover in JFK was not it!) This is the part I don't like doing through a Travel Agent. I much prefer to deal with ABD direct, and talk through the options as they book me. I'm picky about flights & seats...

Sayhello
 
Jet Blue is a "sister" airline with Icelandair. We flew Jet blue to JFK and Icelandair to Iceland and checked our bags straight through. I LOVE Jet Blue.
I *WISH* Jet Blue flew from Columbus!!

Sayhello
 
@sayhello, Iceland air's website lists Columbus as one of its destinations, so it must have a flight share with someone. Try going to their website and looking at tickets directly through Iceland air.
 
I'm still trying to figure out the flights. I really, really wish Icelandair had flights or some sort of code share with some airline that flew out of Columbus, but they don't. It makes me nervous to fly same day on different tickets, even if I have hours to spare. :) ABD recommended United, but I'm pretty much done with them. I'm hoping they find something better than that (and the Delta flight with the 7.5 hour layover in JFK was not it!) This is the part I don't like doing through a Travel Agent. I much prefer to deal with ABD direct, and talk through the options as they book me. I'm picky about flights & seats...

Sayhello

Look at using MSP (Minneapolis) as your connection to Iceland. It is a little bit of an overshoot to Columbus but times worked out better than being stuck on a long layover on the east coast (Detroit is my home airport and Icelandair doesn't use them yet)
 
Even if you use any domestic airline you still have to transfer terminals in JFK to terminal 5 (I believe } to board Icelandair. Icelandair does have a nice lounge to use offering drinks and small meals (they share with British Air if I remember correctly) and get to use if you fly Saga class on Icelandair.
 
Well, yuck! My TA contacted ABD today and found out that they will not do a transfer from hotel to Blue Lagoon. If we arrive at night, in addition to paying $657 to spend what's left of that night at the hotel, we will then have to arrange for, and pay for, our own transportation to the Blue Lagoon. If I do that, they will check on possibly adding us to their list of people to bring back to the hotel, but no promises.

When I floated the idea to DH of spending that prenight in Iceland, I quipped that I was sure the price for that hotel room (in which adult DD will be on a little rollaway) couldn't be anymore expensive than a deluxe room at the Fairmont Copley Square in Boston. Shows what I know. This brings me back to all our frustrations with ABD for a party of 3. It just leaves us talking to ourselves.

Oh well, I want to go to Iceland, and I didn't love the Tauck alternative. So I guess we are spending a prenight in Boston and getting no sleep the night leading into the tour. But at least we won't have to pay twice for transfers to the darn Blue Lagoon. It had better be amazing, darnit! :upsidedow
 
The hotels near the airport are not 5 stars. They are basic rooms to say the least. Everything in Iceland is extremely expensive so "get used to its" as they say. We took a car service from reykjavik back to the airport to meet our group and it cost $140.00 for three.
 
Look at using MSP (Minneapolis) as your connection to Iceland. It is a little bit of an overshoot to Columbus but times worked out better than being stuck on a long layover on the east coast (Detroit is my home airport and Icelandair doesn't use them yet)
The outbound flight they suggested on Delta *did* go through MSP, with a 3 1/2 hour layover. Not too horrid, although I hate the backtracking. :) We'll see if they come up with a better return flight. I think I may be going with Air Canada, as long as they stay away from Air Canada Rouge.

Well, yuck! My TA contacted ABD today and found out that they will not do a transfer from hotel to Blue Lagoon. If we arrive at night, in addition to paying $657 to spend what's left of that night at the hotel, we will then have to arrange for, and pay for, our own transportation to the Blue Lagoon. If I do that, they will check on possibly adding us to their list of people to bring back to the hotel, but no promises.

When I floated the idea to DH of spending that prenight in Iceland, I quipped that I was sure the price for that hotel room (in which adult DD will be on a little rollaway) couldn't be anymore expensive than a deluxe room at the Fairmont Copley Square in Boston. Shows what I know. This brings me back to all our frustrations with ABD for a party of 3. It just leaves us talking to ourselves.

Oh well, I want to go to Iceland, and I didn't love the Tauck alternative. So I guess we are spending a prenight in Boston and getting no sleep the night leading into the tour. But at least we won't have to pay twice for transfers to the darn Blue Lagoon. It had better be amazing, darnit! :upsidedow
Well, that sucks. Can you arrive on your own, stay at the airport, then get back to the airport for a pickup? It just seems silly they couldn't pick you up at the airport as if you'd just arrived.

Sayhello
 
@sayhello, Iceland air's website lists Columbus as one of its destinations, so it must have a flight share with someone. Try going to their website and looking at tickets directly through Iceland air.
Last time I checked, nothing came up. I'll have to try again. Maybe they only fly from Columbus on certain days...

Thanks! Sayhello

ETA: @BluesTraveler where did you see Columbus as a destination for Icelandair? I can't get any flights from CMH to KEF to come up, and I don't see it in their flight schedule... :(
 
Kristilew, consider posting on TripAdvisor's Iceland forum. Someone may have an idea of a work around for you. $657 seems excessive for one night's stay, even for Iceland.
 
Kristilew, when I booked Iceland directly with ABD, the Vacationista told me they would do a transfer from the hotel to the Blue Lagoon. I'd better follow up on that.

I'm annoyed with ABD right now. We have one pre-night booked. We decided we wanted to arrive on Thursday, rather than Friday, so I e-mailed and requested that ABD add a 2nd pre-night. The e-mail response was ABD could not do that and I would have to contact the hotel directly. This makes no sense to me - we had 2 pre-nights in Jackson Hole, which we booked through ABD.

@ Sayhello - I didn't look for a specific flight on Iceland air, but when you go to their flight booking page and look at the list of cities in the "from" list, Columbus is listed. You go in September, right? I bet they don't have the flight schedule completely out that far. One thing you can do when searching for flights like this is go to the airport website - they often list departing flights by airline, including code shares.
 
Kristilew, when I booked Iceland directly with ABD, the Vacationista told me they would do a transfer from the hotel to the Blue Lagoon. I'd better follow up on that.

I'm annoyed with ABD right now. We have one pre-night booked. We decided we wanted to arrive on Thursday, rather than Friday, so I e-mailed and requested that ABD add a 2nd pre-night. The e-mail response was ABD could not do that and I would have to contact the hotel directly. This makes no sense to me - we had 2 pre-nights in Jackson Hole, which we booked through ABD.
I did the same thing. I booked one pre-night, then decided I wanted to arrive on Thursday and was told they couldn't do a second pre-night. I'm not sure if they only had a certain number of rooms arranged with the hotel or what. What my TA did say, is that ABD told her to have me book a night at the Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Marina myself, and send them the reservation information, and they'd link the two so I wouldn't have to switch rooms. And they are still providing me with the transfers to the Blue Lagoon and the hotel when I arrive. I suppose I should give ABD a call and make sure this is all actually on my reservation. I'm still not used to going through a Travel Agent. There are definitely pluses, but I get antsy not having control over certain things... :) Oh, and I got the room myself for less than ABD charged for a pre-night (although not by a huge margin!)

@ Sayhello - I didn't look for a specific flight on Iceland air, but when you go to their flight booking page and look at the list of cities in the "from" list, Columbus is listed. You go in September, right? I bet they don't have the flight schedule completely out that far. One thing you can do when searching for flights like this is go to the airport website - they often list departing flights by airline, including code shares.
I wonder. I tried checking August in case it was an off-season thing. But maybe I'll check earlier in the year. Icelandair is definitely my first choice. I enjoyed traveling with them 2 years ago.

Sayhello
 
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