IcelandAir
reviews and complaints

I purchased a ticket to Iceland for October 29th-Nov. 6 travel. Upon purchasing I did not notice that somehow the name of the purchase was the name of the firm I work for instead of mine. Upon reviewing information for upcoming travel, it was brought to my attention. I sent an e-mail and have called customer service to get this rectified by correcting the name. They informed me that would be considered a transfer and not possible. I explained I am the purchaser, and all other information remains the same, DOB, Address etc. It would be a name correction. It seems my pleas are falling on deaf ears as they are following the rules! I understand the rules and the reason for them, but this does not fall into that category, and I can't seem to have anyone understand.

The only way to rectify would be for me to cancel and re-purchase. My ticket is a non-refundable ticket, which means I would be at a loss of over 1,000.00 USD>

Dear Team,

I have made a reservation on 27th September from London Heathrow to Washington DC Dulles airport, booking reference # THV86N.

However I am unable to travel due to non-availability of visa appointment with the US embassy here in London, UK.

Request you to kindly help me with cancel and refund the flight reservation.

I spoke with Iceland airlines and booking.com (3rd party agency), airlines said they only can help refund direct booking customers, all 3rd partners are to contact them and they will help. Please contact the airlines and help me cancel my reservation and get a refund for the same as I am unable to travel due to no valid visa being issued in time.

Airlines is advised 3rd party to not issue refund to “this pax”, I am afraid they are not understanding my situation and being very rigid in their approach.

Looking forward for your early resolution.

Regards,

Adithya Gyaneshwar.

My sister and I called Icelandair each separately to determine what our options were for having to rebook a flight due to unforeseen circumstances around work. we were both told we could rebook without a change fee within the year. We cancelled all of our lodging and called back to rebook and told there was a $250 change fee per ticket. When asked why we were told the opposite, we were told to file a complaint and we would hear back in 24-48 hours. It has been a week and still no resolution.

Also, asked if there was a recording associated with each of our calls, they said yes but no way to review what we were told.

I booked this flight Denver to kef round trip 7 months in advance for my wife and I I paid for premier Saga seats and on each leg of the flight my wife and I where changed to separate seats ! and the only answer I get is there was no option for us to fly together. I have a screen shot of our seats together a few days prior to flight and then on check in we are on oposite sides of plane. no explanations after 30 min on phone. I wind fly with Icelandic Again

On June 22, 2023, my wife and I took a flight from KEF to Boston. The flight was scheduled for 10:00. They began by announcing a one hour delay. Then after a half hour, they announced there would be a 1.5 hour delay. Then at 11:30, they announced a 2.5 delay and a 12:30 departure. Icelandair continued pushing the time of departure back continued every half hour. The flight left at 1:30, which was 3.5 hours after the scheduled time.

We missed our connecting flight in Boston with another airline and had to stay overnight in Boston. The worst part of the ordeal was when while waiting for the flight at 12:00, Icelandair service people began check our credentials and lining us up in a camped hallway. The service staff also thought the plane would be taking off soon as the announcements led everyone to believe. The passengers begged for information but the service personnel could only guess as to what was going on. I am a pilot and could see that weather was not a factor.

It was miserable waiting in line in a cramped hallway. Everyone was stressed and irritable. Most people did not want to leave the line because no one knew when the plane would actually depart. Most people didn't want to lose their place in line. Icelandiar sent everyone a meal voucher but we were in the gateway to the plane and couldn't use it. My thought was that this was inhumane. People don't treat cattle this way. In the hall, there was no water nor bathrooms where we waited for an hour and half.

It's clear that the staff was empathetic. It is also clear that Icelandiar management had no plan and seemed not to care about the experience of the ticket holders. I wonder how management would have felt in the that hall.

We learned later that the crew dedicated to the original flight had timed out. One of the new crew had been called at home (50 minutes away) and ask to come to work. It seemed like Icelandair knew it would be a long delay, but choose to lead customers on that it could be in the next hour.

Conclusion: Icelandair management is not up to the challenge. If something goes wrong they quickly fall behind the problem. This problem should have been anticipated long before the original crew timed out. Management was slow and only reactionary. Icelandair is centered on a beautiful island with beautiful local people and staff, but management is seriously missing in action.

Truly sad.

Dan and Consuelo Duplass

Booking reference #2QV5OR

The woman in the airport when I tried to check-in and get my boarding pass (munich airport 2023/4/19 11:00 am b114), told me that I should have an ETA from canada government otherwise she won't give me the boarding pass. However, I already had my working holiday POE letter (also from the Canada government with ETA number printed on it) which I was not familiar with the process so I show it to her and wish to get my boarding pass, but her just called her colleague for information (I assumed she's not familiar with the process either) and reject me with an extremely rude attitude. So I had to pay an additional fee (about $200 euros) to apply for a new ETA which I certainly didn't need to! This was an very awful experience causing me wasting lots of money on account of poor trained employee and really bad attitude. I would like to get a refund in cash for your apology.

We have booked a return flight from Chicago to Reykjavik on 3 May 2023. We amended this flight at the Servicedesk counter on the Reykjavik airport while in transfer.

Our booking was changed to 1 May 2023 for $757 in total. We confirmed our creditcard and e-mailaddress.. Since we did not get a confirmation by email we called to validate our changes. Now Icelandair offers us to change the flight to 1 May for a much higher amount ($3,000) since they tell us the change is not in their system.

We request Icelandair to change our flight to 1May as agreed upon by the Servicedesk on 20 April 2023.

On March 7th, I received notice that my booking was canceled just hours before I was to leave for JFK. I was rebooked at another airport (Newark) that is almost 2 hours away. I then had to pay 3x the amount for a ride to the airport and barely made it, only to find out that the original flight wasn't canceled. Now, regarding the refund request, I was told I would be getting one for the seats we paid for on the original flights, and as a "courtesy," the new seats we had no choice but to pay for on the new flight, which was also double the cost. So the total we should be getting back is $236. I also had items stolen from my luggage, and no one has been responsive. If nothing is done here, I will report you to the DOT, FAA, and TSA for the theft. I am also letting my credit company know of the discrepancy.

I am writing to get some help with IcelandAir. We purchased roundtrip tickets in October 2022 from Amsterdam to Reykjavík, Iceland for travel in December 2022. Unfortunately, a few weeks after the purchase, my family experienced two concurrent medical emergencies in November and December and was not able to go on our trip to Europe, including Iceland. We had four different airlines involved that we were using for our family of five. These airlines included IcelandAir, American Airlines, ITA Airways and AerLingus.

We tried desperately to cancel our flights with IcelandAir via telephone nine different times and also via their website multiple times, starting a month before our scheduled flights. We explained to IcelandAir that we wanted to postpone the trip by one year and they would not allow us to do that. They would not even answer us or allow us to speak with a manager and it was extremely frustrating. IcelandAir would not help us with this matter at all. They were rude and unhelpful and not caring that we would lose $2068.50 for flights not used.

We are requesting a refund or voucher so we can schedule our trip for next Christmas. We also prepaid extra baggage charges on the IcelandAir tickets, which should definitely be refunded as we never even were able to take the trip.

As a side note, we submitted the same emergency medical documentation to the other three airlines involved in our trip and were either refunded our tickets (American Airlines and ITA Airways) or given a 5 year travel voucher (AerLingus). Those airlines deserve a definite shout out for understanding emergencies and being empathetic to people who are experiencing them.

The medical emergencies we experienced were life threatening and we were unable to fly. I personally experienced 3 blood clots in my legs and one large blood clot saddled between my lungs. I was in the hospital for a week and still working my way back to health. At the same time, my daughter’s health was failing due to an extreme eating disorder. She was placed inpatient in a residential eating disorder program.

We would appreciate any help you can provide with this case. Thank you so much for your support.

I booked our flight, Iceland air took our money, and we got to JFK, but they will not let us in the airplane. because my son passport expire within 85 days and it suppose to be 90 and above.

They allowed me to check in in Atlanta and fly all the way to JFK before denying me boarding. It was two a.m. They abandoned us without assistance in a state in which we do not reside. I went from hotel to hotel in search of a room. I was required to purchase a new ticket home and pay for a hotel. Consequently, they refuse to reimburse my money.

I inquired whether the passport information was included. Why did you permit us to purchase and fly from Atlanta to New York City? then prevent us from reaching our target. It was extremely frustrating and tedious.

I chatted with the customer support over the phone . She was extremely impolite and disdainful. my bags was in the plain and I had my medicines in it. I had to cry to request my bags back. The following day was spent attempting to obtain the logge. They were quite impolite and disrespectful. I believe that they should pay not just my tickets back but for all the trubel and the emotional and financial nightmare we had to go through.

Are foreign tourists allowed to spend as much time as needed to visit Iceland or no more that a certain time. (I wonder?), because if we fly your national airlines (Icelandair) from the US (Denver) to Europe (Paris) with a stopover in Iceland you cannot stay more than 7 days because beyond that you have to buy a saga fare seat costing more than $1500 than the regular economy fare which in my book is called racketeering!

This practice does not encourage at all flying with them. Does this practice also apply when using other airlines with a stopover of 10 days or more?

It is cheaper for a foreign tourist flying to and/or from the US to Europe or elsewhere to make a stopover there killing two birds with one stone than to come back another time to just visit Iceland.

I could fly cheaper first via Paris with Air france using the multi-city destinations with Delta for the last leg from Reykjavic to Lax!

But if I use Icelandair from Paris to Kef one way will I have to book the saga fare since I would be staying in Iceland at least 10 Days before flying out with delta to LAX?

Booked and paid upfront via Expedia for an Icelandair flight, we changed our mind and decided to go on the NCL Encore and not the bliss, there is a 1 day difference in flights to do so, however Icelandair will not budge in trying to accommodate or help us, shocking, All in we have booked 4 flights to get us from Glasgow to Reyjavik, Reyjavik to Seattle, Seattle to Reyjavik, Reyjavik to Glasgow, allowing time in Seattle and Reyjavik too along with our 7 day long cruise to Alaska, this is a one of once in a lifetime trip, we now have to figure a way to get from Victoria British Columbia to Seattle and loose a day on the cruise to be available to catch the flight on the 27th Seattle to Reyjavik, really disappointed, if we were to cancel the flight on the 27th it would cost us £700 plus to do so, now looking at coming off the ferry if allowed and booking a ferry to get us to the airport on time to catch the original flight on the 27th May

Flew on Sept 13, 2022 from Dublin to Iceland then Iceland to Washington DC. I pre-booked and paid for seats my wife and I planned to sit in. Icelandair provided us our boarding passes at check in and the seat assignments were completely different from what I paid for. When I brought this to their attention in a complaint filed September 29, 2022 they said I still got to sit in the same value seats as what I bought. Nonsense. I paid for but did not receive my reserved seats. They refused to refund my seat selection payment.

Icelandair has a small mind management mentality where they choose to keep the amount I paid at the expense of my wife and I no longer flying with them. With a daughter living in France, that's 3 roundtrip flights each year. Your loss, not mine.

I am Fenghe Liao holding Chinese Passport, taking flight from Munich to Reykjavik first(FI533), and then Boston(FI633) on Aug 4.

I am so disappointed for the checking in service in Munich which brings me huge inconvenience for my journey and have been treated differently in a very racist way during the check in process.

I have waited for one and a half hour to check in, where the front deck only had two staff(a woman for first class and a man for economy). After 1.5h waiting for check in, the woman in the front desk told me I did not pay for the luggage fee. I said fine I would like to pay with credit card or cash. The woman said that they only accept credit card. I gave her my card, and she was asking the man beside how to use it and told me the card was not working. Then I tried several cards and she said they all failed and there’s no ways for me to pay (I pretty sure the cards work, since I have successfully paid with my card in other stores a few hours later). I asked her what should I do and it’s there any front desk service I could deal with it, she said:”I don’t know, I couldn’t help you, I’m just here to check in. No front desk here and you need to call them to rebook the flight”.

There was a white woman holding American passport behind me and the staff asked me to go away since she needed to deal with the white woman first. I was shocked that she treated me, an asian holding Chinese passport, and the white woman holding American passport so differently at the same moment. That was the first time I felt been treated in such racist way in Germany under the IcelandAir checking in process.

I couldn’t believe that I was patiently waiting for 90 mins for the line and she couldn’t even pay one more minute to help with my situation. I was sitting there and checking whether I could catch up the flight in any way. Then a police came and asked me the situation. After explaining the situation, she brought to the place near Gate D and told me the man sitting in the front desk could help me with my luggage issue. I went there and explained the issue, he said he couldn’t help with it, I need to call the IcelandAir. And I called, and waited, and called, until I realized there was nobody in the IcelandAir were willing to stand out and solved the problem. The funny thing is that it’s not even my fault in the whole situation, I was so angry so I just left my luggage in the airport right in front of the Gate D and checked in by myself without my belongings.

And there was a man standing behind me saying that he could pay for me with his credit card, and his card did decline either. And he said to the IcelandAir front desk that his card should work, if no that must be the machine’s problem. I have arrived in Iceland and I used my cards again in the airport, they all worked successfully in the Iceland airport, which means that it’s not my credit card problem but IcelandAirs’ checking machine problem or the checking in staff’s mistake.

I am now on the flight to Boston going back to school, but my belongings are still in the Munich airport. I could not accept such ridiculous and irresponsible checking in service and I request for a clear response for the issue.

First of all, luggage(28’’ black hard one left in front of the Munich Airport Gate D Security Check In) should be found and shipped properly by the IcelandAir.

Second, the response from the front desk woman who were treating me in a racist way and treated me differently due to my Chinese passport should be addressed as soon as possible.

Third, my credit card did not receive any declined message, which means the Iceland Air did not even properly process my payment and cause the luggage check in issue. Provide credit card declined evidence; The check in waiting line was more than 1.5h and no any Iceland Air staff in the Munich could be reached out for solving or helping the issue. Provide information about Iceland Air’s checking in process, and tell me that it’s only this Iceland Air in Munich having such inefficient checking in process or all the Iceland Air in the world have such irresponsible attitude.

Explain everything or I will keep reaching out through any methods I could use to get a proper response.

On June 11, 2022, I checked my bag at Icelandair counter 7 in the Dublin airport. My flight was DUB to KEF to MSP.

I never saw my baggage again.

I filed a missing baggage claim and am frustrated that there is no one to talk to about this. It has now been 16 days with no updates. There was a short email string between me and the KEF baggage department, but emails to Dublin go unanswered.

My baggage is tagged and a file number assigned.