The Icelandair Saga Class Experience: BOS-KEF-CDG roundtrip 4 and 9 Jan 2009 by VPP

I would like to extend a warm welcome to my guest blogger, a businessman, 20+ year frequent flier, and husband of a former flight attendant.

Below is his first trip report for a recent trip on Icelandair in Saga (business class.) And for clarification, TQOATIT is his nickname for me, his travel assistant (aka The Queen of All That is Travel! LOL)

Icelandair Trip Details
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Sunday, January 4, 2009:
FI 630 B752 departing BOS at 8:35 p.m. arriving KEF at 6:40 a.m. +1 Seat 2F, “Saga Class”
FI 542 B752 departing KEF at 7:50 a.m. arriving CDG at 12:10 p.m. Seat 2D, “Saga Class”
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Total Trip Cost: $1,477.40, Completely Refundable
Actual Airfare: $1,447.00
Actual Miles Flown: 3,809
Yield: $0.38 per mile (For Confirmed “Saga” Class)
Taxes & Fees: $30.40, 2.0% of ticket price

First off…the receipt does say “$30.40″ in taxes…that just can not be right…but it’s what the receipt says.

Thanks to TQOATIT for buying these tix. We all take for granted how simple it is to, say, go to CO’s web site and buy tix on www.continental.com. Trust me, not the same way going to www.icelandair.com. Web commerce is still being developed in these places.

First decision is “when to leave.” Tickets say “check in required 2 hours in advance” and of course, you can’t check in on line. The bus to BOS I’m planning to take gets in at 6:50 pm….which is an 1:45…but the next earlier one deposits me in BOS 4 hours plus early. No thanks. So, I’ll take my chances and get there at 6:50.

Interested to see how this airline is…will take as many notes and pics as I can….if this client situation works the way I hope it does, I’ll be needing Icelandair a few more times shortly.

So, stay tuned! Here we go!

Greetings from the Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club at Logan…got in, no troubles.

As noted above, based on numerous input, made the decision to drive up and get here with at least 2 hours to spare. Drive took 1:15 as there was ZERO traffic…and the L&T, SBH zoomed in, dropped me and that was that.

Had one scare though as the L&T, SBH and TQOATIT were quizzing me….”did you remember underwear? Socks?” etc., etc., etc. Suddenly, I remembered I hadn’t checked to make sure my passport was in my stuff…it was, thankfully…and I never take it out unless something odd is happening.

TQOATIT quizzed, “Itinerary? Train tix?” Negative on both…I can barely remember my name, how can I be expected to do that??? (And the itineraries she creates ARE very handy.)

In any case, got the the club and they were faxed for me.

Check in was easy. FI’s counter is well marked and delineated for “Saga” Class vs. “Economy” Class. There was me and 3 chicks…not hard on the eyes I might add, in line. I got my BPs, Saga FF number is in the record and off I went.

Club is sparsely appointed and NO ONE in it…like, NO ONE. Did find a good, cold Harp and some chips though.

More later as the details emerge…

Okay, seriously, this airline is VERY cool, especially with the new interiors.

Greetings from KEF and the Saga Lounge near my gate! Great to be seen in a bankrupt country.

Color me an FI fan…will ABSOLUTELY fly them again to Europe as an option. The challenge is, I’m guessing they are a little bit like YX, awesome to fly, just not easy to find something that works time wise.

Boarding was easy, Saga Class and “people needing assistance” were boarded first. Settled into 1C and looked and saw 2D and F….which had a football field of space. I can’t quite get my legs totally straight in 1C….but I was invited to take 2D or F for more space. There were only 7 of us in Saga Class of 22. So, I took 2F, no one next to me in 2D….and spread out. I mean, VERY spacious, VERY comfortable. Almost as comfortable in those seats as you can be on an airplane.

Saw the other seats and they looked nice as well….but make no mistake, 2D & F are THE seats! 1A & C are fine…but they are, in reality, probably the least desirable seats in the cabin…although I did not see the last row.

Airplane was IMMACULATE and new inside. IFE was VERY cool…only thing was strange is in my seat, you have to haul it out to watch the safety announcement and then put it back for take off. But once up, I took it out…there are 15 movies, TONS of TV shows, a dozen games, music and the historical perspective of FI as well as info on Iceland. There is NO WAY to get bored.

Champagne, the real stuff, served on he ground, once in the air, crackers and a beer, Icelandic of course, and then a dinner menu…three choices…pork, beef or fish…I chose fish, which was salt cod served with risotto and grilled asparagus….as well as a hot roll, butter and then salmon sushi. Desert was a chocolate tort and then bon-bons. Very good…some of the better fish I’ve ever had on an airplane.

Had Drouhin Pouilly Fusse (say what? Wine THAT good on an airplane?) They had 2 choices of white and red…and they came by often.

Of course, everything served in real glass, with real nakins, silverware, etc.

Ate and then played Sudoku and Tetris on their IFE…time FLEW, literally…and then I arrived here in KEF.

Crew was SUPER friendly, although, very, very senior.

This lounge is DECKED OUT! Very nice! I could hang here a while.

Off to CDG! We’ll see how a breakfast flight is!

In and sitting in my room in “snowy Paris!” Coming down pretty fair at this time.

2nd flight, JUST as good. Full breakfast served…including the trifecta of processed pork porduct…ham, sausage and bacon with an omlete…or, I could have had pancakes.

Couple things that were interesting…

I got to witness the first “seat stealer” of my flying career. We were about to get on the runway….and suddenly I feel a tug on my seat…a guy moved up from Economy plus and just plopped down! Could NOT believe it…and once we were in the air, the F/As were a little shocked…and promptly asked him for a Boarding Pass and then tossed him. LOL Talk about a low hanging set of cajones!

Also….2D & F on this aircraft were decent, not great seats. The seats themselves were new…but the closest, overheads and other interior was not. It was very clean, but obviously not new, like the other. Ironically, 1C on this bus was probably the best seat…or 1A…go figure. There was a lot of space…but it was a solid wall, so I couldn’t stretch out.

last thing….the F class divider is on a mechanism that moves and adjusts…so, this bus had only 10 seats and only 3 were occupied. The divider was moved to behind row 3. So, rows 4, 5 & 6 were the nice Saga Class seats…just no Saga service. And the “stowaway” cam from 4C….which they kicked him back to. LOL

Both flights, Coach was full…Saga, not.

Really, REALLY like the IFE…there’s almost TOO much to do.

Okay, now back in the opposite direction….

Icelandair Trip Details
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Friday, January 9, 2009:
FI 543 B752 departing CDG at 1:20 p.m. arriving KEF at 3:50 p.m. 1C
FI 631 B752 departing KEF at 5:00 p.m. arriving BOS at 5:50 p.m. 2F
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Total Trip Cost: $1,279.03, Completely Refundable
Actual Airfare: $1,018.00
Actual Miles Flown: 3,809
Yield: $0.267 per mile (For Confirmed Saga Class)
Taxes & Fees: $261.03, 20.4% of ticket price

And now, since the ticket prices were very different, lets take a peak at how everything combined and stacked up….

Combined Ticket Price VanMetrics:
Total Trip Cost: $2,756.43, Completely Refundable
Actual Airfare: $2,465.00
Actual Miles Flown: 7,618
Yield: $0.323 per mile (For Confirmed Saga Class)
Taxes & Fees: $300.43, 10.9% of ticket price

First thing to note here…and I just noticed…the United States taxes the friggin DAYLIGHTS out of these tickets…look at the taxes flying OUT of the US and into KEF/CDG….and then compare them coming INTO the US.

From BOS – $30.40
To BOS – $261.03

And yes, it does note it on the ticket receipt…not sure anyone remembers, but I was wondering why the taxes were so low on the outbound…only to then see monster taxes back into our country…

But, alas, I’ll keep my feelings on taxes for the Roach Motel….

TQOATIT secured this, as she does all tickets…great job, not easy as FI’s e-commerce leaves plenty of room for improvement.

Check in at CDG was chaotic…got here early to get to the I-care lounge for “connectivity” issues only to find they would only check me in 2 hours prior. So I had to sit out in the masses…very chaotic. Did walk by the US check in…MOBBED. I mean, MOBBED! As was United.

Saga must be wide open as the guy offered to seat me ANYWHERE. I stuck with what I had, in hopes it was the same as it was coming…row 2 on the starboard side rocked.

Sitting in the I Care lounge…300 times better then the horrific US lounge in MAD…nice, but not at the level of the Envoy lounge in PHL nor the Saga Lounge in KEF. Not sure I’ll be visiting the Saga Lounge in KEF as I’d like to get a t-shirt or something…

Okay…TR…here we go…ROCKIN’ airline…I know of AT LEAST 2 more trips to the other side of the pond…unless something changes, I’ll be on FI…

CDG-KEF

As close to missing a flight as I EVER want to be. In fact, I was CERTAIN I was going to miss this…and without the help of a professional, Spanish business woman, I would have missed it.

Noticed on my boarding card the flight started boarding at 12:30…50 minutes prior to departure. I thought that was odd…than at 12:40 I thought, “maybe I should get going.” I did…and VERY quickly, I understood that rationale. The Icare lounge is a long, long way from the gates…and, you have to clear the 2nd round of Passport control and then security.

Passport control was simple…I ran up, gave them my passport and they said, “have a nice day.” Then another hike to the gate area…long hike…and I got there and realized, “holy crap, there are 50 people in line to get screened”…and it was 12:50. So, I stood there…SLOW… in America, I think that line would have been dealt with in 10 minutes. But there were LOADS of tourists…in addition to them not realizing your toothpaste needed to be out, they were going through EVERYTHING. Finally, I said to this woman, “I need to catch that flight they just called last call on, do you mind?” She didn’t speak good English but pointed to my airplane and said, “that one?” I said yes…she said, “hurry.” Then I got sort of blocked and she came to my aid and took me to the VERY front os security…and everyone was reasonably considerate. And sure enough, they wanted to go through ALL of my crap…I was just certain I was doomed. LOL But, they asked me about my vitamins, I said “keep them if you must, I need to go.” She threw them back in my bag and onto the airplane I ran. Scared half to death.

Only 2 of 14 seats in Saga occupied…I was in 1C…they suggested I move…turns out Row 1 on Icelandair is Saga is the worst row. Row 2D&F are THE best seats…maybe in aviation for J or C Class. So, I took up space in 3C and had the entire row to myself. Great F/A…very pretty, well dressed, etc. I LOVE their uniforms and how classy they looked. Wanted a pic in the worst way, didn’t have the cajones to ask for one.

In the air, I ordered an Icelandic beer and then the woman came around for lunch…choice of tenderloin with a baked tomato and gorganzola or Haddock baked in a lobster cream…I had the fish..and frankly, that’s the best fish I’ve ever had on an airplane. (Pics coming) The wine was awful…turns out the Pouilly-Fuisse is only offered on KEF-BOS/JFK/MCO/MSP/YYZ runs. I sat back, relaxed and actually did a bunch of financial work.

Landed in KEF…nearly dark…but still enough light to see how beautiful it is. NCFL, landings and takeoffs in KEF were fine, easy. There was a little breeziness coming in from CDG, but nothing too out of the ordinary. I will say, landing in KEF is a little like landing in, say, BKW….there isn’t a lot going on there. Snow and ice on the ground since my visit on the 5th. Did some shopping, wanted a T-Shirt and hat…and then hit the Saga Club for a few. Actually, that Saga Club in KEF is the 2nd nicest departure lounge I’ve been in, after the Envoy Lounge in PHL, oddly enough.

KEF-BOS

Took a download on e-mail, then, after my last experience in CDG and knowing I had to clear (again) passport control, I left. Got through that and off to the gate. The seat chart was up…and I noticed there were only 2 of 22 in Saga…and the 2 of us were sitting next to one another. LOL (And the guy was my size and a hard core Bostonian. ) So, I knew I would take 3C.

As I got on the airplane, they had a HUGE display of Iceland water and papers, so anyone could take what they wanted. Nice touch. Got on, sat down…very attractive and well kept crew. Champagne was served and water…and I settled in and relaxed.

Plane pushed on time and shortly, we were in the air.

The menus were handed out…choices were Reindeer from Greenland, Pork belly from Spain or Black Cod from Iceland in a lemon butter sauce with barley…I had the fish…again…3 times in 4 flights. It was EXCELLENT as well. I ate and enjoyed it…and I drank that whole damned bottle of 2007 Joseph Drouhin Pouilly Fuisse. I noticed that is a $25 bottle of wine…WHEN is the last time ANY airline had wine of that quality on board? (Not to mention, I had just been there. )

After dinner was coffee and liquor cordials…I had a Baileys and coffee and then settled into working again.

Landed fairly early…and had a smooth trip through customs…had an agent who didn’t want to intimidate me, nice person.

So, there you have it…really a great trip. And I know TQOATIT had to work harder on that one then say, your typical CO trip as their e-commerce isn’t up to the standards of the rest of US carriers. But it was worth it. When I go to London here in the spring, I’ll do so on FI, for sure.