I first wrote about WOW Air late last year, which is the Iceland-based low cost carrier which operates out of their Keflavik hub. They recently started service to the US (specifically to Boston and Baltimore), and have had super low introductory fares. Reader Gaurav just completed trip to Iceland on WOW Air, and offered to share his thoughts — thanks very much Gaurav!
Flights:
- WW126 BOS-KEF April 24, 2015
- WW125 KEF-BOS May 5, 2015
WOW Air: Background
We booked these tickets when I saw the deals posted on OMAAT last year about the cheap fares Wow was offering to go to Iceland. I’ve always wanted to go there to see the Northern Lights and Ice Caves. Those sights were a bust because there is already too much daylight in late April to do either of those things but we had a great time nonetheless.
WOW Air: Preflight
Before going on this trip, I had a hard time finding details about the seating arrangements on the new WOW A321 planes providing service between BWI and BOS and KEF so I took down some notes during the flights. Since my wife and I are both tall, big people, we wanted to make sure we had adequate leg space so we shelled out the extra $33 per person to book the XL seats in advance. We also shelled out $48 for one 20kg/44lbs checked bag between the two of us and took a 5kg/12lbs backpack each (free) on board with us. Adding the extra allowances online was a breeze. I didn’t pay for seat assignments for the return because I wanted to see the seat plan in person before paying (turned out to be a good decision).
When I saw better seats after boarding the plane, I tried to do my seat selection for the return but the option to select seats had disappeared from my Manage Booking page. In this and with other general queries, I found the WOW Twitter team very responsive. I tweeted them as the plane was finishing boarding on the outbound and they direct messaged me for my confirmation number, asked if I wanted the same seat assignments for the return, and assigned the different seats I wanted. I then logged back into my booking in Reykjavik and paid for them.
WOW Air: Airport Experience
Since carry-ons and checked baggage are weighed for all passengers, there is no way to bypass manual check-in at the airport (there is no online or kiosk option). There was a decent sized line at the airport in BOS but it was well staffed and moved quickly. We were with an agent in about 10 minutes. Even though we weighed our bags before leaving home, they were a few hundred grams over the limit (maybe a pound and a half). The staff were fairly easy going and told us not worry. I’m not sure what the leeway is for them to start charging for extra weight but fortunately we were on right side. Carry-on bags were tagged with a purple paper strip after weigh in. You are allowed to board with one carry on (a ladies purse counts towards this limit!) and one bag of duty free shopping (we bought a bottle of whiskey since we had heard alcohol prices were very high in Iceland). On the return, the agent didn’t weigh our carry-ons at all (maybe because she had a trainee badge on?).
Some suggestion to travelers new to ultra-low cost carriers (maybe superfluous for more experienced travelers):
My wife and I have our usual rituals for packing for our trip and we started packing our normal sized carry-ons before we realized they were not a good fit for the carry-on size and weight limits so we bought smaller carry-on packs and combined other stuff into one check in bag.
Weigh your bags before going to the airport. Pay for your baggage allowance online at least 24 hrs before your flight since rates at the airport are significantly higher and the option to pay online disappears 24 hrs out which penalizes last minute packers like me so it was an extra incentive to pack early.
If you forget to weigh before leaving home, find an empty check in counter, as they usually have readouts on the side of the agent desk where you can check your baggage weight before going to check in.
If you have inadvertently overpacked, try to wear your heaviest items to the check in counter (sweaters, heavy jackets etc. that you should be carrying to Iceland. You can put them back inside your bags after weigh in. I have a Scottevest that had my tablet, a novel, battery packs etc. all inside to reduce check in weight.
Since WOW does not participate in TSA pre-check we did not have the pre-check symbol on our boarding passes. However, we carried our physical Global Entry ID cards with us and were waved into the pre-check lane with no problems. WOW has a fairly simple boarding process. They called the back half of the plane first, then the front half. Given that everyone is allowed only one carry on, there is no stress and there was plenty of overhead space even though we were the last to board. By a rough estimate the flight was about 60% full which also seemed true on the return with plenty of people raising seat dividers and stretching out on flat beds of three seats in the rear. Both on the outbound and return flights the plane was parked at a remote stand instead of an aerobridge. Not sure if this is how usual operations are likely to be for future flights. On the plus side, it allowed us to walk out between a beautiful Swiss A340 and Air France 747, always a plus in my book. 🙂
WOW Air: Flight
It is hard to see the best seats on the seat map online since the configuration is slightly staggered. We booked 1A and C on the left (facing the front) which were comfortable enough (I would compare them to the average exit row seats on domestic flights albeit with a bulkhead in front. The real prize (if you are willing to pay for it) however is row 2 on the right hand side of the plane (facing the front). This is the first row on right hand side and 2DEF have almost business class room to stretch out. Everyone was eyeing the young family of three seated there with envious looks. I was glad I was able to book them for our return.
Row 2 legroom (I’m 6’2”, row 1 in the background):
In order of legroom, I would book:
- Seats 2DEF (bulkhead front right)
- For single travelers or those traveling with shorter companions – 11A/F or 24A/F (window seats behind the exit rows with no seats in front of them)
- Rows 10 or 23 (exit rows of 2 seats on each side)
- Seats 1ABC (bulkhead front left)
The other XL and L seats had varying amounts of room and the regular seats had about the same space as standard domestic seats.
WOW has a quirky style. Most every surface and uniform is purple. In terms of in-flight style I would compare them to Southwest. The lead attendant was cracking jokes on the PA including gently poking fun at herself. The engines ask if you’re going to Iceland, cups say “Sip it… Sip it good”, at the rear is a big sign saying “All the cool kids sit in the back,” and there is a vomit-meter on the barf bags.
As a real low cost carrier, there is nothing free on board from the water to snacks. They take credit cards but not debit cards. I was looking forward to trying some Icelandic smoked lamb on flatbread and Skyr on the flight that I had read about on other reviews but they have a different menu for their flights departing the US. The attendant made some reference to the US not allowing Skyr. I’m not sure if this some regulatory issue or not. I had the ham panini from the selection which turned out to be surprisingly tasty and flavorful. The return flight had the usual menu and a lot more Icelandic options. We tried the lamb and flatbread and the turkey and bacon sandwiches which were both good. Both flights had one hot option, pizza on the outbound and a cheeseburger on the return. Service was friendly, cheerful, and quick.
BOS-KEF Menu:
Panini:
KEF-BOS Menu:
There is NO entertainment on board (other than the attractive flight crew who declared themselves the entertainment). 🙂 There are plug points between all the seats (two ports in each set of three seats) so bring plenty of preloaded content if you want on-board entertainment. The plug points are universal so they will take US style plugs. I took three melatonin and went straight to sleep on the red eye outbound and woke up right before landing. Spent the return writing this up so I was well occupied.
WOW also allows you to book airport-hotel transfers and tours around Iceland (e.g. the Golden Circle tour, Blue Lagoon etc) during the flight. The prices are the same as those in Reykjavik so you can choose this option if you are still planning your trip.
We landed a little behind schedule at a deserted KEF at 4:30 in the morning. Immigration and customs were a breeze.
A couple of food outlets and a convenience style store were open past the secure area. We grabbed a quick coffee and checked into the price for a local Siminn sim card at the convenience store (too expensive, buy in Reykjavik). Jumped on to the free airport Wi-Fi and saved google maps for Reykjavik and surrounding areas and met up with our offsite car rental agency to take us to our car. All in all, a very easy trip and I would definitely fly WOW again at the right price after factoring in all the extras.
Flying out to Amsterdam tomorrow on WowAir - thanks for the write up - I'll sleep much better tonight.
Your article was very comprehensive. I really appreciated it.
I went through the booking process at the WOW internet site for a flight from Reykavik to Los Angeles.
When I was prompted to select seats I looked at your recommended selection of row 2DEF. Row 2 actually has a row 1 in front of them with 3. It seems that Row 1 is a better selection than row 2. Also, the seats you...
Your article was very comprehensive. I really appreciated it.
I went through the booking process at the WOW internet site for a flight from Reykavik to Los Angeles.
When I was prompted to select seats I looked at your recommended selection of row 2DEF. Row 2 actually has a row 1 in front of them with 3. It seems that Row 1 is a better selection than row 2. Also, the seats you actually selected in row 1AC look like they occupy the same space as 1DEF, not offering any more room for any of the seats at row 1.
Finally, SeatGuru suggests staying away from row 1 as they are on top of the plane toilets and everyone goes to that location. Would the better selection be the XLL seats at the back of the plane or middle of the plane.
thanks, R.
hi Richard--WOW uses a different plane from LAX than it does from BOS. I'd look at seatguru and other reviews to finalize your selection. Good luck!
Immense thanks for the review.
My wife n\and I just booked a 9 day round trip WOW Iceland trip out of San Francisco and began searching the Web to plan for it. We first found another site (http://indecisivetraveler.com/flying-with-wow-air) with a a great suggestion on getting the largest duty-free bag as well as a reader comment mentioning this $24.99 carry-on bag which has the exact maximum dimensions WOW Airlines allows:
http://www.sears.com/cabin-max-cabin-max-budapest-airplane-carry-on/p-SPM14112887019?plpSellerId=Kings
Best of all, on...
Immense thanks for the review.
My wife n\and I just booked a 9 day round trip WOW Iceland trip out of San Francisco and began searching the Web to plan for it. We first found another site (http://indecisivetraveler.com/flying-with-wow-air) with a a great suggestion on getting the largest duty-free bag as well as a reader comment mentioning this $24.99 carry-on bag which has the exact maximum dimensions WOW Airlines allows:
http://www.sears.com/cabin-max-cabin-max-budapest-airplane-carry-on/p-SPM14112887019?plpSellerId=Kings
Best of all, on your site I learned about ScotteVests. Oh yeah.
I am now planning on getting something like a 42-pocket, $175 "Q.U.E.S.T. Vest for Men" (has a hood) to wear under a heavy coat to carry food for the flight, video camera batteries, heavy external battery packs, metal suction cup mounts for GoPro-type video cameras, maybe a smaller video camera, etc. I expect it to carry about 20+ lbs of stuff. This will be my go-to clothing item for all future domestic and international travel flights. Wow, it should pay for itself several times over.
Great post, thanks again.
@Dave, glad it was helpful, enjoy your trip!
People are talking about taking Duty free alcohol from duty free shop and crew does not check duty free bags. ( you are supposedly allowed to carry one duty free bag) But i wonder you do not go to duty free before getting your boarding pass and before checking your bags. So how can we carry and dump our extra pounds in to duty free bag?
WOW Air now allow 10kg/22lb carry-on. Check their website.
If you book WOW, book direct NOT with third party travel site otherwise if you want to prepay luggage or a bigger seat you get to deal with WOW's HORRIBLE customer service (6 emails and 3 - 1/2 hour waits to get a larger seat and prepay luggage). Bottom line is I'd rather pay a hundred more and not have to pay for WATER & luggage not to mention suffer their horrible customer service. The...
If you book WOW, book direct NOT with third party travel site otherwise if you want to prepay luggage or a bigger seat you get to deal with WOW's HORRIBLE customer service (6 emails and 3 - 1/2 hour waits to get a larger seat and prepay luggage). Bottom line is I'd rather pay a hundred more and not have to pay for WATER & luggage not to mention suffer their horrible customer service. The BWI flights are wide body. I would love to see a report as to the difference between XL and XXL seats in a wide body and whether there are any seats close to Business class like the author mentions to Boston.
I'm flying southwest to bwi then wow to iceland. How do I get my bags from Southwest to have them get to the wow gate? Baggage claim then back through security? Surely not.
@jeff, I have not connected to WOW at BWI but that is the most likely answer.
WOW Stroller / Car seat fee -
Having a bad WOW experience and haven't even left for our trip yet!
Does anyone happen to know what the WOW airline fee is for bringing an extra car seat or stroller? The site says that you can bring one or the other, but a second will be an extra fee and doesn't list the fee. I called the WOW customer service number and they couldn't tell...
WOW Stroller / Car seat fee -
Having a bad WOW experience and haven't even left for our trip yet!
Does anyone happen to know what the WOW airline fee is for bringing an extra car seat or stroller? The site says that you can bring one or the other, but a second will be an extra fee and doesn't list the fee. I called the WOW customer service number and they couldn't tell me the amount either! They said I can find out at the check-in desk when I leave for my flight. Well that's really helpful considering I will have no choice at that point.
I'm trying to figure out if its less expensive to rent the carseat with the rental car, or pay to bring ours along.
@Christi--that's disappointing. Have you tried reaching out on twitter?
Tess: Glad it helped.
Really appreciated this informative write-up. Thanks!
@James, that's unfortunate. Do you know if this was just a equipment change or if it is a permanent switch?
I was on 4 legs, total, round trip. Row 1 DEF was there for all four. It must be recent bc I paid extra for 2 DEF a month or two back, at time of booking. They refunded that charge....can't say much about the rest of their fleet.
Row 2 DEF are no longer extra legroom seats -- they've installed a Row 1 DEF.
@Rk, I think that is a hard question for anyone to answer without knowing your kids :). There will be a break in the middle so hopefully being able to walk around and stretch your legs a little will help. Wow isn't that different from a domestic carrier.
@Rk, I don't have kids, so... As noted, Wow isn't that different than most economy airlines. You buy anything you need inflight: like water and snacks. There are no movies. Anything you need to bring for kids gets added to the weight limit, and then added fees. That's not saying you still won't save money, but you're buying transportstion. Nothing more.
Hi
We are thinking of going to London this summer. I would be traveling alone with my 6 and 9 year old but it's a 10 hr flight at least! Do you recommend wow airline for a long trip with kids? We travel all the time internationally and domestically but never on wow airline.
@Jeff, you're welcome, glad it helped.
@razz My scottevest won't handle a full laptop (maybe a surface 3 or something) and I usually don't carry toiletries in it but yes, you could do that if you wanted to. It's a pretty versatile piece of clothing and they have several new products since I bought mine. You should check out their website!
"I have a Scottevest that had my tablet, a novel, battery packs etc. all inside to reduce check in weight."
Great idea. So you can fully load up your vest with laptop / cables / batteries / toiletries? Then simply scan them as you board to save weight?
Awesome report on your experience. This has helped for my upcoming trip tremendously.
Thanks!!!!
My comment above should have referred to seats 19D,E over the wing on WOW.
Great post. I returned from Paris on WOW two days ago, to BOS. A couple notes:
We sat in A1, A2 from BOS to CDG. There was no bulkhead and therefore, legroom all the way to the far side of the aircraft door.
On the return, with seats 25D,E over the wing, we found the legroom generous for a discount carrier. there was no knee banging (we are 5' 10"). From the wing-view seat, you...
Great post. I returned from Paris on WOW two days ago, to BOS. A couple notes:
We sat in A1, A2 from BOS to CDG. There was no bulkhead and therefore, legroom all the way to the far side of the aircraft door.
On the return, with seats 25D,E over the wing, we found the legroom generous for a discount carrier. there was no knee banging (we are 5' 10"). From the wing-view seat, you can see "Enjoy the view!" painted on the wing near the fuselage.
For $650 round-trip (from LAX with JetBlue miles one-way and AAL on the return from BOS), this was a bargain and a delight. I enjoy breaking up the flight more than a non-stop. We stayed over at the Logan Hilton each way one night. Food is mediocre, but hey, there's an airport on each end and in the middle, so no big deal.
@wasserball that's good to know. Is it open in the early morning when flights from the US land?
There is a duty free alcohol shop in KEF. The price is right!
Price of alcohol sold in stores/Duty free Keflavik airport
Stella Artois beer 6x33cl (6x11.15oz) 14€/9
Heineken beer 6x50cl (6x16.9oz) 15€/10
Absolut vodka 1 liter (33.8oz) 49€/18
Frescobaldi Romelo red wine 750ml (25.36oz) 16€/11
Duty free allowable equivalent
1 liter spirits and 1 liter wine and 6 liters beer or
3 liters wine and 6 liters...
There is a duty free alcohol shop in KEF. The price is right!
Price of alcohol sold in stores/Duty free Keflavik airport
Stella Artois beer 6x33cl (6x11.15oz) 14€/9
Heineken beer 6x50cl (6x16.9oz) 15€/10
Absolut vodka 1 liter (33.8oz) 49€/18
Frescobaldi Romelo red wine 750ml (25.36oz) 16€/11
Duty free allowable equivalent
1 liter spirits and 1 liter wine and 6 liters beer or
3 liters wine and 6 liters beer or
1 liter spirits and 9 liters beer or
1,5 liters wine and 9 liters beer or
12 liters beer
Interesting post, many thanks!
Hi Lucky, others. I am at BWI awaiting my 7pmish flight, (came in from Orlando via Frontier ($99.00 last minute), but came in to Dulles. That was fun lol. I am backpacking and biking Copenhagen to Berlin like I did last year. My first time flying WOW. Question: I don't use credit cards, just my own personal reasons, and I pretty much emptied out my Fidelity Money Account, as last year my card was frozen...
Hi Lucky, others. I am at BWI awaiting my 7pmish flight, (came in from Orlando via Frontier ($99.00 last minute), but came in to Dulles. That was fun lol. I am backpacking and biking Copenhagen to Berlin like I did last year. My first time flying WOW. Question: I don't use credit cards, just my own personal reasons, and I pretty much emptied out my Fidelity Money Account, as last year my card was frozen while in the deep south near Gedser, and was unable to use it for days while in the boonies.
1. I did not pay my baggage in advance, and I have this innate feeling, that WOW will not take cash for my one hiking bag when I check in. True, no Cash at WOW Ticket Counters/Check in area?
2. That poses a issue, some airports have the hardly ever used Readlink Machines, where you can get a pre paid visa card up to 1000, does BWI do that, because NONE of the pre security stores, have ANY type of pre paid or Visa gift cards at all; any suggestions on that front, if WOW doesn't take cash for baggage.
3. If 1 and 2 are both NO, what do you suggest? Hoping in a cab to the nearest 7-11 (2.5 miles FROM BWI) and grabbing and throwing 100.00 on a pre paid Visa etc.?
Thank you for your time.
Flying BWI to DUB with Wow in about 2 weeks. Paid the extra for carry on up to 26 lbs. More than enough. In a saved email thread with Wow customer service, stated in addition to your carry on luggage you can have one duty free or airport shopping bag. Ladies, put your purse in there, buy some magazines, snacks, sandwich, water, etc for flight. Worked on Flume in AND should work here, I mean...
Flying BWI to DUB with Wow in about 2 weeks. Paid the extra for carry on up to 26 lbs. More than enough. In a saved email thread with Wow customer service, stated in addition to your carry on luggage you can have one duty free or airport shopping bag. Ladies, put your purse in there, buy some magazines, snacks, sandwich, water, etc for flight. Worked on Flume in AND should work here, I mean purse of reasonable size to be fair. Will report back after flight. Downloaded movies to my phone for in-flight entertainment. I don't know, it's a short flight, and after extra weight carry on fee this flight was still $600 cheaper than next 1 stop, and $850 less than non stop. I'll live with it. Have heard some bad stuff about delays, and timing, that is my only actual concern.
Does WOW have wifi on board?
Thank you, Barbara
@Barbara--no, unfortunately. Would have been a nice feature for the day flight.
@Sandye I specifically asked via twitter that and was told that a personal item would count towards the baggage allowance. YMMV at the airport with a small purse. I definitely wouldn't chance it with a laptop bag.
Can you please clarify the carry on restrictions? We are not taking checked luggage and have pre-paid the extra carry on allowance, but trying to confirm if we are only allowed that one item or are we also each allowed a "personal item" such as my purse or a laptop bag? thanks,
My son and several others are stuck in Logan unable to get to the WOW gate because no one is manning the desk. They can't get their boarding passes and WOW is not answering their phones either in the US or in Iceland. This is a disaster for several young people who have purchased tickets but can't get to the flight which has yet to take off. How did you reach the company?? Any help is appreciated!
@morgang52014: I tweeted them for help when I needed it. Hope your son and others were able to get to the plane. Were they stuck at the check in counter or at the gate past security?
@Kenny: ouch. Don't know if they vary pricing. The other XL seats are pretty decent too. I wouldn't worry too much with any of those.
The seat map I'm looking at BWI-KEF has row 2 DEF as XXL for $67.. did they read this trip report?
*post Travis did
@Ryan: Not sure but you could tweet them and ask. Keep in mind that the first rows on both sides have fixed dividers that can't be raised. You could also just book the aisle and window seat with a good chance that it would be unlikely that someone would take the middle. Take a look at the Travis did a while back about increasing your chances of getting an open middle seat.
Can you buy three seats for 2 people? If I could buy 3 seats and get the XXL row, I would not mind flying on WOW. The legroom and an empty middle seat would be fine.
Officer plus cat
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/03/26/16/27045EC100000578-3013205-image-a-19_1427388555754.jpg
We are going on this flight next month.Great trip report!
I realized I had a $100 airline credit left on my Wells Fargo Propel Card so I went online to book the carry-on luggage. It said 'card invalid.' So I called the airline and tried to pay, only to find out WOW does not take American Express.
@Eric: Sadcar and Bluecar were recommended to us as well but I ended up going with a Kayak rental from a place called Atak (affliated with Fox in the US). Had an unpleasant experience, too long of a story to get into here, but it could just have been the luck of the draw. The offsite offices are very close to the terminal and all of them had reps at the arrival area with passenger...
@Eric: Sadcar and Bluecar were recommended to us as well but I ended up going with a Kayak rental from a place called Atak (affliated with Fox in the US). Had an unpleasant experience, too long of a story to get into here, but it could just have been the luck of the draw. The offsite offices are very close to the terminal and all of them had reps at the arrival area with passenger names shortly after passengers came out to drive people over to the rental locations. I wouldn't worry about connecting or transfer.
Re: GPS, we didn't rent one. I heard from another traveler that they had some kind of fancy GPS unit that would deliver factoids about locations that were close which seemed interesting but I have no personal experience.
We didn't miss a GPS at all since we both have smartphones. My original plan was to buy the cards at the airport (Siminn voice/sms/data cards cost ISK 2000 and data only cards cost ISK 1000). The data on the combo card is relatively expensive so if you plan to use data it would be best to add a data plan (~ISK 1300 for 1GB or ~ISK2300 for 5gb, good for a month, can be easily added online once you have the card). The data sim comes with a very small data allowance and you can add data at the rates I mentioned for the other card. The convenience store at the airport wanted ISK 2900 for the combo card and I had heard of their reputation for being expensive, plus they didn't have a data only sim card so I decided to purchase them both when we got to Reykjavik. The sim cards in a breakaway design that allows you to adjust them into the format you need (full, micro, nano).
To make sure we go to our hotel without any trouble I cached copies of Google maps for our route and Reykjavik and started navigation through the free airport wifi before we left. You can do this pretty easily with an android phone and Google maps, just search online for instructions on how to save Google maps offline.
Most places have free wifi or will give you the password if you ask so we didn't use much data except for one night we stayed on a farm and they did not have wifi. Cellular coverage is very good all around the ring road (route 1) and we never had trouble getting a signal.
Hope that answers your questions.
@Kieran: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3013205/Reykjavik-police-officers-post-amazing-Instagram-photos.html
@Gaurav Icelandic police like posing with kittens? I was already interested in travelling to Iceland, more so now :-)
Great review, and a refreshing change
I enjoyed reading your report. Keep it up!
@GoAmtrak: KEF actually has a decent assortment of restaurants at the terminal so as long as you leave yourself enough time you should be able to get food to go. My wife got a salad and a baguette, tomato and mozzarella sandwich. She finished the salad but was planning to just hold on to her baguette before I reminded her that the beagle at Logan would be all over her so we polished it off before landing :).
@Biblioman1: I agree, most people would be happy with any of the XL seats. I was too until I saw row 2 for the same price... Then I was jealous :). I agree about the immigration, very smooth. Iceland seemed pretty laid back about security in general. A guide on one of our tours told us that the police often receive panicked calls from tourists who find babies in prams outside stores and restaurants. People...
@Biblioman1: I agree, most people would be happy with any of the XL seats. I was too until I saw row 2 for the same price... Then I was jealous :). I agree about the immigration, very smooth. Iceland seemed pretty laid back about security in general. A guide on one of our tours told us that the police often receive panicked calls from tourists who find babies in prams outside stores and restaurants. People find it perfectly okay to leave sleeping kids outside and someone will come find you if the baby starts fussing. I don't think we saw a single policeman in Reykjavik although apparently they are very active on instagram doing handstands and posing with kittens :). We were also told that they show up pretty quickly and sort you out if you are creating a nuisance. If you think about it, the whole country is 350k people and a not very big island to boot. It would be really hard to be a criminal and get away with much.
@Speedy: Lucky didn't write the post, nor does he endorse WOW Air.
For anyone looking at the menu, the Króna has been between 120-140 per dollar the past couple of years.
Very timely. We are flying Wow out of Baltimore in a few months. Thanks!
very nice report!
i would love to go visit iceland someday.
Nice review, but this has one huge fail for value minded travelers. WOW Air is often more expensive than Iceland Air and the latter company's tickets come with free checked baggage allowance, inflight entertainment, a complimentary warm meal for children, as well as Wi-Fi access (starting this summer).
And, if you are flying to London, you end up in Gatwick - so, WOW is a better option? Great, enjoy the trip from Gatwick.
Lucky, you...
Nice review, but this has one huge fail for value minded travelers. WOW Air is often more expensive than Iceland Air and the latter company's tickets come with free checked baggage allowance, inflight entertainment, a complimentary warm meal for children, as well as Wi-Fi access (starting this summer).
And, if you are flying to London, you end up in Gatwick - so, WOW is a better option? Great, enjoy the trip from Gatwick.
Lucky, you are supposed to be a trusted travel advocate, but this post was a total fail. Tell me the last time you flew to Gatwick, the other downsides aside.
The swiss plane is an a340, not an a330
The SWISS aircraft in the photo has two engines under the wing. The A333 has only one engine under each wing. The A343 has two. Expertflyer shows SWISS operating an A343 on Wednesdays BOS-ZRH so maybe they swapped out the A333 for the A343 on another day of the week.
@Lauren: Heh, my wife sometimes reacts the same way (jokingly of course). I have family in India so we use miles for comfortable long distance travel and usually fly economy domestically and take advantage of cheap fares like these (also going to South Africa in September in coach on the Etihad fare :) ).
Since discovering miles and points, and this blog, I've been finding myself - and my partner -- turning into a little bit of travel snobs. For example, we are flying a transcon over Memorial Day weekend and my partner gasped "In economy?!?!?" when I sent him the trip details.
But, WOW Air sounds like just the thing to snap up back into economy. BWI-KEF is short enough to grin and bear it, I think.
Just checked the cost from Boston to Iceland at the beginning of June with WOW Air and compared it with cost on Icelandair. WOW Air is $1,160 (with checked in luggage & carry on) and Icelandair is $842! That is about 40% more expensive than Icelandair. WOW... I mean What! Thought WOW were supposed to be good value. Even if flying with WOW air without any luggage the price is $1,006. Icelandair is a full...
Just checked the cost from Boston to Iceland at the beginning of June with WOW Air and compared it with cost on Icelandair. WOW Air is $1,160 (with checked in luggage & carry on) and Icelandair is $842! That is about 40% more expensive than Icelandair. WOW... I mean What! Thought WOW were supposed to be good value. Even if flying with WOW air without any luggage the price is $1,006. Icelandair is a full service airline with both entertainment, food and drink included. And you don’t pay for checked in luggage and carry on. Icelandair for me for sure.
Matt & Gaurav- "However, we carried our physical Global Entry ID cards with us and were waved into the pre-check lane with no problems." You're not supposed to be able to use the precheck lanes simply by showing your global entry card. Even those enrolled will not get "TSA Pre" on their boarding pass 100% of the time. I think you just got lucky with a friendly employee.
Thanks for the report. We're flying WOW from BWI to KEF in July and this was great information.
Great insights and tips on your report, Gaurav! I'm booked for this summer.
Boston Globe reported today on their experience with WOW. Glad to see yours was much better.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle...FfI/story.html
@Matt: I was interested in this, too, and found this FAQ on TSA's website (http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/frequently-asked-questions):
Q. If I present my CBP trusted traveler card (Global Entry, NEXUS or SENTRI), will TSA allow me to utilize the TSA Pre✓® lane?
A. No. This card is used by CBP at land border crossings and is not accepted by TSA for expedited screening access. The CBP PASSID, a nine digit number that usually begins with 98, serves...
@Matt: I was interested in this, too, and found this FAQ on TSA's website (http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/frequently-asked-questions):
Q. If I present my CBP trusted traveler card (Global Entry, NEXUS or SENTRI), will TSA allow me to utilize the TSA Pre✓® lane?
A. No. This card is used by CBP at land border crossings and is not accepted by TSA for expedited screening access. The CBP PASSID, a nine digit number that usually begins with 98, serves as your Known Traveler Number (KTN). Your individual reservation — passenger name record (PNR) — must include your KTN. Travelers can check with the airline(s) to verify their KTN is listed in the PNR. Travelers who have been cleared for TSA Pre✓® will have information embedded in the barcode of their boarding pass. The 11 participating airlines are also printing a TSA Pre✓® indicator directly on the boarding pass.
@Matt: this was the first time I tried using the physical cards. Since precheck is a stated benefit of global entry I was hopeful that it would work and glad to report it did.
Great report! If I ever fly WOW, I'd definitely plan to pick up a sandwich or two from the terminal first. Those fresh BoB options are brutal for those of us who don't eat lamb or pork - nothing but croissant+cheese or the liquid items!
But given the fares, and even with fees, the overall value does seem quite compelling.
@Matt, I think it's YMMV. This seems to indicate it's not allowed. The other questions in the FAQ seem to indicate it's on a flight by flight basis based on an intelligence risk-based assessment of the individual using one of the 11 participating airlines.
http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/frequently-asked-questions
Q. If I present my CBP trusted traveler card (Global Entry, NEXUS or SENTRI), will TSA allow me to utilize the TSA Pre✓® lane?
A. No. This card is used...
@Matt, I think it's YMMV. This seems to indicate it's not allowed. The other questions in the FAQ seem to indicate it's on a flight by flight basis based on an intelligence risk-based assessment of the individual using one of the 11 participating airlines.
http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/frequently-asked-questions
Q. If I present my CBP trusted traveler card (Global Entry, NEXUS or SENTRI), will TSA allow me to utilize the TSA Pre✓® lane?
A. No. This card is used by CBP at land border crossings and is not accepted by TSA for expedited screening access. The CBP PASSID, a nine digit number that usually begins with 98, serves as your Known Traveler Number (KTN). Your individual reservation — passenger name record (PNR) — must include your KTN. Travelers can check with the airline(s) to verify their KTN is listed in the PNR. Travelers who have been cleared for TSA Pre✓® will have information embedded in the barcode of their boarding pass. The 11 participating airlines are also printing a TSA Pre✓® indicator directly on the boarding pass.
Great report. The one item I was most interested in actually is how you entered the Pre-Check line with your Global Entry ID cards. Has anyone else done this? Is this officially allowed or YMMV? Vast majority of my travel is on Pre-Check available flights and airports, but is good to know when there is no PC.
@AR, not sure how they differentiate between the cards, just passing on what they announced.
@BOSflyer: I'm not the best at picking out planes by sight so I just checked what equipment Swiss was using for the BOS-ZRH route and it listed the Airbus Industrie A330-300. Maybe they had an equipment change that day?
Great post. There was nothing to be found anywhere on the internets before my flight April 5th. So this is valuable for anyone thinking about WOW. I had a Very similar flight experience to yours. You've nailed where the best seats are, but I think most will be happy with any XL seats. We also flew around 60% full. I had the entire row to myself both directions. It's important to point out that all...
Great post. There was nothing to be found anywhere on the internets before my flight April 5th. So this is valuable for anyone thinking about WOW. I had a Very similar flight experience to yours. You've nailed where the best seats are, but I think most will be happy with any XL seats. We also flew around 60% full. I had the entire row to myself both directions. It's important to point out that all of their planes are new which adds to the general comfort. It was my first trip to Iceland and I was really surprised at how simple immigration was to deal with. I was through in no time. First international trip I can remember where I didn't have to fill out a landing card.
Given how uppity Ben is with economy class I right away this trip report was done by a guest!
@Ivan, they tag seats as XL, L etc. Price is the same for all seats in the same category so it just depends on who picks first.
wow no debit cards? We're the able to tell the difference With the visa and MasterCard logo on them?
OMG, for a second, I though Ben had gone on this flight!
Great review; one minor detail, the SWISS plane is an A340, not A330 :-)
Could you comment more about "saved google maps for Reykjavik and surrounding areas and met up with our offsite car rental agency to take us to our car"?
We are traveling on WOW in several months, and wanted to get a sense of how you managed these issues.
1. Looking back, would it have been helpful to rent a GPS unit when you were driving around?
2. We have been advised to consider SADCars...
Could you comment more about "saved google maps for Reykjavik and surrounding areas and met up with our offsite car rental agency to take us to our car"?
We are traveling on WOW in several months, and wanted to get a sense of how you managed these issues.
1. Looking back, would it have been helpful to rent a GPS unit when you were driving around?
2. We have been advised to consider SADCars as a car rental, instead of the other chains in the airport. Which company did you use, and was it easy to get the shuttle to the offsite location?
i like the way you guys travel. thanks for the great report.
Does WOW charge different prices for certain premium seats (like row 2, for example) or is it the same upcharge and you have to be quick to grab the best seats?