 Poster: A snowHead
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Heading over to Whistler in March and was thinking of using Iceland Air as they fly Glasgow - Reykjavik - Vancouver. The reviews look pretty crap on trip advisor though. My daughter used them when she flew out a couple of years ago and thought they were fine but the recent reviews are all 1 star.
Anyone used them and if so, how were they? Quite keen to avoid Heathrow if possible flying from Glasgow or Edinburgh
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Flew into Reykjavik this summer, no problems with them at all.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@boabski, A while back I flew with Icelandair from Glasgow via Reykjavik to Denver. It was fine, but that was about 6 years ago, so things might have changed since then.
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I've used them to fly to KEF now and then. As it happened, I used Play and Easyjet last season. They're all the same. Avoiding LHR I can understand.
The only distinguishing thing on those KEF Iceland flights is that a lot of folk on them are not getting off in Iceland [as I always am]. They're doing what you're doing for cost reasons, I suppose. I don't think they have lie flat beds and fancy food and it's obviously going to take longer than a direct flight. The Iceland leg is short and I can't remember if they have videos and stuff on it. You'd presumably want to think about what your body clock is doing during any layover. You could always stop-over in Rekjavik city, which is a 40 minute drive/ shuttle bus away. You might be able to see an active volcano as you fly in. Icelandic beer is good, although maybe don't translate the price.
KEF isn't a large and busy airport so it's probably not particularly unreliable. If you have to transit through somewhere, I think it'll be quite good as that's what it's all set up for. They are in the EEA so Brexit folk are in the slow queue if you have to pass through immigration. I'm not sure you do - transit people may avoid that.
I guess you're comparing transferring there versus transferring at LHR, and if I had that choice KEF would be a winner every time for me.
Internet reviews... I'm not sure I'd put much faith in those, but you can probably find some objective reliability stats if it matters.
If I lived in Glasgow I'd certainly look at all the options for stop-overs and I'd try to avoid LHR.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks all. We had toyed with staying in Reykjavik for a night on way out but decided against it - planning to stop off in Toronto for a couple of days instead on way home.
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@boabski, Please let us know what it's like after your trip - ski carriage etc. Looking at going Manchester to Denver myself via Reyk as it's so well-priced. Flew with Virgin recently for a ski trip and absolutely brilliant staff/cabin everything. But they need more ski destinations!
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@wiigman, leaning towards Air Canada via Frankfurt on way out then direct from Toronto to Edinburgh on way home. Used Air Canada last year and were very good. Similar price too. Should add that we're spending a couple of days in Toronto at end of our trip.
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| boabski wrote: |
| Thanks all. We had toyed with staying in Reykjavik for a night on way out but decided against it - planning to stop off in Toronto for a couple of days instead on way home. |
As someone who grew up an hour away from Toronto, and lived there for 5 years during Uni, I would WAY rather spend some time in Reykjavik than Toronto!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@TOLOCOMAN, I get you but there are daily flights from Glasgow to Reykjavik if we ever wanted to go for a short break, whereas Canada is a bit of a trek for us so making the most of our time there. Last 2 trips have just been in Whistler to see our daughter but this time planning to go to Banff for a few days too - internal flights seem decent prices
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In that case, may I recommend Montreal instead of Toronto. Shouldn't be any more difficult in terms of flights, and Montreal has much more history than Toronto. Especially if you can tack on Quebec City as well in some way.
Banff definitely worth at least a few days too. But then again, I'm kind of biased! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| TOLOCOMAN wrote: |
In that case, may I recommend Montreal instead of Toronto. Shouldn't be any more difficult in terms of flights, and Montreal has much more history than Toronto. Especially if you can tack on Quebec City as well in some way.
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I’m not so sure about that.
Montreal and Quebec City are the 2 most “European” city in North America. But for people who live in the UK and probably taken many holidays in Europe and France, I don’t know how much appeal Montreal and Quebec hold.
Toronto maybe “just another” North American city. It’s a vibrant multi-cultural city of its own right. The food there is to die for!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I totally see where you are coming from about the history side being European like.
Disagree about it being a vibrant city. It's a large city. With all the traffic issues that leads to. But very modern and lacking in funky neighborhoods overall. Hell, one of the major tourist things to do in Toronto is visit Niagara Falls. At least 2.5 hours outside the city!
I just couldn't wait to get out of Toronto as I finished school. But seeing that you have chosen to live in New York, and I have chosen Banff, I assume we have very different opinions on what are attractive places...
I was just throwing out another option to the OP for other places to visit based on the experience of someone that grew up in the area and lived in the city for awhile. It would be WAY down my list of places to visit in Canada.
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I'm with @t on Toronto, as a tourist destination. Probably the last place I'd go. To me it felt like a nondescript us city; with better food. Fly over territory.
NYC , Montreal & Quebec, from this European tourist perspective, are much more attractive.
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You know it makes sense.
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I flew to Denver via the KEF connection once. It's quite a smart business model. Flights all come in from Europe within a 1ish hour window and then depart to N America similarly. So the terminal is quite busy. You seem to have time to get a coffee or light meal or buy puffin/viking based tat if you like.
I wouldn't say the flights are better or worse than any other airline running similar aircraft. My return flight was slightly delayed at KEF and seem to remember sitting on the floor of some holding area as not an overabundance of seating.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thanks for all the tips. Ended up booking Air Canada (Lufthansa) to Vancouver via Frankfurt for the good flight times. We are flying back from Toronto as it's a direct flight to Edinburgh from there.
Was totally underwhelmed by Vancouver when we done an overnighter on NYE this year (mainly due to the sheer volume of drug addicts). Our friends loved Toronto and if it's boring then so be it - I'm ok with that to get the convenience of a direct flight home.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'm not sure why you are bringing up Calgary. I don't live there. I'm in Banff. The only time I'm in Calgary is if I'm going to the airport to get to somewhere nice. As far as I know, there aren't really interesting neighborhoods, but again, I don't live there.
You proved my point about our choices of lifestyle. You've chosen a lifestyle around cultural events it would appear. I've chosen one around being able to ski or bike before or after a work shift. Wasn't saying either was better, just that the two of us obviously look for very different things.
Regardless of what you say, Quebec city is quite close to Montreal and easily accessible by train or car if doing a stop over in Montreal. Never said it was an air hub in itself. It's certainly much more convenient than Gander. Unless you're flying a fighter jet...
But none of this matters anyways, as the OP has settled on Toronto. Which by the way, if you dislike Vancouver, you will hate Toronto. But I'm not sure you can fairly judge Vancouver by one NYE night either. Definitely stay off Dundas and Yonge streets though if you don't want to see home less people in Toronto.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Sure learning a lot about Iceland Air here!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Scooter in Seattle wrote: |
| Sure learning a lot about Iceland Air here! |
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@TOLOCOMAN, where would you recommend staying in Banff? Heading there for a few days (possibly longer if we really like it). My mate and I will probably ski and our wives me at di the odd sightseeing trip.
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FAQ
At the minimum, the food scene is out of this world! (“This world” means North America)
