Akureyri, Iceland: €165 Swiss and Edelweiss Flights from Milan, Luxembourg (Cabin Bags Only); Business at €435

Star Alliance member SWISS and its subsidiary Edelweiss currently issue cheap tickets from two European cities to Northern Iceland. You can reach Akureyri for as little as €170 with departure from Milan during the Summer. Flights from Luxembourg are just slightly more expensive. A change of planes in Zurich is necessary to get the lowest fare.

The quoted fare is a light fare, not including checked bags. The economy classic fare, including 23kg hold luggage, is available for roughly €60 more.

You can find these prices for economy class tickets:

If you don’t mind a little extra arm-room, priority services and lounge access before and during your journey, business class tickets also come with a reasonable price:

Our availability calendar highlights all possible flight dates for less than €200 in economy or €450 in business, for trips up to 28 days. It will forward you to Lufthansa or Swiss with your selected flight dates.

Flights between Luxembourg, Milan and Zurich are either Swiss or Air Baltic Airbus planes. The long flights to Iceland are operated by Edelweiss’ Airbus A320 fleet. In business class, the seat next to you remains empty on all four flights.

Since these flights operate shortly before and after midnight in Iceland, make your ensuing hotel or rental car bookings with maximum awareness to avoid mishaps.

Search & Book

The fare rules for this fare offer no sales or travel period. Since this flight is operated weekly, the minimum stay is seven days.

Google Flights helps you find additional flight dates. Since the airlines sell the cheapest tickets on their websites, you should purchase them there directly.

Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?

More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:

Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.

If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.

This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.

Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.

This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.

Mileage

Economy class flights are booking class K, which results in marginal miles and points accruals:

Things look a little better when purchasing business class tickets, issued in P:

Cover Picture: by Josh Reid on unsplash