4 ways to book Icelandair flights with points and miles
Editor's Note
Icelandair is a popular carrier for visiting Iceland because its hub, Keflavik Airport (KEF), is about 31 miles from Reykjavik. Icelandair is well known for its low fares, and many travelers use the airline to travel between the U.S. and Europe while taking advantage of a stopover in Iceland.
However, if you're looking at how to use points and miles to fly Icelandair, you'll quickly discover the airline isn't part of a major airline alliance. Although the airline has interline and codeshare agreements with many airlines — including Emirates, Southwest Airlines and Turkish Airlines — you can't currently redeem rewards from most of these airlines' loyalty programs for Icelandair flights.
However, you do have a few options if you want to redeem points or miles for Icelandair flights. So, let's dive in.
Redeem Icelandair Saga Club points
Icelandair has its own loyalty program called Icelandair Saga Club. The bad news for infrequent Icelandair flyers, though, is that you can't transfer any of the major U.S. transferable rewards to Saga Club. As such, most U.S.-based travelers will have trouble earning a significant balance of Saga points.
Luckily, you don't need to have enough Saga points to cover your entire Icelandair flight booking. You can use any amount of Saga points you wish to book a seat on any scheduled Icelandair flight. You can even redeem Saga points to cover the taxes and fees on Icelandair flights.
For example, on a sample $651.53 round-trip booking, I used the carrier's slider tool to select various combinations of points and cash.
I could redeem 136,224 points to cover my entire booking, giving me a value of 0.48 cents per point.
Or, I could redeem a mixture of points and cash for the booking.
You won't get outsize value when redeeming Saga points for Icelandair flights. However, it's a nice option if you want to pay using a combination of points and cash and you have a few extra points in your Saga Club account.
Redeem Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards points
Alternatively, you can book through Alaska Airlines to redeem Atmos Rewards points for Icelandair flights. While Atmos Rewards still publishes a partner award chart, the rates listed are only starting rates for nonstop award flights.
However, I found award rates for nonstop Icelandair flights do begin at the listed starting rates. For example, I could redeem 27,500 points and $139 for a one-way Icelandair flight from Seattle to Reykjavik. The distance between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and KEF is 3,622 miles. However, the Alaska-operated flight on the same route is less expensive on the date I checked, and one Icelandair-operated award option is much more expensive than the other.
Meanwhile, flying 2,413 miles from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to KEF on an Icelandair-operated flight starts at 22,500 points plus $139.
Atmos Rewards points can be difficult to earn, as the only major transferable currencies that can be transferred to the program are Marriott Bonvoy points and Bilt Points. However, you could snag one of the following Atmos Rewards credit card welcome offers if you're interested in earning points on your purchases:
- Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® credit card: Get 70,000 bonus points and a $99 Companion Fare (plus taxes and fees from $23) when you spend $3,000 or more on purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.
- Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card: Get 80,000 bonus points and a 25,000-point Global Companion Award when you spend $4,000 or more on purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.
- Atmos™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business Card: Get 70,000 bonus points and Alaska's Companion Fare ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) after you make $4,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.
Related: Atmos Ascent vs. Atmos Summit: Which is best for Alaska and Hawaiian flyers?
Redeem JetBlue TrueBlue points
You can also redeem JetBlue TrueBlue points for Icelandair flights. The pricing is dynamic, so you'll need to search for award flights on your specific route and travel date to see how many points you'll need to redeem.
For example, I found one-way award flights from Boston to Reykjavik starting at 17,000 points plus $102.
And I found one-way award flights from Seattle to Reykjavik starting at 32,000 points plus $102 in economy and 104,000 points plus $102 in business class.
JetBlue TrueBlue points are relatively easy to earn, as you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, Capital One miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards points and Wells Fargo Rewards points to the program. You can also earn points with cobranded JetBlue credit cards.
Related: How to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to JetBlue TrueBlue
Redeem through a credit card travel portal
You can book Icelandair flights with points or miles through the travel portals of most major programs with transferable currencies. However, you'll usually only get 1 cent per point or mile when redeeming your points or miles for flights booked through these portals.
This being said, you can get more than 1 cent per point if you find an Icelandair flight eligible for Chase Points Boost. In that case, Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees) cardmembers can get up to 2 cents per point, depending on the specific redemption, when redeeming through Chase Travel℠ (see your rewards program agreement for full details). Likewise, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (see rates and fees) cardmembers can get up to 1.75 cents per point, depending on the specific redemption, when redeeming through Chase Travel (see your rewards program agreement for full details).
Alternatively, you may come out ahead by purchasing a paid Icelandair flight with your Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. By doing so, you'll earn miles on your credit card purchase. Then, within 90 days of your purchase, log in to your Capital One account and redeem miles to cover your recent travel purchase. You'll only get 1 cent per mile when covering recent travel purchases, but at least you'll earn miles when you pay for your flight with your card.
Related: Crunching the numbers: Is it more expensive to book flights through a credit card travel portal?
Bottom line
Even though Icelandair doesn't belong to a major airline alliance, you can still redeem points and miles for its flights. Your best-value options for redeeming points or miles for your Icelandair flight are Atmos Rewards points or JetBlue TrueBlue points.
However, as discussed above, you have several other options. Especially given Icelandair's often-low fares, you may find it feasible to book at a paid rate and save your points and miles for hotels or a future trip.