Icelandair stands out as a premier choice for travelers heading to Iceland, largely due to its hub at Keflavik Airport (KEF), conveniently located near Reykjavik. Renowned for budget-friendly fares, Icelandair is frequently utilized by passengers journeying between North America and Europe, often capitalizing on the enticing Iceland stopover program.
However, when it comes to leveraging your hard-earned points and miles for Icelandair flights, the landscape becomes a bit more nuanced. Unlike many major carriers, Icelandair isn’t part of a significant airline alliance. While they do maintain interline and codeshare agreements with airlines like Emirates, Turkish Airlines, and JetBlue, direct point transfers or reward redemptions from these partners for Icelandair flights are not currently available.
Essentially, the path to redeeming points and miles for Icelandair flights isn’t as straightforward as with alliance airlines. But, don’t be discouraged—there are still viable strategies to explore. Let’s delve into the options for making your points and miles work for your Icelandic adventure with Icelandair Partners.
Related: Watch our Icelandair flight comparison: Business class versus economy
Leveraging Icelandair Saga Club Points
Icelandair operates its own loyalty program known as Saga Club. For frequent Icelandair flyers, this program offers a direct route to rewards. Unfortunately, for travelers based in the U.S. who fly Icelandair less often, accumulating a substantial balance of Saga Points can be challenging. None of the major U.S. transferable points currencies directly partner with Saga Club. While earning Saga Points is possible through Expedia bookings, JetBlue or Alaska Airlines flights, Hertz car rentals, and other avenues, it requires focused effort.
The upside is that Saga Club offers flexibility in redemption. You don’t need enough points to cover the entire flight cost. You can utilize any amount of Saga Points you have to offset the price of any available seat on a scheduled Icelandair flight. This even extends to covering taxes and fees, providing further value.
Consider this example: for a sample round-trip booking priced at $593.50, Icelandair’s points slider tool demonstrates redemption options.
Alt text: Icelandair Saga Club points redemption tool example showing flexibility to use points and cash combination for flight booking.
In one scenario presented on ICELANDAIR.COM, redeeming 137,337 points could cover the entire $593.50 booking, yielding a value of approximately 0.43 cents per point.
Alternatively, as shown on ICELANDAIR.COM, you could choose to redeem a portion of points, for example, 57,781 points, and pay the remaining balance of $343.80 for the same $593.50 round-trip flight.
While Saga points may not offer exceptional value per point compared to some other programs, the flexibility to use a mix of points and cash is a valuable perk, especially if you have a smaller balance of points you’d like to utilize.
Related: Your guide to flying to Iceland using points and miles
Redeeming Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles for Icelandair Flights
Another notable Icelandair partner for point redemption is Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. You can redeem Alaska miles for Icelandair flights, offering a potentially more accessible route for U.S.-based travelers who accumulate Alaska miles.
However, it’s important to note a current limitation. According to Alaska’s partner page for Icelandair, business-class award bookings on Icelandair flights are temporarily suspended due to booking issues. Since Icelandair discontinued its premium economy class in 2018, economy class is currently the only cabin option available when redeeming Alaska miles for Icelandair flights.
Despite this cabin restriction, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan offers a partner award chart, although the listed rates are starting rates for nonstop award flights. In practice, award rates for nonstop Icelandair flights tend to align with these starting rates.
For instance, as shown on ALASKAAIR.COM, a one-way Icelandair flight from Seattle to Reykjavik could be booked for 27,500 miles plus $137 in taxes and fees. The distance between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Keflavik (KEF) is 3,622 miles.
Alt text: Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan award booking example for Icelandair flight from Seattle to Reykjavik, showing mileage and fees.
Interestingly, flying from Portland, Oregon, with a connection, as displayed on ALASKAAIR.COM, could reduce the mileage cost to 22,500 miles while maintaining the same $137 in taxes and fees, even when departing a few days earlier.
Flights from the East Coast, like Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to KEF, a distance of 2,413 miles, also priced at 22,500 miles plus $137, as seen on ALASKAAIR.COM.
Adding a connecting flight onward to Dublin, as exemplified on ALASKAAIR.COM, might not incur additional miles but could increase taxes and fees to $192 for a one-stop award.
Furthermore, Mileage Plan’s flexible stopover policies, allow for incorporating a stopover of up to a week in Iceland for the same mileage cost, though taxes and fees might slightly increase, as illustrated on ALASKAAIR.COM.
Earning Alaska miles can be more challenging compared to other programs, as the primary transferable currencies are Marriott Bonvoy and Bilt Rewards. However, attractive welcome bonuses on the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card and the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card offer a way to earn Alaska miles through spending.
Related: The best times to plan your visit to Iceland
Booking Icelandair Through Credit Card Travel Portals
Another avenue to consider for booking Icelandair flights with points is through the travel portals associated with major transferable points currencies. While convenient, redemptions through these portals typically yield a fixed value of around 1 cent per point or mile for flights.
However, there are exceptions where you might extract greater value from portal redemptions, particularly:
If you hold the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, you can strategically purchase an Icelandair flight using your card. This allows you to earn miles on the purchase. Subsequently, within 90 days, you can redeem your Capital One miles to cover the travel purchase at a rate of 1 cent per point. While the redemption value is fixed, the mile-earning on the initial purchase adds to the overall value proposition.
Related: Utilizing hotel points for accommodations in Iceland
Conclusion: Navigating Icelandair Partners for Point Redemptions
While Icelandair’s absence from major airline alliances might initially seem restrictive for points and miles enthusiasts, viable redemption options do exist. Alaska miles and booking through credit card travel portals, especially Chase Travel with cards like Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred, represent your most valuable strategies for redeeming points or miles for Icelandair flights.
However, given Icelandair’s often competitive cash fares, particularly for stopover itineraries, it’s also worth considering booking a paid fare and conserving your points and miles for hotel stays or future travel. Evaluating your travel goals and point balances will help determine the most advantageous approach for your Icelandair journey.
