Flying Icelandair Saga Class is Good, But A New, Better Seat is Coming (Guest Trip Report)

Disclosure: Icelandair paid for the flights and hotels on David’s trip to the Faroe Islands.

Earlier I wrote about Icelandair’s new service to the Faroe Islands, and you, dear reader, may have just assumed that I teleported to Keflavik.  I’m a talented person, but no.  I was curious as to how they planned to get me there since Nashville, where I live, isn’t the easiest to just plug into the Icelandair network.  

The original plan had me going through JFK both ways, but it required an overnight on the return.  After a little back and forth, they had my return ticket ending in Raleigh where I picked up my own Southwest flight back to Nashville.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that, while it’s a single class of service on the Q400 to and from Vagar, Icelandair was kind enough to book me in their Saga Premium — what they call Business Class — on the overseas flights.

I flew from Nashville to New York on JetBlue, and there were two things that stand out in my memory of the flight.  The first was my seatmate who asked his buddy as they were deplaning whether he thought his wife could sense the stripper from last night.  The other was that not only was my JetBlue flight not late, but it arrived at JFK 30 minutes early.  That left me with about 6 hours until scheduled departure for my flight to Iceland.  I made my way to the Airtrain and over to the soon to be demolished Terminal 7, stopping for some views of aircraft and construction. 

The Icelandair check in counters weren’t yet open, but I already had my boarding passes so I made my way through some sort of bastardized version of TSA Precheck and went upstairs to the Horizons T7 Lounge.

This is the lounge that British Airways abandoned when it moved over to Terminal 8.  From what I can tell, there’s almost no difference from when BA was still there, save for no on-demand dining.  It’s currently used by Icelandair, Kuwait Airways, LOT Polish, and Ethiopian.  The food was pretty decent, the bar was self-serve and there was a ton of seating; I had little to complain about while I used the lounge to get some work done before hopping on the flight..  

A boarding announcement was made in the lounge, and I finished a few things up before walking up to the gate about 2/3 of the way through boarding.  While I was on the jetbridge, a guy behind me said to his friend, “I’m going to do something new every day.  I think tomorrow I’ll touch a penguin.”  Best of luck there, sir….

Icelandair 614
April 30, 2024

Only the bulkhead was available when I got my tickets, and I was a bit disappointed as I remembered the legroom being quite cramped from the last time I flew the airline.  Fortunately, the seat next to me stayed empty, and I figured that would let me spread out a bit.

I was greeted on board and noticed immediately that this was basically an unlimited legroom seat.

I felt great about my decision to be on the left side of the plane as the right side was much worse.

Menus were distributed, but no pre-departure beverage was offered.  I had filled up in the lounge but still was tempted with the lamb.  Ultimately, though, my goal was to maximize sleep on this short 5-hour redeye.

We were racing a storm, and we won, so we were right on time. The seatbelt sign was quick to come off, and I hopped up immediately.  I always bring some pajamas to change into on overnight flights, and the flight attendant applauded my desire for comfort.  I sat back down and she was quick to ask what I’d like to eat and drink.  She was incredibly disappointed when I told her that I was just going to try to sleep.  

I put on the eye mask and reclined my seat.  This is where Saga really lacks.  The domestic-style First Class seat is just a tough way to get comfortable.  Some could argue that they mostly do short flights, so what does a flat bed seat really matter?  While I understand that, my argument is that it matters even more to try to maximize sleep.

I’m told that Icelandair did an analysis relatively recently, and they ultimately decided they weren’t going to go with flat bed seats.  Apparently, though, a new seat is slated to be on the new Airbus A321LRs scheduled to arrive later this year.  For those interested, Icelandair has chosen the Geven Comoda seat with some significant modifications.  The seats will have a pitch of 42″-43″ and 8″ recline and will have a leg and foot rest.  They will also include more privacy than the current seats on the 757s and the MAXs, so you can look forward to that.

We made our approach from the south and I took in some views before landing.

Immigration was pretty empty, and I was stamped into the EU quickly.  I made my way to the Saga Lounge to grab a quick bite to eat and relax a little bit before heading to the next gate.  At least, that was the plan.  I scanned my boarding pass, and I was told I wasn’t allowed in because I wasn’t in Business Class.  I explained I was on a Saga ticket and showed the incoming boarding pass, but I was told that didn’t matter.  I gently pushed back a bit and ultimately was let in.  When I mentioned this to the Icelandair folks on the trip, they said they’d need to fix that and it probably just hadn’t been considered.

When I had been to the lounge 7 years prior, it was a calm, relaxing space with plenty of seating.  On my way to the Faroes, it was completely packed with early European departures.  It took 2 laps before I was able to find a single seat available.  Once the first bank of flights boarded, it started to clear out and was much more enjoyable. The airport is being expanded, and it’s expected that the Saga Lounge will grow.

Thankfully, on the way back, it was considerably calmer with mostly just the US departures left on the departure board.

There are a number of seating areas, which makes it pretty enjoyable when they’re not all completely full.  

The buffet had typical Icelandic delicacies such as herring…

… and the well-known local treat they call “Doritos.”

I found that the self-service bartender had a heavy pour, and there were a number of non-alcoholic options as well.  

The restrooms and shower rooms featured Blue Lagoon branded toiletries, but the men’s restroom at least was a bit on the struggle bus with one sink out of order and another clogged.  

All in all, the lounge was a nice place to spend some time, especially with good views of the apron from multiple directions.  I did find it amusing that the planes with some of the best views from the lounge on these particular days were of Icelandair rival Play.

When leaving the Schengen Zone, you have to clear passport control before heading to your gate.  The lounge has signs recommending leaving for your gate 45 minutes prior to departure.  Normally, I assume that they’re doing that as a CYA and subtract 10 or 15 minutes, but I did have the dreaded SSSS on my boarding pass, so I gave myself the full 45.  

There was a long, snaking line to get through immigration, but it was efficient.  After getting stamped, I scanned my boarding pass and was invited by a minder to visit her colleagues.  I was reminded no fewer than 5 times that this was a TSA requirement.  I got the impression that they get a lot of complaints, and I heard at least one person swearing he was going to miss his flight.  I was directed to a room after a few minutes, where a delightful Polish gentleman explained the process.  I just smiled and nodded, because I knew the alternative was not to fly.  After 5 or so minutes, he stamped my boarding pass, and I offered a “dziękuję” much to his surprise once it was done.

You could definitely tell that it was rush hour across the Atlantic, because there were lines upon lines of people.  There was a lot of confusion as to which line was going to which gate, but I found mine eventually.

Icelandair 821
May 5, 2024

I was one of the last Saga passengers on board, and shortly after taking my seat I was offered champagne to “start the flight off right.”  I happily obliged and then was brought some macarons as well.  While boarding was finishing, refills were offered, and most seemed to accept.

Menus were passed out, and I paid closer attention this time since I was actually planning on partaking on this flight.  I ordered the beef, and the Gin Library caught my eye.

Shortly after takeoff, drinks were distributed, and I started my journey through the Icelandic gins on board.  That’s when the lead flight attendant came up, apologized profusely, asking if it was ok to switch me to the fish dish.  Ultimately I had no problem with it, even if I had basically just lived off of fish for the week.  

While it was all served on a single tray, the food was great.  The fish actually came out whole, but I forgot to take a picture before having a few bites.  That said, it was phenomenal – perhaps the best dish I’ve had on a plane before.  It was cooked perfectly and had a ton of flavor.  And it happened to go nicely with the second gin.

The flight attendants were around constantly during the meal service, providing a perfect balance of letting people be and offering proactive service.  Once the meal was over, the flight attendants weren’t done.  No more than 10-15 minutes passed before someone passed through, offering refills, asking if they could provide anything else and just checking on everyone.  Even when the two economy flight attendants passed through, they were always looking to see if anyone needed anything.  All in all, it was a completely stellar flight crew.

I passed the rest of the flight looking at the views when there were some and catching up on some movies.  WiFi is free for Saga passengers, and the Viasat service was plenty fast with download speeds over 25 mbps.  

The captain came on and let us know there would be some bumps, as we were passing through weather on descent.  The bumps never got too serious, but we did fly through a good amount of rain.  We landed and made it to the gate a little early.  With Global Entry, I made it through before any bags were on the belt, and I was easily able to make it over to Terminal 1 for my uneventful (but very bumpy) Southwest flight back to Nashville.

What’s better than early arrivals and great service?  Icelandair nailed it on both flights.  My biggest kvetch is the hard product — while it’s perfectly fine for a daytime flight, it’s not for an overnight.  With a better experience coming with Airbus deliveries later this year, it’s certainly going to make the generally low Saga fares an intriguing way to get across the ocean.