It turns out that for an upcoming trip to the US, it is *substantially* cheaper to book the journey in 2 stages, rather than as one journey. The route goes through Reykjavík. Because it is cheaper I am sure this is difficult to organise…

Has anybody done anything similar, but not necessarily the same route? I’ll just have hand luggage so I don’t need to concern myself about baggage issues. Since the journey is in 2 separate stages, I’m assuming that I’ll need to exit through security in Reykjavík and re-enter again, after having checked in for flight 2? If so, what kind of time should I allow for that process? Of course, I could always spend a day in Reykjavík but it’s expensive and this is a cost-cutting exercise!

Any help would be gratefully received! Cheers, R

leave at least three hours. that way if you are more than three hours late, and miss your connection you’ll get compensation from the airline.

Keflavik is a small airport and security is pretty quick compared to UK airports. Reykjavik is probably 45mins away from the airport too by road. It’s a great city though so I would recommend spending a day there.

It does leave you open to holidaying in Iceland if you miss you connection If your tickets are not booked as a journey then they have no responsibility to find you another flight as it wasn’t their fault you missed the flight.

Yes insurance will take care of it but not without hassles an time + bad cashflow.

I’m assuming that I’ll need to exit through security in Reykjavík and re-enter again

I wouldn’t think that was necessary, as you’re transiting through surely? You’d check in for your next flight at the connections desk. But if there’s a large gap between your flight you might have to clear the border or hold a transit visa.

How much is it saving you? Would have to be a pretty high percentage for me to risk it.

Thank you for the advice so far. There is a saving of around 50% if I do it this way! It is annoying, but I’m willing to do it if I save several hundred £

With that much saving you might as well play it safe and have a day out in Reykjavik, or book a soak in the Blue Lagoon for a few hours – also very close to the airport.

Who are you flying with? 50% saving seems odd, would defo call the airline to query it

If you are talking about Wow they get generally terrible reviews. Take those reviews with the usual pinch of salt but it seems to me that when it goes wrong it goes very wrong and they don’t really help.

When I booked flights in two parts I left 6.5 hours, still missed the connection 🙂

Hadn’t even taken off on the first flight before second flight left!

Can you lso save cash by flying to another US airport then driving a few hours? I’ve flown to Baltimore instead of DC for this reason, then taken a train.

Well for me it would be a no as internationals tend to have their own timetables some times. So calling the airline or a good travel agent might be the best way to check it out.

The flights are with Wow. Just found this on their website:

If you have booked a connecting flight with another company or made separate bookings with WOW air, we recommend you leave at least three hours between the first flight’s scheduled landing and the second flight’s take-off time. Also bear in mind that you always need to collect your luggage, go through customs (often passport control too), and check yourself in again.

I’ll be sure to check out the reviews if you say they are pretty awful… Given the comments above, if I do choose this option, perhaps an overnight stay is a good idea (as both a contingency plan and because there are nice things to do locally to Reykjavík). It would still be cheaper to do this than book as one journey. I think the discrepancy is because each flight is by a different airline.

I guess it depends how much time you can afford to devote to the flight.

For me going away I want the maximum time where I’m going and minimal time in airport.

To an extent I’ll pay extra just to avoid changing planes.

But then I find flying as boring as sin as I used to be doing 6-8 flights a month in my old job. I’m down to 2 A month now 🙂

if I do choose this option, perhaps an overnight stay is a good idea (as both a contingency plan and because there are nice things to do locally to Reykjavík). It would still be cheaper to do this than book as one journey.

Reykjavik will take care of the money you saved 🙂

OTOH, flying with Icelandair is just very quick and easy. Are they particularly expensive for the trip you’re lining up?

We recently did this (but we have actually planned in overnight stops to see things) and 4 flights to Oz (via Dubai outbound and Hong Kong homeward) are quite literally half the cost – 2 adults and 2 children came in at £3k as opposed to £6k as ‘direct’ flights. 😯

Icelandair is quite pricy compared with the budget option… But I have no doubt they are a good company. Johndoh, this is what I’m now thinking – to try and spend a couple of nights in Iceland. It may hoover up some more money, but I have then at least visited Iceland!