MarkFor those who may not have seen the deal we posted for flights from Belfast to Reykjavik with Easyjet for flights in April, we compared flying from Belfast and Dublin to get to the Icelandic capital. As the page is growing we decided to do a more comprehensive review.
Iceland is an expensive country, no matter if you are buying beer before you go on a night on the town or buying food in the supermarket instead of eating out. Nobody likes to go on holiday and start penny pinching as you want to relax stress free so here is a guide as to how you might save money before you set foot on Icelandic soil. As Wow Air have pulled their flights from Cork to Reykjavik, there are just two options, Dublin or Belfast?
Dublin
Dublin, I would imagine, is the easy option for many of you reading this blog. Wow Air, and soon Icelandair from May 2018, operate out of Dublin. Wow Air are a low cost carrier and do fantastic fares to America and Canada, which you can also do a free stopover in Iceland.
Wow Air’s base fares do not include luggage. They include a personal bag, a small handbag, but lets face it even if you were the best packer in the world you aren’t going to fit clothes for a few days in that small of a bag so you have to add cabin luggage to your trip.
Wow Air’s base fare is 50EUR one way. To include hand luggage both ways on your trip to Iceland will cost you 40EUR for a round trip flight, which is pretty standard. There is also a booking fee on top of this which is usually around 11-12EUR. So that’s 152EUR for a return, assuming you have gotten the cheapest fare.
Timing’s of flights are something we don’t want to think about but sadly we have to! The outbound flight from Dublin leaves at 11.40, which is a perfect time and you arrive into Iceland at lunch time. The return however is anything but perfect! The return leg from Reykjavik leaves at 06.15 in the morning. As there is so much to do in Iceland, ideally you would want that last day to wander around one last time before hopping on the plane home.
Below is an example of pricing and timings of flying from Dublin to Iceland. Total price is 168.88EUR with hand luggage included for one person.
Belfast
Many people might be surprised to know that Easyjet operate out of Belfast to Iceland. Easyjet, another low cost carrier, have been in operation a whole lot longer than new to the market Wow Air. They do some unbelievably cheap fares to the Icelandic capital and flying from Belfast should not be overlooked.
Easyjet, unlike Wow Air, include hand luggage as part of their base fares. No need to add on that extra 40EUR, great news!
Easyjet’s base fare from Belfast to Reykjavik starts at 28EUR per person one way. Easyjet do offer promotions from time to time when you and another person booking flights together, they will drop the price. For example in the below example the total cost of the fare is 58EUR, when booked with a friend this fare drops is 47.50EUR per person.
Timings for the Easyjet flights are one of the main reasons why we wrote this blog. The outbound flight leaves at 17.30 from Belfast International Airport, handy if you are coming from any part of the island or if you live close to Belfast then take a half day from work. The return flight is in stark contrast with the Wow Air flight from Dublin. Instead of leaving at 06.15 in the morning, the Belfast flight leaves at 19.50 giving you plenty of time for a day trip to somewhere close to the city.
Below is a screenshot of the same dates as the Wow Air flight, 17th April to the 21st April. There is a 110EUR difference between the two sets of flights. This could be even greater if you book the Easyjet flight with somebody else and would mean there is a difference of 120EUR.
Unfortunately Easyjet do not operate the Summer months from Belfast but this is a great option for anyone looking to see the Northern Lights, which you cannot see in the Summer months.
The number of visitors from Ireland to Iceland is increasing year on year. Of all the people that I personally know that have travelled to Iceland, I cannot remember one complaint apart from how it can be expensive. Why not save a few quid before you land there by keeping your options open.