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WOW Air is offering $99 one way flights to Iceland and $149 fares to eight other European cities. These are not mistake fares. These are advertised fares from Boston and Baltimore (which is misleadingly marketed as Washington, DC by WOW Air.)
WOW Air is an Icelandic low cost carrier. It offers flights from Baltimore and Boston (and soon San Francisco and Los Angeles) to Reykjavik with connections to Europe. These are the discounted ones:
The Fares
These $99 and $149 fares are only available eastbound and mostly available on undesirable days of the week.
Returns are more expensive, like this return from Reykjavik to Baltimore for $141, making for a $240 roundtrip.
The cheapest return from Paris to Baltimore is $176, meaning $325 roundtrips.
Fees
Wow Air’s $99 fares, and all of its tickets, just include a seat and up to 5 kg (11 pounds) in one carry on. Additional weight in your carry on, checked bags, and even seat selection increase the price. Here is the fee page for WOW Air.
From the United States to Iceland, Wow Air charges $38 each way to increase your carry on weight allowance to 12 kg (26 lbs). From the United States to the rest of Europe, you’ll pay $48 each way.
Wow Air charges $48 each way for a checked bag of up to 20 kg (44 lbs) to Iceland. To the rest of Europe, the charge is $67 each way.
If I were to book WOW Air, I would book them one way to Iceland, and I would pay $38 extra to be allowed to carry on 12 kg (26 pounds) in one bag. That’s $137 total for a one way ticket to Iceland, and I am a big proponent of one bag travel, so this would be plenty of space and weight for a trip of up to a month.
Then I would fly a low cost carrier from Reykjavik to continental Europe.
I would eventually fly home from continental Europe, either for 20,000 American Airlines miles on an off peak economy award, or in Business Class with United miles. This would mean seeing Iceland and another European country for probably about $300 plus 20,000 miles all in for all the flights. That’s unbeatable.
Best Way to Buy the Ticket
Your top choice should be the Citi Prestige® Card, since it comes with a $250 Air Travel Credit every calendar year that will cover the purchase of this ticket. If you haven’t used the credit yet, buy this fare (and the extras like seat selection and baggage fees) with your Prestige, and you will receive an offsetting credit on your next statement: a completely free ticket one way ticket to Iceland, London, or several other cities.
Even if you’ve already used your $250 credit for this year, the card offers 3x on all airfare purchases.
See my review of the Citi Prestige Card which explains its many benefits like it annual $250 Air Travel Credit, 40,000 point sign up bonus, access to the American Airlines Admirals Clubs and Priority Pass lounges, 3x points per dollar on air travel and hotels, and a $450 annual fee.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
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I just did this (via Baltimore). A few things I learned:
1. With the carry-on baggage, you can only have ONE piece with you. You get up to a certain weight for free, beyond that you have to pay the fees (as mentioned above). If you try to walk on with two pieces the staff will ask you to stuff one into the other, or if you can’t, you’ll have to pay to check.*
2. There is NO online/mobile check-in. That means the ONLY way to get your boarding pass is by walking up to the check-in counter at BWI or BOS. This is important really for people (like me) who are coming from other cities into BWI (not sure the BOS setup). You have to allow time to cross the security barrier from your arrival gate, walk to the check-in counter, get your boarding pass, and wait in line through security screening again to get to your WOW gate. Make sure to allow enough of a buffer between flights. Luckily, BWI is a smaller airport and the international pier sees little traffic (though the BA flight goes out around the same time). On our way back, the WOW flight was delayed 2 hours and we lost our connection (on AA) to ORD.
3. Of the food options, the ham/cheese baguette is the best value (about a foot long; versus the microscopic (but tasty) smoked lamb flatbread sandwhich).
*This isn’t exactly the most onerous policy, because it helps ensure everyone has space in the overhead bins.
Thanks for the trip report! Very useful.
I just did this (via Baltimore). A few things I learned:
1. With the carry-on baggage, you can only have ONE piece with you. You get up to a certain weight for free, beyond that you have to pay the fees (as mentioned above). If you try to walk on with two pieces the staff will ask you to stuff one into the other, or if you can’t, you’ll have to pay to check.*
2. There is NO online/mobile check-in. That means the ONLY way to get your boarding pass is by walking up to the check-in counter at BWI or BOS. This is important really for people (like me) who are coming from other cities into BWI (not sure the BOS setup). You have to allow time to cross the security barrier from your arrival gate, walk to the check-in counter, get your boarding pass, and wait in line through security screening again to get to your WOW gate. Make sure to allow enough of a buffer between flights. Luckily, BWI is a smaller airport and the international pier sees little traffic (though the BA flight goes out around the same time). On our way back, the WOW flight was delayed 2 hours and we lost our connection (on AA) to ORD.
3. Of the food options, the ham/cheese baguette is the best value (about a foot long; versus the microscopic (but tasty) smoked lamb flatbread sandwhich).
*This isn’t exactly the most onerous policy, because it helps ensure everyone has space in the overhead bins.
Thanks for the trip report! Very useful.
[…] you’ve heard about WOW Air, which frequently offers $99 one way tickets from Baltimore and Boston to Iceland and $149 one way tickets to Europe. Starting this Spring, WOW Air will add San Francisco and Los […]
[…] you’ve heard about WOW Air, which frequently offers $99 one way tickets from Baltimore and Boston to Iceland and $149 one way tickets to Europe. Starting this Spring, WOW Air will add San Francisco and Los […]