My husband and I took an epic trip to Iceland in November. We both fell madly in love with the country, and we feel like we really left a piece of our hearts there. Between the incredible and unique nature, the overall feeling of peace and safety, delicious food, and friendly locals, Iceland truly impressed us, and we are already dreaming of when we can go back. In this blog, I will share the details behind how we booked this luxurious bucket-list trip without breaking the bank, so that you, too, can travel to Iceland on a budget!
Even though we booked our trip two and a half months in advance, it was still fairly spontaneous. We didn’t really have a reason for going, other than the fact that it had been a longstanding dream of ours, and we had a brief window of opportunity to get a really good deal on it. In the following paragraphs, I will walk you through the exact steps I took to book this trip and how much it cost.
How I found this deal: the importance of flexibility of and doing your research
One of the best pieces of advice I can give people with a limited budget who are looking to travel more often is to be flexible and do your research! One of the ways I am always “doing research” is by following travel influencers on Instagram who actually provide useful information and inform their followers when hot deals are going on. I have to give a shoutout to my favorite travel influencer @zacharyburrabel who is the reason we got to take this trip. He posted about this incredible deal Icelandair was doing back in August, and I recognized what a rare find this was, and literally booked our trip two hours later.
So, what was the deal exactly? In August, Icelandair had a major sale on a package trip to Iceland that included roundtrip fare, four nights in a four-star hotel, and three tours for just $749! Iceland is notoriously one of the most expensive countries in the world. When you combine that fact with the inflation and record-high travel costs we’ve all been facing, it doesn’t take a travel expert to recognize that this deal was truly unbelievable. Icelandair was only selling this deal for a few days in August, and the caveat was that you had to travel between mid-October and mid-March. This makes sense because Iceland is a cold place with very intense and unpredictable weather, especially in the winter, and most travelers would prefer to visit in the summer months. This wasn’t a deal breaker for me, though, because after doing some research, I came to the conclusion that Iceland is a wonderful place to visit at any time of the year, just don’t expect clear skies and comfortable conditions! If you’re willing to travel to Iceland in the winter too, check back next August because this may be a deal that they promote annually.
The hardest part was convincing my husband!
I quickly brought this deal up to my husband, who admittedly was skeptical at first. He is the more financially cautious and deliberate of the two of us, whereas I tend to be more spontaneous and risk-taking. I realized the value in this deal and that it would quickly sell out, whereas his perspective was that we shouldn’t rush into such a big purchase simply because the clock was ticking. We discussed the opportunity and listened to each other’s perspectives in a respectful manner. I shared with him that even though this was spontaneous, and we didn’t have a particular reason for going to Iceland right now (like a birthday or an anniversary), this was something we both had wanted to do for a long time and it would be hard to do it at such a reasonable cost at a later date. I also pointed out that this is the perfect time in our lives to be taking these spur-of-the-moment trips—we are married, young, don’t have the responsibilities of children or a mortgage yet, and have some disposable income. He finally agreed and allowed me to book the flight, although he was still a bit hesitant. (Spoiler alert: he came around and ended up having a fabulous time. He may love Iceland even more than I do, if that’s even possible!)
Details of the trip: how much it cost, flying first class, booking a positioning flight, and managing a red-eye
Because the trip was such a good deal, we decided to upgrade to first class for the first time ever! The cost of the entire trip with first-class flights was $1500 each. Even with the upgrade, this was still a fantastic deal. The main reason I decided to splurge on first-class this time was because we were traveling such a long way for such a short trip. Our flight to Reykjavik was a red-eye and upon landing, we would immediately be going to the blue lagoon. (If you’d like to read about our experience at Iceland’s Blue Lagoon, check out this post!) I didn’t want us to waste our very limited time in Iceland having to recover from the exhaustion of the flight, so I thought it was a good use of our money to make our travel as pleasant and relaxing as possible. The first-class upgrade was more than worth it, and the service was exceptional. Now that we’ve flown first-class, we see what we’ve been missing all these years, and it will be difficult to have to go back to coach! Check out my review of the Icelandair first class lounge here.
Unfortunately, Icelandair does not do direct flights out of Atlanta, so I had to book us a positioning flight to Baltimore where we had a four-hour layover. Our flight to Baltimore was quick and easy (about an hour and a half), however positioning flights are not without risk, so this definitely made me nervous. Thankfully, however, all went smoothly, and we did not experience any delays or mishaps. We were able to hang out at the Priority Pass Lounge in Baltimore thanks to our credit cards giving us access, and this was a great way to pass the time. We got to enjoy free food and alcohol, comfortable chairs, and charging stations. It was the perfect way to unwind before our long flight. We then embarked on our flight to Reykjavik, which was only about five and a half hours.
Why it was all worth it
Although it was an incredibly long travel day for just a four-and-a-half day-long trip, it was what we could afford to do at the time with PTO and budget constraints. Some neigh-sayers may think it’s crazy to travel so far for such a short amount of time, but it was totally worth it to us, and though we would have loved to stay longer, it was infinitely better than not getting to go at all!
I hope you enjoyed this blog on how I booked our wonderful Iceland trip on a budget by utilizing certain strategies and being flexible. We both loved Iceland so much, and I’m confident that the next time we go will be for much longer so we can explore so much more of what this beautiful country has to offer. Stay tuned for upcoming posts about our itinerary, our Iceland tips and advice, and what we would do differently next time. Love ya and thanks for reading!
Xoxo,
Jeni
