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A review on my trip on board Icelandair's Boeing 757-200 in economy from GVA-KEF.
Don't forget to check out our Instagram: @theyoungglobaler !
With our summer vacation over, my family and I needed to get back to the US. We decided to buy the cheapest one-way ticket from Geneva to Washington D.C. and it happened to be on Icelandair (which I was super excited about as I had never flown on Icelandair before). Read on to hear about an airline that could save you hundreds on your travels to Europe.
Check In-
Check In at GVA was quite hectic as there were about 10 different airlines (Icelandair, Wizz, Agean...) all checking in at the same 3-4 counters.
Blurry picture of the chaotic check-in process
Boarding-
Boarding on most international flight begins around 30-45 minutes prior to departure, yet our aircraft arrived only 30 minutes before departure (and was on-time). To my surprise the aircraft was deboarded and cleaned quite quickly and boarding didn't take long at all; so hats off to the Icelandair ground staff. First thing we saw on-board was a very straight forward looking cabin, but the highlight is what we heard. Icelandair have quite possibly the weirdest boarding music ever (it seemed to be some sort of Icelandic pop music). Despite being somewhat of a a low-cost carrier, Icelandair have a decently sized IFE with an okay amount of options. The seat wasn't very wide, but the seat pitch was decent considering we were on a 757. What I loved about Icleandair was the fact that they really show their Icelandic roots. For example, the purser welcomed everyone, and gave a brief history of the aircraft's name (in this case it was an Icelandic volcano), then the saftey video was full of beautiful location's in Iceland. We took-off at 2:20, 20 minutes later than the scheduled departure.
Our 757 awaited us
The decent seat pitch
The view from 21F
Take-off above a beautiful Lake Geveva
In-Flight-
After takeoff I decided to watch a movie. And I wasn't shocked to realize that Icelandair not only play around a minute or so of ads before watching a movie, BUT 5 MINUTES OF ADS TO GET INTO THE SYSTEM (I guess they've got to make money somehow...)!!! Around an hour or so after takeoff the crew came around to sell food and drinks (the menu is found in the seat-back pocket if you are interested in ordering). Yet, this wasn't as simple as it seems... it literally took the crew around an hour and 15 minutes to sell to the entire, fairly small, 757-200. Despite the tremendous inefficiency, the crew were very war and helpful (oh and by the way I ordered Spicy Ramen Noodles).
The menu
My delicious entree (no joke)
Arrival/Roundup-
After a quick and decent into KEF we landed just a few minutes late. It was so amazing to see the bare Icelandic countryside as we approached over the ocean (landing video on our YouTube by the way). Overall, I had a pleasant experience with Icelandair and would definitely fly them again.
Our very cloudy decent into KEF
Overall- 7.25/10
Seat- 6.5/10
A decent seat with okay legroom, but I found it to bee a bit uncomfortable at times
IFE- 6.5/10
The choice of entertainment options is below average, but the screen itself was modern and responsive.
Food- 5/10
I LOVE cup noodles, but I HATE paying for things...
Service- 9.5/10
The meal service takes a bit long, but the crew themselves are super friendly
Timeliness- 7/10
Technically late, but only by like 5 minutes so no big deal
Value for money- 9/10
Only paid around $550 USD for this one-way journey from GVA-IAD with this stop in KEF (this is what really sets Icelandair apart)