Wow Air flies A321s like this one from Iceland to Boston and soon to Baltimore/Washington. (Image: Wow Air)
$99 one-way fares from the U.S. to Europe? Fares are highly restricted, but yep, they are there…
One of the newest low-fare transatlantic carriers to fly to the U.S. is Iceland’s Wow Air. It currently operates Boston-Reykjavik nonstops and will begin Baltimore/Washington flights May 8. It also offers onward service from Reykjavik to several cities in Europe. More about Wow Air here.
As an ultra-low-cost carrier that makes its money from ancillary passenger fees (you get a carry-on of up to 11 pounds; everything else is extra), it has been promoting one-way, Boston-to-Reykjavik flights for $99 including taxes.
But with a required change of planes in Iceland, this is not your average business traveler’s airline.
Still, if you are headed to Iceland, have some extra time to get to Europe, or just want to be the first on your block to fly Wow Air, it does have an interesting twist on seating: Although its A321 aircraft are one-class, you can decide how much legroom you want — paying extra for more, of course.
Flight time between Boston and Reykjavik is 5-6 hours; from Baltimore, it’s 6-7 hours.
The website jaunted.com recently tried out Wow Air’s service, and found that its regular seating has a knee crunching 30-inch pitch. But travelers can opt up to “L seats” with 33 inches for an extra $24, or even more to “XL” seats with 35-inch pitch for a $33 premium. The reporter noted that since most of the passengers were apparently budget-focused, her XL seat choice gave her a row all to herself.
Would you fly an airline like Wow Air to Europe? Why or why not? Please leave your comments below.
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Just Iceland, Ryan
I’d fly only if you could get the $99, then the XL seats are not too much of an upgrade, and depending on how much a 45lb carry-on would cost. Also, is the $99 just to Iceland, or to another destination in Europe?
I flew them about 3 weeks ago from Boston. No issues, flight attendants were awesome, and check-in was smooth and efficient. Yes they do weigh your carry on but they state the weight limitations on their website. I found no problem with them at all and they were about $300 less than Icelandair even after checking a bag.
Ok, I looked into booking a four day trip to just Reykjavik and it’s nowhere close to $99. I looked from June through the end of August and the cheapest part was the end of August. It’s the Sprint and Ryanair Airline scam in which if you are going yourself with no baggage and one carry-on bag less than $15 pounds you can do the Baltimore/Reykjavik round trip for about $442. But it’s a different story when you start adding on things, like each carry-on bag over 15 pounds is $29 each way. On that suitcase that has your luggage for the four day trip, that is $48 each way. And for seats, and I am doing the middle type of seats with some leg room it’s $33 each way. So my grand total for the Wow experience is $748.76, that includes the $86.76 in taxes.
Now in comparison I went over to the Icelandair site. This is a airline that I have been on many years ago and thought it was good. I booked in coach and the total fee was $889.31 but that included everything, one checked bag for free, same with carry on that is over 15 pounds. There were no charges for seats and they are the same width as WOW.
The point in this is that you can go on an airline that has been in service since 1937, has many flights coming and going to the United States or you can go this start-up which frankly I will be hesitant to fly.
Frankly we should all wonder about these airlines that promote a great fare (which I couldn’t find anywhere) and nickel and dime you to death. The last thing you want is to have an airline that weights ever piece of your baggage and such.
Sorry I will stick with an airline that I know the track record is, Icelandair even if it costs $150 more.
Oh for all of you, for as long as I can remember (at least 40 years) Icelandair was always the cheap way of getting to Europe, via Iceland. Many travelers have gotten really great, cheap flights on this airline and they throw in for free a stay over in Reykjavik.
I’d fly but having to get to the east coast and then travel from the destination in europe to where I actually want to go would probably nullify any savings.
I bet their customers don’t say “wow” when their carry-ons get weighed and surcharged…
Yes I’d fly them but would definitely buy up to xl leg room