Tag Archives for iceland.
It looks like Southwest Airlines is going to start flying to Iceland.
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said he wants to fly transatlantic from Nashville, too. And he’s talking up sprucing up the experience and offering a lounge, too.
Southwest Airlines is expected by many to announce its first flight to Europe, launching Iceland service next year.
Iceland has become the latest of many countries to remove pandemic-era restrictions. One Mile at a Time says they’re “encourag[ing] people to get infected.”
I don’t think that’s right, and lifting restrictions isn’t a “let ‘er rip” strategy as some have argued, either. It’s simply that the condition that made restrictions make sense early in the pandemic are no longer in effect today.
Iceland is opening its borders to vaccinated Americans tomorrow, but they won’t accept a CDC vaccination card as proof rendering the change problematic.
There’s clearly still a lot to work out in terms of the role that vaccination plays in re-opening international borders, and what proof will be accepted, however that Iceland is doing this – and doing it tomorrow – gives me hope that Greece’s plan to open to Americans this summer will hold, and that other countries will join as well.
Iceland and Hungary welcome people who have recovered from Covid-19 in the past six months. This makes a lot more sense than welcoming people that have tested negative in the past 72 hours. A recent negative test doesn’t mean someone is free of the virus at the time they arrive. But someone that’s recovered from the virus probably doesn’t have it and can’t spread it.
Ben Schlappig, known as Lucky from the One Mile at a Time blog is contemplating a trip to Iceland next month and the way he frames the discussion, and the ensuing comments, are a fascinating sociological study in how people are reacting to the coronavirus pandemic and travel.
He’s talking about visiting Iceland – which plans to welcome visitors starting June 15, with COVID-19 testing on arrival. He shouldn’t be sheepish or apologetic about this.
Currently Iceland requires 14 day quarantine for everyone arriving into the country. This requirement will be relaxed, with tourists being welcomed back with conditions, in three stages. Starting June 15 Americans will be able to visit, getting tested for COVID-19 on arrival.
American started flying from Dallas to Iceland when Wow Air and Icelandair started service there. When those two airlines pulled out, American shifted their flight to Philadelphia. Now they’ve filed to make their Philadelphia – Reykjavik flight year-round.
In November 2017 American Airlines announced Dallas Fort-Worth – Reykjavik service. They were only flying there because two Icelandic carriers started flying to Dallas. It was classic capacity dumping. Now with those airlines gone from the market, American is pulling out too — and moving their Reykjavik flight to Philadephia, where they’d have logically put it all along.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
