Iceland Air has an option to purchase an extra seat for comfort for all economy fare classes (including light) via the call center (the $35 booking fee is not waived). For the itinerary I’m looking at (FRA-KEF-PDX), choosing to do that for an economy light without pre-selecting seat would end up costing slightly less than paying to select exit row seats for all the segments.
From EF flight availability, the KEF-PDX segments look pretty empty in Saga and I’ve had good luck getting upgraded through the bidding process. So if it’s offered, I’d likely bid anyway.
The phone agent assured me that Economy Light passengers 1) are still eligible to bid if the itinerary is eligible even if booked with an extra seat (although they’d also need 2 available seats in Saga for such a bid to clear and it might affect the required amount) 2) that in case I went ahead and purchased the extra seat reservation, it’s guaranteed that I would still be assigned 2 connected seats even if I didn’t pre-select seats and paid additional fees.
Should I go for the extra seat option or stick to the paid exit row seats? (In case I can get upgraded via bidding, the seat selection fees would be refundable.)
My concerns with the extra seat option are in case of a full flight or IRROPS.
Has anyone flown with a paid extra seat option with Iceland Air in Economy Light? Did they actually assign you two seats together at check-in time? In case of a full flight, if they cannot find two connecting seats, would they just refund the extra seat cost and you’re stuck with flying without an extra seat? Or you’d be bumped to another flight with availability etc you could claim EU261? In case of IRROPS, would they also have to accommodate the extra seat if they put you with another carrier?
Thanks in advance for anyone sharing experience in scenarios like this on Iceland Air!
From EF flight availability, the KEF-PDX segments look pretty empty in Saga and I’ve had good luck getting upgraded through the bidding process. So if it’s offered, I’d likely bid anyway.
The phone agent assured me that Economy Light passengers 1) are still eligible to bid if the itinerary is eligible even if booked with an extra seat (although they’d also need 2 available seats in Saga for such a bid to clear and it might affect the required amount) 2) that in case I went ahead and purchased the extra seat reservation, it’s guaranteed that I would still be assigned 2 connected seats even if I didn’t pre-select seats and paid additional fees.
Should I go for the extra seat option or stick to the paid exit row seats? (In case I can get upgraded via bidding, the seat selection fees would be refundable.)
My concerns with the extra seat option are in case of a full flight or IRROPS.
Has anyone flown with a paid extra seat option with Iceland Air in Economy Light? Did they actually assign you two seats together at check-in time? In case of a full flight, if they cannot find two connecting seats, would they just refund the extra seat cost and you’re stuck with flying without an extra seat? Or you’d be bumped to another flight with availability etc you could claim EU261? In case of IRROPS, would they also have to accommodate the extra seat if they put you with another carrier?
Thanks in advance for anyone sharing experience in scenarios like this on Iceland Air!