Three ways to book a flight with Icelandair using points and miles

Icelandair is a favored airline for trips to Iceland, with its hub at Keflavik Airport (KEF), situated approximately 31 miles from Reykjavik. Known for budget-friendly flights, many travelers opt for Icelandair to journey between the U.S. and Europe while enjoying a stopover in Iceland.

However, if you’re exploring how to utilize points and miles for Icelandair, you’ll soon realize that the airline isn’t part of any major airline alliance. While it has interline and codeshare partnerships with Emirates, Turkish Airlines, and JetBlue, redeeming rewards from those airlines' loyalty programs for Icelandair flights isn’t currently possible.

In summary, many types of points and miles cannot be redeemed for flights on Icelandair.

However, you do have a few options, so let’s explore them.

Redeem points from the Icelandair Saga Club

Icelandair operates its own loyalty program known as the Icelandair Saga Club. Unfortunately for occasional Icelandair travelers, none of the major U.S. transferable points programs partner with Saga Club. While you can earn Saga points through Expedia bookings, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines flights, Hertz car rentals, and more, most travelers based in the U.S. may find it challenging to accumulate a substantial number of Saga points.

Fortunately, you don’t need a full balance of Saga points to book your Icelandair flight. You can use any amount of Saga points to reserve any available seat on a scheduled Icelandair flight. Additionally, you can redeem Saga points to cover taxes and fees associated with your Icelandair bookings.

For instance, on a sample round-trip fare of $590, I utilized the airline's slider tool to experiment with various combinations of points and cash.

I could use 137,337 points to fully cover my booking, which would provide a value of 0.43 cents per point.

Alternatively, I could redeem 57,781 points and pay $343.80 towards the $590 round-trip fare.

While redeeming Saga points for Icelandair flights won't yield maximum value, it remains a viable choice if you prefer a mix of points and cash, especially if you have some extra points available.

Utilize Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles for redemption.

Another option is to redeem Alaska miles for flights with Icelandair. However, it’s important to note that, per Alaska's partner page for Icelandair, business-class award bookings are currently on hold due to frequent booking failures. Since Icelandair discontinued its premium economy class in 2018, economy is the only available class for using Alaska miles.

Although Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan continues to offer a partner award chart, the listed rates are merely starting rates for direct award flights.

I observed that the award rates for direct Icelandair flights align with the stated starting rates. For instance, I was able to redeem 27,500 miles along with $137 for a one-way trip from Seattle to Reykjavik. The flight distance from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to KEF is 3,622 miles.

If I left a few days earlier and connected through Portland, Oregon, I could redeem just 22,500 miles and still pay the same $137 in taxes and fees.

In comparison, flying 2,413 miles from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to KEF would require 22,500 miles plus $137.

Interestingly, I could extend my journey to Dublin at no extra miles cost. However, there would be $192 in taxes and fees associated with this one-stop award.

Thanks to Mileage Plan's generous stopover policies, I could even arrange for a weeklong stopover without increasing the mileage cost. I would just need to cover slightly higher taxes and fees.

Earning Alaska miles can be a challenge, as the primary major transferable currencies that convert to Mileage Plan are Marriott Bonvoy and Bilt Rewards. However, you might be able to take advantage of attractive welcome offers with the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card or the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card, both of which allow you to earn Alaska miles on your spending.

Book through a credit card travel portal.

You can also reserve Icelandair flights using points or miles via the travel portals of most major transferable points currencies. However, typically you'll only receive 1 cent per point or mile for flights booked through these portals. The main exceptions where you might find better value are:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Members receive 1.5 cents per point when redeeming through Chase Travel℠.
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Members earn 1.25 cents per point when redeeming through Chase Travel.
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: Members can get a 35% airline bonus (up to 1,000,000 bonus points each calendar year) when redeeming Membership Rewards points for flights with their selected qualifying airline, and for first- or business-class tickets on any airline using Pay with Points through American Express Travel. While Icelandair isn’t a selectable airline, eligible cardholders can still earn the airline bonus when booking Icelandair business-class tickets.

If you hold the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, you might benefit from purchasing a regular Icelandair ticket with your card. This way, you’ll earn miles on your credit card purchase. Then, within 90 days after your purchase, log into your Capital One account and redeem points to cover your recent travel expense. While you’ll only receive 1 cent per point for covering recent travel costs, at least you’ll accumulate miles when paying for your flight with your card.

In summary,

Although Icelandair is not part of a major airline alliance, you can still use points and miles for its flights. The most valuable redemption options for your Icelandair journey are Alaska miles or booking through the Chase Travel portal with your Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred.

That said, as mentioned earlier, you have various alternatives. Given the often affordable fares for Icelandair flights, it may be more practical to book a paid ticket and reserve your points and miles for hotels or future travel.