Icelandair (not) at your service

PSA – For those of you previously unaware (like most of us), Icelandair, that fabulous airline with "website of the year" (ha) is cutting services in Baltimore as of January 13, 2008.  Yep, no more flights from the DC area, one must now head to the major metropolises (metropoli?) of either New York (ugh) or Boston (not as much ugh, but two so close together?!).

Why?  Well, read the reasoning for yourself at Icelandair’s fantastic, user-friendly (not) website.  Sorry, not biting on their reasoning at all.  Anyone who has flown the BWI circuit recently knows it is nothing if not jam-packed almost every flight, especially heading to the States.  Stories of free tickets and cash for getting bumped on flights to BWI, especially during the summer, are rampant.

Now, if they had offered the reasoning of the small, lackluster "International" terminal at BWI, I would have a little more understanding.  With only 8 gates, one shop and a tiny cafe, there is little reasoning to call it a hot-bed of international flying.  That being said, it is still extraordinarily close to the DC metropolitan area, far closer than Boston or New York for those heading to other locations across the U.S.

So, where is their new "Northern" base?  Toronto.  Yep, read into it what you will, but frankly, seems to me they could have included Toronto without dissing the mid-Atlantic… or perhaps adding flights to another locale such as Atlanta.  Nope, think there is a little more to it, yet now is neither the time nor place…so discuss amongst yourselves.

Meanwhile, if you have a flight "scheduled" for the spring from BWI to Keflavik, you might want to give Icelandair a call.  As we have learned those who are hopping (halfway) across the pond to visit us this spring (!!), Icelandair has taken customer service to the new (lowest) level of not bothering to do squat on their own initiative.  They can and will rebook you, but apparently you have to bring their, er, errors to their attention and at that point, they will "work with you".