This booking was my first experience with Icelandair, and very likely to be my last. I had booked a 3-day stopover, as per their offer, on my trip between Washington DC and London. I arrived in Reykjavik with no trouble, enjoyed a few days in Iceland, but then went to check in online for my flight to London the night before I was to leave. I received a message that there was a problem and to call the office. Although this was certainly a hassle trying to make a call while out of my own country, I was finally able to call and spoke to Edda in Reykjavik sales. After assuring me everything should be fine and it was likely a problem with the online system, I asked her to please make sure, at which point she must have actually checked my reservation for the first time. She informed me that I had been marked as a no-show for the IAD-KEF leg of my flight and therefore had the KEF-LGW leg cancelled automatically. I was of course surprised by this, but told her that, no, I had indeed been on the flight, and was presently in Reykjavik. She became defensive at this point and a bit accusatory, like I was somehow trying to pull one over on her. Let alone the illogical idea that I would have missed this flight yet somehow have gotten to Reykjavik, I explained to her that I had my boarding pass and receipts for in-flight purchases. She requested pictures of these, which, although again this was a large hassle, I provided. These were not good enough. The boarding pass had been printed at home (online check-in), and the receipts, according to Edda, could have come from "one of my friends". At this point, I became upset and asked to speak to a supervisor. After several phone calls back (I was using Skype), and a good two hours of the supervisor, who I was never connected with directly, trying to "get in contact with the airport", I was told I had to go to the airport several hours early the next day, present my credit card to sales staff as "proof" of my in-flight purchases, and then, perhaps, I would be permitted on my flight to London. The next day at the airport, the sales staff had no idea what I was talking about and had to spend an additional half hour on the phone to whomever, while again speaking to me in a very impolite and accusatory tone. I was finally allowed to board my flight (a reservation I had made over two months prior), but never once was I offered any explanation of what happened or any apology of any kind from any of the six or so people I had spoken to at that point. Indeed, up until the very end of the ordeal, I was spoken to derisively and it was clearly implied that the whole thing was somehow my fault. Let alone the very scary idea that this airline apparently flew me from DC to Reykjavik without ever even realizing that I was on the plane, the extremely rude attitude of the sales staff and the total lack of any kind of apology or compensation for this mistake (not even an upgraded seat!) are enough to make me avoid this airline for good. read more
