The deal with a free stopover in Iceland on a WOW ticket to Europe is not some secret hacker fare. Basically, as this post will show, instead of buying a low cost WOW Air ticket from the USA or Canada to some place like London or Berlin flying to Europe via Iceland with no stopover allowed, you can instead buy a WOW Air ticket to Iceland and then book WOW or another low cost flight to your destination airport in Europe. Surprisingly, this ticketing strategy may even reduce the overall cost of your flights to Europe.
WOW Air San Francisco SFO – London LGW
$489 one way Monday July 18
There is a baseline $489 low fare available on WOW Air SFO-LGW for July travel.
WOW Air SFO-LGW Bag and Seat Fees
- $49 one carry on (12kg/26lb)
- $68 one checked bag
- $26 one-way for two flight segments ($8 to $58 for seat assignment per flight segment ($13 seats are low cost common seats, next higher up with limited recline is $49 seat).
$494 buys two separate tickets WOW Air tickets
1. $379 SFO–Reykjavik Thursday July 14
2. $115 Reykjavik to London Gatwick Monday July 18
3. $5 more for Iceland stopover on one-way trip buying two separate WOW Air tickets SFO-London
WOW Air July Fare Calendar San Francisco to Reykjavik
- $379 SFO-KEF on three July 14, 15, 22 departure dates.
- $389 fare on six dates on July 4, 8, 11, 12, 19, 21.
Bag and seat fares are less when flying SFO to Iceland.
- $39 one carry on (12kg/26lb) is $10 less than SFO-BRS ticket.
- $58 one checked bag (20kg/44lb.) is $10 less than SFO-BRS ticket.
- $13 seat assignment for nonstop SFO-KEF flight segment (choice of $13, 49 or $58 for seat assignment).
WOW Air Reykjavik Iceland to London LGW
Since the SFO-KEF ticket is one way to Iceland, the passenger is free to spend as many days in Iceland as desired before flying onward to London.
Arrival in Iceland is Friday July 15 on SFO-KEF ticket. Stay three nights in Reykjavik and fly to London Gatwick on Monday July 18.
WOW Air  Reykjavik KEF to London Gatwick
$115 one-way Monday July 18 (after three nights in Iceland)
WOW Air July fare calendar for Reykjavik to London LGWUK
How much more do two tickets cost flying WOW Air SFO to Iceland with stopover, then Iceland to London?
WOW Air Iceland KEF to London LGW Bag and seat fares
- $20 one carry on (12kg/26lb).
- $39 one checked bag 20kg/44lb.).
- $8 seat assignment for KEF-LGW flight segment (choice of $8, $9 or $20 for seat assignment).
WOW Air combined fees for bags and seats SFO-KEF, KEF-LGW
- $59 one carry on bag; SFO-LGW single ticket is $49. Paying $10 more.
- $98 one checked bag; SFO-LGW single ticket is $68. Paying $30 more.
- $21 seat assignments; paying $5 less.
Two Ticket Strategy for Free Iceland Stopover
Buy two tickets. Fly WOW Air from San Francisco to Reykjavik, Iceland KEF, stay over for several days in Iceland, then fly onward to London Gatwick LGW.
The cost is $25 more if flying WOW Air with one checked bag on two separate tickets instead of buying a single WOW Air ticket for San Francisco to London LGW. The cost is only $5 more if flying with one paid carryon bag.
Play around with destinations and dates and you will find some combinations of tickets price less to fly to Iceland on WOW Air, then from Iceland to Europe with WOW or another airline.
Icelandair  Reykjavik KEF to London Gatwick LGW
$129 Monday July 18
Icelandair does not charge for checked bags or seat assignment for flights. This makes an Icelandair $129 one way ticket a cheaper ticket overall than the $115 WOW Air flight after bag and seat fees are added.
In Summary
WOW Air charges $489 to fly San Francisco to London Gatwick LGW on July 18. Add $75 to base fare for one carryon bag and two seat assignments on two flight segments at $13 each.
- WOW Air SFO-LGW
- $564 one way Monday July 18 all-in with seat and paid carryon bag.
- No stopover in Iceland allowed on this low fare WOW Air ticket.
You can reduce the total ticket price and have a free stopover in Iceland by flying WOW Air San Francisco to Reykjavik on July 14 for $379, plus $52 for one carryon bag ($39) and seat assignment ($13) = $431 SFO-KEF on WOW Air.
Stay a few nights in Iceland, then fly on to London LGW with Icelandair.
Ticket 1: WOW Air San Francisco SFO – KEF Reykjavik, Iceland
- $431 one-way July 14 with seat and one carryon bag
Ticket 2: Icelandair Reykjavik, Iceland KEF – London LGW
- $128.49 (low fare on July 15, 17-19, 21)
$560 total ticket price for $439 one-way SFO-Iceland on WOW Air, then $129 Icelandair to London Gatwick LGW.
$564 WOW Air total ticket price one-way SFO – KEF – LGW with no stopover in Iceland allowed.
Even bigger ticket price discrepancies are found for Scandinavian airports like Stockholm and Copenhagen where SAS and Norwegian compete on low fares to and from Iceland. There are more routes where Icelandair will save even more money by flying from Reykjavik to Europe.
Examples in this post are still high-priced at $560 one way San Francisco to London for peak season July airfare prices. This same ticketing strategy should be applicable for off-season dates to get even better deals on Iceland stopovers.
Icelandair Oslo to Toronto one way with free KEF stopover
Another simple ticketing tip for a free stopover in Iceland is booking Icelandair from USA or Canada to Europe or reverse. A stopover in Iceland is free on an Icelandair ticket.
July 24 Oslo, Norway to Reykjavik KEF
July 27 Reykjavik KEF to Toronto YYZ
$406 ticket Icelandair Oslo, Norway to Toronto YYZ is same price to fly direct OSLO-KEF-YYZ on July 24 or fly OSL-KEF, stay three nights in Iceland, then fly KEF-YYZ on July 27.
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