Icelandair inevitably offers a lounge at its hub airport in Reykjavík, known as the Saga Lounge. It is available for all passengers traveling in its business class cabins or those that have gold or silver status with Icelandair's loyalty program known as Icelandair Saga. More on lounge access, among other important information, in this article.

Quick Links Seating & facilities Lounge access Recent upgrades

I had the opportunity to test out the lounge, located close to the D Gates at Keflavik International Airport , before my journey to London Heathrow Airport in early-December. Overall, the lounge itself features warm colors and a calm atmosphere, providing a useful environment to relax and fill up on some food and drink before a flight. This is particularly true for connecting travelers in Iceland for a short transit on their journey between North America and Europe or vice-versa.

Seating & facilities

The lounge itself feels homely and comforting. There is plenty of seating, lighting, as well as places where you can even lie down fully or partially, depending on preference. There are plenty of windows, with views against the Reykjanes peninsula and Faxaflói bay, as well as the aircraft on the tarmac.

The lounge offers free Wi-Fi, family facilities and a kids' play area, a fireplace in the centre and a shower as well. The toilet area is around the side, cut off from the rest of the lounge but still just as modern. From my experience, the lounge was not too busy but I also was not traveling during the peak connecting bank.

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The lounge, which is open from 05:00 till 17:00 every day, is inspired "by Icelandic nature", the airline says. The staff were nice, and regularly went round the lounge to clean up. What I really appreciated from the lounge was the presence of several hot drink dispensers across the room, meaning a coffee was not far away from anyone. Food was located closer to the entrance.

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At the time of my visit, the food was primarily destined for lunch. I noted plenty of fish dishes on offer, which I had to try of course being in Iceland. The food was tasty, unique and enjoyable. I followed my main course with a coffee and some biscuits, at which point I noticed the wide-range of alcohol beverages available for self-service. Although tempted, I avoided this area for both my and everyone else's safety.

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I sat down and got a little bit of work done. Several coffees and a hot chocolate in, it was time to head off to the gate. One thing I had missed was that Icelandair recommends that passengers traveling through the D gates should head to the airport about 40-50 minutes before departure. My flight was leaving in just under a half hour. Thankfully, the airport was not busy at all: I went down the escalator to the departure area, breezed through passport control, and arrived at the gate with a good 20 minutes to spare before departure.

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Icelandair's Saga lounge is not limited to business class passengers or those with gold or silver status in the carrier's loyalty program. Certain Icelandic credit cards also allow access, including (non-exhaustively) Platinum Business Travel, Premium World Card, Premía Card, issued by Arion. Other cards, issued by Íslandsbanki, including the Icelandair Mastercards (Business, Platinum and Premium).

Other airlines' customers can also access the Saga Lounge at Keflavík Airport, including:

airBaltic: those traveling in business class or holders of the PINS VIP card or staff with business lounge access card. Alaska Airlines: MVP Gold Card holders Atlantic Airways: those flying Flex+ with a Basalt Card or Gold Card Austrian Airlines: Star Alliance Gold & first class passengers, or business class passengers. British Airways: all guests with oneworld Emerald and Sapphire status Edelweiss Air: HON Circle members, Senator members, or those with Miles and More Gold Status from Air Canada Aeroplan or United Mileages Plus Finnair: plus platinum or gold members, oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members, business flex and classic customers, corporate customers with an invite boarding pass, those flying on a codeshare partner marketed flight in AY business cabin, or Finnair customers traveling on oneworld intercontinental flights in business class. Lufthansa: Senator Gold Card members, HON Circle Card members, First Class passengers, Star Alliance Gold members, and business class passengers, too. United Airlines: business class passengers, only when flying United Airlines though.

It is worth noting that with each of these statuses, certain conditions are attached. For example, while Lufthansa first class passengers can invite a guest into the lounge with them, business class passengers cannot. The same is true for different statuses with each of these other airlines.

Atlantic Airways passengers cannot invite a guest in any case, nor can Saga Premium passengers with Icelandair. The airline's Saga gold and silver members can, though. Saga Lounge access cannot be purchased.

Recent upgrades

The lounge was first inaugurated in 1988. The latest product that I reviewed follows a 2017 renovation, which saw the unveiling of the cozy, wood-adorned lounge. The reception desk is the first novelty, with warm lighting hidden yet shining as you enter. The metallic text and logo also gives a sleek look to the lounge.

The lounge spans 1300 square meters, nearly double the size of the previous one. The last Saga lounge required passengers to go downstairs to access with no view whatsoever, while this one is a quick escalator ride up for some stunning scenery. Prior to that one, a user on flyertalk recalls it was "small but had a view."

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The lounge is part of Icelandair's attempts to differentiate itself from other carriers operating in the competitive, transatlantic sphere. As Icelandair CEO Bogi Nils Bogason admitted to me in Reykjavík at the start of this month:

"In Iceland, we offer high living standards that mean high salaries in general. So, we have to have the right product for that as well. The economy of scale is important in the in the airline interest industry to drive down cost. But an Icelandic airline will always be quite small compared to the to the big guys which we are competing with.

Dillon Shah & Icelandair CEO Bogi Nils Bogason. Photo: Dillon Shah | Simple Flying

So we will never win against the big low cost airlines - operating out of lower cost country spaces - on prices or costs. Our strategy has always been to have the right product. We have two classes. We have good seat pitch and great service and through that, we are able to generate higher revenues than cost."

Find more exclusive content from my trip to Iceland for the delivery of Icelandair's first Airbus A321LR here.