The trials and tribulations of air travel when things go wrong 

Day 1. June 7, 2025

Billings-Seattle, Seattle-Reykjavík, Reykjavík-Manchester

Depart Billings 2pm, 

Depart Seattle 3:45pm 

Depart Reykjavík 8am (June 8)

I hadn’t intended to post on our travel to England for the blog but after the events of our first day of international travel I’ve decided to include this portion of our trip. 

Oh lord….Alaska air changed the Billings departure flight time from 1:38 to 2 pm…38 minutes later! I don’t know how long ago they made this flight change because prior to our flight I hadn’t received any notice! Just enough time to miss our international connection by 4 minutes! Really???  I didn’t even notice the time change. I knew when I booked there was plenty of connection time so I didn’t even think about it. I was thinking we had 45 minutes or so. Plenty of time. I was caught by surprise when I looked at the boarding time for our next flight as our plane landed in Seattle! If we made it, it was going to be by a minute. (The change notice did eventually arrive in my email a day later, the next morning… after we arrived in Iceland on a different flight!)

We deboarded ready to race. First we had to find a departure board for our flight. Then we had to consult a map for Concourse S… we had to also take a train! We scooted as fast as we could through a very busy airport from Concourse C to Concourse S (including the train and double set escalators down and double escalators up) to find the gate empty and one lone employee there. “The door is locked and the plane has just pulled away”…. words you never want to hear. She was able to get us another flight to Iceland in the evening, 4.5 hrs later arriving at 9:30am but no way to get us to Manchester England until the following day… a day later. (We did look at other airline options but nothing was better). 

Each airline blamed the other and we went back and forth from C (Alaska) to S (Iceland Air) and S to C and C to S…. No one would take responsibility. Alaska wasn’t helpful at all and it was their change. 

We took the 7pm flight thinking we were on our own for a day and night in Iceland. Not happy with either airline at this point. No one seemed willing to compensate our hotel or meals for the drastic layover in Iceland. 

Upon our arrival in Reykjavik we stopped at an airport help station to get boarding passes for the next morning. These airport agents casually informed us that Iceland Air would provide a hotel and meal vouchers because our flight was changed. We were happy to hear that news! They sent us for our baggage and then said to go to the “Meeting Point” near the airport exit. We patiently (mostly) were standing there for over an hour and hadn’t seen and couldn’t find an Iceland Air agent to save our souls. We arrived at 9:30am and it looks like the Iceland Air checkin areas with agents don’t open until 12:30. A 3 hour wait?! After waiting forever long we needed to talk to an Iceland Air agent, to inquire again, about getting picked up etc. More waiting. No one in Seattle had given us any hint there would be these logistics due to the flight change made by the airline! In Iceland they seemed so matter of fact… yes you will be taken care of. 

Waiting, waiting…For an agent to arrive. I finally found an agent at checkin at 11:30. He was very helpful and called the nearby hotel where they accommodate these situations. Now we’re waiting for a hotel shuttle to pick us up. 

Still waiting….45 minutes! Just as I was losing patience (again) the airline agent showed up and led us to the taxi area. He had arranged a taxi to Keflavík Hotel. This town is maybe 5 miles from the airport. Reykjavík is actually 40 minutes away. 

It’s a really nice, scandinavian modern small hotel. Here’s the hitch…. they’re totally booked. They fed us a nice lunch but are trying to find an accommodation for us. More waiting… in the lobby. It’s a nice, comfortable couch. 

Soon my phone will die. Down to 7%. I actually only brought a UK outlet adapter… and Iceland uses European two-prong outlets! I need to find an adapter or an USB port.

All I really want to do is take a nap. I don’t sleep well on long flights. After a day of disappointments we quickly got good news from the hotel staff. There’s a room in the hotel for us! It’s 1:30pm and we have a room for the rest of today and this evening!!!!

We are now laying horizontal, watching Wimbledon Tennis and relaxing the jet lag out of us. Complimentary dinner, breakfast and a ride to the airport bright and early tomorrow.  It has all worked out but it wasn’t easy! Iceland Air just took care of everything… no vouchers, no fuss. The room is just perfect! I think we’re going to be just fine! The hotel also has a high end spa with hot water pools (of course it’s Iceland) and a year round snow room. Wish I wasn’t so tired I could pony up for a nice spa day.

On a side note… today’s weather in Iceland is 55F, misty, foggy and gloomy. And this is summer?! Weather kind of matches the foggy brain I have from jet lag. 

Manchester England here we come!!

Stay tuned…. my plan is to blog again when we head to Scotland but we shall see if England gets a consolidated story.