Here's what the $99 flight from LA to Iceland is like

A nine-hour direct flight in coach sounds like hell on wings to me. I’m not spoiled—I’ve only flown business class once in my life, to Amsterdam on a new Dreamliner aircraft, which was truly a dream.  Private pods, welcome gifts in reusable clutch purses, warm towels and food, pillows and eye masks, all the gin I could drink. But in reality, I’m a first-class girl with a coach budget and usually fly airlines like Southwest.

It’s easy, cheap and gets you from point A to point B pretty seamlessly and efficiently. Layovers are their own ring of hell, but sometimes they’re a necessity. But you do what you gotta do when you don’t have a huge travel budget.

So when I was invited to hop on the inaugural flight of Iceland’s WOW Air from LAX to Keflavik International Airport, near Reykjavik, I said yes—I’m not stupid —but I did give pause. WOW is a fairly new airline that just started flying direct from L.A. and San Francisco to Iceland. The whole schtick is cheap prices, and I mean super cheap, like as low as $99 one way. To put it in context, that’s cheaper than a flight to Vegas.

Naturally, when the airline first announced the flight, they sold out faster than you can say Eyjafjallajökull. You can still find the $99 one way—and that’s only one-way from L.A. to Iceland as it costs more to come back—but they go super fast. There are deals on the website now starting around $199, which is still insane when you think about it.

But is saving a few bucks worth your comfort? What extras are added on? Do you really have to pay for your own water? What the heck is a flatkaka med hangikjötianyway? I found out for you.

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Nobody Knows Where WOW Air Is

This being the first flight from LAX, my Uber driver had no idea what WOW Air was or where it was located. When we finally fought the most brutal traffic getting into the terminals, there was an electronic sign saying “WOW AIR TBIT.” Great. Only the official WOW Air sign outside put me a few doors away from the check-in counter.

Fine. There would be a lot of sitting in my future, so a few extra steps wouldn’t hurt now. And thanks to the bright purple branding on everything from the signage to the flight attendant uniforms, you can’t miss the counter.

You Have to Pay For Every Bag—Even Your Purse

$99 one-way is great and all, but like most airlines these days, here’s where it all starts to add up: Baggage. You get one carry-on bag for free (that’s including your purse, ladies) so long as it weighs 11 pounds or under. After that, it starts at $39 per bag, and $48 at the counter. For checked luggage, one bag (max 44 pounds) will cost you around $58 online or $76 at the gate. Emotional baggage, per usual, is free.  

I’m not sure if it was because this was the inaugural flight or if my small group was invited, but no one weighed my carry-on luggage. Good thing, too, because it felt like it weighed 80 pounds. I’ve heard various stories where some counters are more diligent than others, so next time, leave the lava rocks at home and travel light or pay up.

Basic boarding at LAX: They call chunks of rows to board at one time, starting from the front back. At Keflavik, it was more of a free-for-all. And who’s taking these cheap flights? This guy above, for one (to be fair, there was a big music festival, Secret Solsctice, happening in Reykjavik that weekend…I took him to be an international DJ). 

Otherwise, it was a lot of young people, a few older people, an occasional kid or two. Typical, but I thought the crowd skewed young. Millennials, take note.

This being the first WOW flight from LAX to Iceland, the owner of the airline was at our gate along with city and airport officials, and they all had so many things to sa…hey, look, cake!

Neckerchiefs Are Only One Reason the Flight Attendants Are Amazing

The buns on the flight attendants are on point. And their perfect make-up will make any air-weary traveler feel pretty shitty after more than eight hours in the air. But damn they are nice. Super accommodating at every juncture, from helping you find a seat to serving drinks and sandwiches from the carts. I even witnessed a pretty elaborate jewelry sale, like an in-air duty free shop, across the aisle on the flight back.