A nostalgic Icelandair 767-300 economy trip report from 2018 (complete with testicle meat)

The following is a full review of my experience in Icelandair 767-300 economy class from Reykjavík to San Francisco in October 2018. I wouldn’t dare refer to it as a luxurious experience, but it was better than what any US carrier was offering at the time.

The seats were very well padded, and the in-flight entertainment was pretty good (at least by 2018 standards). The food? Weird. But oddly delicious.

Flight Number:	FI863
Route:	Reykjavik / Keflavik, Iceland (KEF) – San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Date:	Sunday, October 21, 2018
Aircraft:	Boeing 767-319/ER
Registration:	TF-ISN
Flight Duration	8 hours 39 minutes
Seat:	26E (Economy)

Icelandair 767-300ER side view illustration by NorebboStock.com

My full review of Icelandair 767-300 economy class from Reykjavík to San Francisco

Iceland was awesome. So awesome that I do believe I was frowning as I climbed aboard the Flybus at the main bus terminal in Reykjavik for the 45 minute ride over to KEF. I had a ticket for Icelandair 767-300 economy with my name written all over it.

But then, like a baseball bat to the lower back, well…it felt like I got whacked with a baseball bat to the lower back.

Somehow the combination of throwing my heavy backpack over my shoulder and walking down the stairs of the bus upon arrival at KEF wasn’t something that my lower back agreed with. I tweaked it good. So good in fact, that I couldn’t even bend over 5 inches without wincing in pain. Perfect timing to have to go sit in economy class for 8 hours, eh?

Outside entrance to the main terminal at the Keflavík airport — Curbside, KEF. Pretty amazing shot considering how my other hand was reaching around behind me to nurse my freshly injured back!

Checking in at Reykjavik Airport

The only thing that sucks more than flying injured is to fly injured while trying to get tons of pics and video footage for the trip report. All I wanted to do was find a dark corner to lie down and die in, but nope. The show had to go on so I hobbled around the airport in pain trying to get the shots I needed in order to keep the fans of my trip reports happy. All two of them!

Icelandair baggage drop and check-in area Keflavík airport — Why is it that the baggage drop lines are completely vacant when I don’t have any bags to drop? This would have been a total zoo if I was checking luggage today.

Being occupied with trying to get trip report footage is a good thing sometimes. Especially here at KEF. This is a beautifully designed airport, stuffed full of the latest technology and cuisine. Unfortunately, it’s far too small, and it’s not hard to imagine that it was designed and built before the Iceland “fad” got big a short while ago.

Waiting for my flight

It seems everybody wants to visit Iceland (and they’re arriving every day), but this airport just can’t keep up. There’s nowhere to sit during peak hours, so be prepared to stand in crowds of people while you wait for your flight to board.

The lack of seating is such a problem that you probably won’t mind having a short layover in Reykjavik. So go ahead – book that flight with a 1 hour connection at KEF. There won’t be anywhere to sit and wait anyway.

Limited seating areas Keflavík airport 2018 — Don’t let these benches fool you – once you leave this central area of the terminal, there will be nowhere to sit.

Keflavík airport main terminal waiting area 2018 — What they say is true. Nothing will make you feel like an old man faster than struggling to read the tiny text on the departures board while holding your lower back to help ease the piercing pain.

Keflavík airport flight departures board 2018 — I hobbled over to a flight information board closer to eye level only to find out that I’m *way* too early to be at the airport. As usual.

Inside of the Keflavík airport 2018 — Who likes sitting anyway? It’s off to the gate area where we’ll be standing until getting on the plane!

Spotless clean terminal Keflavík airport 2018 — Despite the lack of seats, it sure is a good looking terminal. Normally I cringe thinking about having to sit on the floor at an airport, but I would’ve licked the floor of this one if someone dared me to do it.

Passengers waiting for their flight Keflavík airport 2018 — This is the *only* open seating I was able to find on the departures level, and I came back 5 minutes later and every last square inch of it was occupied. I imagine the scenario was a lot like the “musical chairs” game we played in elementary school – and if your class was anything like mine, we all played dirty. There’s no time to be polite and cordial when fighting for the last remaining seat!

My flight was shown as departing from gate D28, but by the time I arrived there was a flight to LHR still in the process of boarding. Well, “boarding” is a generous word considering that these are all bus gates and the actual airplanes are located on the other side of the airport.

Passengers waiting at gate D28 Keflavík airport in 2018 — D28. Currently queueing for LHR, but STANDING by for SFO. (See what I did there?)

Icelandair 767-300 parked at the terminal at Keflavík airport 2018 — Pretty much the only gate in the place with a jet bridge. The AvGeek in me would have been totally disappointed if this was my flight though because I wanna go outside!

The boarding process

This flight was going out of gate D28, which is one of the many remote gates at KEF. All around me I could hear the groans from other passengers who didn’t feel much like going outside into the Icelandic elements one last time, but I was chompin’ at the bit to get some up close and personal time with that big and beautiful Icelandair 767.

Passengers waiting to board at Keflavík airport to 2018 — Kind of weird for enough people to fill a 767 to be all bunched up like this with no 767 in sight. Welcome to KEF I guess.

Icelandair 737 MAX 8 parked at the gate Keflavík airport 2018 — Since when did Icelandair get 737 MAX 8’s? I had no idea. And I probably wouldn’t have known if I didn’t get the chance to ride the bus to a remote gate.

Icelandair 737 MAX 8 engine and wing close up — What is there not to like about bus rides around the airport? Those MAX 8’s sure are pointy.

WOW A321 parked at the gate Keflavík airport 2018 — I’m still convinced that a better name for this airline would have been “HOLY CRAP”. “WOW” is playing it too safe in my opinon, and I’m a firm believer in pushing the limits when it comes to branding and marketing.

We had the choice of boarding from the front or the rear of the airplane today, and I naturally gravitated towards the front. I’m not totally sure why it is, but I have a slight phobia about going through rear aircraft doors voluntarily. It just seems wrong IMHO – and as far as I’m concerned those rear doors only exist to be escape holes after a horrific accident of some kind.

Boarding via the front stairs Icelandair 767-300 Keflavík airport 2018 — It could have been 30 degrees colder and I wouldn’t have been any less excited. Now THIS is the proper way to board an airplane!

Close-up of an Icelandair 767-300 from the ground Keflavík airport 2018 — I wonder if they would have let me try the rear stairs too?

Boarding an Icelandair 767-300 through the forward boarding door via stairs Keflavík airport 2018 — Interesting that there was a canopy for the forward boarding stairs, but not for the stairs behind the wing. I guess it just goes to show you that the service is always better at the front of the plane.

Icelandair 767-300 business class cabin 2018 — A motion-blurred and brief look at the Saga class cabin as I carve my way back to economy.

Icelandair 767-300 economy class seat and cabin overview

Icelandair 767-300 economy is arranged in a fairly spacious 2-3-2 layout. On this particular flight, there were pillows and blankets and bottles of water on every seat.

Icelandair 767-300 economy row 26 center section — Row 26 on this Icelandair 767-300. And I swear to God I heard my injured back yell out “oh *hell* no!” just moments before sitting down.

I knew this flight was going to be full even before I reached my seat (thanks to having a look at the seat map 6 hours earlier). There was no chance of having an entire section of the aircraft all to myself, but I was cool with that. After all, it would be a really good way to test the Icelandair cabin crew to see how they act under pressure. Not that I was planning on being difficult or anything…

Icelandair 767-300 economy legroom — Now that I’ve spent two days in Reykjavik, I had a much better sense of why they chose these particular colors for the interiors of their 767s. It’s “volcanic” gray, I’m sure of it. And isn’t it fun when you blend into the plane you’re on? I definitely had a chameleon vibe going on at this particular moment.

Icelandair Spotify channel on the video screen in Icelandair 767-300 economy — Did you know that Icelandair has a Spotify channel? I didn’t. That was some pretty high tech sh*t back in 2018!

Icelandair 767-300 economy video screens — Still nabbing pics of the integrated video screens for ya even though my back is in excruciating pain. You’re welcome!

Thankfully one of the only empty seats on the plane just so happened to be right next to me, so I thanked my lucky stars that I had more space to stretch out and to try and find a position that wasn’t so hard on my back. So far so good actually. There was still 8 hours to go yet, but my back wasn’t completely locked up or anything.

Icelandair 767-300 safety card — I didn’t notice it on the flight from SFO a few days ago, but I diggin’ how the plane looks like it crashed on an iceberg in the very bottom illustration. I would have added a penguin or two for extra realism (perhaps even a friendly seal and a detached engine), but whatever.

Icelandair 767-300 economy class cabin — Secretly hoping that somebody on this plane is a chiropractor. An emergency adjustment may be needed sometime in the next 8 hours…

Icelandair safety video 2018 — Did you know that I speak Icelandic? Let me translate that caption for you: “That rock-hard and bolt-upright economy class seat you are sitting in has absolutely zero lumbar support, which will inflict additional irreversible damage to your already wounded spine. In less than 8 hours, you will be paralyzed from the neck down and your career as a travel blogger will be over. Have a nice flight!”

The departure from Reykjavik

Our departure from gate D28 was 15 minutes late at 5:15 PM. It was a fairly short taxi out to the runway, and we were in the air by 5:30 PM. Simple, quick, and easy.

Icelandair 767-300 economy seats with video screens — Not sure what I’m trying to take a picture of here, but we’re taking off now.

Icelandair 767-300 economy aisle — It was raining during the takeoff, so there wasn’t much to see anyway. For all my luck, there could have been a herd of frolicking (and mating) Icelandic reindeer at the edge of the runway and I missed it. Again.

In-flight map just moments after departing Reykjavík airport — Departing Iceland is like departing Europe except you get to fast forward all the way to Greenland.

In-flight entertainment

I’m not normally one to fire up a movie right after takeoff, but I needed something to take my mind off my fresh back injury. What better choice was there than about a grumpy old man struggling to find peace with all the active (and healthy) youngsters around him? Yup – “Gran Turino” was a fine choice indeed.

Food and drinks

If you wanted to eat in Icelandair economy class back in 2018, you had to pay for it. Basic snacks and drinks were free, but anything more substantial than that came at extra cost.

I went with the mystery meat (in the form of small animal testicles) and cheese, washed down with apple juice (of course). I mean, what else would you want to wash your down small animal testicles with?

Icelandair economy class food in 2018 — It may not have been the best looking meal I’ve ever had, but boy was it ever delicious.

Watching the in-flight map on a flight from Reykjavík to San Francisco — I wonder if I’m the first person in the history of the world to ever eat mystery testicles at these exact coordinates?

Seat and cabin comfort

Once the movie was finished and the testicles had been consumed, it was time to get to work. I would have much preferred to have slept for a few hours, but the pain emanating from my lower back wasn’t going to allow that.

So, for the next 2 hours, I pecked away at my iPad as I wiggled around in my seat trying different positions that didn’t have me whimpering in pain. I’m no doctor or anything, but I was certain that sitting in an economy class seat for 8 hours immediately after a back injury only made things worse.

Icelandair 767-300 economy class lavatory — Time for a bathroom break. Mental note: I gotta spice up these lavatory pics somehow. How come nothing ever exciting happens in here?

Icelandair 767-300 economy class cabin looking forward from the rear 2018 — Every seat occupied, except for the one next to me. Nailed it.

Walking up the aisle of an Icelandair 767-300 in economy class 2018 — Racing up the aisle as if I was expecting an Icelandic reindeer testicle feast to be waiting for me when I got back to my seat.

Reykjavík to San Francisco in-flight map — Wish I could see outside. ***sigh***

Icelandair 767-300 economy window seats — The light out there was pretty much perfect too. It took every bit of strength I had in me to not reach across and nab some pics for the ‘gram.

With just under four hours of flying time remaining, I decided that binging on back-to-back episodes of Family Guy was the only way to speed up time so that I could get off this plane and save what was left my mutilated lower back. Is it wrong that I (an old man prone to lower back injuries) still laughs hysterically to immature humor? Family Guy has got to be one of the best TV series ever.

Watching family Guy in Icelandair 767-300 economy 2018 — *“You’d better watch who you’e calling a child, Lois. Because if I’m a child, you know what that makes you? A pedophile. And I’ll be damned if I’m gonna be lectured by a pervert.”* – Peter Griffin

Icelandair 767-300 economy class cabinet with the lights dimmed 2018 — “Volcanic gray”. I love it!

Passengers sleeping in Icelandair 767-300 economy — Next time somebody asks me if it’s possible to sleep in Icelandair economy class, I’m just gonna email them this pic.

The descent and arrival into SFO

My stomach was grumbling like crazy all the way through the descent and landing. The service is generally very good on Icelandair, but food portions are small (which stings especially bad since all food on this airline costs extra back here in economy class).

In-flight map showing the moments before arrival on a flight from Reykjavík to San Francisco — Hope they’re awake up there and don’t overfly SFO. I need to get up and stretch my back soon before it splinters into a million (more) tiny pieces.

We touched down on runway 28L at 7:09 PM, which was 20 minutes behind schedule. Total flying time ended up being eight hours and 39 minutes which (oddly enough) was exactly how long they predicted it would be. Right down to the minute.

Passengers waiting to deplane Icelandair 767-300 economy 2018 — Welcome to San Francisco! As Interesting as it would have been for the trip report, I’m so glad that I didn’t have to call for paramedics to extract me from this plane.

Final thoughts

I didn’t really get a sense of how good (or bad) Icelandair cabin crews were after a nearly empty flight from San Francisco to Reykjavik a few days prior, so I was especially looking forward to seeing how they did on this very full return flight. All in all I think they handled things very well. They were friendly, attentive, and generally very proactive with drinks throughout the entire flight.

It was the ground experience at KEF that left a lot to be desired though. That place is a total madhouse during rush hour. Hopefully things have improved since 2018…

A nostalgic Icelandair 767-300 economy trip report from 2018 (complete with testicle meat)