When booking trough the icelandair website, they gave me 2 hours and ten minutes to get from my arriving flight at La Guardia to my departing flight at JFK.  Completely impossible, if you figure in collecting my bags, getting transportation to the other airport, checking in at JFK, and security.

The first “Customer service” representative said the same thing about policy and that I should have paid attention to the itinerary.  I would have had to read their tiny font and be aware of New York La Guardia and New York JFK.

At least when I called back, to speak to a different ticket agent, they were able to resolve the issue in my favor with no extra cost.

Bad customer service. Misleading website.

Icelandair does not have a clear enough warning on the site.  Bad web design.

They will definitley lose repeat customers who will go to other easier to use sites.

This must happen to them more often than it appears.

The fact, is the customer bares the blame for not taking the time to read carefully. Plus, as I read it, he has traveled before, so isn’t it safe to say he knows EWR is Newark, New Jersey?

On another note, I have tried to make bookings on IcelandAir’s website several times, and it is be far the most poorly implemented airline site I’ve ever been on. If they are going to talk about people being drunk, I would suggest the drinking went on when that booking engine was created.

And Chris Elliott knows I’ve been one of his most exasperated readers: as someone fairly intricately familiar with airline practices and as someone who works in the travel industry, I constantly chide him for unnecessarily protecting his subjects’ stupidity and expecting the travel provider (be it airline, hotel, rental car, or whatever) to bend to every silly demand. (I’m now a firm believer that the customer is NOT always right.)

But in this case, Chris was right. The customer was right.

Did you hear me, Chris? YOU WERE RIGHT. And you didn’t do enough to help Mr. Hjartarson.

I agree wholeheartedly with Carver here that there is be an element of trust between a consumer and a reputable company. And I doubt Icelandair would consider themselves anything but a reputable company. His grocery store analogy is perfect.

My initial thought when beginning to read Chris Elliott’s article was that the customer was trying to save money by using the multi-city booking function. But that wasn’t the case. To expect the customer to have to even check up on the product the vendor is selling when using a simple round-trip booking engine is ludicrous. It’d be like expecting the grocery-store shopper to look for an expiration date on what appears to be a non-perishable canned item, and then refusing to honor the return when it the shopper discovers that the item has indeed perished and has an expiration date. Why would you expect to even look for an expiration date on a can of beans? Why would you expect to look at the legality or feasibility of the connection if the booking engine suggests it to you?

As someone who virtually breathes travel and travel-related discussion, and as someone who has worked in the travel industry and suffered the brunt of the pure idiocy and retardation of the general public (with which I am continually and greatly frustrated), I can STILL say that this is NOT a situation that any thinking person can expect a normal person to even question, much less do research or think they need to involve the services of a “travel professional.” Everyone who suggested that most people would assume it’s a simple terminal change–or that the airline shouldn’t automatically present a connection that cannot possibly be honored–is ABSOLUTELY correct.

Now, perhaps the fine folks at FI have read this column and the comments, or perhaps Chris Elliott did some further follow-up with FI that he hasn’t told us about (though that’s not usually the case), but it appears they have now instituted a small note:

“Change of airport required. Newark Liberty International – John F Kennedy. Time between flights = 3:21.”

Such information should, of course, be highlighted in red font, but at least this appears to be a step in the right direction. For those who say that Mr. Hjartarson should have known what he was buying, let me specify that even this note, which I assume was not present when most of the earlier commenters were posting (not to mention, of course, when Mr. Hjartarson made his booking), is not prominent at all. How can you tell people they should be informed consumers when the merchant–in whom you place good faith (unlike, say, a street vendor on Sukhumvit in Bangkok)–does not even give you the tools with which to even let you realize you’re not informed.

Chris, please ensure Mr. Hjartarson receives a full refund for an obvious mistake on the part of FI’s IT department.

An airline had no business selling a product that didn’t ‘fit.’

If a travel agent had set you up with the same itinerary, would you feel they were to blame? They book your flights, not telling you how far apart two foreign airports or rail stations are, and that you can’t possibly make the connection, then you pay for the tickets, and they just say ‘sorry’ and leave it at that?

It’s no different. Shame on Icelnd Air.

The one thing I’ve found since moving to Europe (from the US) is that there really is FAR worse customer service on this side of the pond. My ex-pat friends and I rant about this stuff on a daily basis, then hit the pub to drown the memories! (Remember when Madonna moved back to the US, how she said she would NOT miss Londn customer service? Very telling.)

I am a seasoned traveler and book most of my travel on my own through the web, and I disagree with everyone here who says this guy was at fault. Yes he should have done more research to understand what he was booking. However the airline should not even offer this, and the excuse that their program isn’t able to make that decision is bull, they can put parameters in there that stops it from show connections with time that no one can make. Or at the very least have it flagged with a big disclaimer before booking saying something about the connection time for these airports.

In which case the booking airline would be obligated to get the traveler to his final destination with due dispatch and without collecting any more money for fees or fare differences, typically rebooking passage on the next flight?

Not only was Mr Hjartarson not paying attention to the routing, he was price shopping. The Newark to JFK connection was cheaper by $384 per person, so of course he took that one. And only after he examined what he bought did he realize. Then he wants Icelandair to fix it at no cost?

I don’t think so.

Perhaps a more sophisticated traveler might have known. However, in the modern age, we allow customers to make certain assumptions such as

When I buy a car, the car comes with all the parts needed to make it work
When I rent a hotel room in the US it will have a bed
When I buy a computer, the power cord is included.

And when I buy a plane ticket, the itinerary is possible. Perhaps difficult, even unpleasant, but always possible. Let Caveat Emptor remain dead.

@Mark

The difference in your Ocho Rios trip was that they sold you a crappy ticket, but one that was still possible, if unpleasant and inefficient. While I agree with you, its not the same as the OP’s situation where they sold him an impossible ticket.

The only thing the purchaser might be owed is the $160 change fee for two tickets, as he did still wish to travel MSP-KEF and he agreed to being rebooked on the direct flight for the difference in fare.

Well said.

Icelandair considers 3 hours to be legal. Given that you’re supposed to be at the airport 3 hours before flight time for an international flight, Icelandair’s statement that 3 hours is legal is demonstrably false. The OP would need to teleport from LGA to JFK