Iceland Air is currently advertising a "Scandinavia Fly and Hotel" package on their site. But before you go ahead and book your flight to Norway or Denmark, I thought I would do some comparison shopping. So I headed over to our friends at Orbitz.com and checked out their prices for air and hotel packages. I want to find the best fare and the cheapest hotel (nothing lower than 2 ½ stars).

For both IcelandAir.com and Orbitz.com I will be departing out of Boston's Logan Airport on Monday February 3 (arriving Tuesday February 4) to Oslo, Norway. I will return Sunday February 8. Here are the results:

Iceland Air: If you fly solo it will cost you $1,447.97 round trip with taxes and fees included. The hotel chosen was the Anker Hotel. Iceland Air rates it as a 2 ½ star hotel. Now if you are going as a couple, then the price for two people is $1,875.94. Yeah that is not a typo, Iceland Air adds only $427.97 on to bring along a friend. Pretty good deal in my opinion.

Orbitz: Again if you fly solo it will cost you $1,132.79 round trip with taxes and fees included. Anker Hotel was used when checking out this rate, but Orbitz considered it a 3 star hotel. Now let's check out the couples rate. If two people travel together with a air and hotel package via Orbitz from Boston to Oslo, the total comes to $1,943.30. Yup, that is an increase of $810.51.

So each site had their positives and negatives. It all depends on if you are flying solo or with someone. Iceland Air's promotion is focused on doubles, so it makes sense that they would come in lower, but not by much. Here is the breakdown of the two sites' fares:

Iceland Air solo trip from Boston to Oslo: $1,447.97
Orbitz.com solo trip from Boston to Oslo: $1,132.79

A difference of  $315.18 in favor of Orbitz.com. That is a huge savings

Iceland Air doubles trip from Boston to Oslo:$1,875.94
Orbitz.com doubles trip from Boston to Oslo:$1,943.30

A difference of $67.36 in favor of Iceland Air. Not such a big savings, but why pay more?

The moral of this story is to always check numerous travel sites before booking any air, hotel or combination packages. A wise traveler is the one that spent less than the guy next to him on the plane.

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