Few transpacific-turned-transatlantic oddities feel as satisfying as connecting through Alaska's own gateway before tracking east toward the Arctic Circle. There's no nonstop option here, which surprises many travelers—there is currently no direct service between Anchorage and Reykjavík, so business class from Anchorage to Reykjavík means routing through a hub, most sensibly Seattle or Minneapolis on Delta, or Chicago and Newark on United, before catching Icelandair's continuation into Keflavík. Icelandair doesn't operate a traditional lie-flat business cabin on many of its narrowbody fleet, but its Saga Premium/Saga Class product on select aircraft delivers a comfortable, well-priced upgrade with dedicated check-in and lounge access at KEF. The smarter play, frankly, is using United or Delta metal for the transatlantic long-haul segment itself—United's Polaris seats (with direct aisle access on 767 and 777 aircraft) or Delta One suites on A330/A350 equipment operating out of their coastal hubs give you the true flat-bed experience for the bulk of the journey.
Having threaded this itinerary myself heading to Iceland for a shoulder-season assignment, I'd tell you the connection logistics matter more than cabin choice: Seattle-Tacoma's Delta hub offers the tightest, most reliable minimum connection times if you're arriving from Anchorage on a morning flight, while Chicago O'Hare can get chaotic during summer thunderstorm season, so build in buffer time on United routings. Keflavík's arrivals hall is compact and efficient even during peak cruise-ship-adjacent tourist crush, so late arrivals rarely feel punishing.
My insider tip: booking the Anchorage-to-hub segment as a separate award ticket on Alaska Airlines miles, then pairing it with a paid Delta One or Polaris fare for the transatlantic leg, often unlocks better seat availability than searching the itinerary as one continuous booking—airlines' internal inventory systems don't always show the same open business seats when segments are split versus combined. May through September remains the sweet spot for this routing, both for Reykjavík's endless daylight and for softer business class pricing as airlines compete for summer Iceland demand. Given the multi-carrier complexity and seasonal fare swings here, setting up dedicated price alerts across United, Delta, and Icelandair is genuinely the only way to catch this route's best business class value before it disappears.
