I think they will probably just offer you something that is not direct if you cannot leave a day earlier? Or offer you a day later. Kind of doubtful they would do very much since it is so far in advance. But I see no harm in asking nicely.

I book our Skymiles tickets a year in advance. There is always the risk of schedule changes when you book that far out. The option is usually cancel with no fees.

I figured they wouldn't do much of anything in our favor. The fact that we would lose our accommodation deposit if we were to choose to cancel the airline reservation (and DH refuses to fly with a connection on other airlines) is enough to compel us to go on and add the extra day. I know it's not the airline's fault we opted for the type of accommodation that we chose. I may, however, call and ask if there is anything they are willing to do to make us a little happier about the new itinerary, as I guess it couldn't hurt. The responses thus far pretty much confirm what I suspected.

Icelandair has 8 or 10 flights leaving various US cities synchronized to all reach KEF at about the same time. I know in Seattle here we have gone direct, and we have gone Seattle > Minneapolis > Keflavik. Maybe if you talk to them they will offer an alternative and get you there on your original day.

Of course if your spouse refuses to layover somewhere, I'm not sure what accommodation Icelandair would be able to make.

Flights to and from EU countries (even if operated by American carriers) are covered by a very strict law that regulates airline performance. Delays and cancellations often result in a set payment to passengers, but you have to jump through some hoops to claim it. I don't know how it works if they cancel your flight in advance, but it would be worth doing some googling. I found that you have to drop the name of the EU regulation (which I think is 261/2004). Several years ago, our flight home from England was delayed by about 6 hours - we ended up getting a payment from American Airlines for the equivalent of 600 Euros each for our 4 tickets - it was a check for like $2200. It took me a few months of back and forth with the airline to get them to honor it (they kept punting my complaint letter to other departments), but it was obviously worth it. And I only knew about it because my then 10 year old son spotted a tiny sign in the airport that said if you are delayed, you are entitled to compensation under EU regulation 261/2004 and asked me what that meant. I had hours to kill in the airport, started to google that regulation, and ended up $2200 richer a few months later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_Compensation_Regulation_261/2004

Something similar actually just happened to us with a WestJet flight to Nashville. We were supposed to leave really early in the morning, connect in Toronto and then straight to Nashville. They cancelled the early morning flight to Toronto, and rebooked us on one the night before. Our flight to Nashville the following morning remained the same. Essentially they added an overnight layover in Toronto. My husband travels a lot for work and has some sort of status with both WestJet and Air Canada - I'm not sure if that made any difference, but when he called them they agreed to pay for our hotel in Toronto and provide us with meal vouchers. I would say it's definitely worth a call!

Thanks so much for the additional thoughts. Part of me wants to say, "screw it - things happen", but the part of me that goes kicking and screaming against life's little "injustices" is having a hard time letting go of the fact that because of the airline's change to our tickets, which we purchased from them in good faith, we're out money one way or the other -- whether we cancel the trip entirely (which we do not want to do), or accept the schedule change and bear the additional costs of an extra day. In the overall scheme of things, I suppose I should just be grateful that we're able to take a lovely 2-week vacation to a scenic country such as this, but you know ... fair and just and all that jazz still plays in the back of my mind.

I'm continuing to Google, and will in all likelihood go ahead and contact the airline to ask for some form of redress. I have yet to find a customer service email, and would certainly prefer that as writing is my strong suit - phone "negotiation" is definitely not. The airlines aren't going to make it super easy to accomplish what I'd like to do, though. I get that.

Thanks for the link. I'm also sending an email to the "Sales & Support" address that the email regarding our itinerary change came from. Not sure why I just didn't think of that to begin with ... Duh.

Often when I have a flight cancelled and then changed I am able to look on the website and find a more convenient replacement. (And is usually much more expensive.) After calling, I've never been told I can't take the more convenient flight.

Have you been able to check if there are any other flights that might work?

I've not found any other non-stops on the date of departure that we originally chose, and we aren't willing to do a layover (we have non-stops on both the outbound and return; DH hates air travel, so we were thrilled to find these flights). We'll take the new date, but I'd still like the airline to compensate us for the additional costs we'll bear. I've sent an email to Sales & Support, and we shall see. I may have to pursue a bit, or I may decide that it's just not worth the hassle. That too remains to be seen. ;-)

Surprised to have received such a quick response, even though it's not to my satisfaction:

Hello, Thank you for your reply. As this is schedule change affecting travel in May 2019, seven months ahead from now, we are unable to guarantee any compensation. We can, however, secure new flights from Dallas to Iceland on original date of travel using connecting flight through other Icelandair gateway or process full refund for tickets on our service. Please contact our reservations for rebooking or refund options. Once again we apologize for inconvenience.

Ida, it's nice that you received such a quick response, even if it wasn't to your satisfaction. It still counts in the plus column. How much does your husband hate connecting flights? Is it more than the cost of the extra day's expenses? I don't mind a couple hours' layover, but beyond that I'm willing to pay more.

I'm wondering if it would make a difference if you asked Reservations for something specific, like a seat upgrade?

Since a day has been added on the font end and that's what is adding extra expense, can you shorten the trip by a day?

I'm still at it. Just sent this to the airline:

Thank you for your prompt reply; unfortunately, neither alternative offered is satisfactory.

We do not wish to travel using connecting flights; in fact, what appealed most to us about Icelandair was the availability of non-stop flights between DFW and KEF.

We do not wish to process a full refund for tickets for your service, as we have already paid in full for our accommodation and car rental and will lose non-refundable fees if cancellation is made. As we are sure you understand, Iceland is a top tourist destination, particularly in the summer months. As such, it is customary – and in fact necessary - for visitors to secure airline tickets, accommodation, and rental car months in advance.

As previously stated, we purchased our tickets from Icelandair in good faith, and believe it is reasonable (under Regulation EC 261/2004) to receive compensation for our added costs due to the airline’s inability to deliver what we purchased. Please provide an email address for a supervisor to whom we may direct future correspondence. Thank you very much for your assistance.

Kind Regards,

I'm probably starting to sound like a whiny jerk, but I'll persist (for now) and see what happens. I did think about shortening the trip by a day on the backend, but as we have already paid for accommodation and car, it will likely not be possible to receive refunds for an unused day.

I don't think you sound like a whiny jerk at all - your email is very well written and IMO it's not unreasonable to ask them to at least pay for the extra night accommodation this will cost you.

The latest:

Hello, As said in my previous email we did, unfortunately, cancelled non-stop flight from Dallas to Iceland on the day of your original travel and we asked you to please contact our reservations for option other than one offered by this department. There is no other non-stop flight offered on that day to Iceland, only on date we provided to you in our original email. You may also make claim with our Customer Relations, to resolve your situation, by using web link below and selecting delay/cancellation assistance and attach EU regulation you are providing in your email. https://www.icelandair.com/support/contact-us/flight-disruptions/

So ... where's that supervisor's email I asked for? Ugh.

I'm afraid that you will likely not get anything extra from the airline, as they have informed you of the change well in advance. If you think about it, they have an entire planeful of passengers who are no doubt facing similar challenges.

Then I think they need to be prepared to compensate an entire planeful of passengers for whom their inability to deliver on a purchased commodity has caused added expense. Being informed of the change well in advance does nothing to alleviate extra costs, and the more I think about this, the more I'm convinced that it's right to pursue this. At any rate, I've just found a site that publishes email addresses for customer service executives, and I'm forwarding the email string to them. I may not get any further relief, but at least I can say I tried.

Is there any mention that the airline reserves the right to make changes to its schedule when you are buying tickets so far in advance?

At least they are responding, and quickly. It may well be likely that
you won't get any compensation from the airline, but it is certain that
you won't get anything extra if you don't ask. Their email implies that
you might have a chance by contacting a different department, "please contact ... for option other than one offered by this department."

Yep. If there's one thing I have learned over the course of my 56 years, it's that if you don't ask, you don't get. It never hurts to ask, IMO.

True, and it can't hurt.

I think the issue is that it is so far in advance this is reasonable to expect the change will not unduly harm anyone. Reasonable, not impossible.

I think the EU reg applies to changes much closer to the date of travel or, worse yet, en route.

It does get tricky trying to plan all elements of a trip simultaneously and well in advance, esp if you want to take advantage of NR prepaid rates.

Can you shift your whole itinerary forward one day? Even though you may be contractually obligated to other vendors, you may find some flexibility so far in advance and with a documented change outside of your control. By the same token, an extra day out of 14 is only 7% more. Eh...

I agree with mtn in that I don't think the EU reg really applies to your situation. You may end up getting something out of the deal if you are persistent enough, but I think this is just one of those things that happens sometimes with international flights booked way in advance. Yes, it's frustrating, but they gave you plenty of notice. And they are offering to rebook you or give you a full refund. Which I think is all they are required to do anyway.

I have a short trip booked in January from Portland, OR to Austin, TX. So far the airline has changed my return departure 2 times from 5:55 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. (it is a two day trip so that cut my time with my friends) and then to 3:00 p.m. I haven't acknowledged any of the changes since I figure more to come and I decided to let it go since there is nothing I can do. There are no other non stop flights that day and I can't get upgraded unless I fly in the cockpit. However, I do understand your frustration and it doesn't hurt to ask as long as it doesn't aggravate you more. But I do understand it being a matter of principle.too.

I appreciate the input from all of you, and particularly the commiseration. I decided to sit on this until after our recent NM road trip, and now that it's come up for review, I'm not finding it easy (yet) to just let it go. I know I said above that it wasn't the airline's "fault" that we booked the accommodations that we did (with the nonrefundable fees upon cancellation), but I also know we had to act as soon as we had made our decision, as June begins high season in Iceland and waiting longer to make reservations would not be to our advantage. The owner of the private residence we're renting has been an absolute dear to work with. I communicated with her last night, and she said it's no problem for us to arrive a day early, but she has guests leaving that morning and will need some time to clean the place (although we are welcome to stow our bags if we get there before she finishes).

In spite of my fussing, I am happy to have a chance to see Iceland coming up, and DH is especially excited. We plan to do what we enjoy most, and that is a lot of day trips that involve hiking. The worst part will be the air travel. We do not enjoy it at all, but it's a necessary evil if one wants to do more than road trips (and those are starting to look better and better to me all the time).

I hope you have a wonderful trip, of whatever duration! I'm jealous too, it is still on our list.

What aspects of flying is your dh particularly adverse to? I used to be a terrible flier, but since I fly about 6 times a year now...I have gotten so much better. I really disliked long flights bc I hate that “cooped up” feeling of being stuck. I also don’t love the feeling of taking off...so used to prefer non-stop bc you take off once. Luckily we live close to a hub, so it usually isn’t a problem to get non-stop. Lately, though, we have been to some destinations where we HAD to connect, and I find it is nice to break up the air travel sometimes. Each flight is shorter, which is nicer to me. I think I must have slight claustrophobic tendencies. So maybe if he focuses on the benefits of connecting, it might help mentally?

DH is a bodybuilder - big guy. He hates being confined to the tiny coach seats (and we can't afford a cabin upgrade), and just generally hates everything about the cattle call that terminals involve. The more I fly, the more I agree with him. Our last flight together was returning from Panama, connecting in Miami. It was a total cluster you-know-what, and he's not apt to forget the negative experiences. We've already decided to go with the new flight a day earlier (especially since it's a non-stop), but would love it if the airline would provide some form of compensation for our monetary outlay due to their change. Definitely not holding my breath though.

Unfortunately this is the risk in planning so far ahead. The airlines do periodically change their service — based on the markets, fleet changes etc. this is all independent of changes closer to departure which are less likely related to maintenance, staffing and weather Weather across the globe can affect not just your route but getting equipment and (properly/legally rested) staff to your location. All tricky for the traveler!!

its going to be a great trip!

Ida, I agree with you. If it was just a matter of an hour or two it would not make a difference, but an entire day can complicate things.

That said, anytime I book a ticket very far in advance, I usually expect it to change, and it does, sometimes a few times. But, I have never been in the situation where it was not within the day.

Have you purchased travel insurance? That could help with the extra costs incurred by the flight change.

No - I intended to purchase travel insurance but actually forgot all about doing so. I always do when traveling internationally, but I assume it's too late to purchase now and have it be of any benefit in this particular situation?

I agree that any time I book more than 6 mo.s ahead, I get changes. But not usually a day. In fact I often get emails telling me to confirm that I understand my flight will land at 7.08pm instead of 6:59 or somesuch. And then another changing it to 7:04pm

Yep - I've almost always had changes to my flight schedules by minutes (and like mtn says, sometimes so insignificant as to be completely inconseqential), but never entire days.

I think that these types of schedule changes are more common on low costs airlines running on very tight margins.

true.. but this isn't your typical destination. A few years ago the number of visitors was wayyyy lower.. now it's a primo destination. A lot of the origination markets are new-- and still finding the schedule sweet spot to stay profitable and also manage crews, fleet and maintenance .. and minimize operational delays and cancellations-- again, it's not as simple as you'd think-- especially when so many origination cities have limited flights.

I know it is frustrating-- but it's not like flying to London.. or even Cusco. Glad you were able to make it work with your reservations. Who knows, maybe that extra day will make your trip! Maybe you'll find a special restaurant or fit in an extra day trip or see a rare bird.. whatever! I know you like to turn negatives into positives..