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In the spring, we are going to Oslo > Bergen > Stockholm > Copenhagen for the first time. Flying one way from Houston to London to Oslo on BA (to redeem One World Alliance miles) then returning from either Stockholm or Copenhagen.

Want to return on different airline/route to avoid $300 London Heathrow passenger carriage fee.

  • Is it easier to fly from Copenhagen CPH to US or Stockholm ARN to US?
  • Besides Iceland Air and SAS Airlines what other airlines fly this route?
  • Is it cheaper to book a one way domestic flight from our entry city in US (Minneapolis, NYC, NJ, DC, etc) to Houston or book an international flight directly to Houston?
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  1. There's no appreciable difference in how "easy" it is to fly from Copenhagen or Stockholm. Make your choice based on which airport it is most convenient to get yourself to at the end of your trip, and/or where you get the best ticket deal.

  2. Norwegian flies direct from all three Scandinavian capitals to a number of US cities, but won't offer through ticketing for the domestic part of your trip.

    SAS codeshares its transatlantic routes with United, which may or may not be a cheaper option if you combine with a domestic booking from Chicago or New York to Houston. United may also have offers via Frankfurt, codesharing with Lufthansa on the Copenhagen-Frankfurt leg.

    Since you mention Icelandair, where you will change flights in Keflavik and not get all the way to Houston, there are several airlines that can get you from Copenhagen to Houston with one change of flight -- at least Lufthansa, KLM, Air France, BA, Air Canada, and United.

    (Yes, BA too. The airport and passenger taxes are collected by the airline and included in their published fares, so there's no reason not to check if they have a deal that will beat the competition).

  3. Impossible to tell -- it depends on when you travel, the day of week, phase of the moon, and the week-to-week whims of airline executives. You'll have to shop around both ways and see what comes out cheapest and within your comfort threshold.

Finally, do remember to check whether one of the airlines offer a return trip on the dates you need cheaper than a one-way ticket going back. This happens less often nowadays than it did in the past, but it still does happen from time to time. It would be silly to burn your Oneworld points for the outbound flight if you can get it for negative dollars when paying for it.

(Return fares will usually be available even when "out" is Houston-Oslo and "back" is Copenhagen-Houston, so-called "open-jaw" ticketing).

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  • It would be silly to burn your Oneworld points for the outbound flight if you can get it for negative dollars when paying for it. What do you mean by negative dollars?
    – Danger14
    Commented Jan 17, 2015 at 16:17
  • @Danger14: Suppose a one-way flight Copenhagen-Houston costs $1300 but you can get a return Houston-Copenhagen-Houston on your desired dates for $1000. Then, effectively the outward flight would cost you minus $300.
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Commented Jan 17, 2015 at 16:33
  • On top of these Henning mentioned, Turkish Airlines flies direct Istanbul-Houston, so you can connect from any of those Scandinavian capitals with one change. It's chosen the best airline in Europe for 3-4 years in a row, I'd definitely recommend that one. You could in fact book a cheaper Houston-Oslo + Copenhagen-Houston open-jaw ticket (or with different starting/ending points) just with Turkish Airlines and you'd get a much better deal, but I suspect you've already booked the first leg of the trip.
    – downhand
    Commented Jan 18, 2015 at 12:36
  • @downhand Thanks for the tip. We don't have the time for a 30 hour layover in Istanbul so we settled on Norwegian Airlines for NYC-OSL then ARN-NYC. Then a domestic RT from Houston to NYC. How do Turkish Airlines food and seats compare to AA or United?
    – Danger14
    Commented Jan 22, 2015 at 6:38
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    Norwegian is very good for a budget airline, but you have to pay extra for luggage, food and even water, which is kind of sad. It provided, however, the first flight I had with free WiFi.
    – downhand
    Commented Jan 22, 2015 at 7:04

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