Booking your own replacement flight after an Icelandair cancellation
Sometimes Icelandair's own rerouting simply isn't good enough — too distant, too slow, or nothing offered at all — and sorting out your own alternative and claiming the cost back afterward becomes the more sensible move. This is a real right, but it only works if certain conditions are actually met first. Jumping straight to a self-booked replacement without checking those conditions can undermine an otherwise solid claim.
Free eligibility check
Check your case in the form
Enter your route, date and type of disruption. We will check whether your case qualifies for a claim under EU 261/2004 or UK261.
What happened to your flight?
Claim up to €600 for a delayed or cancelled flight.
Choose the situation that applies to your flight:
What has to happen before this right kicks in
This generally only applies once Icelandair has genuinely had the chance to sort out a reasonable rerouting and failed to, or where what it did offer was plainly not good enough — think a multi-day wait with nothing to bridge the gap. If Icelandair had already put forward something workable and you turned it down for no good reason in favour of a pricier alternative, getting the full cost back becomes a much harder argument.
Why this sits on simpler legal ground than it might seem
Money spent because an airline didn't meet its rerouting obligation is generally folded into that same obligation, rather than treated as a separate, more demanding damages claim that requires you to prove loss under a different set of rules entirely. Practically, that makes this a more accessible path than chasing a broader damages case.
What actually counts as reasonable
Your self-booked alternative should be necessary and proportionate compared with what Icelandair's own equivalent rerouting would have cost. A ticket in a comparable cabin to what you originally booked, or a genuinely sensible alternate route, is usually accepted without much friction. Go noticeably further — booking a last-minute business seat when you'd originally paid for economy, say — and you're likely to only recover part of that cost, even though your basic right to book something yourself isn't in dispute.
Building your case before you spend anything
Before committing to your own booking, jot down exactly when you asked Icelandair for a rerouting, what came back (or didn't), and how long any proposed wait actually was. This record becomes crucial if Icelandair later argues it never really failed to meet its obligation, or insists something reasonable was already on the table when you booked elsewhere instead.
Switching to a different airline entirely
If your journey runs through Keflavík, hopping onto a flight with a different carrier altogether can sometimes get you moving faster than waiting on Icelandair's next available seat. The same rules apply here as to any other self-booked alternative — reasonableness matters, and Icelandair's own rerouting still needs to have genuinely fallen short first.
What if Icelandair comes back with an offer after you've already booked?
Hold onto clear timestamps — exactly when you booked your own alternative, and exactly when any later Icelandair offer actually showed up. As long as you'd already acted reasonably before that later offer appeared, it typically doesn't undo your right to be reimbursed for the choice you'd already made.
A worked example
Icelandair cancels a flight out of Boston and offers nothing for four days straight. The passenger instead books a seat with a different airline departing the next day, keeping a full record of the original cancellation, the total absence of any interim offer from Icelandair, and the receipt for the new ticket. Since Icelandair never met its rerouting obligation within a reasonable window, the passenger has solid grounds to seek reimbursement for the new ticket, measured against what an equivalent Icelandair rerouting would have cost.
FAQ
Can I just book my own flight whenever Icelandair cancels one of mine?
Only once Icelandair has genuinely failed to offer something reasonable within a reasonable timeframe — not simply because you'd rather have a different option.
Does this count as a full-blown legal damages claim?
Usually not. It's generally treated as an extension of Icelandair's existing rerouting duty, a more straightforward path than a separate damages case.
What if my own replacement cost noticeably more than what Icelandair would have offered?
Expect reimbursement only for the reasonable, proportionate share of that cost, even though your right to book something yourself still stands.
Am I allowed to book with a completely different airline?
Yes, and the exact same reasonableness test applies as it would to any other alternative you might choose.
What happens if Icelandair offers a rerouting right after I book my own?
If you'd already acted reasonably before that offer turned up, it generally won't affect your right to be reimbursed for what you'd already booked.
Booking on behalf of a group
Arranging a replacement for family or a group travelling together follows the same reasonableness logic, applied to the combined total cost against what an equivalent group rerouting from Icelandair would have run. A clear per-traveller breakdown, where you can manage it, makes the reimbursement request much easier to assess.
What if the only realistic option is a different route entirely?
Sometimes the only workable alternative means routing through a city you'd never otherwise have passed through. This is still generally acceptable as reasonable, as long as the overall time and cost stay broadly in line with what a direct Icelandair rerouting would have offered, rather than being an unnecessarily roundabout or needlessly inflated substitute.
One last tip
Keep every message you exchanged with Icelandair about the original rerouting failure together with your own booking receipt, all in one place, so the full sequence of events is easy to lay out clearly if your reimbursement claim ever needs a detailed explanation later on.
Quickly benchmarking the cost before you book
Where you have a moment, check roughly what an equivalent Icelandair rerouting would likely have cost, or ask Icelandair directly for a ballpark figure, before locking in your own booking. Having that comparison in hand gives you a useful reference point for the reasonableness of your own choice later.
When no genuinely comparable alternative exists at all
If there's simply no realistic replacement available within a practical timeframe, that itself supports the argument that Icelandair's own rerouting effort was inadequate — strengthening rather than weakening your position once you do eventually find and book something workable, even if it costs more or takes longer than you'd have liked.
Keep the comparison figure alongside your receipt
If you looked up what an equivalent Icelandair rerouting would have cost before booking your own alternative, save that screenshot or quote next to your final receipt. Having both figures together, captured around the same time, makes the reasonableness of your choice far easier to demonstrate later than trying to reconstruct a fair comparison from memory.