Deal alert: Spend summer in Iceland from $250 round-trip

Editor's note: This post has been updated with additional airlines on March 28. It was originally published on March 27.

We're starting to see the prices drop on airfare to Europe this summer. A number of sales have already popped up with discounted flights. Now, Icelandair is getting in on the action.

The official airline of the Nordic nation just announced a sale on flights to Reykjavik from multiple U.S. cities, including Baltimore, Boston, Detroit and Washington, D.C. If you live in Seattle or Portland, Oregon, you're in luck, too, as the sale includes several options out of those cities.

The discounted fares apply to nonstop flights now through Oct. 6. That's a fairly generous travel window that encompasses some of the best times to visit Iceland. With the Iceland Summer Sale, as Icelandair is calling it, you can take advantage of the country's warmer temperatures and more hours of daylight for activities such as hiking and whale watching.

Keep in mind that these prices are for Icelandair's Economy Light tickets. No changes are allowed with these tickets, but you get a free carry-on bag.

Deal basics

Airline: Icelandair
Routes: From Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Minneapolis, Seattle and other cities to Reykjavik
Travel dates: The sale applies to flights between now and Oct. 6
How to book: Visit the Icelandair website, browse the sale fares and book directly with the airline
Book by: Tuesday, April 2

Sample flights

There are several departure airports for this sale, including:

• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
• Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
• Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
• Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP)
• New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
• Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)
• Portland International Airport (PDX)
• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
• Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport (IAD)

When you click on the link above to access the sale fares, you'll see that once you pick your departure city and your destination (in this case, Reykjavik), you'll land on a page with flight prices in calendar format. This is a handy way to pinpoint the month with the best overall deals. For example, the screenshot below shows the sale prices for flights out of Boston to Iceland.

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There is a lot of availability for $418 round-trip fares from BOS to Keflavik Airport (KEF) in April.

If you live in Baltimore, the best available fares we found were for travel in September and October. This itinerary out of BWI to KEF costs just $467 round-trip.

If you live in the Washington, D.C., area, your best bet for getting the lowest prices will be in September and October. Most of the fares we saw during the summer were at least $50 higher for this route.

In terms of pure savings, you'd be hard-pressed to beat the round-trip tickets in this deal out of the Pacific Northwest. You can book tickets from PDX to KEF in August for less than $600 round-trip. According to Google Flights, that's about half of what this fare usually costs in summer. We saw lots of availability at this price in July and August.

The best prices we saw out of Detroit were in August and September. We saw wide availability for round-trip itineraries from DTW to KEF for less than $500, which is an excellent price.

Additionally, low-cost airline Play is offering flights from some of the aforementioned routes, including BOS—KEF, for less than half the price of the Icelandair flights. For example, you could book a roundtrip flight from BOS to KEF throughout August starting at $230.

Like the Icelandair fares, the discounted Play fares are for the carrier's basic fare type, which only includes one personal item that can fit under the seat in front of you.

Because Play routinely offers discounted flights to KEF, there's no end date to this sale, but be sure to keep checking their website for the latest routes and pricing.

Maximize your purchase

When you book this deal or any flights, be sure to use a credit card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, such as:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees): 2 points per dollar spent on travel
• American Express® Gold Card: 3 points per dollar spent on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through amextravel.com
• The Platinum Card® from American Express: 5 points per dollar spent on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel® (on up to $500,000 of these purchases per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar)
• Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees): 8 points per dollar on all Chase Travel℠ purchases and 4 points per dollar on flights booked directly through the airline
• Citi Strata Premier® Card (see rates and fees): 3 points per dollar spent on air travel

Bottom line

Once you get to Reykjavik, make sure to set aside time to visit the impossibly beautiful Hallgrimskirkja. One of the true landmarks in Iceland, the church is not only visible from almost anywhere in the city, but it has a platform atop the 244-foot structure that offers breathtaking views.

Related reading:

• Here are the best credit card welcome offers
• 7 things to understand about credit before applying for a new card
• How to apply for a credit card
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• How to check your credit score for free