The Northern Lights are nature’s big-budget blockbuster, a swirling, hallucinogenic light show that makes even the most jaded traveler fumble for their phone in the vain hope of capturing its magic. But here’s the thing about the aurora borealis: it’s elusive. You don’t book a ticket to Iceland and summon the lights like a DoorDash order. You chase them. You hope. You refresh your aurora forecast app like a 14-year-old checking for a crush’s text. But this year, low-cost Icelandic airline Play is making that chase a whole lot cheaper.
From now through March 2, Play is running its lowest fares of the year—$99 flights from Stewart International Airport in Newburgh to Reykjavik’s Keflavik Airport, smack in the middle of peak Northern Lights season. If your wanderlust extends beyond Iceland’s otherworldly landscapes, you can hop onward to London, Amsterdam, Dublin, Copenhagen, Paris, or Berlin for just $129. And if you can’t decide between an Icelandic adventure and a European jaunt, Play’s stayover feature lets you do both—turning your layover into a layaway for a few days before jetting off to your final destination.
For less than the price of a decent dinner in Kingston, you could be floating in the geothermal blue haze of the Sky Lagoon, hiking through Pingvellir National Park, or standing slack-jawed at the base of Gullfoss, Iceland’s double-tiered waterfall that roars like a dragon that just woke up from a bad nap. Want to make your trip extra Icelandic? Rent a tiny car and take off on Route 1, the country’s famous Ring Road, where every turn looks like a Windows desktop background from 2003. Pull over for shaggy horses, lunar landscapes, and the occasional roadside hot spring.
And then, of course, there’s Reykjavik itself—cozy, colorful, and charmingly weird. The city’s main drag, Laugavegur, is lined with wool sweaters that cost more than your plane ticket, cafes that double as bars by night, and a robust population of revelers who will outdrink and out-dance you with Viking stamina. Grab a pylsur (an Icelandic hot dog that, somehow, is better than any other hot dog on earth) and wander the harborside, where you might just see the faint green shimmer of the Northern Lights creeping over the skyline.
For the restless traveler, the real draw of this deal might be the absurdly cheap flights to mainland Europe. For $129, you can trade Iceland’s fjords for Parisian boulevards, Dublin’s pubs, or Berlin’s techno temples. Or you can go full chaos mode—wake up in Reykjavik, spend a few days marveling at lava fields, and then touch down in London just in time for a curry and a pint.
At these prices, there’s no reason not to book. Worst-case scenario, you get a quick, affordable jaunt to one of the most beautiful (and windiest) places on the planet. Best case? You catch the Northern Lights from your airplane window, and for a few fleeting minutes, it’s just you, the cosmos, and a $99 ticket to wonder.
