Tips for Viewing the Northern Lights [2022]

Witnessing the northern lights is on almost every traveler’s bucket list. If you catch the aurora at the right time, it’s truly one of the most mesmerizing experiences you could ever imagine. However, there’s a fair amount of research and planning that needs to happen before you can have a successful outing for viewing the lights, so here are several tips for viewing the northern lights. 


What are the northern lights (or auroras)? 

Auroras are the result of charged particles released from the sun colliding with gaseous particles in the earth’s atmosphere. The different colors produced by them are the product of gases at different altitudes colliding.

The common greenish color is due to low-altitude (60 miles above the Earth) oxygen collisions, while the purple and pink colors are due to collision with nitrogen. Finally, the very rare red auroras come from collisions with oxygen gasses very high in the atmosphere (around 200 miles high). 

Auroras occur in both the northern and southern hemisphere but because more people experience them in the north, I believe the “northern lights” label caught on. 

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11-year solar cycle  

You don’t have much control over this but the solar cycle is something to be aware of. The sun goes through “solar cycles” about every 11 years when the sun spot activity tends to peak. The more sun spots, the greater the likelihood of a solar storm and the better the chance you have of seeing the northern lights in spectacular fashion. Right now, we are on the down-side of the peak but there’s still plenty of hope to see the lights since solar storms are still happening. The next peak won’t start until we approach 2025!


Location

A big consideration is where in the world are you going to go to view the aurora or northern lights? 

To have the best chance of catching the lights you need to find a location inside the “Aurora Belt” (or aurora oval). You can see a representation of the belt in the northern hemisphere below. 

Image via Hubpages.

There are four main spots that people flock to within this belt:

  • Alaska
  • Canada
  • Iceland
  • and Lapland (northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland).

Of course, you could also venture to harder to reach places like northern Russia/Siberia and Greenland or try your luck with the southern lights, but it seems like most people tend to visit the four places listed above.

I haven’t tried out viewing the northern lights in Canada or Alaska, but I’ve tried them out in Iceland and Norway so I’ll focus on those two destinations. 

Iceland

Iceland is great because you can easily find cheap and direct flights to Reykjavik and the country is very small with a main highway that circles around the entire island. This makes it easy to get to and explore from a logistical standpoint.

There’s also plenty of stunning landscapes. From the glacier lagoon to the their seemingly endless number of waterfalls, you’ll find spectacular foreground and backgrounds to view and photograph the northern lights under all over the country.

Iceland
Photo copyright Moyan Brenn.

The drawback is that there’s not a lot of variation in weather on the island since it’s so small.

When I was there, clouds often covered the entire island at once, so there was no way to escape or “hunt” for clear skies (though this isn’t always the case).

The other drawback is that Iceland is almost entirely south of the Arctic Circle, so it may not get quite as much activity as places that are further north and only need a KP index of “0” to see the lights.

Still, Iceland remains one of the top destinations for northern lights hunting. 

Norway

Norway, in particular Tromsø, is one of the best places to view the northern lights.

While it requires a little more legwork with connecting flights to get there, it will probably be worth it. Like Iceland, Norway offers tons of stunning coastline and landscape like fjords to view these magnificent lights.

Northern lights

It seems like everywhere you drive in the Tromsø area, there’s another fantastic viewpoint that opens up to a beautiful fjord with snowy mountains overlooking the water (and there’s even a special northern lights highway route). 

But I think it’s the micro-climates that make Tromsø such a special and ideal place to view them. The micro-climates are like little pockets where the weather can vary dramatically due to the topography.

For example, it can be completely cloudy and snowing in Tromsø but just 30 minutes away, it might be completely clear. This can be a huge advantage when chasing the northern lights since you’re able to try out multiple places for clear skies. Also, Tromsø is above the Arctic Circle so all you need is a KP Index of zero to see the lights.

Route 2
A driving route from Tromsø to find micro-climates.

I should add that you could consider trips to northern Finland and Sweden to catch the lights, too. I just haven’t visited those places yet (apart from a short drive into Finland), so I can’t really comment on them. 

Alaska/Canada

While I’ve never seen the northern lights in Alaska, I know Alaska can be a great place to view them. In fact, the Fairbanks Visitors Bureau says you have an 80 percent chance of seeing them if you stay in Fairbanks for 3 nights. It will probably be colder there than in Iceland or Tromsø, Norway, but colder temperatures may also mean clearer skies.

Aurora Watching 03/16/2013
Northern lights over Alaska. Photo by FairbanksMike.

Alaska also has several national parks known for northern lights spotting and cruise ships offer you the ability to see them as well. And finally, Canada has plenty of places to spot the lights as well. Destinations like Whitehorse and Yellowknife are places you might consider in Canada. 


From the sky

One thing a lot of people don’t know is that you can often see the northern lights from a plane when flying through the aurora belt. As long as it’s dark outside, you have a shot at seeing them and since you’ll be flying around 30,000 feet, clouds won’t be an issue.

Northern lights seen from an airplane flying into Iceland.

To see them, you’ll need to block out as much light from the cabin as possible by throwing a jacket or hood over your head and looking at the window. Most passengers will likely be asleep, so who cares if you look a little silly — the northern lights might be outside! Read here about my experience seeing the northern lights from a plane


Season

This is another big consideration: what is the best time of year to view the northern lights?

Summer

Believe it or not, the northern lights are visible during the summer. In 2016, a solar storm hit in early August and the lights could be seen in places in the northern half of the United States and Canada.

As you might imagine this is a rare occurrence since you have to be at situated lower latitudes to see them and it takes much stronger showings for the lights to make it down to around 50º latitude, so generally don’t count on seeing them during the summer.

And if you’re anywhere near the Arctic Circle, there will be way too much daylight to catch them during the entire summer. 

Instead, the vast majority of encounters are going to happen between September and March at the high latitudes, at or above the Arctic Circle. (You can also catch them in late August and some parts of April, too.)

Spring

I personally, think that March is the best month for viewing the northern lights. That’s because it’s near an equinox, which is a time when the northern lights are historically the most active. It’s also a time when the landscape is usually covered in snow — and there’s nothing like capturing a snowy landscape lit up by the northern lights.

Northern lights

There’s also enough daylight at that time of year to enjoy other Arctic activities like hiking, dog sledding, whale watching, etc., so you can count on doing much more than just chasing the northern lights. Thus, I would aim for February or March if I could choose anytime to view them.

Fall

The time near the fall equinox (September and even through October) should see the lights becoming very active as well. However, you typically won’t have snow and might instead have to deal with rain or bad weather during that time.

The big draw to this time of year is that temperatures may prove to be very mild. I’ve heard of people watching the northern lights in Norway (above the Arctic Circle) with t-shirts on and not having to deal with the cold, which would be a more comfortable experience.

Milder temperatures also mean camping is more practical and camping is a great way to get away from light pollution and venture into interesting landscapes that will make for great photographs. 

Winter

Finally, winter is a great time due to the fact that you have so much darkness. On Christmas of 2016, we saw a brilliant display of lights around 6pm, which probably would not have been visible during other months. The winter also offers colder nights when there’s less moisture in the air so you might increase your chances of having clear nights and better visibility for viewing the lights.

Northern lights
The northern lights on a clear winter night over Finland.

And finally, there’s just something special about viewing the lights in winter. We witnessed one of the best displays of northern lights I’d ever seen on Christmas night and it it’s one of my favorite travel memories of all time.  


Duration of stay

I suggest trying to stay for at least four nights when trying to view the northern lights.

Many of the places that you’ll go like Iceland, Norway, etc., have a lot of other activities to do besides chase the lights so you should be able to find plenty of things to do. Some like to give themselves longer than four nights and prefer to stay for a week or longer, but that’s your choice.

Northern lights

I generally wouldn’t recommend doing a “weekend trip” to see the lights, however, unless you knew there would be clear skies and a solar storm arriving shortly.


Moon phase

Try to plan your visit when there is a new moon or partial moon. They key is to try to avoid full moons or near full moons since the moon can sometimes be so bright that it makes it more difficult to view the northern lights and can detract from photographs. 

Northern Lights


Time of night 

The northern lights are said to be most active from 11pm to 2am, although this can vary slightly depending on exactly where you are and what time of year it is. Still, as just mentioned we saw the lights come out as early as 6:30pm, so I believe that anytime there is a sufficiently dark sky you might be able to see the lights. 

Northern lights

Since these are the most active times, be prepared to stay up late or all night to view the lights. If you’re flying to Europe from North America, jet-lag can actually work to your advantage because you can more or less stick to your same sleeping schedule in some instances. 


Light Pollution

Light pollution will diminish your ability to see the northern lights. The good news is that in most Arctic areas, it’s not hard to get away from light pollution since there’s a lot of open landscape away from cities.

Getting away from light pollution will help you see the northern lights but it will also greatly improve your photographs. Even a little bit of light pollution from a small town nearby can interfere with your shots by creating an amber glow as seen below, so always try to find a truly dark place.

Northern lights
Light pollution coming in from the left.

Cloud coverage

For the most part, you want to hope for as clear of a night as possible. But you don’t need fully clear skies where you can see every little star in the universe.

That’s because the northern lights can often be seen through high altitude clouds.

And second, cloudy skies are often dynamic and if you stay in the same spot long enough, you’ll likely see the sky open up enough to see the lights like in the photo below.

Northern lights

Also, clouds can offer a lot of drama to your photographs. Some of my favorite northern light photographs had a fair amount of clouds in the composition. Sometimes the clouds help to create a slightly ominous green glow in the sky which can be really interesting to capture, too. 

Northern lights


Northern light forecasts

It takes the sun 27-28 days to make a full a rotation. Thus, it’s often said that if you experience a lot of activity one day then you might be able to expect a lot of activity around 27-28 days later when the sun makes a complete rotation and those active sun spots are heading towards the earth.

This actually held true in our case but I’m not sure how often this is the case. Keep in mind that solar flares (or coronal mass ejections, take 1 to 3 days to reach Earth) so forecasts within those time frames can be more reliable. 

I used this website for a forecast but you can find others that focus on your location (Alaska, etc.) and there are also different apps you can download (I downloaded “Aurora Forecast“). These forecasts show you the KP Index, which is meant to predict how far south the northern lights can be seen. 

I suggest to try not to obsess too much over the KP index. If it shows a solar storm hitting that’s probably a reason to get excited but as others have confirmed, you can’t always rely on the KP Index to accurately predict when the lights will appear. Apparently, we still have a lot to learn about the northern lights.

So just hope for the best and do everything you can to spend at least 4 nights in the aurora belt chasing clear skies and you’ll probably end up seeing them. 


Should you do a northern lights tour or self-explore?

This is a very common question when it comes to searching for the lights. Some think that northern lights tours are rip-offs and others swear by them.

Northern lights
A bus tour under the northern lights.

I think tours are great for places like Norway where it makes sense to sometimes drive a few hours to get to a different micro-climate for better viewing.

Also, if you’re not comfortable driving in Arctic conditions you probably don’t want to venture off on your own so signing up for a tour could be a good thing for your safety. 

Some tour companies will allow you to come back the next night for free or at a discounted rate if you don’t see any lights the first night, so that’s always something to consider, too.

I think you should consider doing both. After I had such a great experience with the Chasing Lights tour company in Tromsø, Norway, I’m a big fan of going on tours. And after Brad and I had such a successful outing chasing the lights on our own, I enjoyed the freedom offered with doing our own chase. Being able to stop when we wanted, choose our own route, stop to take photographs, etc., was great. 

So if you can afford it, I recommend trying out a tour for a night or two and then gauging if you’re comfortable going on your own chase through the night. 

Northern Lights
Our rental car used for chasing the lights in Norway.

Staying warm

Layers

Dressing with layers makes the world of a difference. In general, you want wool thermal underwear and socks to keep you warm under your multiple outer layers. Boots, hand/feet-warmers, gloves (with liners), and beanie are a must. Wind-proof jackets and pants are very useful, too. Exactly how many layers you’ll need will vary depending on the person, but I recommend to always play it conservatively. 

Norhtern lights

If you’re a photographer some kind of water-resistant winter pants will help you if you’re going to be constantly kneeling in the snow (which you might need to do). One reason why tour companies are great is that many will offer you the option of getting a thermal suit and boots, so you don’t have to stress about freezing to death. 

The wind makes all the difference

One night we ventured into Finland away from the coast and at an altitude of about 1,500 feet. The wind was nonexistent but the temperature was about -2Fº. That was the coldest temperature I’d ever been exposed to but with no wind, it was completely bearable.

Another night, temperatures were around 30Fº but the winds were strong and swirling and it was much more difficult to contend with the temperature for an extended amount of time (a few hours). Thus, mind the wind conditions and do everything you can to protect yourself. 

One way to combat this is to use some type of ski mask in conjunction with a beanie and scarf. For people like myself from the Sun Belt who aren’t experienced with arctic temperatures, it really helps to protect any inch of exposed skin, especially that on your face when outside for an extended period of time. 


Watching the lights 

The northern lights come in many different forms. The most common form is a green streak or glow in the sky. When the lights are present but weak, this will look like a faint whitish-grey color with a hint of green that could be mistaken for a cloud.  

The photo below represents what a weaker streak of the northern lights might look like to the naked eye. It’s honestly not the most impressive thing in the world but keep your eye on it because you never know what it might do. Patience is key. 

Northern Lights - Naked eye

As you continue to wait, you might see those faint streaks intensify. This is when it starts to get exciting. All of a sudden those faint streaks become more and more prominent and their greenish color becomes more apparent. You might see these huge streaks slowly stretch across the entire sky, folding and swirling and constantly morphing into different shapes before your eyes.

One thing I loved about watching the lights is that you’ll be fixated on one area of the sky and then turn your gaze to another part of the sky and be surprised by the sight of more curtains of lights expanding beautifully under the stars. It’s a phenomenal sight to behold. 


It’s all about the dancing

But when things get really exciting is when they lights decide to start “dancing.”

Northern lights
Dancing northern lights.

The dancing comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s a slow flutter like motion that resembles someone playing a huge lit-up piano in the sky. Other times it’s even more dramatic. Typically, when the dancing occurs the lights become much brighter and the green comes with flashes of white and even pink and purple.

The light ripples and whips fast through the night sky, dazzling every onlooker, and those bursts of light are possibly the most stunning thing you will ever witness. See the video taken by our tour guide below to see what I’m describing. 

This is why you need to stay outside or in view of the sky as much as possible. Even going inside for five minutes could cause you to miss a dancing show. The key indicator that dancing is on the way is that you notice a sudden increase in intensity of color or brightness and you’ll also often see many different curtains in the sky. If that happens, be on the lookout because you might getting a show. 

Northern lights


Final word 

Catching a good showing of the northern lights take a little bit of effort and luck. There are a lot of things outside of your control but by taking the information found in this article into consideration, you’ll be able to set yourself up for an unforgettable night under the aurora. 

The Best Ways to Use Miles and Points to Get to Scandinavia

There are a number of options for getting to Scandinavia (or northern Europe) with points and miles. What’s more, you can often find booking options with little to no fees so that you’ll be able to book roundtrip  business class tickets and pay as little as $90! But you’ve got to know which partners are best to utilize in order to make such a booking. Here’s an overview of some of the best ways to use to miles and points to get to Scandinavia. 

Aeroplan (Air Canada)

  • Alliance: Star Alliance
  • Ways to earn miles: American Express Membership Rewards, SPG

Miles needed:

  • Economy: 60,000
  • Business class: 110,000 miles roundtrip

This is one of the best ways to get to Scandinavia from North America if you think that you might be flying business class on a Star Alliance flight.

The following airlines do not carry surcharges when you book them through Aeroplan:

  • Air China
  • Brussels
  • EgyptAir
  • Ethiopian
  • EVA Air
  • Scandinavian
  • Singapore
  • Swiss
  • Turkish
  • United
  • LOT (has small surcharges)*

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)

One of the best ways to use Aeroplan is book with alliance partner Scandinavian Airlines (SAS).

SAS is the flag carrier of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and the largest airline in Scandinavia. The have direct routes to different airpots in Scandinavia from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Washington.

It shouldn’t be difficult for you to find routes to Copenhagen (CPH), Stockholm (ARN), or Oslo (OSL). In fact, SAS availability in my experience is pretty exceptional and far outnumbers the availability from other airlines that flight into the region.

And the great thing about SAS is that if you’re wanting to catch a connecting flight to smaller Scandinavian cities they’ve got you covered. For example, for routes to places like Tromsø, Norway (one of the top places in the world to catch the northern lights), SAS offers many flights. A lot of times the only other airline offering flights to those cities is Norwegian Air, which is not a partner to any of the big three alliances. This is a great advantage to going with Star Alliance partners over booking with another alliance since you would have to pay out of pocket for your flight from a place like Oslo to Tromsø and those flights can be a bit pricey sometimes.

Another major reason to book with SAS is that just rolled out a fantastic new business class product. Check out a review of the newly launched business class cabin here.

And finally, when you book SAS with Aeroplan the fees are very low. You might pay up to $80-90 for a roundtrip business class with SAS! Other partners listed above and discussed below will offer you very small fees as well, but none of them can compete with the availability that SAS offers, in my experience. Therefore, SAS is my preferred option to getting to Scandinavia. 

Swiss Airlines

Swiss Airlines is a solid second option for using Aeroplan miles to get to Scandinavia. They fly out of the following cities: Boston, Chicago, Newark, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco. Fees might be a little bit more than SAS but they are still very reasonable, often around $130. When I searched for flights for my Norway trip I didn’t find a lot of Swiss Airlines flights so you might have to do some extra work if you want to fly with Swiss.

Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines flies out of the following cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington. I’ve found more award availability with Turkish Airlines than Swiss, but still pretty limited overall.

United Airlines

United flights directly to Scandinavia are few and far between, and I definitely did not see much if any availability when searching. If you do end up finding a transatlantic route with United, you’ll most likely land somewhere in Europe and then connect to Scandinavia with SAS or some other Star Alliance partner. That’s not a bad way to do it, but if you can swing the straight shot with SAS (which should be much easier to find), I see no reason to not go with them instead.

ANA

  • Alliance: Star Alliance
  • Ways to earn miles: American Express Membership Rewards, SPG

Miles needed:

  • Economy: 55,000
  • Business class: 88,000 miles roundtrip

ANA is very tempting with its ridiculously low 88,000 miles requirement for a roundtrip business class ticket to Europe (with stopover allowed). The issue with ANA is that it will pass on pretty significant fuel surcharges if you book with partners, such as SAS. These fees for a roundtrip ticket will be about $500 or more.

ANA will not pass on heavy fuel surcharges if you book with United but it’s going to take some extra effort to get to Scandinavia since you’ll likely have to connect with a Star Alliance partner that passes on more expensive fees, such as Lufthansa or Brussels Airlines. If you end booking a United flight through a city like Amsterdam and then connecting to a city like Oslo, you can expect to pay around $300 to $500 in fees for business class.

Thus, in some instances it may be worth it to book a business class United flight from the US to a random city in Europe, such as Amsterdam and pay the small fees incurred (usually less than $90). And then, you could pay for a budget airline to take where you want to get in Scandinavia for as little as $150-$175 round trip. Such a routing could end up saving you a couple of hundred bucks and allow to capitalize with points by booking such a low fare to Europe.

American Airlines

  • Alliance: OneWorld
  • Ways to earn miles:  SPG

Miles needed:

  • Economy: 45,000
  • Business class: 115,000 miles roundtrip

If you’re not able to make it to Scandinavia with Star Alliance partners, OneWorld does offer a few decent redemptions to get there. The issues I ran into with One World partners were limited availability and the fact they they didn’t offer many connecting flights to smaller Scandinavian towns like Tromsø. Still, even with some limitations, the redemptions to get there at 115,000 miles roundtrip is very competitive.

Finnair 

One obvious choice to go with when trying to get to Scandinavia is Finnair (I’m just gonna roll with Finland being considered a part of Scandinavia). They have flights out of Miami, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, though flights do not depart everyday of the week. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find open seats on the direct flights to HEL and the awesome thing is that you can redeem these routes for less than $80 in total fees! Thus, if your final destination is within Finland, this is a great option.

If you’re wanting to get somewhere else in Scandinavia like Norway, Sweden, or Denmark, Finnair can still be a solid choice. The issue is just that your routing options are going to be a bit limited. You’ll find fewer flights to fewer locations than you would with SAS but it’s still a smart way to get your connecting flights covered with miles and points and although there are fewer flights, the availability can be great. 

American Airlines

American Airlines is a great way to get to Scandinavia if you can find SAAver availability. Most of the options found searching the American Airlines website will probably be British Airways flights routing through London but if you look hard enough you can also find American Airlines flights to other destinations in Europe. Try to find connecting flights to Scandinavian destinations with Finnair or Air Berlin to avoid going through London and you can minimizes the fees. 

Air Berlin

The fees for booking with Air Berlin are very reasonable and can be under $100. Air Berlin flies directly from its German hubs to and from New York, Ft. Meyers, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Find out more about their routes here. I found the availability from North America to Europe very poor for business class but very good for economy. If you want to book with Air Berlin, it might take some extra effort but it will likely be worth it.

British Airways

Of course, there’s always British Airways to get you where you need to be. Availability for British Airways usually outnumbers every other airline when searching on sites like the American Airlines site. The issue with BA is always the fuel surcharges. In my experience, you can sometimes mitigate the damage by only booking BA to get back to the US from Europe. However, if you book a round trip business ticket you’re likely looking at over $1,000 in fees.

Korean Air 

  • Alliance: SkyTeam
  • Ways to earn miles: Chase Ultimate Rewards,  SPG

Miles needed:

  • Economy: 50,000
  • Business class: 80,000 miles roundtrip

Korean Air’s 80,000 mile redemption to Europe (roundtrip) is an absolute steal. Korean Air will slap you with some decent fuel surcharges unless you’re able to book with Delta. Thus, I highly recommend trying to find Delta over any of the other partner airlines to Europe because you will likely be forced to pay hefty fees that make that great redemption rate of 80,000 less appealing.

The major issue with Korean Air is that it’s a logistical headache to book award flights with partners. You have to call in to make the bookings and submit special applications for your tickets. You can read more about booking award tickets with Korean Air here. If you’re willing to deal with the extra legwork, however, the 80,000 business class redemption is very hard to compete with. 

Flying Blue

  • Alliance: SkyTeam
  • Ways to earn miles: American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thankyou points, SPG

Miles needed:

  • Economy: 50,000
  • Business class: 125,000 miles roundtrip

Flying Blue is a very solid option for getting to and sometimes even getting around Scandinavia. If you can find availability with Delta to get to Europe, the fees will be very manageable, and maybe around $130. I was able to find Delta availability getting back to the States in business class but struggled to find open spots for getting to Europe. If you fly over the Atlantic with an airline like KLM, you’re going to pay significant fees totaling close to $500, so be aware of that.

The strategy for Flying Blue is the same for the previous airlines in terms of avoiding fuel surcharges. That strategy is to find availability to Europe with the low-fee airline (in this instance Delta) and then focus on finding your connecting flights.

Alaskan Airlines

  • Alliance: Partners include American Airlines, Iceland Air, Air France
  • Ways to earn miles: Alaskan Airlines credit cards, SPG

Miles needed:

  • Economy: 40,000 (off peak) to 65,000
  • Business class: 100,000 to 125,000 miles roundtrip

American Airlines

Alaskan Airlines is one of the best ways to book American Airlines flights since you can get to Europe in business class for as low as 100,000 miles and in economy for as low as 40,000 miles.

The issue with using Alaskan miles to book American when getting to Scandinavia is that you can’t book multiple partners together (American gateway cities aside). Because American Airlines doesn’t fly to Scandinavia, you’d be left with the option of hopping over to Europe and then finding a budget airline to get to Scandinavia, which isn’t a horrible option considering the low fees and mileage requirement but it is an extra hassle. 

Icelandair

I found a lot of availability with Icelandair and it’s a lower redemption rate of only 110,000. The biggest knock is that its business class seats are not on the same level of quality that you could get when you book with other airlines to Scandinavia and most Icelandair routes found on Alaskan depart from the west coast (Seattle). Moreover, many of the itineraries are mixed-class, meaning that you might be flying in economy from Seattle to Scandinavia! Thus, the comfort factor may come into play and may not make this option for business class as appealing as it appears to be at first.

Final Word

Overall, my favorite way to get to Scandinavia is to book SAS business class through Aeroplan. The availability is great and the fees are non-existent. My next favorite option would be using ANA miles to book a United flight to Europe and then connecting to my desired city in Scandinavia. American Airlines, Korean, Flying Blue, and Alaskan all also offer decent options but they don’t seem to offer quite as many attractive (and practical) options for getting to a bunch of locations throughout Scandinavia.  

Cover photo by Mariusz Kluzniak via Flickr