The desk agent will offer you six things in ninety seconds, and the total can climb well past the rate you were quoted. Some of those extras are genuinely useful in Iceland. Others solve a problem you do not have, or one your phone already solved years ago. Here is what each one is actually for, how it tends to be charged, and whether it earns the money.
Almost every extra is priced per day, not per rental, and that is the detail that does the damage. A figure that sounds like small change at the desk gets multiplied by every day of the booking, so three modest add-ons across a twelve-day Ring Road trip can cost more than the excess you were worrying about.
Some operators cap an extra after a set number of days; others do not, and nobody advertises which camp they are in. So ask: is this capped, and at how many days? Prices quoted to consumers in Iceland normally include VAT; a quote in another currency may not. Booking ahead is usually cheaper than the counter, and it reserves stock: child seats and roof boxes run out in July.
There are no price tables here, deliberately: extras pricing at Keflavík moves with the season and differs sharply between big brands and local outfits, so any figure printed here would be stale before you read it. Insurance is a separate subject, covered in the Keflavík insurance guide.
A satnav unit is a daily charge for something already in your pocket. Skip it. Route 41 runs the roughly 50 km from the airport to Reykjavík, Route 1 goes round the island, and turnings are signposted by route number. Download the offline map before you fly and you carry the better device.
Portable wifi is a harder call. It earns its keep with several people needing data at once, a phone that cannot take an eSIM, or a home plan that charges brutally outside the EEA. Otherwise an eSIM bought before departure costs a fraction of a daily hotspot.
What no device fixes is coverage. Signal along Route 1 and the populated coast is generally good; in the interior, the Westfjords and the empty east, it thins or vanishes. Plan around that rather than paying to solve it: save the emergency number 112, note the road information line 1777, and check conditions before setting off.
This is the extra where the answer is usually yes, and often one of the lines an operator caps rather than charging open-endedly, so ask. Icelandic law requires children to travel in an approved restraint sized to them, and the height threshold is higher than many visitors expect. Check the rule before you travel rather than assuming a ten-year-old is fine in an adult belt.
The alternative is bringing your own. Many airlines carry a car seat in the hold at no charge, though confirm that with yours, and a seat you already know how to fit is safer than an unfamiliar one wrestled into place at midnight. For a fortnight with two children, bring your own. For four days, rent.
ISOFIX is common but not universal here, so if you are bringing a base, confirm the car has anchors. Many operators leave the fitting to you: allow ten minutes, indoors rather than out in the wind.
The second driver fee has the widest spread of any extra at Keflavík. Some operators include one free, some charge a flat fee for the rental, and some charge per day, which turns into real money over a long trip. Compare this line between otherwise similar quotes.
Whether to pay is a driving-fatigue question, not a budget one. Only named drivers are covered: if someone not on the agreement is at the wheel when something happens, the cover does not apply and you own the damage. On the Ring Road, where a day is easily six hours into low sun or sideways rain, a second registered driver is money well spent. For the Golden Circle, it is not.
A young driver surcharge typically applies below a certain age and stacks on everything else — see the under-25 guide. One-way rentals, out-of-hours collection and equipment packages carry their own fees, and all of them belong on the agreement before you sign, not after.
Winter tyres are required roughly November to April, and any car you collect at Keflavík inside that window should already be wearing them. They are not an optional extra. If a quote shows a separate winter tyre line, check it sits inside the total you compare against other operators — the full picture is in the winter tyres guide.
Studded tyres are permitted only inside a defined winter window, broadly November to mid-April, and are sometimes standard, sometimes a surcharge. If you are driving in January and they are offered, take them: on packed ice they beat unstudded winter tyres comfortably, and packed ice is what a car park becomes after a thaw and refreeze.
Snow chains are the odd one out, rarely offered here and rarely needed, because the response to serious conditions is to close the road, not to expect chains at the roadside. Check road.is or ring 1777 before setting out. If a road genuinely needs chains, it is probably already shut.
Two things people arrive expecting to buy at the desk, and cannot. The first is the highlands: F-roads open when the thaw and the road authority allow it, typically from mid-June into early July, and no extra opens them earlier or makes a two-wheel-drive car legal on them. That is a booking decision — see the 4x4 guide.
The second is water. River crossings are excluded from every insurance product sold in Iceland: not by super-CDW, not by gravel or sand-and-ash cover, not by any bundle. Drown an engine in a ford and the bill is yours in full.
A roof box is the extra I would think hardest about, and the reason is wind. Gusts strong enough to make a high-sided vehicle unpleasant are ordinary here, and a loaded box adds sail area exactly where you least want it. If you need the space, book a larger car — the Ring Road car guide covers what fits four plus luggage.
Cool boxes are useful if you are self-catering, though a polystyrene box from a Reykjanesbær supermarket costs a fraction of the rental. Camping gear follows the same logic: rent for a short trip, buy for a long one.
Prepaid fuel is almost always a poor deal. You pay for a tank up front and get nothing back for what you leave in it, so you only break even by rolling in on fumes. There are stations minutes from the terminal, in the fuel stations guide. Fill up yourself and keep the receipt.
| Extra | How it is charged | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| GPS unit | Per day | Skip — use offline maps |
| Portable wifi | Per day | Skip unless no eSIM or several devices |
| Child seat | Per day, sometimes capped | Book ahead; own seat on long trips |
| Second driver | Free, flat fee or per day | Worth it on the Ring Road |
| Studded tyres | Standard or a surcharge | Take them, November to mid-April |
| Snow chains | Rarely offered | Skip |
| Roof box | Per day | Skip — book a bigger car |
| Prepaid fuel | One tank, up front | Skip — refuel near the airport |
One last habit. Whatever you take, get it written on the agreement with its price, and photograph both it and the car during the walk-round in the pickup checks guide. Extras are where the desk and the invoice tend to disagree.
Yes, and for a week or more it usually works out cheaper. Many airlines carry a car seat in the hold free, but confirm with yours. If you are bringing an ISOFIX base, check the car you booked has anchors.
Only for several people needing data at once, a phone that cannot take an eSIM, or a home plan with punitive roaming. Otherwise an eSIM costs far less, and neither creates signal where there is none.
Almost certainly not. Winter tyres are required roughly November to April and fitted as standard in that window, and Icelandic authorities close roads in severe conditions rather than expecting chains. Check road.is or call 1777.
It depends on the operator: some include one free, some charge a flat fee, some charge per day. Only drivers named on the agreement are insured, and an unregistered person at the wheel voids your cover.
No. River crossings are excluded from every insurance product sold in Iceland, including the priciest bundles, and engine water damage is charged to you in full.