Flights London-Longyearbyen and Tromso stopover?

Of course the capital of a country is worth a few days! have you visited a capital "not worth" it?
And of course you connect to domestic flights at the hub=the capital

The idea that you would see things in Oslo that are the same as in Svalbard seems pretty weird to me.

And there are probably a numbe of different airline flying from whereever you start to Olso - directly or indirectly. Note that some oif the very cheapest discount airlines fly to airport far form the main airport (Gardermoen). This is probably not probelm when you will stay a few days in Oslo.

Remember that if you split into two ticket you are in (very costly) problems if a delay makes you miss a connection.

You can look up all the connections on places like www.amadeus.net Ideas could be Norwegian, and the of course Ryanair.

Actually £550 for a roundtrip (have you measured the distance?) in high season, to a non-tourist destination, and with all fees and taxes and extras included (they are at SAS) is not bad at all.

The flights on the SAS site are all via Oslo (I thought you had to change in Tromso??)

There are more flights out of Tromso but on your travel dates there are a few non-stop flights out of Oslo. I say on your travel dates because non-stop flights from Oslo to Longyearbyen are seasonal.

Is there a way of cutting some of this cost? Like using a different airline to get to Oslo before the connection etc?

You'll have to make the maths to see it. Look for airlines flying from London to Oslo and add the cost of the SAS flight from Oslo to Longyearbyen. If you find any option cheaper than SAS from London to Longyearbyen (changing planes in Oslo), you should see what's the price difference and worth it. BTW, As Bjoern has said on #1, be aware some low cost airlines (e.g.: Ryanair) don't fly to the main airport in Oslo.

Ok great thanks. Well Im not a big city person, and as I will be on a 2 week circuit of svalbard, I will need to take another full week off work (unpaid) even to spend a few days in Oslo/Tromso or wherever I connect, as I can't just get a few odd days off. When I said seeing the same things, I means in terms of wildlife. Eg if I was to go whale watching off Tromso (if it is offered), there wouldn't be much point going out to look for killer whales if Im likely to have seen several in Svalbard anyway. And the same for birds etc.

The issue with flight connections is very true. I guess I could see how much there is to be saved and work it from there (ie perhaps consider allowing plenty of time at least on the outbound leg). With regards to the airports, how far is it between them? Is there a shuttle bus/train - free or otherwise? Would a taxi between the 2 be prohibitively expensive? (ie to the point of it not being worth splitting the flight).

Yeah I heard the flight could potentially be up to £1000, glad its not that high at the moment!

Thanks again

With regards to the airports, how far is it between them?

It would be better to know what airport are you going to fly to. Flights to Longyearbyen depart from Gardermoen airport. Ryanair flies to Rygge airport and to Torp Airport.

if i flew with ryan air, like you say it would be rygge, so I would need to transfer to Gardermoen. I see it is about 1hr 40 mins drive, but I can seem to find if there is any public transport between the 2, as to take a taxi would be very expensive and mean the saving is not worthwhile.

There is not any transfer between the airports (ASAIK) - you go to the terminal in Oslo and change.
These 2 Ryanair -airports are small and are not primarily "secondary airports" for Oslo - so non-Ryanair flight passenger are mostly for/from the local area, Ryanair passengers are mostly for Oslo and very very few would be interested in a direct transfer to the main Oslo airport - and most would - even if there was a direct transfer - want the absolutely cheapest transfer (i.e. the standard through Oslo C) - that probably is marginally slower only.
As noted - using rRyanair and relying in a short transfer - relying in Ryanair being on time and no traffic problems to Gardermoen would be very dangerous - a short delay and you have no ticket to and from Scvalbard anymore!

Ok thanks Bjoern

So basically what you mean is that I need to take a bus/shuttle of some description from the 1st airport into the terminal in Oslo where I switch to another bus/airport shuttle (presumably in the same bus terminal?) to go out to the other airport?

With excess baggage allowances etc, it seems that I would save around £200-£250 but using Ryanair for some of the trip. I would either have to allow a wide window of time (perhaps with some time in Oslo during the day), or even an overnight stop - I will see the dates of the boat trips from Svalbard and see how this works out.

Is there anywhere to store luggage at/near the airport bus terminal in Oslo? And reasonably inexpensive accommodation available? Or is that asking a bit much in Oslo?!

Thanks again

There are buses from Rygge to Oslo S after every Ryanair flight - not expensive. They also show a train option with a free shuttle bus to the train station - this may be your best option since you will need to get a train out to Gardermoen. However also look at Norwegian for flights LGW-OSL.

http://www.en.ryg.no/cat/87.aspx

www.norwegian.com/en

Not sure would it work for you, but an option worth to explore - purchase SAS flights from the frequent flyer miles, if you have their frequent flyer card.
If you don't have the card, you can order it and purchase miles, but it will end up more expensive for your direction.

I'm suggesting this option because all directions in their range can be purchased for the same number of miles - around 15000 one way in your case.
It means London - Oslo, or London - Tromso (with connection in Oslo) costs same, so you are getting domestic flight Oslo - Tromso for almost free.
It is "almost free" because SAS would still charge the airport taxes ($20-$40 per airport).