SAS Scandinavian Airlines Customer Reviews and Passenger Trip Reports

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SAS SCANDINAVIAN review :  1 February 2009 : by T Neyrinck

ARL-CPH-BRU, first leg on MD82 and second on A321, Economy both times. SAS in no frills, very basic, but the planes left/arrived on time. Clean airplane, FAs do their job and nothing more. Food and drinks are not free, and choice is very limited. I'd say SAS is okay for 1hr flights, but the cheerless atmosphere of the planes together with the severe FAs do not encourage me to fly them again unless there is no alternative.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review :  1 February 2009 : by Erik Nilsson

BKK-ARN. Lovely quiet plane (A343), decent seat, good service. But, the IFE is in desperate need of update.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review :  21 January 2009 : by S Wilson

BKK-CPH in business. Late departure using BKK Royal Silk Lounge, comfortable but busy. Angled lie flat seat reasonably comfortable, but inferior to others with inflexible headrest. Noise on A340 noticeable, with constant whine from engines when lying flat. IFE atrocious, handful of choices on AVOD, fortunately all night flight meant sleep not movies. Crew service excellent and helpful, but food wasn't special. Dry overcooked fish for supper, breakfast in the morning was adequate at best. Overall a three star experience, doesn't come close to the likes of SQ, BA, NZ or VS, TG or LH. Great crew let down by substandard seat, poor catering and appalling IFE.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review :  13 December 2008 : by Simon Banister

Economy LHR-ARN return. I was pleasantly surprised with spaciousness of MD82. The crew were very friendly. I was a little shocked I had to pay SEK20 for a cup of coffee, but it did include a refill and a bit of chocolate!

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review :  13 December 2008 : by P Ameil

LHR to ARL return. Both flights on time, outbound on Boeing 737-600, return MD81 or MD82 (not sure which as the safety instructions card was valid for both types). Didn't buy anything on board, but noticed on outward flight that anybody who bought a hot drink was offered 1, if not 2, refills. Staff seem to be more mature than other airlines but pleasant enough. Return flight to LHR I had a row of 3 seats to myself, and from getting off the plane to waiting on the platform for the Heathrow Express took a little over 20 minutes - and I had hold baggage! It was nice to be allowed to board the plane at least 30 minutes before departure rather than the usual scrum from the low cost carriers.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review :  11 December 2008 : by H Moeller

I must be a very unusual customer because everyone else seems to be mostly concerned with the price of food. In fairness, I do get annoyed when I am asked to pay for my early morning Diet Coke on a domestic flight in Norway whilst I can have a breakfast with cereal and hot rolls and a cup of tea for free. I do not want yoghurt and brown cheese on toast, I would like a Diet Coke. There is no business class within Norway and there are some rather annoying variations in the standard of service between the Scandinavian countries. For some reason, on-board service always is slightly better on routes that do not start or terminate in Copenhagen (although that is the airline's main hub!). In my experience, SAS tends to almost always be on time, often early. Fast track security, internet check-in and seat selection works a treat. The long-haul Airbus fleet has good IFE, sleeper seats in business class and good food - not outstanding, but better than average. In Europe, I prefer the good old MD-80s to the more modern types. If you are seated towards the front of the cabin, you will not find a quieter, more comfortable, spacious and pleasant plane.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review :  30 November 2008 : by Joerg Lehnert

Scandinavian Airlines from Copenhagen to Berlin (TXL). Flight was operated by Cimber Air. Plane was a turbopropp ATR 42. Flight was about one hour. On short and medium haul flights SAS has become a low service airlines where all on board service has to be paid extra. SAS is no longer a quality airline.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review :  24 November 2008 : by B Vincent

I took several domestic and regional flights with Scandinavian in November - TOS-LYR, LYR-TOS, TOS- OSL, ARN-OSL and OSL-KEF. Fares when purchased in advance very reasonable.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review :  21 January 2009 : by S Wilson

BKK-CPH in business. Late departure using BKK Royal Silk Lounge, comfortable but busy. Angled lie flat seat reasonably comfortable, but inferior to others with inflexible headrest. Noise on A340 noticeable, with constant whine from engines when lying flat. IFE atrocious, handful of choices on AVOD, fortunately all night flight meant sleep not movies. Crew service excellent and helpful, but food wasn't special. Dry overcooked fish for supper, breakfast in the morning was adequate at best. Overall a three star experience, doesn't come close to the likes of SQ, BA, NZ or VS, TG or LH. Great crew let down by substandard seat, poor catering and appalling IFE. 

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review :  11 November 2008 : by Alan Mackenzie

Rome (FCO) to Copenhagen, having tried Airone CPH-FCO. A professional service, from web check in to deplaning. You are treated with courtesy without it being apparent. Nice clean aircraft with no broken bits and bobs.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review :  21 October 2008 : by T Mahr

MUC-CPH-HEL in Economy booked at very short notice and at great price (about a third) compared to AY/LH. Both flights on time with an easy transfer in Copenhagen. Still no free service on board SAS flights in Economy with hefty prices for buy on board. Planes rather grumpy and old as the cabin crew. Will nevertheless fly again given the great price and the besides the service onboard painless flights and transfer in CPH.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review : 18 October 2008 : by C Halvorsen

Customer Rating : 4/5

NUE-CPH-OSL-MOL in Economy Extra. I consider SAS one of the better airlines for intercontinental travel - in Europe they are more midfield. In Economy you have to pay for food and bev - except the breakfast in Norway, which is free, as is coffee or tea. But as I travel on a flexible economy ticket, I end up in economy extra, which doesn't offer much extra on board, mind (apart from free food and champagne if you should be so inclined). But the fast track security at Oslo and Copenhagen works really well. Canadair Jet between NUE and CPH (Cimber Air) was a bit scruffy and the flight attendants were not overly friendly, but polite. I find the Norwegian attendants to be the most helpful, but there seems to be fewer and fewer of them on the long-haul routes out of CPH and ARN. Airbus A321 to Oslo and Boeing 737-600 to MOL, both with ample legroom. No overhead screens on the Boeing though. Decent cold meals on international flights. All flights on time - and when the gate changed at OSL, I even got a text message to my mobile informing me of the change and wishing me a pleasant flight, which I thought was a nice touch.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review : 16 October 2008 : by Stephen D'Arcy

Customer Rating : 4/5

Brussels - Copenhagen, economy return. Pre-flight check-in saved time and stress for my 07.00 flight and 06.30 check-in. FAs good, plane clean and comfortable; same for the return. SAS offer no "free" extras such as food and drink, this was only a 90-minute flight. This was my first experience of SAS - would use them again if they can keep fares comparable with Sterling and Brussels Airlines.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review : 14 October 2008 : by Per Kop

Customer Rating : 2/5

Extremely expensive and the quality of the service is below average. On European routes you don't even get a glass of water if you travel economy. And everything starts with the poor professional skills of the flight attendants. If you want to travel business, forget about it. No difference in regard to the seat comfort, except that the middle seat is not occupied. Food is not great (just regular economy food type on other airline). If you have other choice, go for another airline!

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review : 2 October 2008 : by J Decety

Customer Rating : 3/5

ORD-CPH-CDG on Business class. The business lounge in terminal 5 at O'Hare is way better than the Red Carpet club in other terminals. Unfortunately, there is no free-access Internet service. Boarding the A340 was fast and we left O'Hare on time. Service onboard is professional, food okay. The seats (do not recline flat) are not really comfortable and do not match other business class seats such as on Air France, Lufthansa, BA. You keep sliding down and can't get a good sleep. Copenhagen is one of my favorite airports. The flight to Paris was on time. The seat is the same as in economy! I was out of Charles de Gaulle airport in minutes and found my was easily to the TGV station. Altogether a pleasant trip, but quite disappointed by the comfort of the seat.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review : 29 September 2008 : by J Berge

Customer Rating : 1/5

It is amazing to experience the lack of generosity on this airline. Even if you pay a substantial price, you have to pay for water, wine, food, everything. Even when you travel from Oslo to for instance Madrid. Is it really possible to be so economical? I travel business class internally in Norway (I need flexible tickets), and the tickets cost a fortune - even then I have to pay just to get some food at all! And the food is terrible. Worst airline - stay away,

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review : 25 September 2008 : by Alf Larsson

Customer Rating : 4/5

ARN-AMSin C-class. It was a new and better service than earlier. Selection of three kind of hot food. Good wine served from "big bottles". Service very good.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review : 16 September 2008 : by L Reinstein

Customer Rating : 3/5

MUC-CPH. C Class. MUC LH Business Lounge average with a middling array of afternoon snacks. No preferred boarding. Old MD-82 plane. Service attentive FA's with decent two course cold meal that should have been hot for time of evening. Nothing wrong here, but nothing special either.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review : 15 September 2008 : by Francisco Pinyata

Customer Rating : 3/5

I never travel with SAS Braathens all the way to my ultimate destination. I always fly with them just to get to the airport elsewhere in Europe that handles larger aircraft than those flying from Oslo Gardemoen. SAS Braathens scores mediocre on almost every aspect of flying. Average service, average seats, average food selection (which you most likely have to pay for). But one thing stands out that this airline could improve on is punctuality. Almost every flight I've been with them was delayed one way or another. They don't even bother announcing the reason for the setback - they just tell you at the gate that wherever you're going - you'll be late. My last flight with them from Amsterdam to Oslo, the flight was delayed for over 2 hours and they didn't even offer any kind of snacks or refreshments. I'm complaining because they're not classified as a budget carrier. On a lighter note, they have the best coffee in the sky - now, let's figure out how to make the flight attendants refill your cup more often.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review : 6 September 2008 : by K Hansen

Customer Rating : 3/5

Copenhagen - Beijing in Economy Extra: Four rows of Economy Extra are placed between Economy and Business Class on SAS Airbus 340. They go for around EUR 2000 for a roundtrip to Beijing, while the real deal in Biz cost you another 1000-1500 Euro. Economy Extra is considerably cheaper than C- class, but you will be sitting with the curtain right in front of you separating you from the luxury onboard (but no curtain will separate you from normal economy), so the message from the airline is clear - Don’t expect Business Class! In Economy Extra they have removed one seat in each row compared to normal Economy and made the seat a little wider. So you will be sitting 2-3-2 instead of 2-4-2. It does make a difference and if you get row 14 you will have heaps of legroom. The perks are not so great, however. Free alcohol, a choice between two menus, metal cutlery, real glasses, and a small amenity kit. Nowadays you pay for your wine and beer in SAS Economy, but in Extra it’s still free like it used to be in Economy a few years ago. Then again, if I flew Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines or Lufthansa I wouldn’t have to think about this at all, as they all serve it for free in Economy. The same thing applies to the meals. In SAS Economy Extra you get a choice between two meals – ordinary Economy Class meals, however – but you do get the choice after all. In Economy, you don’t. Again, Cathay will give you three main course choices in normal Economy. You will also get a small amenity kit with a shoe bag, toothbrush, shades and earplugs. You will get almost the same thing – except for the shoe bag – on a normal Singapore Airlines long haul flight. You will have Audio & Video On Demand in SAS Economy Extra, but not in normal SAS Economy. Again, other airlines – like Singapore - treat this to their normal Economy Class passengers, so it doesn’t really feel like luxury (by mistake, they loaded the movies for the homebound trip on the outbound flight, so the movies you choose not to see on your way to China because you thought they were crap, well, you would be watching them on the way back as you would have no other choice...). You will also have a power connection for your computer in Extra, which is great, except for the fact that mine didn’t work! So to sum it up, Economy Extra is not pampering luxury, it’s more like ’Economy as it should be’ or 'as it used to be'. It seems that the worse you make normal Economy the better your Extra product will look, and that seems to be the case here. SAS will upgrade you at the gate for 10.000 points, which is a good deal, but I wouldn’t fork out an extra EUR 1000 on top of my Economy Class ticket to sit here. It’s not worth the extra money, but worth the points!

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review : 2 September 2008 : by Tapani Vuola

Customer Rating : 2/5

HEL-CPH=BCN tourist class. Nothing worked - check-in machine did not recognize the second leg (by Spanair, the same consortium), the girl at check in suggested that I take the luggage out and re- check it in CPH, the next leg was overbooked. I lost my luggage, which arrived 32hours later - inbetween it was impossible to contact the lost luggage office, as they did not answer the phone. The first flight was with AVRO jet, very cramped, but friendly and professional crew. The second leg with Airbus 320 - sandwiches for sale, but did not accept credit cards. Too many "incidents" for one consortium in one day. Cannot recommend.

SAS SCANDINAVIAN review : 2 September 2008 : by G Thomas

Customer Rating : 3/5

Beijing to Stockholm. A reasonable flight but the inflight entertainment was pretty poor - lots of the films on offer were very old and just played on a loop. Since all the films were of different lengths you ended up watching bits of different films. Airlines such as Emirates are streets ahead in this respect. Staff fine, although I didn't have much need to call on them. Stockholm to London. Very disappointed that not even a complimentary cup of tea was offered - all refreshments had to be paid for. Not what I expect on a non-budget airline.