SAS Scandinavian

CPH-LHR earlier today. I am travelling on this route every week and fly both BA and SAS depending on price and schedule. This morning I was booked on SAS and suffice to say it was not one of their finest moments. The flight was delayed and it turned out to be a two hour-delay before we finally reached London. The staff working onboard today's flight must have been through an unusually rough patch before getting onboard this flight. I have rarely seen a slower and more disengaged team of employees in any line of work. It took almost 45 minutes to dish out a few sandwiches and drinks. Need I say that at that pace the crew did not have the time to clear the trash before landing. Compared to BA and their upgraded cabins I think the SAS Airbus 321 is looking shabby. There is no finer way of putting it. If I am not mistaken this aircraft has not really been revamped since it was put into use about 15 years ago and it shows! I think it is high time for SAS to take some action here. All in all SAS are generally more expensive than BA on this route and I know this after flying every week on this route for a while. However paying more to go with SAS also means that you have to pay extra for food and drinks travel in a run-down cabin and may run into the team I had to endure today. Given that this is probably a very attractive segment for SAS I just do not understand why they provide such a poor-quality product and expect to get away with it.

CPH-HEL which was mostly pleasant and without indecent. I have flown SAS more often than any other airline because of their availability of youth fares which has been very accommodating compared to low cost carriers when I have booked quite soon to when I plan to fly. Within Europe however SAS also mostly behaves like any other LCC so I didn't notice much of a difference between them and Norwegian for example.

HEL-CPH-LHR with my first flight actually having a bit of a mishap (a child threw up a few seats away in my row) and the flight staff were happy to move me into premium economy class as this occurred while boarding. Although it wasn't so close to me I appreciated how they took the extra time to make me feel comfortable. When I was in CPH however there seemed to be a problem with me entering the lounge as usually one can just go through the automated gate but they needed to ask me to go to the side and scan my boarding pass and mileage card. A minor inconvenience but what irked me about this was that the staff member seemed annoyed to have to check my lounge access rights (with me of course still entering the lounge but just a few worried minutes later than usual).

High standard and impressive service. My flight from Manchester to Copenhagen was delayed due to weather which meant I missed my connecting flight. No questions asked no fuss no stress - SAS provided taxi room at Radisson and refreshments and rebooked on a flight the following morning. At no extra costs. The kind of service I want and appreciate!

BGO-CPH in SAS Plus. paid €40 to upgrade to Plus via optiontown. No queue at business check-in new dedicated Fast Track Security in Bergen again no queue. Swift boarding with priority boarding enforced and on time departure. Extremely friendly crew on a 6am flight. Empty plus cabin so plenty of space. Very small cold breakfast served. Arrived 20 mins early and my bag first out on the carousel. All in all an excellent short flight. Recommended.

London LHR - Tokyo NRT via Copenhagen CPH with a very old A340-300. Two big backlashes for this Star Alliance founding member: ageing interior and no free drinks (except for some random water tea and coffee). Cabin staff friendly surprisingly nice food on CPH-NRT leg. SAS is also super on time. Sometimes they even arrive ahead of schedule. Two thumbs up for these. Cabin refurbishment and free drinks for passengers needed.

ZRH-ARN-OSL-LHR. Aircraft on the older side (they've finally got rid of their MD-80s but somehow managed to replace them with "new" 737s without winglets despite what my booking info said) and I found that often the seat cushions left a small gap in front of the back support which isn't ideal. Nice friendly and subtle staff unlimited tea and coffee and if you've been good and somehow found yourself in SAS plus (no idea what I did to deserve this but it was cheaper than economy) you can have as many treats from the buy-on-board menu as you like. The lounges in ARN and OSL were both nice well lit and calm but with very traditional Scandinavian food (which I love but perhaps not everyone does.) Generally on time but OSL-LHR was 20 minutes late due to the "absence of the crew" (did they get lost?!) They seem to be moving over to letting you download newspapers and magazines through their app rather than giving so many out - hard to read on a phone and doesn't work on the Kindle so it wasn't ideal for me as I didn't have a tablet. SAS is an airline I want to love. It's just not quite consistent enough (e.g. they forgot to load lemon slices on one leg) to be worth the extra money compared to Norwegian (which has newer aircraft free onboard wifi but a much greater feeling of being run "for profit").

Flew Scandinavian Airlines in December to Chicago on SK943 on their only aircraft with fully flat beds. It was a very nice bed although older model and so was the large TV screen. The staff were very nice and helpful. The food was good and plenty although individual serving as many Airlines offer today would have been preferred. I particular liked the bar/cafe between meals.

SAS did a super job getting us from Copenhagen to Newark NJ on busy Boxing Day 2014. At CPH airport long lines moved well and the check-in staff person was cheerful and efficient despite the crush. After boarding the pilot kept us informed of a delay and then we were off to a fine flight with helpful flight staff. Just don't get seated next to the toilet on an Airbus 340 (the single one on the window side facing passenger in middle row economy section). That passenger was me. I didn't pick it but was assigned it upon online check-in. Airbus designed it well enough even with a positive closing door it only takes a nudge. People are slobs though every fourth one could not be bothered to nudge the door shut as they exited leaving me to push it shut throughout the flight.

ARN-OSL-AES return. Flights uneventful slightly late due to de-icing. Free coffee OK. My dissatisfaction is due to that SAS - for unknown reasons - changed the seats I had reserved (OSL-AES) when checking in and which were printed on our boarding cards. Not a big deal in general maybe but if flying with younger children I find it utterly unacceptable. Bringing the problem to a stewardess attention only resulted in that my 8 year old got a seat behind her mother. Not OK by my standards. Trying to e-mail SAS about my complaint does not seem possible which is yet another dissatisfaction. Except for those complaints I would rate SAS as a 3+ airline.