SAS Scandinavian

I travelled on September 19 from Barcelona Spain to Oslo Norway on SK4686 (13.20-16.40). I had made reservations in SAS Plus (former Business Class) and was seated on 2F. The aircraft used on this service was a Boeing 737-800W. The general impression though travelling in SAS Plus is that of a low-cost airline. The generally very good impression of SAS cabin staff was missing on this flight no spirit and nothing extra. It seemed to just be another ordinary day on duty without any enthusiasm and lack of special attention to the passengers. There are no longer any free middle-seat in SAS Business Class (now named SAS Plus). This particular flight was fully booked in SAS Plus so the comfort was not good. When boarding the aircraft in Barcelona it was extremely hot in the cabin no air-condition were available until slightly before pushback from the gate. This particular aircraft did not have a SAS interior (different seats colour panels etc). The seat pitch was very limited but the seats were however much more comfortable than SAS ordinary seats. The in-flight service started about 25 minutes after departure with the choice of a cold sandwich salad or a hot vegetarian pizza-slice all meals served in a paper box. I choose the salad which on this flight was a chicken salad. To my opinion the salad was not tasteful and tasted like all the other salads that SAS offers on intra-European flights - definitely a much lower quality than to be expected by a Star Alliance member. After an additional 15-20 minutes drinks were served i.e. no good timing or thought-through service. Pre-dinner drinks after the meal strange? After an additional 3-5 minutes coffee and tea was served without even being able to take two sips of my pre-meal drink. I travel with SAS quite a lot but unfortunately I must admit that the quality of the product offered is not good and can not be compared what the other Star Alliance members offer. I'm on the verge to no longer recommend SAS Scandinavian Airlines.

Stockholm to Dublin flight (SK0172). SAS is saving money whilst ripping off and inconveniencing their passengers at the same time. It's not until one flies the same leg several times that the pattern becomes clear. I've flown this leg several times and every single time SAS uses the Ryanair gates of the terminal and parks out on the apron with no skybridge. It's the furthest possible distance to the arrivals hall 10-15 minutes walk and they do it because its the cheapest for them. SAS prices are the same if not more expensive than the other carriers yet they use the cheapest gates. Most national carriers provide free food and beverages which one should expect when paying premium prices. Not so with SAS. You pay the full airfares with them but get nothing except a cup of water or a cup of coffee (which they are proud to say is free). There is simply no difference in service between Ryanair and SAS on this route except one. The Cost. Ryanair will charge you around €50 for this flight. SAS will charge you around €300 for the very same flight and service. It's an insult to passengers. I've never been a huge fan of Ryanair but at least they charge appropriately for the limited service you get. As Scandinavia's National carrier SAS should be ashamed of such miserly no-frills service when they are charging their passengers full fare. Imagine how much they are saving by parking on the apron instead of using a gate. And then add that saving to the full fares that their 200 passengers pay even though Ryanair does it the same way and charges their passengers only around 15% of the SAS price. Outrageous and disgusting.

SFO-CPH-BRU. SAS feels kind of cheap. Flew in Business Class but aircraft (A340) dated and worn seat uncomfortable (slanted lie flat kept slipping down and being 6 ft tall my feet hung over the end). The entertainment system didn't work at first-took over an hour before they re-booted the system and then the system is shut off about 40 minutes before the flight ends. Movie choices were somewhat limited. Service was professional but almost laughably so like they were pretending: the trolleys had to come out exactly at the same time and move at the same time the flight attendants made sure you knew they poured the drinks with one hand behind the back. Food was bland and unexciting. On the connecting flight within Europe they don't offer a regular meal in Biz as on other full-service airlines; they do allow you to choose from their buy-on-board menu for free but this generally is not worth it - sandwiches and the like.

MAN-CPH-EWL. First flight (MAN-CPH) very basic on an ageing plane with uninterested staff just an average Euro-hop flight so not expected anything different. CPH-EWL seats (premium economy) cramped staff very very poor. Ordered a drink package from their 'deals menu' didn't served everything in the deal had to explain to two stewards what the deal was - the first looked at me like I was trying to con them! Inflight video experience very poor! I thought it was a very tired airline aircraft and staff. However where they absolutely excelled in their dire customer service when we were coming home - US Eastern seaboard hit by a major storm. Our connection was delayed for 5 hrs - contacted their sales team to explain we needed to change flights they refused to help. After nearly an hour of explaining we had young children with us and the whole eastern flight network was delayed they agreed if we paid £567 per person - yep you read that right £567 they would change our flights. In the end had to purchase a flight with Air Lingus to get home. I have flown SAS for over 15 years but will never fly them again. I cannot believe how poor their service was and how inflexible they were. Given the flight I was supposed to get was 3 hours late its self not sure why they would argue with me.

This was definitely our first and last trip using SAS. We purchased and booked our vacation flights 9 months in advance. SAS is part of Star Alliance and we've had good experiences in the past. Outgoing we left Chicago for Vienna connecting in Stockholm. Our return flight was from Munich to Chicago connecting in Copenhagen. On our outgoing flight we were not allowed to select seat assignments until 22 hours before flight left. We were successful in checking in and finding seats together for both legs of the trip. But the way home was miserable. We could not check in at all before our flights. Online it seemed we were allowed to make our seat choices for the Copenhagen to Chicago leg (we thought we were successful) but not for Munich to Copenhagen. But when we checked in at Munich not only were our seat assignments different than selected we were 7 rows apart. We tried to corrected the problem in Munich talking to several different service people but were told the Munich and Copenhagen computers were not compatible. When we arrived in Copenhagen (we had only 50 minutes between flights) we were told an error had occurred and were reassigned only to find out we were in the very last row with some kind of electronic box blocking half of the leg room and the crew activity bumping us every few minutes of our 9 hour flight. Judging the number of people in line at the service desk in Copenhagen there were a lot of problems. We just think having booked so far in advance our seat assignments would have been better. The plane was old seats uncomfortable food was awful the crew unfriendly. Never again!

Flight from Oslo Norway to Newark was cancelled after passengers spent two hours on the tarmac and over five hours in the international terminal. There was very little communication between the airlines and the passengers as there was only one SAS employee who was overwhelmed. When the flight was finally cancelled SAS did not inform the passengers. It was noted on the airport board "cancelled" by a passenger. Although a satisfactory hotel and dinner was provided information about how to get the luggage and where to get the shuttle was ineffectively communicated to the scattered passengers by the same single employee. When we inquired as to how to find our new itineraries before leaving the airport the same employee said that SAS knew best and it was best for passengers to go to the hotel eat and get a good nights sleep before worrying about tomorrow's travels. When I tried to call customer service it had closed at 6. I happen to be at the hotel desk when a representative from the airlines called to leave my new itinerary along with the elderly passenger. Since SAS had me returning to a different airport (JFK) I asked to speak with the representative. The SAS employee on the phone was extremely rude. All in all I appreciate that the plane was unable to fly and therefore grounded. This happens. But the handling of the situation was incompetent confusing and employees were rude.

On booking I was given no alternative but to take a full-fare economy flight FRA-ARN with SAS on Mon 25 August if I wanted to return that evening. I was told on check-in at La Paz that it had been upgraded to Business Class which would have been welcomed after 26 hours travelling on two international sectors earlier. On boarding flight SK638 at FRA I found the seats to be exactly the same size and configuration as in economy class and every seat was to be occupied i.e. including the middle ones or all 15 seats. Yet the economy cabin itself was only one- third full and there were many rows with no passengers at all. Why was I then forced to pay a full-fare economy to fly that evening? We at SAS Plus were offered an alternative of either a chicken or cheese sandwich only and only then asked if we wanted anything else. When I asked what else was available I was shown the menu turned specially to the pages listing snacks with prices which I declined considering it an insult on business class of a non-budget airline. Yet I saw about 4-6 full-meal trays handed to an economy flight attendant. The meal clearance was conducted within 10 minutes of the completion of the meal serving. Soon after I spotted the business class attendants in the galley eating a full-meal tray each. Later I noticed that this was the evening meal on the menu which was meant as complimentary for business class (SAS Plus) passengers. Why were the flight attendants - including those in economy cabin - eating our meal entitlement never even having offered it to us? Shameful behaviour! The menu in-flight magazine and safety card were dog-eared and very old looking. The male flight attendant in business class had not shaved that morning - which is quite different from having trimmed facial hair. These are small symptoms of an airline in decline. I think SAS could understudy Thai Airways even though decades ago Thai had understudied SAS.

Stockholm to Newark. Staff friendly and attentive as is often the case with SAS - might not be over the top but I think they are pretty consistent nowadays in my experience. Seats and layout are still the old one which is starting to show its age. IFE is nothing to write home about so keen to see what the 2015 upgrade will look like. Seats are still surprisingly comfortable but they are not full-flat. Food and service is very good though and I think they have done a great job on drinks selection. For the main meal I had a very nice salmon starter followed by an good chicken dish and a nice selection of cheese for dessert. The light 2nd meal was a shrimp salad with a mango cheesecake. Overall very good. Flight was slightly delayed from Stockholm but they gain back time in the air so landed early at Newark. SAS provides a pretty solid if ageing business class service from Stockholm to the US. Not necessarily top ranking but when convenience is taken into account this is a good choice.

MAN-OSLO-ARN 15th August 2014 SASgo. Seat comfort acceptable - new style space saver. Free coffee/tea. Staff professional but not overly friendly. Had a 35 min connection in Oslo which given its size was worrying but flight to Stockholm was held for 10 mins for connecting pax. Short flight to Stockholm was similar to the previous flight.

We paid $1600+ for two what we thought were business class seats only to find there are none on this flight from Dublin to Copenhagen on A320 on Sunday July 13th. Not only were we assigned supposedly economy plus in the front row but I was sandwiched in the middle seat my husband at the window with some other male full of elbows in the aisle seat. We feel we were royally ripped off. Our complaint to SAS has gone unanswered. At best we feel we should not have been charged more than the SAS Plus fare which amounts to slightly less than $1000. SAS excuse was that since it was a European flight our tickets were considered X business class.