SAS Scandinavian

R/T September 2013 between SFO and CPH. Thought the service was our worse airline experience ever. In coach in both directions about an hour into the flight they served us a meal (just okay) and included a drink of choice and around 2 hours prior to arrival we got thrown (literally) to us some sort of "wrap" which was basically not edible. And that's about all we ever saw of the attendants. If we wanted something we were told to visit them in the back of the plane and bring money as nothing was free of charge. On the flight from SFO to CPH my wife's inflight TV didn't work. They didn't offer her anything in lieu of this just shrugged their shoulders. And the sets that did work were really poor quality. I flew SAS quite a few times 20 or so years ago and I bragged to the wife on how good they were going to be. Was I wrong!

ORD-CPH-HEL. The first sector was the late-night departure on one of SAS' ageing A340-300s. Seats rather uncomfortable but rather spacious. On-time departure and arrival. Staff service was rather unmemorable but I liked the touch of including a bottle of water in each seat pocket on departure. Dinner was fine breakfast was an inedible sandwich. But as there's no competition on this specific route SAS is the only way to go. CPH-HEL flight was uneventful very pleasant flight attendants clean cabin but buy-on-board food is expensive and not fresh. SAS didn't live up to expectations.

Travelled from Copenhagen to Arlanda. Check in was ok with no technical issues like last time. Aircraft was an old MD 80 which looked like it had seen better days with some odd rust stains inside. The seats were a bit uncomfortable and there wasn't much room to move your legs. Cabin crews were friendly but looked tired and it felt like they were not 100% engaged with the passengers but I suspect that this was their last flight of the day. The flight took about an hour which were very pleasant and was very satisfied that we arrived 8 minutes early. Overall a nice short flight.

Round trip from Los Angeles to Oslo was on SK's flight from Newark to Oslo and from CPH back to Newark. Flight crew was not engaged or pleasant in anyway but they did their job as required. Food was not good my children refused to try (it looked like meatloaf). On the EWR-OSL leg experienced a very hot trip probably in the mid 90's F. The couple across the aisle complained to crew at least 5 times to no effect. On the CPH-EWR flight only the lleft side of headphones worked and on the seatback touchscreen after about a half an hour half the screen stopped working. It started working after it was off for about 15 minutes but then half a hour later half the screen shut off again. Gave up after going through routine 2x's.

Used SAS several times for flights from Asia to Europe and opposite. For the price quality is fair although competitors can provide better quality for marginal increase of price. Airplanes are not newish and feel used and filthy at times. Food is just OK - nothing really amazing but not bad as well. Just what you may expect from low- priced economy class. Attendants are quite friendly no problem there. In flight entertainment is very much outdated suffering mishaps and often just not working well. Otherwise choice of movies and stuff to listen to is just enough. Customer support are not welcoming often plain rude failing to explain key points and charging money for stuff you won't expect such as fixing a minor error in reservation. Due to the last problem I believe SAS are losing customers and I won't recommend it to my friends and family. Using competitors instead. Sorry SAS you can perform better.

CPH-ARL. Plane was old and dirty Boeing. Complimentary coffee and tea is maybe enough on 50 minutes flight. I bought a goat cheese sandwich which was tasty and price okay. Still free newspapers. Friendly cabin crew.

TLV-AMS. For a flight of more than 4 hours the seats and service were terrible. Might just as well fly EasyJet or similar. No food hard seats no entertainment not too friendly service. Same deal but much cheaper. For the price I paid for this flight I was a bit insulted.

ATH-ARL 5/8. Arrived at the airport 2 hours before the flight and the check in hadn't opened! It was so badly organised no automatic check in machines no staff to help in the queue and people jumping from one line to another! Took 40 minutes to check in. The service was the bare minimum but the cabin crew were friendly.

PRG-ARN-TKU TKU-CPH-OSL-PRG in SAS Go within a single weekend. There's nothing to complain about in terms of seat comfort - be it a small 737-600 or an A320 the comfort level is pretty much the same and quite decent at that. The cheapest fare gets you tea or coffee while the snacks for purchase are rather pricey and all in all not that attractive. The ARN-TKU was on a Braathens-operated Saab 200 turboprop. The ride is definitely bumpier but even here the legroom is above standard. The most cramped aircraft by far is the CRJ900 though that's mainly due to the narrow cabin while the seat pitch remains comfortable. My only major issue was the somewhat misleading information by the crew suggesting that people claim their baggage in Stockholm for customs even though it is checked directly to the destination. This made up for 40 minutes of wasted time at ARN. As a whole however I wouldn't hesitate to fly with SAS again.

Flying from Brussels to Copenhagen with 21 hours until flight from Copenhagen to New York. It was supposed to be a fun afternoon and evening in Copenhagen before heading home to NYC. Instead the Brussels - Copenhagen flight was delayed and made the entire stopover null. We were only offered an insulting 10 euro meal voucher in an airport where the average lunch costs 20 euros. The staff were not sympathetic or understanding. I will never fly SAS again.