Dear fellow A nutters,

I'm flying in September with SAS to Poland (via CPH) from the US. This will be a new airline for me, what can I expect in terms of service, food, entertainment, free or pay for alcohol, etc.

So far I've only flown long haul with Delta and KLM, is it more or less the same? I'm flying economy with the cheapest fare available (SAS GO) on the A330 EWR-CPH and on the A340 CPH-ORD.

Any information will be highly appreciated!

intra-Europe:

SAS Economy / cheapest class: coffee/tea/water is free, no food. Buy on Board is available, Entertainment: In Flight Magazines, windows.

SAS WiFi has already been installed in 28 aircraft, and by September, around 40 aircraft will have the new high speed WiFi installed. SAS expects the vast majority of its fleet to be WiFi enabled by the first quarter of 2020.



International Longhaul I don't know.

From what I understand, their longhaul fleet is fairly standardized, with the exception of LN-RKP, which is a former LAN Chile A340, and has retained its outdated interior. IIRC they recently refurbished the rest of their A340 fleet.

I flew on SAS ORD-ARN and CPH-IAD back in 2014. The one thing that surprised me about the meal service was the lack of choice. If you didn't request a special meal, there's just one meal that everyone gets. Not the choice of two meal options I'd come to expect on every other transatlantic carrier I'd flown. Also, there's one complimentary full beverage at meal time, and a coffee/tea/water service later on, but if you want another soft drink after that first beverage service you have to pay. I don't remember about alcohol, I'm guessing you probably have to pay for it. I'm sure that information is readily available on their website.

My knowledge of their entertainment system is probably out of date now, as I'm pretty sure they've upgraded to a newer system since I flew on them, so I'll let someone else answer that part.

I do recommend to bid for an upgrade - always worth a try! But not worth it for shorter European destinations...

Sometimes, SAS offers great deals like this one:
https://www.flysas.com/en/fly-with-us/t ... /upgrades/

JPhoto wrote:

I'm flying in September with SAS to Poland (via CPH) from the US. This will be a new airline for me, what can I expect in terms of service, food, entertainment, free or pay for alcohol, etc.

So far I've only flown long haul with Delta and KLM, is it more or less the same? I'm flying economy with the cheapest fare available (SAS GO) on the A330 EWR-CPH and on the A340 CPH-ORD.

Any information will be highly appreciated!

Intra-europe, you will get nothing. If you are very lucky, they might serve a cup of coffee. They are much worse than KLM in this field. You are also likely to be stuffed into a nasty CRJ.

Thanks a lot for the replies! I don't really care about the 1 hour intra Europe flight since it's so short, I'm more concerned about the 5ish hour flight from my hometown to EWR on UA!

I tried to bid for an upgrade but it starts at $360 instead of the advertised $155, so no thanks.

debonair wrote:

I do recommend to bid for an upgrade - always worth a try! But not worth it for shorter European destinations...

When you're 6"2 and getting older, it's all bout the comfort, even for an hour, my friend. Which brings me to my question: I'm taking SK this October TXL - CPH. I paid for what appears to be their F class... When I took IB FCO - MAD last year, their version of F was extremely disappointing... It was still 3-3 seating with just a smidge more leg room than Y. What am I in store for on this flight? Thanks very much!

ricport wrote:

debonair wrote:

I do recommend to bid for an upgrade - always worth a try! But not worth it for shorter European destinations...

When you're 6"2 and getting older, it's all bout the comfort, even for an hour, my friend. Which brings me to my question: I'm taking SK this October TXL - CPH. I paid for what appears to be their F class... When I took IB FCO - MAD last year, their version of F was extremely disappointing... It was still 3-3 seating with just a smidge more leg room than Y. What am I in store for on this flight? Thanks very much!

There is no F class anywhere in Europe, we call it J. Since flights are shorter in general, people don't care that much about extra onboard comfort but more about perks like lounge access. And SK doesnt even offer J that on shorthaul. So with SK's SAS Plus you're looking at lounge access and food onboard but not extra comfort.

LGAviation wrote:

So with SK's SAS Plus you're looking at lounge access and food onboard but not extra comfort.

Correct, so SAS is not even blocking the middle seat in their European sort-off BusinessClass...

VSMUT wrote:

JPhoto wrote:

I'm flying in September with SAS to Poland (via CPH) from the US. This will be a new airline for me, what can I expect in terms of service, food, entertainment, free or pay for alcohol, etc.

So far I've only flown long haul with Delta and KLM, is it more or less the same? I'm flying economy with the cheapest fare available (SAS GO) on the A330 EWR-CPH and on the A340 CPH-ORD.

Any information will be highly appreciated!

Intra-europe, you will get nothing. If you are very lucky, they might serve a cup of coffee. They are much worse than KLM in this field. You are also likely to be stuffed into a nasty CRJ.

I've been on plenty of SAS intra-europe flights, and they always serve tea and coffee. I was a bit impressed that they even managed to do it on the very short flight from ARN to VBY.

ricport wrote:

debonair wrote:

I do recommend to bid for an upgrade - always worth a try! But not worth it for shorter European destinations...

When you're 6"2 and getting older, it's all bout the comfort, even for an hour, my friend. Which brings me to my question: I'm taking SK this October TXL - CPH. I paid for what appears to be their F class... When I took IB FCO - MAD last year, their version of F was extremely disappointing... It was still 3-3 seating with just a smidge more leg room than Y. What am I in store for on this flight? Thanks very much!

SAS doesn't offer F class, so I assume you booked "SAS Plus", or premium economy. So you will get 3-3 seating (SAS doesn't block the middle seat, but if the flight isn't full there is a good chance of not having a seat neighbour) and food. Comfort wise, it depends on which aircraft you are flying. If you are lucky, you'll be on one of their new A320neos which are great in my opinion. If you are unlucky, you might find yourself on an older aircraft that offers varying standard. The oldest 737s feel a bit worn, but they are being phased out.

Flying infra Europe from CPH you could be on the CityJet CRJ. It’s not bad for short hops and they do carry out a SAS service of tea, coffee and water.

JPhoto wrote:

Dear fellow A nutters,

I'm flying in September with SAS to Poland (via CPH) from the US. This will be a new airline for me, what can I expect in terms of service, food, entertainment, free or pay for alcohol, etc.

So far I've only flown long haul with Delta and KLM, is it more or less the same? I'm flying economy with the cheapest fare available (SAS GO) on the A330 EWR-CPH and on the A340 CPH-ORD.

Any information will be highly appreciated!

SAS Go
•If you’re travelling in SAS Go within Europe or to Eilat or Beirut, you can buy snacks, light meals and beverages from our inflight menu. On flights longer than 120 minutes, you can also pre-order a wide variety of meals on most flights up to 18 hours before departure. Please note that if you’re travelling within Scandinavia or Finland, you can only pre-order breakfast.

•On intercontinental routes, meals and one non-alcoholic beverage (served with the main meal) are included.* You can also buy snacks, meals and beverages from our inflight menu. If you have special dietary requirements, you can order one of our special meals up to 24 hours before departure. Please see our special meals section below.

* On flights to/from Tokyo, all beverages including alcoholic drinks (except sparkling wine) are included in the first meal serving.

See here:

https://www.flysas.com/us-en/fly-with-us/inflight/

Ever since SK abandoned their livery with the multicolored stripes, they have been the incorrect airline.

Never flown them long-haul, but have taken a lot of intra-europe flights with them. This has been my recent experience:

- They always serve tea and coffee, even on very short flights
- Buy on board range is not very extensive, but some interesting Scandinavian options, and they are pretty efficient
- Seats are quite inconsistent - some very comfortable, some are hard slimline seats which are not so good, and legroom not great
- You might get to fly on a 736, which is a fairly rare type in Europe at least
- The CRJs are modern CR9s with big windows, so they are actually quite nice to fly in

SAS Plus:
- This is only 'partial' business class, and tickets usually less expensive than other European carriers
- But you do get lounge access and food on board
- The food is really interesting, usually a salad served in a cardboard cube, with some very exotic ingredients. No choice of food, but I have always found it fresh and delicious.
- Yes they do not block out the middle seat, but the SAS Plus section is rarely full, so quite likely to sit next to an empty seat

Just to add to the wealth of information already provided; the upgrade to SAS Plus (Premium Economy) on a long-haul flight is worth the extra cost. Aboard both the A330 and A340, the seat pitch is 38 inches, compared with 31 in SAS Go, while the seat width is 18.3 inches compared with 17.3 inches. Meanwhile, the cabin itself is arranged in a 2-3-2 layout rather than the regular 2-4-2 layout. Also included in the price of the SAS Plus ticket is lounge access (a relative rarity for a Premium Economy fare - on Lufthansa, for example, lounge access for Premium Economy is provided only against a fee), priority boarding and, perhaps most surprisingly; free Wifi. Alcoholic drinks are also included in the fare, which is not the case in SAS Go. As other posters have already mentioned, extra drinks and snacks in between the set meal times are chargeable in SAS Go. Frankly, for a long-haul flight, that arrangement is incredibly stingy.

In summary, SAS is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to long haul. They offer one of the best Premium Economy products, but their regular Economy offering is pretty mean.

Airstud wrote:

Ever since SK abandoned their livery with the multicolored stripes, they have been the incorrect airline.

Replacing the long ship livery with the multicoloured stripes was an incorrect decision.

KLDC10 wrote:

Alcoholic drinks are also included in the fare, which is not the case in SAS Go.

Well, not for TOKIO - btw. any idea why alcohol is served for free to Japan?!

On flights to/from Tokyo, all beverages including alcoholic drinks (except sparkling wine) are included in the first meal serving.

debonair wrote:

KLDC10 wrote:

Alcoholic drinks are also included in the fare, which is not the case in SAS Go.

Well, not for TOKIO - btw. any idea why alcohol is served for free to Japan?!

On flights to/from Tokyo, all beverages including alcoholic drinks (except sparkling wine) are included in the first meal serving.

It's a bit of an oddity. Maybe Tokyo is considered the most premium market and SAS is attempting to attract the discerning Japanese passenger? Can't think of any other reason for this little quirk

Bostrom wrote:

Airstud wrote:

Ever since SK abandoned their livery with the multicolored stripes, they have been the incorrect airline.

Replacing the long ship livery with the multicoloured stripes was an incorrect decision.

I have not seen this "long ship livery;" multicolored stripeys is the earliest SK livery I can recall.

Airstud wrote:

Bostrom wrote:

Airstud wrote:

Ever since SK abandoned their livery with the multicolored stripes, they have been the incorrect airline.

Replacing the long ship livery with the multicoloured stripes was an incorrect decision.

I have not seen this "long ship livery;" multicolored stripeys is the earliest SK livery I can recall.

I haven't seen it live either, but they have an A319 in retro livery.

Hmmmmmm.... yeah no; colored stripeys were better.

That A319 is in the older viking ship from the DC-6/7 era. My favourite was the later viking ship design with the lighter blue and "Scandinavian" titles particularly on longer types such as the DC-8-60.




I haven't flown SK before so I don't have any experiences but I am booked to fly them OSL-TRD-BOO-TOS and ALF-TOS-OSL-LHR at the end of the year all in SAS plus and even a sector on the rare 737-600 and hopefully the sans winglet versions of the -700 and -800.

Got back last night form the trip, a short summary of my experiences:

PDX-EWR on UA B737, not good, flight was on time and ok service but legroom was bad, I'm 6' and sat with my knees against the seat in front.
EWR-CPH on A333, good, nice service, good seats and IFE, tasty meal, on time.
CPH-WRO on CRJ9, good for a short 1 hour flight
WRO-CPH on WDL Aviation BAE 146, nice plane, no view outside because of the engines, good flight.
CPH-ORD, unlucky to be on LN-RKP an old and worn A343, everything looked tired and worn, bad seats, very outdated IFE, no USB outlet, arrived more then 1 hr late because of weather, ok service.
ORD-PDX on AA738, 45 min delay because of weather, good and nice flight

Again thanks for all the comments! I will fly SAS again if I have the option, but I hope not to be on LN-RKP anymore!