SAS EuroBonus - OT: CPH check-in staff doesn't know *G gives 20kg extra!

Ok - it is OT cos I am flying with TK ex-CPH today and not with SK. But as it originates from CPH, I thought I'd share this little story with you!

Am flying C class , CPH-x/IST-BKK. Have 2 big heavy bags.

Checked in at Terminal 2. Went up to Business class check in. The agent (TK handled by NOVIA staff) looked at my bags on the scale and said, "You are allowed 30kg and you have 49kg"

I said : "But I'm *Gold"

She said : "My system says that you're only allowed 10kg extra"

I said: "No, *Gold gives me 20kg extra."

She said : "Let me check" ...

And she took (I am not kidding) 15 mins to call around asking what the allowance is for *G members. I look over and saw SWISS check in staff 2 counters away, but unfortunately also manned by NOVIA staff. I ask them how much a SEN member gets for extra baggage allowance on TK. Staff said , "IT will depend on your ticket, and the which airline you're flying on as they are all different" ????

I go back to my check in agent who is still on the phone!

Can you believe it?

In the end, someone told her that its 20kg.. and she said, "Oh, we have to change it in our system..." and then she let my bags go down the luggage belt. She had already tagged it!

I'd think in this day and age, that something as obvious as *G benefits would be known to check-in staff. But obviously not.

At least I was very lucky in December last year when I was flying to HKG with TK together with my GF. According to the ticket rules we should have had 2 x 30 kg and then 1 x 20 kg extra as I am *G. But they did not protest at all when we checked in 95 kg...

At least I was very lucky in December last year when I was flying to HKG with TK together with my GF. According to the ticket rules we should have had 2 x 30 kg and then 1 x 20 kg extra as I am *G. But they did not protest at all when we checked in 95 kg...

But that ıs wıthın the allowance... generally most aırlınes would gıve +5kg over per person.

I'd think in this day and age, that something as obvious as *G benefits would be known to check-in staff. But obviously not.

My impression that check-in staff these days come straight from the street and only given very basic training..

"... you have 49kg"


OT: No offense men, but why on earth do you carry 1 bag of 49kg in the first place?? Is that convenient to go around with? Why don't you split in 2 x 25kg? Would not it be more convenient? :)

OT2: I got told once at OSL Special luggage drop that the max number of kilos they accept is 32. The guy explained that this was the amount negotiated with the union for the ground service workers. As an exception they will accept more, but then he needed to warn his colleagues and ask them to be 2 to lift the package. My bag was then 34kg, so he did not bother being a pain, but he also said that the heavier the luggage the worst treatment it gets. So now I either pack light or pack 2 bags...

Back to your topic, if something likes this happens again with an SK agent, ask them to check "Wizard", it's their database, where those kind of things are written. They all have access to it, from all their computers.

And she took (I am not kidding) 15 mins to call around asking what the allowance is for *G members.

Choking. Don’t they know the phrase ”sound judgement”? Using 15 minutes – and for a C-guest? That time was expensively used for the employer. Even if the customer was wrong in this case?

Choking. Don’t they know the phrase ”sound judgement”? Using 15 minutes – and for a C-guest? That time was expensively used for the employer. Even if the customer was wrong in this case?
Well... if he didn't know the *Gold rules, I think that 15 minutes was time well spent learning... + had the customer been wrong, the 9kg of overweight in charges would most likely have more than covered the 15m salary

Besides, even if we assume that it would be theoretically cheaper and less time consuming to "believe the customer and save time, even if he's wrong", I think I might start to remember the *Silver benefits a little bit wrong a tad more often... we get unlimited complimentary upgrades on all *A flights, right? :D

OT: No offense men, but why on earth do you carry 1 bag of 49kg in the first place?? Is that convenient to go around with? Why don't you split in 2 x 25kg? Would not it be more convenient? :)
If you read the line above the one that you quoted you will learn that it was indeed 2 bags totaling 49kg.

It's normal at CPH that check-in staffs are really horrible. They do things by their own rules, one thing they really don't believe in is online check-in. Last Thursday we checked in at CPH for a LX flight - we checked in online and then went to bag drop. It took is 15 minutes for the Novia staff to do the bag drop! It's also for those who only have hand luggage and already checked in online and they had to stand in a queue just to get their boarding pass.

Everytime we travel to HKG from CPH, the check-in staff always look for a visa to HK. The most amazing thing was that they were looking for a HK visa on my BNO passport issued by HK government (before I got my Danish citizenship). I even showed them my HK ID card saying that I have a right to reside there and they looked very skeptical on me. Now that I have my Danish passport they still asked everytime, and even that I explained that Danes don't need a visa to visit HK, they still don't believe in me and started to check, then after 5 minutes they couldn't find anything then they reluctantly check us in and told us that it's their job to check.

Also their stroller policy varies from time to time. We brought a stroller that requires to be check-in at counter (we tried this a lot of times) and Thursday we thought ok we can accept that because we were flying direct. Surprisingly we got it through this time, we could do gate check-in for our stroller. Also we got our stroller back by the gate - we were told that we had to get it at luggage belt several times - some ground staffs claimed that they won't fetch stroller for pax when they arrive.

CPH security is a joke too - we went through it a lot of times and sometimes they like to see your passport and sometimes boarding passes are just as good. Thursday we were told to show our passport while at the next counter the staff only wanted to see boarding passes.

I'm sure there are set procedures for these routines and somehow people just don't follow them.

It's CPH (Denmark) - where everyone lives by their own rules.

They also don't give you a Priority Handling tag, because "computer says no". As an exiled Scandinavian, I have feel tempted more than once to smack that Nordic smugness out of them.

CPH security is a joke too - we went through it a lot of times and sometimes they like to see your passport and sometimes boarding passes are just as good. Thursday we were told to show our passport while at the next counter the staff only wanted to see boarding passes.


I´ve never, ever had to show passport at security in CPH , be it at the fasttrack or at the regular one. But at the gate it depends on the route you´re flying.

It's CPH (Denmark) - where everyone lives by their own rules.

Welcome to Denmark... CPH airport is just a joke!

Come on, CPH can't be that bad? Besides, they still have the best lounge in Scandinavia...

It's normal at CPH that check-in staffs are really horrible......
...CPH security is a joke too....
...It's CPH (Denmark) - where everyone lives by their own rules.
Why on earth did you apply for Danish citizenship when you find it that bad here?
You might have experienced some bad episodes - just like we all do once in a while in any airport. But I find it way too much to generalize the way you do.

Have 2 big heavy bags.

If you read the line above the one that you quoted you will learn that it was indeed 2 bags totaling 49kg.

Oppsie... My bad. That makes more sense indeed.

Another thought: maybe the agent got confused with the newly established piece concept at SK, and the old weight concept for still many *A carriers.

My guess is also about changed rules from weight to a piece concept. Fortunately I never even close to excersize max allowance, but I should admit being a seasoned traveller and *G for a long time I can't say for sure what are the baggage benefits now. I know it used to be 20 kgs on top of normal class allowance, but now? :confused:

Some airlines are 20 kgs M / 30 kgs C / whatever number of bags. Others are 23kgs/1pce M / 32kgs/2pcs C. Now put into perspective that TATL allowance could be different on the same airline. And ofcourse don't forget Y (eco extra) which is another allowance.

So I would like to use this thread to educate myself. Can someone explain me what are the *G benefits now? I guess it is still 20 kgs for a weight concept airlines. What's about piece concept? Is it 20 kgs or 23 kgs/1pce or 20kgs/1pce or 32kgs/1pce or what? Does it depends of travel class or not?

Why on earth did you apply for Danish citizenship when you find it that bad here?
You might have experienced some bad episodes - just like we all do once in a while in any airport. But I find it way too much to generalize the way you do.

Mr. Nacho is a Dane so it's natural that we have the same nationality (it's easier to travel with kids if everyone has the same nationality) - also I don't live in DK anymore :D - I'm on the other (better) side. CPH is still our main hub and we've been using it for 14 years now and we have been flying through CPH 'n' times so I think I'm entitled to my opinion.

Furthermore I'm not the only one here saying that CPH is a joke. Once those security people told little Nacho to take his jumper off (he already took his jacket off) and I asked the staff 'why? it's not a jacket'. She said, 'because I told you so.'

Once a male staff lifted my top off to see if I have a belt on my jeans even though I have already told him 'No'.

Once we went through with our stroller, and they told us to fold the stroller up (fair enough) but at the next lane they got the stroller through without folding it up.

These are just the most recent ones - maybe all airports have issues but I think this is all due to incompetence and lack of standard.

Everytime we fly from CPH there is at least one 'incident' (check-in, security etc. ) where you feel that it's a joke.

Oppsie... My bad. That makes more sense indeed.

Another thought: maybe the agent got confused with the newly established piece concept at SK, and the old weight concept for still many *A carriers.

This has nothing to do with SK and its concepts. OP was not flying with SK, and check-in staff was not SGS, but Novia.

i think this is all due to incompetence and lack of standard.

+1



everytime we fly from cph there is at least one 'incident' (check-in, security etc. ) where you feel that it's a joke.

+1

I think this topic should be in TK's subforum because it isn't anything related to SAS and/or eurobonus. First time that i hear TK wouldn't be generous in their baggage allowance.

I´ve never, ever had to show passport at security in CPH , be it at the fasttrack or at the regular one. But at the gate it depends on the route you´re flying.

For the primary security checkpoints, nor have I ever had to show a passport to security in CPH.

I go through CPH airport a lot and it is no more a joke than many other airports I use. If anything CPH is leagues better than some of the nonsense I observe at US and UK airports.

I think this topic should be in TK's subforum because it isn't anything related to SAS and/or eurobonus. First time that i hear TK wouldn't be generous in their baggage allowance.

I agree. This has nothing to do with either SAS or SGS.

For the primary security checkpoints, nor have I ever had to show a passport to security in CPH.

I go through CPH airport a lot and it is no more a joke than many other airports I use. If anything CPH is leagues better than some of the nonsense I observe at US and UK airports.

I agree. I don't think CPH security is better nor worse than other european airports.

I can just confirm I had the same experience today flying TK CPH-IST-HKG.
Had two business class tickets and close to 80 kg of luggage for two persons.

Was told I could only check in 2x30kg, when stating I had Senator / Star Gold with Miles and Moore, the check-in agent did a search on the computer and told me I was only allowed 10kg extra as Star Gold.

The agent was really helpful and it all worked out in the end however, its a great concern the wrong rules seem to be in their system.

Per

So I would like to use this thread to educate myself. Can someone explain me what are the *G benefits now? I guess it is still 20 kgs for a weight concept airlines. What's about piece concept? Is it 20 kgs or 23 kgs/1pce or 20kgs/1pce or 32kgs/1pce or what? Does it depends of travel class or not?

When piece concept rules (SK but also LH and many other), it is 1 piece extra. The weight depends on the class of travel. (23/32/32 kgs).

I think this topic should be in TK's subforum because it isn't anything related to SAS and/or eurobonus. First time that i hear TK wouldn't be generous in their baggage allowance.

No, that is why I put it under OT. I think it should be here as CPH is SK's gateway and that even though TK is in T2 at CPH, the information affects everyone like per_cl travelling a day after me.

Othwerise, when would this be relevant? When its a SK codeshare under TK metal?

I go through CPH airport a lot and it is no more a joke than many other airports I use. If anything CPH is leagues better than some of the nonsense I observe at US and UK airports.

Yes, CPH is a walk in the park compared to LHR where they do security check when you land and make you take off your shoes twice, or US where you have to show your passport I don't know how many times on your way to the gate, bodyscanning, fingerprints etc. :)

OT
I agree with nacho, I think that CPH security is very inconsistent and that the people working there are so eager to show their power. I've written about my son's bad experience about a plastic light tube that they security staff claimed that it was a weapon mock-up so he wasn't allowed to take into the transit hall.

No problems in BKK, but in CPH it was totally impossible to bring it! I have more stories about them from the time when I commuted to GVA and came through CPH twice a week.

So in terms of politeness, consistency and friendliness the only airport which I think is worse in Europe is CDG!

So in terms of politeness, consistency and friendliness the only airport which I think is worse in Europe is CDG!

Completely disagree here.

I very very rarely spend more than 5 minutes waiting in security lines at CPH. This is a major point for me. In FRA, LHR and others this is a toss-up. At security laptop up, belt and jacket off, liquid joke bag up, kids' (if in tow) bags up and away you go. Very rarely more than 10 minutes from completed check-in to arrival air-side.

Up until some years ago CPH was by far the best airport in the region in terms of how easy it was to navigate in and the friendliness of the security staff. I will grant is not as easy now as it used to be. This is however due to the fact the CPH got a warning some years ago for not being strict enough.

- and comparing BKK and CPH security standards are hardly fair.

Completely disagree here.

I very very rarely spend more than 5 minutes waiting in security lines at CPH. This is a major point for me. In FRA, LHR and others this is a toss-up. At security laptop up, belt and jacket off, liquid joke bag up, kids' (if in tow) bags up and away you go. Very rarely more than 10 minutes from completed check-in to arrival air-side.

CPH is indeed better than LHR and FRA in terms of going through the security lines. CPH's also never as bad as the worst of OSL or ARN in this regard.

Up until some years ago CPH was by far the best airport in the region in terms of how easy it was to navigate in and the friendliness of the security staff. I will grant is not as easy now as it used to be. This is however due to the fact the CPH got a warning some years ago for not being strict enough.

Putting up a shopping mall just after security is what I like least about CPH. Frequent flyers have better things to do than try to wiggle their way past groups of stationary or slow-moving people in a store that is in between the security checkpoint and a more clear path to the gates and/or lounges. The greedy clowns who came up with that plot deserve a verbal thrashing.

Putting up a shopping mall just after security is what I like least about CPH. Frequent flyers have better things to do than try to wiggle their way past groups of stationary or slow-moving people in a store that is in between the security checkpoint and a more clear path to the gates and/or lounges. The greedy clowns who came up with that plot deserve a verbal thrashing.

Absolutely agree.

Putting up a shopping mall just after security is what I like least about CPH. Frequent flyers have better things to do than try to wiggle their way past groups of stationary or slow-moving people in a store that is in between the security checkpoint and a more clear path to the gates and/or lounges. The greedy clowns who came up with that plot deserve a verbal thrashing.

+1

Putting up a shopping mall just after security is what I like least about CPH. Frequent flyers have better things to do than try to wiggle their way past groups of stationary or slow-moving people in a store that is in between the security checkpoint and a more clear path to the gates and/or lounges.

++

And the same for the larger security checkpoint at ARN. It would have been so easy to design it to have the FastTrack lane bypass the taxfree store.

Absolutely agree. This forced passage through the tax-free shop is a disgrace. CPH used to be one of the best airports in Europe, but things have slipped quite a bit after privatisation:
Examples:
-Forced access through tax free. This is really annoying, they have even closed the by-pass now.
-Level of cleaning reduced, not that the airport is filthy, it's just not spotless anymore
-Toilets not so clean anymore, especially not at baggage claim
-Reduced collection of trolleys, so that hand luggage trolleys are now spread everywhere in gangways, around gates etc, and no-one collects them

But still, I find CPH a relatively pleasant airport, but it has certainly slipped from "top-notch" to "a little above average".

The only thing I hate about CPH is location of SK lounge. Too often I'm arriving A or B and have the next flight from A or B, which makes the lounge way too far for a comfortable visit, unless it is 2hrs+ connection.

Absolutely agree. This forced passage through the tax-free shop is a disgrace. CPH used to be one of the best airports in Europe, but things have slipped quite a bit after privatisation:
Examples:
-Forced access through tax free. This is really annoying, they have even closed the by-pass now.
-Level of cleaning reduced, not that the airport is filthy, it's just not spotless anymore
-Toilets not so clean anymore, especially not at baggage claim
-Reduced collection of trolleys, so that hand luggage trolleys are now spread everywhere in gangways, around gates etc, and no-one collects them

But still, I find CPH a relatively pleasant airport, but it has certainly slipped from "top-notch" to "a little above average".

I completely agree on the issue with the toilets. In CPH's concourses they're both smelly and filthy.

Even the SK Lounge toilets are not as clean as the should be. Although a lot better than the ones in the concourses.

Absolutely agree. This forced passage through the tax-free shop is a disgrace. CPH used to be one of the best airports in Europe, but things have slipped quite a bit after privatisation:
Examples:
-Forced access through tax free. This is really annoying, they have even closed the by-pass now.
-Level of cleaning reduced, not that the airport is filthy, it's just not spotless anymore
-Toilets not so clean anymore, especially not at baggage claim
-Reduced collection of trolleys, so that hand luggage trolleys are now spread everywhere in gangways, around gates etc, and no-one collects them

But still, I find CPH a relatively pleasant airport, but it has certainly slipped from "top-notch" to "a little above average".

I agree. It used to be maybe the best in Europe. Now MUC and ZRH are far ahead. However, I still consider it way above average. Just think of places like CDG, FRA, LIS, MXP, LHR! :td:

I am not really annoyed by the tour through the tax-free area. Also CPH wasn't the first to introduce this concept! And SK frequent fliers uses the fast track anyway...

Maybe I am biased, but I think CPH is still one of the best airports in Europe.
The security has always been easy, the longest I have been waiting were 5 minutes.
Have you ever tried the security transit in ATH?, no smiles at all, stressfull and not recommended.

Maybe I am biased, but I think CPH is still one of the best airports in Europe.
The security has always been easy, the longest I have been waiting were 5 minutes.
Have you ever tried the security transit in ATH?, no smiles at all, stressfull and not recommended.

Amongst the larger airports, CPH isn't bad, but it's worse than it used to be. Then again, I could say the same for ZRH (which used to be my favorite European hub for transits).

Of the airports I frequent, the travel experience gets worse and worse in various ways. Unfortunately, CPH hasn't escaped the rotting either.

Maybe I am biased, but I think CPH is still one of the best airports in Europe.
The security has always been easy, the longest I have been waiting were 5 minutes.
Have you ever tried the security transit in ATH?, no smiles at all, stressfull and not recommended.

ATH problems? The screeners are very close to the gates. Priority entrance from the lounges and priority also well enforced.

No complaints about CPH either. Some of us become stressed so easily...

Some of us become stressed so easily...
:D ^

Just came through check-in @ARN and had to argue with the agent to get one extra bag for a KF flight with EBS, as "the computer said no" and he insisted that the extra bag is therefore only for SK flights, while I was flying KF... Got it sorted out quite quickly, but is it really too much to ask for an SK Business class Check-in agent to know what their own FF program offers? It's not like the EBS perk list @check in is so long that it's impossible to learn...

3 years ago in CPH flying SK to OSL, I checked in at the eurobonus GOLD counter. The guy told me I could only bring 10 kg extra as a SK gold ! He had to check about it, before he finally said I had to pay for 4 kgs (I had 44kgs).
I took out some things out and put them into carry on.
Have never had problems with 44/45 kgs in OSL, the checkin agents there are much friendlier than in CPH.