SAS EuroBonus - No more champagne in Economy Extra

So, from now on there will be no Nicolas Feuillatte in Economy Extra :(
The replacement is (or was at least on SK903 today) some kind of sparkling wine (French though) which name I didn't bother to remember.
Thanks to the FA who realized my disappointment and all of a sudden arranged with some real stuff ^

So, from now on there will be no Nicolas Feuillatte in Economy Extra :(
The replacement is (or was at least on SK903 today) some kind of sparkling wine (French though) which name I didn't bother to remember.
Thanks to the FA who realized my disappointment and all of a sudden arranged with some real stuff ^

Wow that is bad news :(
The excellent champagne were one of the only frills in Economy Extra :td:

Hope this was a one off error. Had champagne in E+ just last week flying MUC-CPH.

Good that the FA managed to find you a bottle!

Im flying CPH-NCE 20 June and NCE-CPH the 29 June as well as CPH-PMI the 22 July and PMI-CPH the 27 July all in Economy Extra - will check-up on it! :)

By the way, anybody who knows what service the provide in Economy Extra on CPH-PMI-CPH? Its a 3+ h. flight.

By the way, anybody who knows what service the provide in Economy Extra on CPH-PMI-CPH? Its a 3+ h. flight.

Did BCN-CPH two weeks ago in Eco+. Same flight time as PMI-CPH (2.40 airborne). A decent cold meal (salmon is back!), good bread and an outstanding personal service – which included several bottles without even asking for more (champagne and a great French white wine).

Did BCN-CPH two weeks ago in Eco+. Same flight time as PMI-CPH (2.40 airborne). A decent cold meal (salmon is back!), good bread and an outstanding personal service – which included several bottles without even asking for more (champagne and a great French white wine).

And I forgot: even a hot towel!

Flew 2 days ago CPH - EWR. The same unknown French sparkling wine.
But they still give you a bottle of water (the taste is similar).
I agree, one of the very few highlights of E+ is missing now.
IMHO the service was not as good as it used to be 1-2 years ago. E.g. I just saw them once between the meals coming through the cabin with soft drinks (on an 8 hours flight). Maybe it was just a lazy crew.

It looks as if SAS is trying to save money wherever they could.

So it´s only gone for longhaul? I was coming back from FRA yesterday, but I was in C so no issues with Nicolas there :p

Eco Extra longhaul has been in decline for a long time in my opinion, it´s just not very different from Eco.

Last week, I was in C LHR-CPH. They had a choice of two different NFs, but apparently they ran out of champagne very quickly, so my second bottle was a Pommery they managed to dig out from way back in the cabin.

Noooo! For realz? :mad:

I was in Y EWR - ARN and back again just over a week ago and there was plenty of NF. Is this temporary or permanent?

In the worst case I'll just bring the entire bottle of Tattinger from the SEN lounge and pass it around the cabin.

The other bummer is that when flying C i liked asking for a bottle of NF to the meal, opposed to drinking the Henriot, for some reason I just think NF tastes way better in the air.

Feuillatte was available on BRU-CPH yesterday evening.

You guys are not going to believe this. I received something like this in C on TYO-CPH. After dinner I asked for some champagne and the guy brought this mini-bottle. I didn't get a chance to look at it before rejecting it and asking for the Henriot. The background of the label was white or cream colored. So maybe they were serving this in Y?

Pre-departure they were serving Drappier. Used to often serve NF.

I flew Y on CPH-ARN yesterday and noticed that the label of the NF had changed.

Just flew SK523 GOT-LHR. NF was offerred to C and Y, although admittedly there were only 4 bottles and C was 2 rows, Y was 1 row. I was the only taker, being 830 in the morning :D

NF was served today on ATH-CPH in both C and Y ^

No champagne ORD-ARN either. One of the FA:s regretted to confirm that the sparkling wine would be it from now on. Strange it only concerns long haul though...
She also said they were cutting down the cabin crew during the summer, leaving them one short.

No champagne ORD-ARN either. One of the FA:s regretted to confirm that the sparkling wine would be it from now on. Strange it only concerns long haul though...
She also said they were cutting down the cabin crew during the summer, leaving them one short.

@$@#$@#$@. Bad news. I still can't believe that they tried to serve it to me in C. It was one of the Japanese FAs to boot.

Did you notice the name of the product? Did you taste it?

From now on until eternity or just for the summer?

I wonder if SAS no longer is getting as good a deal with Nicolas F. Things are changing with the new graphics on the bottles. Also, they were not using large NF bottles for pre-departure on my flight in C. Drappier instead as reported.

I think SAS and NF go back at least 20 years.

It seems European airlines look more and more like U.S. airlines in terms of service. I barely see a difference anymore when

It seems European airlines look more and more like U.S. airlines in terms of service. I barely see a difference anymore when

If this carries on, then it is indeed very bad news.

Not having Champagne in C is completely unheard of for my part and a complete scandal from SAS. I suggest everyone here sends angry feedback! :)

On a side note, NF Champagne is not a great champagne as it comes from a cooperative. BAsically the quality changes from one bottle to another. Henriot on the other hand is very decent indeed. Nonetheless Champagne is Champagne and it should be served in C no matter what.

No champagne ORD-ARN either. One of the FA:s regretted to confirm that the sparkling wine would be it from now on. Strange it only concerns long haul though...
She also said they were cutting down the cabin crew during the summer, leaving them one short.

Were this in C or Y?

I have just asked a FA friend of mine, he had not heard anything about it, but he would enquirer tonight at the CPH base....

To clarify about champagne on my C class intercon flight:

Pre-departure NRT-CPH last week they were serving Drappier. I noticed because I was in row 1. In the past they often served from large bottles of NF. I boarded late and they were opening bottles of Henriot 2005 vintage (the "normal stuff") for the latecomers. The continued to served the Henriot during the meal. Later in the flight, after the meal, I asked for a glass of champagne. The FA returned with a mini-bottle of what appears to be sparkling wine; I rejected it and he returned with a glass of Henriot.

Nicolas Feuillatte is indeed a cooperative, but it also was the largest producer of Champagne and it is certainly not "variable" because it is a cooperative. It is a pretty homogenized product. It is the third largest "marque" today according to http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Vinicole_-_Champagne_Nicolas_Feuillatte

I am guessing that for Y and C intra-Europe they don't want to bother with having two different products on board. However, for intercon they don't serve NF in C, so why not economize.......:(

Although, flying BKK-SIN many years ago they were serving NF mini-bottles, but SAS no longer operates a route like this with its widebodies.

Were this in C or Y?

I have just asked a FA friend of mine, he had not heard anything about it, but he would enquirer tonight at the CPH base....

He was in Y. The issue at hand is intra-continental Y class. NF appears to be safe intra-Europe and even intra-Scandinavia so far. I think the latter would be the next domino to fall since they don't have C class service (although sell C class tickets) on those flights.

SAS actually beats the competition by serving a vintage champagne in C. Most other airlines serve NV champagne. United served NF vintage in intercon F class last fall, which is inferior to Henriot vintage, in my opinion. A downgrade in C champagne intercon would be a change to non-vintage champagne.

He was in Y. The issue at hand is intra-continental Y class. NF appears to be safe intra-Europe and even intra-Scandinavia so far. I think the latter would be the next domino to fall since they don't have C class service (although sell C class tickets) on those flights.

SAS actually beats the competition by serving a vintage champagne in C. Most other airlines serve NV champagne. United served NF vintage in intercon F class last fall, which is inferior to Henriot vintage, in my opinion. A downgrade in C champagne intercon would be a change to non-vintage champagne.

Erm well, this thread started out with the issue of no real champagne in Y+ on both IC and intra euro flights... And it seems from various reports that they swap the NF with some no label sparkling wine on both Intra EU and IC flights... And this is to me a big disappointment...

On the IC flights, I think SK beats most F class vine lists, def. better than LH and UA F... And I also really like the Henriot Vintage, and I hope its there to stay :)

But to bad if they changed to a sparkling wine in Y+ IC, to me the product is nothing but more space these days...

Erm well, this thread started out with the issue of no real champagne in Y+ on both IC and intra euro flights... And it seems from various reports that they swap the NF with some no label sparkling wine on both Intra EU and IC flights... And this is to me a big disappointment...

On the IC flights, I think SK beats most F class vine lists, def. better than LH and UA F... And I also really like the Henriot Vintage, and I hope its there to stay :)

But to bad if they changed to a sparkling wine in Y+ IC, to me the product is nothing but more space these days...

There are no reports in this thread about NF not being served intra-Europe.

Note that LH gets away with serving some mediocre sekt in intra-Europe C.

There are no reports in this thread about NF not being served intra-Europe.

Note that LH gets away with serving some mediocre sekt in intra-Europe C.

U right, my mistake

According to rumors (1st hand statement from SK crew) at another forum, champagne will only be served in intercontinental C in the future. Crémant for intercontinental Y+ and european C and Y+.

Sorry to disappoint. But straight off a flight where the " Louis Perdrier Brut Excellence" from cote d'ore was served in both C and Y+ (BRU/CPH).

I took one sip and sent it back to the shrug of the FA who said that it was the standard drop now. It is aweful! She offered a bottle of white that was room temperature and I took a G&T instead!

I searched for this wonderful wine, only to find that it can be bought in US grocery stores for $6.95 a bottle (750ml). It is interesting to see that SAS treats its premium customers with such distain.

Our friends at BA trie dto downgrade champagne to Cava 1-2 years ago and after protests realised the error, I hope that we can do the same!

http://www.firstpourwine.com/2011/12/26/louis-perdrier-brut-excellence/

Interesting taht you get this crap in Y+/C and in M you can purchase Pommery for 80 DKK. I woiuld save my money and fly /M/ and just buy the bottle or two needed....

KF

Vote to change this here: http://mysasidea.flysas.net/node/454

Duly voted and tweeted about it... adding #flyertalk will bring it on the radar of many...@:-)

Talk about debranding! Penny pinching and a ruined image (to those who still thought SAS was a premium airline...)

$6.99. Confirmed if you go to wine-searcher.com. :mad: One outfit sells mini-bottles for $4.50, which appears to be a bad deal. What does SAS pay for a small bottle in large volume. $1.50?

I suppose that LH gets away with it.... why not SAS? NF was actually a reason that I would choose SK over LH if I fly C class.

And the response to my carefully worded email is underwhelming...At least they did reference my issue, but I doubt that unless this was regular and consistent they would bother doing anything about it...

thank you for your feedback. We’re glad to receive your thoughts on our replacement of the champagne onboard of our European flights, even thou this matter had a negative touch.

We at SAS take our customers suggestions and feedback as a very serious matter and do our best to adjust our product after our passengers needs and desires. I will forward your feedback to the affected department so that they can use your comments in their work towards a better product.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to help us with your valuable thoughts.

Have a nice day.

Best Regards

5. June CPH-EWR in Y
20. June EWR-OSL in Y
21. June OSL-AMS in C
All no champagne.

It is a torture anyway flying C in Europe. There was only row 1 open (737). 1D is the worst seat in the whole plane, most narrow and very much reduced legroom.
Who is prepared to pay for that? I won't next time.

yes this sucks
i just did ARN-DUB in "business class"
row 1 D....NO legroom, and the meal sucked.
Also.........no champagne!
what on earth is the point of business class? I literally see no difference to economy.

I had a brake in flying for a few weeks from early June, so I haven't faced it myself, however my last few flights on SK late May and early June experienced a shortage of NF, they only had literally 4-5 bottles onboard even on longer flights like MAD and KEF. They had to bring Pommery from the back every time.

I've considered NF as a really good perk in Y+ which was making SK positively different from competitors.

Just did TXL-CPH in business. Squeezed like sardines but hoped to get some champagne. No luck, no champagne, just a very undrinkable sparkeling wine which I returned. Come on, SAS, you can do better than that!

Complain to SAS - either to CR online or on Facebook.

Just did TXL-CPH in business. Squeezed like sardines but hoped to get some champagne. No luck, no champagne, just a very undrinkable sparkeling wine which I returned. Come on, SAS, you can do better than that!

Complain to SASon FB, and vote for the idea (http://mysasidea.flysas.net/) to come back to Champagne.

Complain to SASon FB, and vote for the idea (http://mysasidea.flysas.net/) to come back to Champagne.

I voted, and I sent a complaint to SAS. This is way below what one can expect in business class.

I just noticed that the demang for champagne in business and eco extra has been dismissed by SAS on the MySAS Idea page. I personally thought the answer was a bit dismissive of the customers' feelings. I take the liberty to quote it in full:
First of all I´d like to thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with us. It´s just great to see what you say! I understand by your comments that champagne is one of your favorite beverages onboard. And I can agree, champagne is something extra. But never the less, we have decided to broaden our horizon and now we serve a sparkling white wine of good quality from another region than Champagne. We are convinced that this is good choice and this wine is also more in line with our beverage profile on short haul flights. But as we always welcome good ideas I would like to take this opportunity to ask you if you have any suggestions of sparkling wines that you would like to recommend? As you know we still serve champagne on our long haul flights, bottled in 75 cl bottles. It is only the 18,7 cl bottles on short haul flights we have taken out of stock. Now when we thoroughly have reviewed your idea, I need to tell you that will not take it further at this time. But don’t get discouraged. We need more of your bright ideas on My SAS Idea. So keep on posting your ideas and don´t forget to vote for your favorite ideas. The higher votes – the higher focus it gets from us! See you onboard soon. Welcome! Claes

I think this is an outrage. The fact itself is bad enough - I really think it is bad for business (pun!), but the explanation is really below any standards. What is the point of the MySAS Idea if they simply dismiss the things that get the most votes with really patronizing rhetoric? And I can for my life not understand that they would save any substantial amounts on this. The symbolic value of champagne is ten-fold its economic value, as anyone who knows anything about luxury branding knows.

I just noticed that the demang for champagne in business and eco extra has been dismissed by SAS on the MySAS Idea page. I personally thought the answer was a bit dismissive of the customers' feelings. I take the liberty to quote it in full:


I think this is an outrage. The fact itself is bad enough - I really think it is bad for business (pun!), but the explanation is really below any standards. What is the point of the MySAS Idea if they simply dismiss the things that get the most votes with really patronizing rhetoric? And I can for my life not understand that they would save any substantial amounts on this. The symbolic value of champagne is ten-fold its economic value, as anyone who knows anything about luxury branding knows.

It seems SK does not want to serve champagne at all!? Agree the answer is quite dismissive, they could at least have accepted the many people who think this is a bad move, especially since it concerns a premium product? And also the fact the new sparkling wine is way below average sparkling wines. The message seem to be we could not care less about what premium passengers think? I think MyIdea is totally crap..and just a waste of time and money for SAS and its customers..

"Broaden our horizon" with a "quality" product. The fact is that it retails in the U.S. for (what was it?) $7.99 for a 750 ml bottle -- it is not what you pay for a quality product. And wine is generally not cheap in the U.S. because of liquor laws leading to importers, distributors, etc. taking a profit margin.

I wonder if NF started to demand more money for their product. SAS has offered NF for at least 20 years. It possible goes all the way back to the Euroclass concept of the 1980s. I noticed that NF had changed the bottle's label on my final "sampling" on CPH-ARN in June this year.

I flew LH intra-Europe in C last week and they do not have champagne, as you know. But they offer a relatively premium sparkling wine from Rheingau. I suppose their excuse is that they focus on German wines. LH has Henkel Trocken in eco (free!) and this stuff is comparable in quality and probably wholesale price to the crap that SAS is serving.

I flew eco extra longhaul a few days ago and the purser was kind enough to bring a glass from C. So, "Claes", I thought this cheap sparkler was "compatible" with shorthaul only? What about eco extra longhaul?

I noted in the new edition of "Cloud Shop in the seat pocket in front of me" that Champagne was completely taken away now, also behind the curtain. (Replacement is a modest cava) :-(

(On a more happy note the chicken dish served with BBQ sauce was among the best I've had so far, enojoy!)

I noted in the new edition of "Cloud Shop in the seat pocket in front of me" that Champagne was completely taken away now, also behind the curtain. (Replacement is a modest cava) :-(

Interesting! So in case I do not want to have my "horizon broadened" with SAS, I'll choose easyJet where it is possible to buy NF champagne at a reasonable price.

Interesting! So in case I do not want to have my "horizon broadened" with SAS, I'll choose easyJet where it is possible to buy NF champagne at a reasonable price.

I was flipping through a Cloud Shop and I am pretty sure that I saw champagne, although this was in August.

They were selling Pommery rather than NF in Cloud Shop for some time, which is indicative of the "breakdown" in the SAS/ NF relationship. I wonder if Henriot in intercon C class is the next to fall. And they will "broaden" their horizon by offering some low end stuff like Jacquart instead.

Swiss offers Jacquart in full size bottles in intra-Europe C, btw.

I was flipping through a Cloud Shop and I am pretty sure that I saw champagne, although this was in August...

In the September issue all champagne is gone.

Cava from CPH to OSL last week. FA said it was due to budget cuts.

/Th

In the September issue all champagne is gone.

Rather sad really. This used to something I spoiled myself buying on my way home from business travel. The wines in BOB (not only on SAS I should add) is pretty difficult to spoil yourself with. Likewise with the new sparkling.

Cava from CPH to OSL last week. FA said it was due to budget cuts.

Not that doing away with a quality champagne to save a few kroner would prevent me from flying in the future with SAS, but it will be disappointing not being able to have it as I rather enjoyed being able to kick off a series of flights with a nice (small) bottle of NF. It added a slice of luxury to a rather un-luxurious and expensive "premium" product.

Not to stray off topic from the champagne discussion, but I have noticed discussion of other budget cuts in Y, and changes in trends of ex-US Y and C class seasonal sales (my TATL flights mostly originate in the US). It is starting to make SAS rather unappealing considering the cost of their "premium" classes of service. I don't mind spending a little extra to get a little extra and make a long journey a bit more comforable as I value what little romaticism is left in air travel. However, SAS is starting to price themselves out of my comfort zone due to these specific cuts they are making to their product. This in turn will make me less inclined to spend more money on SAS by buying Y and C class fares, and more inclined to buy M class tickets (especially since we make 100% on all low economy fares now).

As I am living in Norway it is tough to get away from SAS, but Norwegian and KLM both serve my home airport, and their prices generally match if not beat the price of flying SK 9 times out of 10 when flying to Europe, and KLM to the US in economy, and at least you get free beer on KLM.

Cava from CPH to OSL last week. FA said it was due to budget cuts.

/Th

Why would a "budget cut" affect something that they SELL on board. The Cloud Shop is online: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5e7fc268#/5e7fc268/7

How much did they sell the Pommery for? I recall something like SEK 80 or maybe that's what I paid a few years ago for NF.

Now they sell a rotten cava for SEK 75. If you look carefully, there is no real differentiation with the "charter" offerings in the back of the mag.

Just had one of few intra-Europe C-flights, and all that has been written here about Champagne is true.

I asked: Is it true, that you stopped serving Champagne? No, no, she said and handed me a bottle of some French sparkling wine which in every sense is far away from Champagne.

While I agree that Champagne is a good indication of that you are treated well, I would not care deeply if the alternative is good. It is not.

This wine is bad and sweet. Could do fine for the sweet Danish “kransekage” at new year eve, when you are half drunk anyway. But at the plane, I left half a bottle.

That’s where they got the money for the free coffee from.

Uff!

Not that doing away with a quality champagne to save a few kroner would prevent me from flying in the future with SAS, but it will be disappointing not being able to have it as I rather enjoyed being able to kick off a series of flights with a nice (small) bottle of NF. It added a slice of luxury to a rather un-luxurious and expensive "premium" product.
........
I don't mind spending a little extra to get a little extra and make a long journey a bit more comforable as I value what little romaticism is left in air travel.


You fully explain my feelings in a precise way!

Here's some interesting info from another thread about the soft drink charges:

Apropos drikkevarer på SAS’ fly, så fortalte SAS under sammenkomst i Arlanda-lufthavnen sidste år, at der årligt på flyene drikkes 60.000 normale flasker rødvin, 40.000 flasker hvidvin og 8.000 flasker champagne. Hertil kommer miniflaskerne, der indeholder ¼ af en normal vinflaske. På årsplan bliver der hos SAS drukket 1,5 mio. miniflasker rødvin, 600.000 flasker hvidvin og 200.000 miniflasker champagne.

So assuming that they save maybe $2.50 per mini bottle then they save $500,000 per year. However, some people like myself, might just opt for nothing.

These stats also show some bad choices by customers. You can get a decent champagne versus rotgut wine. And wine consumption outstrips champagne by a factor of 10:1.

Here's some interesting info from another thread about the soft drink charges:

Apropos drikkevarer på SAS’ fly, så fortalte SAS under sammenkomst i Arlanda-lufthavnen sidste år, at der årligt på flyene drikkes 60.000 normale flasker rødvin, 40.000 flasker hvidvin og 8.000 flasker champagne. Hertil kommer miniflaskerne, der indeholder ¼ af en normal vinflaske. På årsplan bliver der hos SAS drukket 1,5 mio. miniflasker rødvin, 600.000 flasker hvidvin og 200.000 miniflasker champagne.

So assuming that they save maybe $2.50 per mini bottle then they save $500,000 per year. However, some people like myself, might just opt for nothing.

These stats also show some bad choices by customers. You can get a decent champagne versus rotgut wine. And wine consumption outstrips champagne by a factor of 10:1.

You are forgetting that a fair amount of passengers (eco on IC) have the choice for red and white in mini bottles, but not champagne (at least not for free). Also, I have never seen champagne bought in Euro eco, but a fair amount of wine bought. So there is more than just bad choice behind the statistics.

You are forgetting that a fair amount of passengers (eco on IC) have the choice for red and white in mini bottles, but not champagne (at least not for free). Also, I have never seen champagne bought in Euro eco, but a fair amount of wine bought. So there is more than just bad choice behind the statistics.

Oh, I haven't flown eco IC for a long time. I thought you could get a bottle of NF with the quota in eco.

I purchased NF in eco intra-Europe before when everything else was free. (~10 years ago.) I think it was something like 30 or 40 SEK back then. I also purchased it during the "Cloud Shop era".

Also, the FAs never offer the champagne, but typically ask if someone would like some wine with the food, so your point is well taken.