Frequie

First time flying with SK intercontinental a couple of days ago ARN-EWR after becoming EBG.

Bought OptionTown upgrade for ~EUR 225 and the upgrade went through 3 days before (I could see in SAS app itinerary that ticket has changed from SAS Go to SAS Plus).

I was very happy for being upgraded to Plus. When boarding at the gate in Stockholm, I just got a receipt with a "seat change" with a seat on 4th row. I never requested an upgrade and the gate agent never mentioned to me that I was upgraded. Actually I saw it just before my foot stepped on the plane and I was to show the boarding pass to the air crew. Imagine how happy I was to go left rather than right!

My big question is: why didn't the gate agent tell me that I was upgraded? This is great news and exactly a nice way to show appreciation and make your loyal customers happy. It is weird that I only noticed this just as I was entering the plane.

So I have no idea why I was upgraded, but would like to believe that since the flight was fully booked, and I already had a Y ticket and was EBG, that it was an obvious choice to upgrade me to C.

What do you guys think - was I lucky or is this to be expected?

Passmethesickbag

Yes, I think you were lucky to get a double upgrade by getting an operational one on top of a supported one, and no, I don't understand why you had a problem with the agent not announcing it to the sound of drum rolls. Sounds like you enjoyed the surprise, so I can't see the issue.

Frequie

It's not a problem at all - I truly enjoyed the upgrade. Was just wondering why nobody told me, and even more whether there are some rules or policies for upgrades with SAS. Whether I was purely lucky or whether it might be the combination of Y ticket and being EBG. If latter is the case, I would have one extra reason to buy Plus tickets (or request OptionTown upgrade). And to keep my EBG status with SAS.

UltraRant

Welcome to the wonderful world of SAS upgrades. I am a Diamond member, have flown SAS hundreds of times in the last years and, to be honest, your story fits in perfectly well in the ideas I had in SAS policy on upgrades.
This means: there is absolutely no policy at all concerning upgrades. They seem to happen completely at random. I have seen pax without status getting upgraded while I had to enjoy life in the back of the cabin (despite having so much gold status you'd think I'd be a gangsta rapper of aviation), I've seen people with status getting upgraded because of their status, I've seen people with expensive booking classes being upgraded, I've seen people on bargain fares getting better seats, I've seen groups being divided in 'opuped' and 'non-opuped'. There's really no way to tell if you get upgraded or how your chances are. The only thing consistent about opups is that no one in SK makes a fuzz about it. It's like you're being expected to have your best poker face up and act like everything is normal. You shouldn't think that you're better than anyone else because you got a better seat, you know?

Best advice I can give you: if it happens to you, enjoy it. It's impossible to say when (if) the next time will be.

fassy

Welcome to the group trying to figuring out the mystery how opups at SAS are processed.

Certain data points seem to play a role:
1) Booking class of the paid ticket
2) Your FFP Status
3) First letter of your last name (do you mind give us a hint what the first letter is?)
4) Your first name by accident matched the name of the gate agents first love
5) If the gate agent had coffee or tea for breakfast
6) The sun was shining - or not - when the gate agent left home
7) Somehow you were the only SK*G on a wide-body jet leaving CPH not traveling business in the first place
8) While scrolling down the pax list to select a pax for opup they were interrupted by someone having a stupid question - and the list stopped at your name. Picking it up again they just took whoever was selected right now.
9) It rained
10) It didn't rain
11) ... add some random things below here

For SAS more than for some other carriers the old rule very much applies: If you want business class - pay for it! There is no reliable way to predict if you will be upgraded based on your status with SAS or the load on the plane.

Usually gate agents tell you if they opuped you to a higher cabin. I think they assumed you would know, being EBG, that getting a new boarding pass in row 4 with a big C in the corner means an opup to business class.

nussle

I go totally along with Ultrarant, we could have written exactly the same paragraph.

But, it is totally their game so I play along with it. I work hard to get the EGB because of the lounge, fast track and checkin then I don't bother putting SAS first anymore as there are no further advantages at all.

I just booked ARN-DUB and it was Lufthansa that got the goodies and as I am still with a star alliance so get all the advantages of gold anyway. Both SAS and LH had a 1 stop to Dublin but MUN has a much better lounge than CPH and getting the extra points for SAS will not advance my status much.

As I said before, never been upgraded on SAS, not a button, not a ore not a brass razoo so once you have gold the incentive just ain't there no more.

fassy

You should never count on chances for Operational Upgrades making decision which flight to take. Even on carriers which have a decent policy to upgrade their elites it is just a gamble.

Anyway, I might want to raise an "SAS Idea" to track this but I would bet a) I won't find too many backers as we saw on the "Make Diamond Status better", b) SAS won't care anyway and C) even though a policy would be put in place the gate agents could still do it their way.

So, for me it is either book C or upgrade via OT and if it doesn't clear upgrade for points at the gate/check-in. So far I never ever flew SAS in Go (just twice in Plus) following that concept but of course paid for it.

UltraRant

a) I would fully support you on such a SAS idea, but
b) you're right about that anyway and
c) that seems to describe the work ethics at SAS perfectly.

ps. I also completely agree on getting more benefits for Diamond. A goodie bag with useless crap ain't just that tempting. I'd really like to have some upgrade vouchers, special offers for getting more miles or for using miles. One of the promises was that there would be better reward availability with SK for Diamond. I haven't seen anything so far.
One easy perk would be that SAS starts using a hierarchy when it comes to opups. Pandion first, then Diamond, then Gold, then Silver or *G, etc.

Airlines like TAP are actually excellent at recognizing status. And Austrian and Swiss also give a good chance for a status upgrade.

nussle

Agreed, I had three staralliance choices to Dublin next week in all cases I had to change and the price was almost the same. I choose Lufthansa why??

1. They have upgraded me in the past so I feel friendly towards them
2. The lounge at MUN is heaps better than ARN or CPH
3. I am already gold and diamond does not seem that great so I don't need the points and in LH I get a beer even in economy on the way home.

Nothing to do with a belief they will upgrade me again just running on goodwill from the last upgrade a year ago really plus the lounge is better.

fassy

Upgrades on LH group are largely influenced by the booking class, then they look for status.

I don't care for Opups on short flights. Hitting a longhaul upgrade is the goal which is quite unlikely if you travel on a cheap eco ticket using LH.

I agree that I also tend to return to LH, LX, OS and SK since they have been good to me in the past but I never ever drive to the airport hoping I will get an opup on a long flight as it never happened.

UltraRant

The biggest benefit of Diamond at this moment is the possibility to give away a gold card. All other benefits can be achieved by booking a plus ticket. The goodie bag is a worthless thing, as I don't have use for anything (I would have had use for the Marshall headphones).

I've actually moved away from LH in this year. Why?

- they've completely screwed up their Miles and More program and called it an enhancement. It's now unfeasible for me to maintain gold status there, while I easily hit Diamond when flying SAS. In fact, it's even more profitable for me to credit LH flights on SK, as I get more points in most cases (even including the 25% bonus of LH). With SK I get a lot of points and I reach bonus flights (like vacation flights) quite easy.
- I am completely tired of the strict and unfriendly behavior of LH ground staff. Despite being Senator, I always get the blame first if I miss yet another connection due to failures and delays caused by LH or FRA. I even had them close the door to the bus to the aircraft in front of me and refused me boarding. Was I there 10 seconds earlier (not kidding here), I would have been on board. Cost me yet another 3 hours on their airport. Worst part is that the service desk even called the gate to tell them I was on my way.
- CPH and ARN are much, much better airports than FRA is (and MUC in some respect, as waling distances can be crazy there). I missed over a dozen connections each year at FRA, even for long haul. I have missed one connection this year at CPH, while they even waited for me once (minutes after boarding should have stopped) to make a connection on another location.
- I get many, many more *A points per flight with Sk than I get with LH. I sometimes use my points on reward flights within *A instead of with the airline, and then it's very convenient to be able to get a lot quite quick.
- There are many flights between CPH and OSL and ARn and OSL each day. That means that my connection times are usually very short and I loose less tiem by hanging around in an airport lounge.

What actually is in favor of LH:
- there is a humane serving of drinks and snacks on board in economy. On this point LH is much better than SK, where coffee and tea are the norm (unless you want to pay extra on an already expensive flight)
- The aircraft of LH are generally much cleaner than those of SK. This has especially to do with the filthy habit of Scandinavian people to chew gum everywhere and their general lack of manners: when they're done with it, they smear it everywhere on board of the plane and it ends up on my outfits more often than I'd like. Plus that it makes me sick if I have to listen to people who chew out loud in my ear or who think it's normal to make a lot of noise when chewing and playing with the stuff. It's barbaric and disgusting.

When it comes to operational upgrades, I have to fly with OS or LX to get some for being a SEN with M&M (I've been upgraded quite a few times there, even on long haul). LH has only upgraded me once in hundreds of flights. LH hasn't even upgraded me when flying in semi-flex economy with a very expensive booking class.

I don't feel loyal to any airline, as most airlines really don't care about loyal customers. I just choose what gives me the biggest benefit, also on the long run. Right now that's not LH, but SK.

fassy

When I say I return to LH, Lx or OS I mean I to fly with them - crediting the miles to SK.

Miles and More has gone down the drain completly - has it even ever been a good program? I don't think so...

UltraRant

M&M currently still has 4 strong points left.

1) It covers a lot of large airlines with flights to places all over the world. That also means award flights can be booked on those airlines and destinations for much less points than on a *A award booking.
2) They have the 'companion award', which means a 50% points discount for the second person traveling on an award ticket.
3) They have a lot of 'mileage bargains', which mean a lot of business class tickets for very little points to especially destinations I wouldn't have booked revenue tickets to but certainly would like to see, out of curiosity.
4) Upgrade vouchers for loyal customers with high tiers.

Furthermore, you're completely right to credit the points to SK instead. It's much more profitable as you get many more points.

FlyingMoose

As much as I disagree with SAS's current approach and believe it should always be status over all other options, this example doesn't make any sense.

It's a 2h40m flight from ARN to DUB, it's 2h5m ARN to MUC and 2h20m from MUC to DUB, aside from ARN-DUB being one of the cheapest intra-Europe flights that SAS operates. I doubt many others would make the same choice.

livious

Was it flight SK903 on Sunday? I was also upgraded to at OLCI with no mention. My colleagues were asked several times if they wanted to upgrade to Y+. The flight must have been oversold, which will lead to op-ups of VDBs