Jainzar

I assume his FFP is M&B so he is probably looking for a long 200% earning intra-Europe travel. His origin might be ATH due to ATH - CDG he checked.

But that is just my guess.

FlyerTalker688786

Yes indeed! I am thinking of getting the 200% miles with A3. Anywhere in Europe to anywhere in Europe would be good as I can take A3 from London to get the 4 sectors and then 200% miles on SAS Plus to requalify for A3 gold.

Thank you all for your inputs. Your insight is very welcome and appreciated!

cda322

Last night I booked a 6-day trip for April, ORD-CPH, SAS Plus around $1100. Today, it's down to $670. Rebooked within the 24-hour cancellation window. Didn't check broader availability. For a 9-hour flight, to me, that's a steal.

Edited to add: It's SAS's nonstop from ORD, too.

Jainzar

Intra-Europe will be challenging. But maybe you can check if there is some possibility for ARN - AGP since this tends to be cheap per mile and you have often two daily departures from March on. You can currently get for around 280€ e.g. on 11th of March with departure in ARN at 10:40 and you would be back at 20:20. So there would be a chance to get to ARN in time that day and also to escape before it's too late. That alone should give roughly 7500 miles (incl. class bonus). At least some idea.

Abducted Alien

I hope this comes again.

vd0t

Me too!

Tango Alpha

Me too!

Seems to be a once yearly event?? In that case - March again?

Jainzar

No, from what I could find on the net there were also ones in 12/15, 6/16 and 10/16. So it looks more like every 3 months. So January or February next?

jerjeffr

Any word on this?
Or perhaps we need to wait until March?

don_hansen

I'm continuously surprised by SAS' offers. The heavily promoted weekend offer right now, seems overpriced compared to all competition. Am I missing something or is this just the new normal?

FlyingMoose

I received the same email and the prices for the very brief period they made available where higher than usual. Not sure where these guerrilla marketing tactics suddenly come from.

It is better not to have promotions than lying to your customers.

don_hansen

So true. It seems like many department within SAS are detached from each other. Especially IT and marketing. (But I guess, the really are - that it's all agency initiated).

I am also Diamond with Hilton. They just rolled out a new programme - and they did it really, really well. Actual enhancements, great communication, actually finished IT backbone etc.

FT Guest xyzpdq

Just got back from a winter vacation in Hong Kong with the family. Took advantage of a SAS deal and flew SK via ARN (based in CPH) - despite the awfull timing of this flight.

I very rarely fly IC via ARN - and I must say that this experience did not ask for repetes.

First the positives:
Thumps up for getting Diamond upgrades BOTH ways - this is a first for me (and according to the rules should not be possible).
Also thumps up for the outbound flight ARN-HKG where the purser actually welcomed me personally - also a first for me. Small Things but it Work wonders (at least for me).
Also on the CPH-ARN // ARN-CPH flights Diamond status was recognised and I did not need to show my card when ordering drinks.

However, the rest of the was a very mixed bag. Just to name a few

At the gate in ARN priority boarding was announced - and only for business class (have not seen this before). However, it was of course not enforced - and everyone boarded at the same time.
We had row 20 on the ARN-HKG flight - and the Swedish crew was extremely chatty in the galley for most of the trip - never eperienced it to this level before.
ARN-HKG was fully loaded in all classes that day
On top there was a constant traffic to and from the galley - guess they all wanted to join the party. Also Y and M pax happily used the C lavatory - crew not interfering. Sitting in row 20 this became rather disturbing.
The return flight requires a rather early start from Hong Kong centre - and in reality impossible to connect to same day.
HKG-ARN was likely 80% loaded in M, 40% in Y and almost full in C - although quite a bit of the C pax were upgrades.
On the return when arriving at ARN, the lines for passport control were huge. And a lot of people had to jump lines in order to catch their connection. When I asked the "immigration officer" why they did not open more "Booths" I got a very arrogant "it is the same at Kastrup" reply. ! What does that has to do with it. Agree at CPH the lines can be rather annoying as well - but it hardly justifies long lines at ARN.
After immigration we had to go security - I still do not get this. One machine working staffed with two very sleepy security agents (to do screening, move trays around, pat downs, help people, etc. Long lines - and to what purpose?
And then of course there is a lot of walking involved at ARN (and we did not even connected to domestic).

Conclusion:
1) Timing of the ARN-HKG-ARN flights are horrible IMHO
2) Diamond perks works well
3) Very sloppy crew on the ARN-HKG leg
4) I know why I avoid ARN - it is horribly inefficient for such a small airport.

FlyingMoose

They should really remove the additional security at ARN for international connections, like they have done in CPH for US arrivals.

The other issues you point out are consistent across the board when traveling from ARN. Largely because of SK's inability to discipline and manage their staff. The immigration queues are worst when your flight arrival coincides with the EK or QR flights though rarely a problem if you have a EU passport.

Disagree on the timing of the flight, its very subjective and I personally think its great. At best it could depart an hour later but it makes little difference. The outbound provides an option to have a meal and watch a movie and still get 7-8 hours of sleep to make it to morning meetings. The return just costs you a day but arrives at a time where you can reasonably make it through Stockholm traffic, clearly not relevant for connecting travellers but given how Stockholm's infrastructure makes a 3rd world country look appealing, this is a major issue for locals.

klmml

I guess this depends on the layout at ARN. At HEL, "clean" origins like JFK and LHR can go straight into the non-Schengen area without an additional security check, while other connecting passengers are directed to the transfer security area. However, this does require some careful work to make sure the right gates are used for the right traffic. Otherwise one will end up conflicting boarding/disembarking foot traffic or horrendous snaking corridors crammed into the terminal design to avoid such conflicts.