christianj

So I just finished my first international SAS Business Class trip to Europe. I was somewhat concerned about booking SAS since I have gotten very used to flying LH Business Class internationally over the last couple of years. This time around the price out of IAD to FRA was so much cheaper on SAS that I had to give it a try. I'm not going to do a full trip report but I am just going to list some of my main observations that I find both positive and negative about the SAS experience when comparing it to LH. I was quite suprised to find that the service and food quality varied greatly between the outbound and return flight.

Positive
- Friendliness of the staff on the plane
- Bathroom - I really liked the double windows which gave the area a less cramped feel. The positioning of the toilet also made for a nice change to other airlines.
- Snack Bar - Nice offering of food and a nice touch with the espresso machine.
- Food - Overall I thought the quality of the food was very good on SAS. I thought booth the appetizer and the main meal were very tasty and well prepared on both flights but I would say that the quality on the return flight to the US was slightly better. On the outbound there were 3 options (Mahi Mahi, Beef and Vegitarian) for the main course and on the return flight there were 4 options (Halibut, Chicken, Beef and Vegitarian). I also like the small pre-dinner snack they provided. LH makes this big deal out of the SkyChefs they have creating the meals but I have found the quality of the food to be declining in recent years. SASs food was very good but you might have some issues if you are not a seafood eater. (on both flights the appetizer was seafood with shrimp on the outbound and smoked trout on the return) I personally am a big seafood eater so I liked the food alot.
- Blankets - Liked the quality of the blanket provided.
- Nice ammenity kit.
- Ease of connection in CPH.

Negatives
- Check-in at IAD is evidently done by staff that works other Star Alliance flights like S. African, ANA, etc. (no individual IAD based staff like LH) The staff was not very well trained and not particularly friendly. They did not have any luggage tags available which I found very odd.
- Preflight beverages (champagne, OJ and water) on the outbound were okay but on the return there was no water offered. I asked the attendant for water and she told me I could open the water bottle provided if I wanted water.
- No headphones or ammenity kits provided on both flights until cruising altitude was reached. This is a big negative for me since I like to listen to music during takeoff and landing. I know it might sound stupid but this really bothered me. Those that like to take their shoes off before and put the ammentiy socks on before departure will also not like SAS.
- Meal service on the outbound was all done at one time. What I mean is that the salad, appetizer, main course and after dinner cheese are all give to you at the same time. Everything is either covered with plastic or some aluminum lid. Dessert is served sepeartely and so is coffee but everything else arrives together. This makes the whole food experience seem rushed and I didn't particularly care for that. On the return flight out of CPH the main course was served seperately after the salad and appetizer had been eaten.
- Limited wine options. They only had two reds (one being a nice Chilean red) and two white wines to chose from. (LH usually has more options)
- I did not care for the seat. I found it very strange that the seatback could not be adjusted independently and that the only way to recline the back was to press the button to move the seat into the sleeping position. On the outbound I had a very small footrest on the bottom the the leg extension but on the return there was no footrest. People complain about the LH seats but these things were even worse.
- I hated the inflight swedish sauna!!! Boy was it hot on the outbound flight! I thought I had experienced warm flights with LH but this really was almost unbearable. Return flight was okay.

Overall I quite like my first SAS experience! I would say that the inflight entertainment is a wash between the two. I would chose SAS for the food but LH would win out if the seat was my major deciding factor. (It's important....that's why I won't consider most US carriers at this time) Considering the price difference, I would go with SAS in the future if the pricing is so drastically different.....this time around SAS was approx. 1/3 the price of LH!!