Just a few thoughts here...

The way I learned the *G lounge is upstairs is because I always was pointed to my left for entry to the lounge by the host when I was still flying as non-EBG in C. They suddenly pointed right, towards the stairs, when I had that shiny golden card. I'm not so stupid that I can't get a hint when I get one. Not that there's much difference between the lounges, by the way. In OSL there is (was? *G lounge is now being refurbished, not sure what it will be like) absolutely no difference between the lounges and there's actually no gatekeeper that will stop you as C or Plus passenger to enter the gold lounge.

I think the LH lounges in FRA are better in every single respect than the SK lounges, if it were only for having plenty of clean showers available and no ridiculous waiting times. That's the biggest 'miss' on OSL and I haven't been very impressed with CPH either.

I stopped flying KL when they were serving dried out slices of bread with tasteless cheese (no butter, as butter costs money) packed in plastic foil and Royal Delft-ish cardboard. I'm not sure where they are now with on board service in Y, but I rather get nothing than that I've paid for such a 'treat'. The KL Crown Lounge on AMS is only better than the Menzies lounge on AMS (for SK passengers), while the SK lounge on CPH is at least as good as the KL lounge on AMS.

I only fly PLUS on private trips when the price is the same or less than Go (yes, that happens). On business trips I often fly Plus nowadays. It's only in very unfortunate circumstances that PLUS is fully booked, is my experience, so chances are that you will get an empty seat anyway. Unless you have a halfway retarded check in agent who just books all other plus passengers right next to you on the first row, leaving row 2 and 3 completely empty (yes, I even experienced that). In addition, my SK account happens to fill up quite fast. I'm actually going to make Diamond this year due to some of those Plus flights. SK points can actually be used for things, while points on KL have so little value (they had a point value inflation there that even would have made Mugabe jealous) that I still haven't been able to book a reward flight, having been platinum for years. I think the points expired now... With SK sometimes round trips CPH-AMS or OSL-AMS go for 10.000 or 15.000 points or so (where I already earn 5000 in Plus on direct flights or 7500 on OSL-CPH-AMS). Agreed, apart from rebooking and extra points there are absolutely no benefits for *G members in booking Plus.

Soft seat blocking is a perk with SK and all other *A that I really enjoy. KL doesn't offer this service. I always ask at the check in agent if the seat next to me can be blocked (even when flying Plus) and this is almost always granted (given the flight is not fully booked).

When counting upgrades, I have the impression that SK uses the Great Random Generator In The Sky Operated By A Lazy Schroedinger's Cat But In Leap Years By A Pink Hedgehog Drawn By Escher to assign upgraded seats in order to comply with the annoying forced equality principle that still keeps Scandinavia in a harsh grip. Even I, as EBG, haven't by far had the pleasure to be upgraded so often as I should have based on status. If you want to get upgraded with an airline because you are *G, I recommend you fly with LX, OS and TP. I got most of my upgrades with those airlines. LH you can forget. I actually experienced quite a few times that LH rather left passengers on the ground than upgraded a few to C. LH is in love wiht it own rules, not with its passengers.

Now for on board service. You must have gotten the weirdest SK crew ever on AMS-CPH. At least very grumpy and competely inefficient. My experience is that getting a glass of water has never been an issue on any flight (except one, where I could only buy a bottle for 25NOK). They nowadays usually go round the aircraft asking people if they want tea or coffee, giving an empty cup when you said 'yes'. If you're lucky they come through the cabin later on to fill it with something (usually at random, though). Apparently refills have disappeared and sugar and milk are only available on request: they're not offered by default anymore, I always have to ask for them explicitly. Nevertheless, this still by far beats the serving times of TP. I was on a few C class flights last week and it took them a full 2 hours on the flights OSL-LIS and LIS-OSL before they were ready to serve meals or drinks: both ways service started above Paris. Most SK flights are shorter.

I completely agree with the look of a typical 'status' or frequent flyer on SK, although I have to admit that I have had stuff with me that would easily beat the platic bag (a full Burger King meal on a tray, anyone? ). I even have to admit that I didn't look (or smell) my very best after attending a metal festival and crawling in a Plus seat directly afterwards to get home... especially not as I was still wearing my festival outfit. And, having become quite Scandinavian by now, even I don't fly with my suit (or regular business outfit) on that often anymore. Just a plain casual outfit will do.

I don't want to be a SK apologist, but if you blame SK for missing your train for being 5 minutes late, I suggest you take better margins next time anyway. If they landed on time but got parked at an outside position you would also have lost those 5 minutes. Or if they got one of the faraway A gates. Or if the gate was still occupied by another aircraft. Or if they departed on time but got put on a hold pattern for a few minutes... Air travel still requires a lot of time, unfortunately. And, given that SK for example NEVER respects priority luggage tags and such, things can get pretty time consuming anyway.