Tennen

I posted a while ago that I had a difficult time finding information about SAS Plus long-haul, so I thought I’d share my thoughts based on my recent experience (combined with intra-Europe). I was hoping for an op-up to Business, since OptionTown wasn’t even an option (see OT thread). But, it looks like yield management knows what they’re doing, since the zeroed out flights weren’t overbooked. Damn!!

SAS Plus vs SAS Go
It’s been said over and over again, but it’s worth repeating: SAS Plus and SAS Go = confusion. Non-SK staff (security, contract, lounge, etc.) and pax alike have no clue and get a blank look at the mention of “SAS Plus” or “SAS Go” or the BP’s “Y” cabin code.

At ARN, I saw an exchange between a non-native English speaker and an agent that went something along the lines of this.
Pax: “I have <inaudible> ticket. Where do I go?”
Agent: “Are you in SAS Go?”
Pax: “Yes, I fly SAS. Where do I go?”
Agent (points to SAS Go check-in): “That’s where you go.”
Pax: “No, no. I have ticket.”
Agent (points to huge security queue): “You need to go there.”
Pax: “Is there fast lane?”
Agent: “Are you in SAS Plus?”
Pax (shows BP): “I don’t understand. Here’s the ticket.”
Agent: “Oh, you’re in SAS Plus. You can go through Fast Track over there.”
Pax: “Ok, ok. Thank you.”

Bottom line: Rename the damn cabins! If you MUST have “SAS” in the cabin name, at least change SAS Go to “SAS Economy” or something.

Airport
On the ground, SAS Plus seemed to be fairly smooth for both long-haul and short-haul. Check-in (IMHO a strange setup) was fast at *G counters, but less so at the combined SAS Business/SAS Plus counters. Fast Track security made a huge difference at the hubs, where the regular queues were at least 100-200 deep. I’m not sure if non-status pax have lounge access at outstations, but the SAS operated lounges were adequate. Priority boarding was somewhat orderly and seemed to be enforced. Priority baggage worked on all my flights.

Bottom line: For non-status pax, SAS Plus ground services make the airport experience much more civilized. Since non-SK *G can’t access Fast Track security , that alone may be worth it during peak times. It would be nice if priority security became an alliance-wide *G benefit like it did for OWE, but that’s wishful thinking.

Seat
Wow, where to begin with the seats? They definitely felt tight, and I don’t take a lot of space! On the positive side, there’s extra legroom, a proper leg rest, and a winged headrest. On the negative side, the seat bottom was rock hard; the only thing that made it bearable was the sizable blanket folded up into a seat cushion (which they stole half an hour before landing ). The seat certainly didn’t feel any wider than an Economy Class seat, and could pass as a regular Economy seat from its looks. Plus, with only a curtain behind the last SAS Plus row, it really wasn’t separate from SAS Go. SAS Plus felt more like the extra legroom “preferred” section of an Economy Class cabin than a separate product.

<rant> To be honest, what idiot designed this seat?! You have to do acrobatics to access the remote control, twist and turn to adjust the seat/leg rest, and elbow wrestle your neighbor over a SHARED armrest. Plus, the drink holder is just asking for someone to knock a drink off of it (FAs actually spilled drinks 3 times from the SAME seat). Do any other airlines with a real premium economy class have these features? <rant over>

Bottom line: The cabin was definitely more “Economy” than “Premium” and was in desperate need of an overhaul. It kind of resembled AA’s 77W (not that I have firsthand experience) – 3x3x3 preferred seats and 3x4x3 regular economy. The refits can’t come soon enough.

Entertainment
On my first flight, I thought my system was malfunctioning, since I could only access the looped channels. Apparently, I turned it on too early, so I didn’t use the AVOD system until much later in the flight (and of course, got cut off during landing preparations). So, the good news is that you get AVOD and have control over what you watch, which is more than what you get in SAS Go. But the selection absolutely sucked, and there were titles that were restricted to outbound/inbound. It was made worse by the TV shows being loaded as a single “episode,” so you had to fast forward if you only wanted to watch a particular show within a genre. If there was a power port, I didn’t see it.

Bottom line: Don’t rely on SK if you want to catch up on movies you missed within the last year. The old double prong connection didn’t help either, so BYOE.

Food & Drink
SAS Plus is supposedly “all-inclusive” on SK’s short-haul flights, but that was definitely NOT the case on long-haul.

• Sure, “all drinks are included,” but you’ll have to pay for that smoothie. WHAT?!
• You get a second main course option for the (same bad) main meal, but you only have one (skimpy) “choice” pre-arrival. WHAT?!!
• You can have that reindeer sandwich and fruits mid-flight, but you’ll have to pay for nuts, cookies, and snacks. WHAT?!!!

Btw, I decided to stick with the complimentary options.

I was pleasantly surprised that the food was edible, which is all you can really hope for in Economy. A real wine glass (and real cutlery) was on the tray setup for all meals, but I don’t know if that’s the case for SAS Go as well. Otherwise, all flights only had plastic cups for SAS Plus (There was one intra-Europe flight that had Orrefors glasses). Special meals are a must for those who need it, because the appetizers and main courses contained meat/fish.

The intra-Europe (all special) meals were atrocious. Breakfast boxes were a joke (for everyone), and one salad (which came without dressing ) had a tiny bug crawling around the bottom when I was halfway through. If you have the time, load up in the lounge beforehand.

The drink selection was the same as SAS Go. The white wine was drinkable and the sparkling wine wasn’t bad, but the red wine was horrendous. I tried it with and without food on different flights, and it was still crap.

Bottom line: SK needs to seriously step up the variety, quantity, and quality of catering for SAS Plus, if not for the whole plane. I find it incredibly cheap of them to charge SAS Plus pax for anything, let alone simple snacks. If SAS Plus is a premium product, everything should be included. I thought UA was pathetic to charge F pax for Y food, but SK takes stingy to a new level.

Service
There really isn’t much to screw up with Economy Class service, and that was the case on all my flights. The FAs were always happy to help, and responded to requests with smiles, even when I had interrupted their routine (or their magazines).

Bottom line: Service inevitably varies by carrier, crew, culture, cabin etc., but I had no complaints on my small sample of flights. I don’t expect Business Class service, but a dedicated cabin crew or more personalized service for SAS Plus would be a selling point.

Amenities
Amenities? What amenities? As far as I could tell, the only difference was the larger blanket and larger pillow. I believe everyone got a 500ml water bottle.

Even though my flights were full, lavatory queues were never bad, and there were plenty of towels and toilet paper. Again, dedicated lavatories would be nice.

Overall
The only thing SAS Plus has going for it is the priority services on the ground for non-status pax, and Fast Track is the only thing that OAL *G misses out on. Onboard, save for the marginally better seat, it’s exactly the same as Economy Class elsewhere. With the seats slated for retirement, my biggest beef (no pun intended) is with the catering. There has to be a way to differentiate SAS Plus without breaking the bank.

If I didn’t know otherwise, I would have thought SAS Plus was Economy Class, since NOTHING stood out. Would I fly SAS Plus again? It depends. I think I would consider it only if I could get a bulkhead and only if the price was reasonable. Otherwise, I’d just pay the €35/$45 or whatever for a preferred seat and buy F&B as needed. Or, more likely I’ll just choose someone else with a proper PY cabin (any suggestions for TATL?).