I am interested in the practical differences between the different SAS brands and how they are regarded by other Star Alliance airlines. I am contemplating an LHR-ARN-HEL booking, probably in SAS Plus. The pilot strike strike information says that Xfly and Connect (the operators of the flights we are interested in) will not be on strike. So there is a practical difference between the different brand.

The rules for *G specify that lounge access is available only if departing on a *A flight - it must be on *A metal, codeshares do not count. From a Star Alliance viewpoint, are Xfly and SAS Connect *A flights? I expect will get LH Senator lounge access at LHR, using SAS connect, if SAS Connect metal is regarded as *A. Otherwise not.

Is the SAS lounge in ARN likely to be open if this open during the strike? Are there other *A lounges in ARN or HEL? Will my *G work there, if necessary?

Will Xfly and SAS Connect also give points on other *A FF programs? Anyone know what booking classes will be used?

This makes a difference on booking as it is a 1 week city break. We probably will have a long connection at ARN. Our backup is Rome, where we have been to before. We decided to try Helsinki instead as a new place to visit. I was waiting for the pilot strike to be resolved. Now that I have discovered that XFly and SAS Connnect are so different that the pilots are in different unions I wonder if Star regards them as different airlines. Is there a serious possibility the strike will spread to them?

I posted this before, but the moderators moved it to a general discussion about the different brands. Obviously I was not specific enough. I am interested only is how these other brands are regarded by star alliance. Someone responded with comments about LH/Eurowings situation, but I do not know about it, just as I would not expect regulars on this forum to understand Aegean/Olympic.