To me, it appears SAS is trying to be both an LCC and full-service carrier at the same time.
For example, often they offer free newspapers (full service airline) but then make passengers pay for a soft drink (LCC).
I can understand the airline industry faces challenges and want to reduce costs. That's fine, but they should at least be consistent.
I think UA does a fairly good job of the consistency side of things. You know that non-alcoholic beverages will be provided and are free. You know that the bag fee is $x for each bag, unless you have *A status in which case it's free. You know that if seats are available, you can do a paid upgrade to Eco+ or Business during OLCI directly on their site during the check-in process (no OptionTown needed). You know that if you have *A status, it will be printed clearly on your boarding pass ("Premier Access"), as will your boarding group.
I'm not defending UA's great service, in that I generally prefer other *A carriers on many international routes, but at least UA offers a consistent product and manages the (low) expectations that customers may have.