Hi FT!

Emerging from the lurker grounds I come to share an interesting experience I am currently enjoying in the late stages.

I was booked on a DUS-CPH-ORB connection (SAS ticket) Friday evening, my phone being out of juice due to a forgotten charger, and thereto having to checkin at the airport.

I was arriving in good time at DUS only to see that the DUS-CPH connection (SK628) is canceled. At the SAS check in counter, I am told that I am rebooked to DUS-FRA-ARN on LH87 and LH808. So, that is fine, but missed the final destination (ORB) by a few hundred kilometers. ORB is only served by the CPH connection twice a weekday, the next scheduled flight would be Monday morning, which makes things quite a bit more tricky. Check-in agent (DUS groundstaff not SAS) calls supervisor and tells me that questions regarding why that rebooking and how to get from ARN to ORB can only be answered by SAS.

Now SAS does not have any representation or ticket sales in DUS, so they send me to the former handler for SAS matters at DUS: Aviapartner. There I am given a card with a german SAS service number that I am supposed to call to handle this. My mobile still being dead, it is time to call in that rarely relevant part of EC261 (we have a cancled flight after all) - the phone call/communication method. Aviapartner after checking with the supervisor refuses, so do the star alliance partners that I try and the 'SAS' check-in guys can't help either. Luckily, I found a couple of fellow victims of the cancelation with different problems, but they where given the same number on the card. They tried to call, but as it turns at that line is not manned Friday after 5.

So, no way to communicate with SAS and hence a total failure with regard to 'duty of care' due to the cancelation by SAS, I get on the rebooked LH connection, as ARN is at least a SAS hub and far closer to ORB than most other options, the hope was that things will be figured out there.

Unfortunately, FRA-ARN (LH808) was delayed due to 1) late in coming crew, who then found during visual inspection of the aircraft 2) a problem with the left nose wheel, requiring replacement (which was done quickly in 25 minutes), which then lead to a further delay due traffic issues/slot adding up to 70 minutes of overall delay. That meant a 0.45 arrival in ARN and the fact that all SAS counters (airside/baggage claim T5 and landside T4 and T5) were abandoned. I spent half an hour trying to track someone SASy down (even with support of a very engaged security guard), before giving up unsuccessful. With some phone charger help I tried to figure out whether there is a 24 hour SAS hotline I can call, but this thing only seems to exist for status members of EB, which I am not.

Since ARN-ORB is a 2,5 hours ride on a coach, the next feasible option was to spend 3 dog hours in ARN and take to first bus at 4:45, as some constrains require my earliest possible presence in ORB, hence a hotel room with proper sleep was not an option. Until 4:30, when I left the area with the counters, no SAS groundstaff was spotted (while the rest of the place came back to life between 3:30 and 4:00). So I am currently writing this post on the bus expecting an overall delay in ORB of about 10 hours, without having an opportunity to talk about this mess with SAS.

I fully understand that there are deviations from the planned operations that cause disruptions for travelers and that is not the point, but the really poor show is the total disregard of the 'duty of care' responsibilities due to the simple fact that there was no one from SAS around / reachable for me.

Any advice on how to deal with the situation / proceed with the compensation claims, etc.?