After years of flying SAS pretty consistently — EuroBonus Gold, around five flights a month on the usual BER–CPH/ARN–AMS–CPH/ARN–BER loops, plus the occasional HEL trip — I’ve decided to move away from it.
It’s not just about routes or points. It’s the atmosphere. The CPH/HEL operational calm, the predictable efficiency, the quiet recognition of frequent flyers, the feeling that the system still has a regional pulse rather than just alliance logic running it in the background.
Finnair, interestingly, sits almost perfectly in that gap for a SAS loyalist recalibrating their map:
- BER works cleanly into the network
- AMS is easy via HEL
- HEL itself is compact, efficient, almost algorithmic in its simplicity
- Oneworld brings a different long-haul logic entirely
- And Finnair still feels unmistakably Nordic — just quieter, more internal, less performative
Overall, Finnair still feels clearly Nordic — just quieter and more controlled. Less “show”, more system. I’ve flown them before, and they’ve always had that very calm Helsinki identity: disciplined, minimal friction, very little drama — in a good way.
Compared to that, the “Blue Group” direction Air France - KLM is moving into increasingly feels like something shaped in a boardroom rather than something with an airline identity.
And Blue Group.. sounds like:
a corporate rebrand created by consultants after 11 workshops
an IT infrastructure company
a pension fund
an industrial cleaning supplier near Schiphol
or a NATO-adjacent logistics contractor
It has almost zero emotional texture.
So I’m basically stepping away from SAS as it continues to drift deeper into that ecosystem. If the Air France–KLM integration fully materialises, the direction of travel is already fairly clear.
Now I’m just thinking about timing — when it actually makes sense to switch ecosystems and do a status match while there’s still value left in the current setup.
Curious if anyone else is seeing the same shift.