SAS Plus or LH PE?
 

Hello all,

I am planning to fly London-Hong Kong and i am going to book either SAS Plus or LH PE. I have flew LH PE before but never SAS PLUS. The price is almost the same. Opinions?

P.S whats the chances to get upgraded to C in case the flight is overbooked as A3*G with SAS?

Thank you.

I find SK and LH PE roughly the same product-wise. Service a bit more relaxed on SK but also more erratic.

On the short leg on SK you will be treated as a C passenger, rather than LH Y but the difference isn't huge.

SK will give 200pc miles in PE while LH is only 150pc/100pc depending on fare bucket.

SK uses plusgrade to bid for upgrades, so a FOC upgrade is unlikely. LH I've had the odd op-up to C.

I can only recommend the SAS Plus product when it comes to intercontinental flights. For the short leg to Stockholm you should not expect an empty middle seat when the flight is almost fully booked. I very much like Sas new cabin design and also the service is appropriate, but Nordic style ( meaning you need to speak up if you want something).
If you credit to miles and bonus you will also receive 200% of the miles for all Plus booking classes ( A, B, P, S and Y ) while discounted Lufthansa PE will only give you 100%.

I am eurobonus member so naturally I prefer SAS and I have been upgraded quite often on my last flights being a premium frequent flyer. I cannot give any comments regarding *G upgrades. They will prefer Eurobonus status members first and the plus cabin on Hong Kong flights has many more seats compared to business class. So I would not expect it.

And doesn't LH also uses Plusgrade but calls their implementation myOffer? So both try to avoid an op-up the same way.

But that as herwig states, the 48 Plus seats are the main reason why I would not expect a op-up.

LH seem to set the reserve from Y to E low but E to C unreasonably high. I've actually found op-ups from E to C more frequent now as LH seem to encourage myOffer upgrades from Y pushing paid E passengers into C. Even received op-ups where E was on sale 24hrs prior and flight left with empty Y seats.

SK plusgrade from Plus to Business appears a bit more reasonable, although still yet to find a flight where it has met my price point.

Thats my issue with LH upgrade. I was traveling MEX-FRA in PE and when i ask for an upgrade to C they quoted 600 euros plus taxes. I found it insane. On the other hand LH PE seems to be a small cabin and can be overbooked easily.

I have tried SAS Plus from CPH to IAD, EWR and ORD. I find the product solid and would not hesitate to book Plus on any of these routes again. There is enough space to work with your lab-top and sufficient room to stretch legs. The food is hit or miss.

Also, I would expect LHR-ARN in Plus to be more comfortable than LHR-FRA in LH regular economy. I have tried LHR-CPH in Plus which was quite decent.

One factor which you may take into consideration:

All HKG flights and most LHR flights at ARN depart/arrive from the F gates. This means that there's a short walk involved to get from one gate to the next, with normally no line at all in the security control. So ARN is good for quick transfers. The downside is that there's no lounge in the F pier, which means that if you have a longer transfer, and you want to visit the SAS lounge, you'll have to clear immigration and walk 5 extra minutes to the lounge located above gate 1.

And do keep in mind that immigration at ARN is a toss up. It can clear instantly - or it can take 20+ minuttes

Which is better than the 20+ minutes I seem to queue by default in CPH. ;)

Hmm I always queue 3 minutes in CPH, but only do this 2-3 times a year. Perhaps at different travel times.

CPH (like other Schengen airports) has gotten busy lately because they now scan every passport.

Getting through passport control on the night arrivals from LHR has recently taken 15-20 minutes if sitting at the back of the plane.

Departing also takes 10-15 minutes, I usually leave the lounge 30 mins before departure, and previously would get to the gate long before boarding began, but now it seems to be just on time. It's difficult to judge whether the electronic gates or going to a person will be faster. A person may be faster unless there happens to be a non-EU citizen travelling with their family in the EU line, because some people seem to get confused with the gates.


Back on topic, I prefer transiting ARN over FRA, however, LH flies to LCY which may be more convenient for some. Also the SK flights seem to be full of tour groups whereas the LH A380 is rarely full so you can get a "flat bed" in Y. PE won't be full either but you can't move the armrests, so actually I prefer Y, if J is not affordable.

Also I don't like departing HKG in the morning (difficult to get up at 0500 in HK) and connecting means that might not get to destination in London until after dinner time (almost 0500 HK time!)

They're still not doing this...

I got a Bangemann-style wave-through yesterday evening entering Schengen at CPH, which is just as well as I nearly missed my connecting flight (and other passengers connecting to the same flight back in Go were not so lucky; we departed without them).

Well, they are, but maybe that guy decided not to bother, like one of the 4 Belgian officers at Brussels South Eurostar last weekend.

I've flown SAS Plus on their A330/340s a few times, and LH PE on their A330s. They seemed very comparable in both the comfort of the seating and the quality of the service. I've only flown the LH A380 in Y, so I can't provide a direct comparison, but the seats are a tiny bit wider and I suspect that the cabin is a good bit quieter.

ARN is my home airport, but it seems to me that the Senator lounge in the Z-terminal (where the flights to HKG depart) is closer to the gate than the SAS Gold Lounge is to the F-terminal, and I believe that it offers a better selection of food and drink and a wider range of amenities. Of course, since I am always either arriving or departing ARN I have only ever had breakfast at the SAS Lounge. They may have showers and a space for taking a nap as they do in the Senator Lounges at FRA, but I have never had time to really look for those things at ARN.