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SAS Plus Intercontinental [merged experience reports & FAQ]

SAS Plus Intercontinental [merged experience reports & FAQ]

Old Jun 2, 2014, 1:03 pm
  #1  
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SAS Plus Intercontinental [merged experience reports & FAQ]

Anyone fly the new SAS plus seats long haul yet? Debating whether to book Lufthansa from SFO-FRA-AMS or SAS from SFO-CPH-AMS.

Both are around the same price. LH flies the A380 vs. SAS on the A340. Wondering how much better Plus is vs. economy and can't find many reviews.

Any help is appreciated.
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Old Jun 2, 2014, 1:26 pm
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Have been in Plus CPH-SFO recently. Better than LH Eco on the 380.
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Old Jun 2, 2014, 1:29 pm
  #3  
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Thanks! Is the 3 course meal the same as in business class?
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Old Jun 2, 2014, 2:12 pm
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No, it is different and slightly better than the regular Eco meal. You can choose between two dishes (meat or fish usually) but it is no business class meal. Also you get alcoholic beverages during meal service.

The seat is much better than the LH Eco seat on the 380 - if you can, choose row 14 for even more room.
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Old Jun 2, 2014, 2:44 pm
  #5  
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Thanks. Looks like flight back on the particular date is 2 stops and one is in ORD. Not so hot, but looks like an enjoyable experience.
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Old Jun 2, 2014, 3:13 pm
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You say new seats, I hope you aren't refering to their plans of upgrading the cabin that won't be out before 2015... and then only in some planes at a time... ?
That being said even the current Plus seats on longhaul still aren't bad and sounds much better than LH Y through FRA in my mind
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Old Jun 2, 2014, 3:42 pm
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Originally Posted by studentCPH
That being said even the current Plus seats on longhaul still aren't bad and sounds much better than LH Y through FRA in my mind
+1

If I had the choice and the price was the same I would without doubt choose SAS Plus. It's a fairly OK economy extra product imo.
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Old Jun 2, 2014, 4:11 pm
  #8  
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Yeah sorry I mean the current SAS Plus seats :-)

I decided to do LH since SAS seats sound better, but stopping in ORD with only an hour and forty minutes to catch a United flight back to SFO is cutting it close. Wish I could find a direct CPH to SFO after AMS-CPH that day :-)
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Old Jun 3, 2014, 10:10 am
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Originally Posted by olouie
Yeah sorry I mean the current SAS Plus seats :-)

I decided to do LH since SAS seats sound better, but stopping in ORD with only an hour and forty minutes to catch a United flight back to SFO is cutting it close. Wish I could find a direct CPH to SFO after AMS-CPH that day :-)
UA would just put you on the next flight where you to miss the scheduled one.
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Old Jun 3, 2014, 1:21 pm
  #10  
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Ah that is good to know.

I ended up doing SAS :-) Found a SFO-CPH-AMS and then on way back and taking a one way AMS-CPH, staying overnight at CPH Hilton and then CPH-SFO direct.

The 175% miles on B fares and 150% United Premier Qualifying miles is a great incentive. I am excited to try out Plus as well. Flew business a while back and it was nice, but not worth the price. This time the Plus was only $150 more R/T than regular economy.
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Old Jun 3, 2014, 10:17 pm
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OP, when are you traveling? It'd be great if you could report back on your experience. Like you, I haven't found much about SAS Plus on intercontinental flights.
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Old Jun 4, 2014, 10:10 am
  #12  
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Originally Posted by Tennen
OP, when are you traveling? It'd be great if you could report back on your experience. Like you, I haven't found much about SAS Plus on intercontinental flights.
Going early August. Just put in the OptionTown request for upgrades to business class so if all goes well I might not be able to review SAS Plus. But if I dont get the upgrades will be sure to post a review.
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Old Jun 4, 2014, 11:51 pm
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I have been flying the SAS Plus a few times intercontinental. CPH-BKK as well as CPH-IAD and ORD-CPH. It really makes a significant difference with the wider seats, the leg rest and less people to mess around with, if you're sitting in the middle section. Food was incredibly good last time going home from ORD - so definitely worth it.
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Old Sep 17, 2014, 9:33 pm
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Long-haul SAS Plus Review

I posted a while ago that I had a difficult time finding information about SAS Plus long-haul, so I thought Id share my thoughts based on my recent experience (combined with intra-Europe). I was hoping for an op-up to Business, since OptionTown wasnt even an option (see OT thread). But, it looks like yield management knows what theyre doing, since the zeroed out flights werent overbooked. Damn!!

SAS Plus vs SAS Go
Its been said over and over again, but its worth repeating: SAS Plus and SAS Go = confusion. Non-SK staff (security, contract, lounge, etc.) and pax alike have no clue and get a blank look at the mention of SAS Plus or SAS Go or the BPs Y cabin code.

At ARN, I saw an exchange between a non-native English speaker and an agent that went something along the lines of this.
Pax: I have <inaudible> ticket. Where do I go?
Agent: Are you in SAS Go?
Pax: Yes, I fly SAS. Where do I go?
Agent (points to SAS Go check-in): Thats where you go.
Pax: No, no. I have ticket.
Agent (points to huge security queue): You need to go there.
Pax: Is there fast lane?
Agent: Are you in SAS Plus?
Pax (shows BP): I dont understand. Heres the ticket.
Agent: Oh, youre in SAS Plus. You can go through Fast Track over there.
Pax: Ok, ok. Thank you.

Bottom line: Rename the damn cabins! If you MUST have SAS in the cabin name, at least change SAS Go to SAS Economy or something.

Airport
On the ground, SAS Plus seemed to be fairly smooth for both long-haul and short-haul. Check-in (IMHO a strange setup) was fast at *G counters, but less so at the combined SAS Business/SAS Plus counters. Fast Track security made a huge difference at the hubs, where the regular queues were at least 100-200 deep. Im not sure if non-status pax have lounge access at outstations, but the SAS operated lounges were adequate. Priority boarding was somewhat orderly and seemed to be enforced. Priority baggage worked on all my flights.

Bottom line: For non-status pax, SAS Plus ground services make the airport experience much more civilized. Since non-SK *G cant access Fast Track security , that alone may be worth it during peak times. It would be nice if priority security became an alliance-wide *G benefit like it did for OWE, but thats wishful thinking.

Seat
Wow, where to begin with the seats? They definitely felt tight, and I dont take a lot of space! On the positive side, theres extra legroom, a proper leg rest, and a winged headrest. On the negative side, the seat bottom was rock hard; the only thing that made it bearable was the sizable blanket folded up into a seat cushion (which they stole half an hour before landing ). The seat certainly didnt feel any wider than an Economy Class seat, and could pass as a regular Economy seat from its looks. Plus, with only a curtain behind the last SAS Plus row, it really wasnt separate from SAS Go. SAS Plus felt more like the extra legroom preferred section of an Economy Class cabin than a separate product.

<rant> To be honest, what idiot designed this seat?! You have to do acrobatics to access the remote control, twist and turn to adjust the seat/leg rest, and elbow wrestle your neighbor over a SHARED armrest. Plus, the drink holder is just asking for someone to knock a drink off of it (FAs actually spilled drinks 3 times from the SAME seat). Do any other airlines with a real premium economy class have these features? <rant over>

Bottom line: The cabin was definitely more Economy than Premium and was in desperate need of an overhaul. It kind of resembled AAs 77W (not that I have firsthand experience) 3x3x3 preferred seats and 3x4x3 regular economy. The refits cant come soon enough.

Entertainment
On my first flight, I thought my system was malfunctioning, since I could only access the looped channels. Apparently, I turned it on too early, so I didnt use the AVOD system until much later in the flight (and of course, got cut off during landing preparations). So, the good news is that you get AVOD and have control over what you watch, which is more than what you get in SAS Go. But the selection absolutely sucked, and there were titles that were restricted to outbound/inbound. It was made worse by the TV shows being loaded as a single episode, so you had to fast forward if you only wanted to watch a particular show within a genre. If there was a power port, I didnt see it.

Bottom line: Dont rely on SK if you want to catch up on movies you missed within the last year. The old double prong connection didnt help either, so BYOE.

Food & Drink
SAS Plus is supposedly all-inclusive on SKs short-haul flights, but that was definitely NOT the case on long-haul.
  • Sure, all drinks are included, but youll have to pay for that smoothie. WHAT?!
  • You get a second main course option for the (same bad) main meal, but you only have one (skimpy) choice pre-arrival. WHAT?!!
  • You can have that reindeer sandwich and fruits mid-flight, but youll have to pay for nuts, cookies, and snacks. WHAT?!!!
Btw, I decided to stick with the complimentary options.

I was pleasantly surprised that the food was edible, which is all you can really hope for in Economy. A real wine glass (and real cutlery) was on the tray setup for all meals, but I dont know if thats the case for SAS Go as well. Otherwise, all flights only had plastic cups for SAS Plus (There was one intra-Europe flight that had Orrefors glasses). Special meals are a must for those who need it, because the appetizers and main courses contained meat/fish.

The intra-Europe (all special) meals were atrocious. Breakfast boxes were a joke (for everyone), and one salad (which came without dressing ) had a tiny bug crawling around the bottom when I was halfway through. If you have the time, load up in the lounge beforehand.

The drink selection was the same as SAS Go. The white wine was drinkable and the sparkling wine wasnt bad, but the red wine was horrendous. I tried it with and without food on different flights, and it was still crap.

Bottom line: SK needs to seriously step up the variety, quantity, and quality of catering for SAS Plus, if not for the whole plane. I find it incredibly cheap of them to charge SAS Plus pax for anything, let alone simple snacks. If SAS Plus is a premium product, everything should be included. I thought UA was pathetic to charge F pax for Y food, but SK takes stingy to a new level.

Service
There really isnt much to screw up with Economy Class service, and that was the case on all my flights. The FAs were always happy to help, and responded to requests with smiles, even when I had interrupted their routine (or their magazines).

Bottom line: Service inevitably varies by carrier, crew, culture, cabin etc., but I had no complaints on my small sample of flights. I dont expect Business Class service, but a dedicated cabin crew or more personalized service for SAS Plus would be a selling point.

Amenities
Amenities? What amenities? As far as I could tell, the only difference was the larger blanket and larger pillow. I believe everyone got a 500ml water bottle.

Even though my flights were full, lavatory queues were never bad, and there were plenty of towels and toilet paper. Again, dedicated lavatories would be nice.

Overall
The only thing SAS Plus has going for it is the priority services on the ground for non-status pax, and Fast Track is the only thing that OAL *G misses out on. Onboard, save for the marginally better seat, its exactly the same as Economy Class elsewhere. With the seats slated for retirement, my biggest beef (no pun intended) is with the catering. There has to be a way to differentiate SAS Plus without breaking the bank.

If I didnt know otherwise, I would have thought SAS Plus was Economy Class, since NOTHING stood out. Would I fly SAS Plus again? It depends. I think I would consider it only if I could get a bulkhead and only if the price was reasonable. Otherwise, Id just pay the 35/$45 or whatever for a preferred seat and buy F&B as needed. Or, more likely Ill just choose someone else with a proper PY cabin (any suggestions for TATL?).
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Old Sep 18, 2014, 12:12 am
  #15  
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Originally Posted by Tennen
Or, more likely Ill just choose someone else with a proper PY cabin (any suggestions for TATL?).
Both AF and BA have a proper Y+ for TATL. They are both very good for day flights, the AF one is horrendous for night flights due to the seat. They are in a separate cabin, with a wider seat and more legroom. The BA seat is comfortable and has a really good recline, with a pitch at 38''. The AF seat has the same pitch, but does not recline at all and is very rigid.
Both have a catering different than regular Economy: in AF you get the J started, in BA one of the J main.
Flying Y+ does not increase the ground experience with BA: no fast track, lounge or priority boarding. You will need C ticket or status for that. If I remember, I had priority boarding and fast track security at CDG when flying Y+ with AF.

KL is more like SK: they have Economy Comfort which is just a slightly better seat, not a cabin on its own.
I do not have experience with other carriers on TATL.
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