hphan22

I booked a ticket through SAS Airlines for a flight next summer: SFO-CPH on 6/17; BGO-CPH, CPH-SFO on 7/7. My husband and I are traveling with our 2 kids. I booked this flight because of the short flight times. Today I got an email from SAS that our returning flight times have changed. Instead of leaving BGO at 10 am, our flight is now leaving at 6 am (4 hours earlier!) and we have an almost 5 hour layover in CPH instead of less than an hour. Our total flight time has increased by 4+ hours. We now won't have time for breakfast at our hotel and will have to return our rental car when the agency is closed (has anyone done this at BGO?). I called SAS customer service but there are no better flight options out of BGO. All they said was that I could make a claim to be compensated for food and drinks. I'm super irritated as a 5 hour layover at CPH with young kids is not fun. Has anyone made a claim with SAS for this type of situation and do you have any advice?

highupinthesky

The schedule change is announced with more than 14 days notice, so there isn't much you can do. There is a flight BGO-OSL-CPH leaving at 8am, but that doesn't really help much IMHO.

SK is fairly large with compensations, so despite you are not entitled to any kind of compensation for this schedule change, they would probably compensate you for the food, although most hostels I've stayed at, do have an option for a breakfast bag you can pick up when you leave and take with you.

If I were in your shoes, I would think about going to CPH a day early and do a night in CPH. There is a hotel directly connected to the departure terminal at the airport. You could then take the kids to Tivoli or Bakken. Both can be reached by direct train from the airport running minimum every 20 min.

hphan22

I tried to do just as you suggested and asked if I could fly to CPH the night before. They said under their rules they could not rebook me on a flight departing BGO the night before with a long layover in CPH. I thought that was absolutely ridiculous considering THEY were the ones who changed the schedule! I feel stuck as all my other flights for my trip have been booked (so I can't change my dates) and there is no better route from BGO-SFO.

Jainzar

They have a connection via OSL to CPH leaving at 8a.m. from BGO. Would that help you?

GUWonder

While I would consider suggesting to wait before changing anything since further schedule changes are possible, this Nuly time is pretty peak travel time for getting out of Bergen and even for CPH. And so I wouldn’t want to have a lot of lose ends hanging out there for resolution later.

This would be a case of YMMV and to hang up and call again, but you could see if they would allow the changes and a rerouting that involves more flights but with a shorter, perhaps overnight transit as long as it’s not longer than 24 hours.

A 5 hour layover at CPH is generally no fun for kids, but there is the option of leaving the airport for c. 3 hours or so and perhaps see some stuff.

ScandiFlyer

Make the best of it. Copenhagen City Center is only 15 mins away from CPH with the Metro that runs every 5 minutes or so (and only cost a few dollars). Easy to get to "Kongens Nytorv" and stroll around - maybe eat lunch in cozy Nyhavn. The regular train service will take you to the Central Station with Tivoli Gardens next to it. Copenhagen might be one of the easiest cities in the world for a an excursion from the airport and you will be able to see quite a lot in a couple of hours.

fassy

Well, a 1 hour connection from NO to US with kids is no fun either. For the SFO flight, boarding begins about 45 mins before departure. Then you need to schlepp from B12 or so, to passport control on to the gate. Just hope, your minor travel party is not in serious need of the loo... the legs hurt or are grumpy and tired to throw a tantrum. If the BGO flight is just delayed a bit, like 30 minutes, high chance to miss the SFO flight. With the next direct one 24 hours later or having a real messed up day with going through FRA/MUC/ZRH etc.

Traveling alone as an adult with not fixed requirement to reach SFO the same day by 3pm, I wouldn't think twice about such a connection. With kids, I would rather do the 5 hours connection, sit down in one of the restaurants in CPH and have decent breakfast. Send the invoice over to SAS and be done with it.

highupinthesky

I would call again and insist they book you on a BGO-CPH flight the day before. Just claim it's impossible for you to be at the BGO airport for a 6am flight, hense why you booked the later flight in the first place.

fassy

I guess SK wants to make sure they are not on the hook for the accommodation and meal charge for the night.... and therefore plainly refuse to book the overnight connection.

Often1

All EC 261/2004 provides in this situation are three rebooking options: 1. Cancel for a refund; 2. rebooking as soon as available; 3. rebooking at a later date. You clearly want #2 .

While SK would not have any duty of care obligations to you if you voluntarily elect to travel the night before, you may not have made plain that you understand that those expenses, e.g. hotel, supper & breakfast, are at your expense and that the agent is free to record your acknowledgement in the PNR notes.

I would call back and ask to be rebooked on the flight the night before, quote the specific flight number, and expressly state that you understand that the cost of the overnight is yours to bear. If that does not work, ask to speak with a manager.

MSPeconomist

If SAS is unwilling to rebook so that OP leaves a day earlier with the overnight at CPH, would they be willing to move the CPH-SFO flight to the next day, still giving the overnight connection at CPH and permitting a more reasonable departure time from BGO?

Without knowing the ages of the kids, it's hard to know whether leaving the airport at CPH to do something during a five hour connection would be reasonable or not.

If the connections aren't too tight, the 8 am departure with the additional connection at OSL might make sense.

GUWonder

It’s CPH passport control that would have me most
concerned about a scheduled one hour connection. 75 minutes, and I wouldn’t worry about it. Less than 60 minutes, it can be unnecessarily stressful to some.

Getting the flight journey over as soon as possible and having less cabin baggage to carry around or deal with during longer transits is better than the opposite for many families. And if the kids are young and strollers are involved, it can be more of a hassle to have a longer layover that involves leaving an airport than just staying at the airport and hoping the transit is shorter but not too short since SAS generally won't gate-deliver strollers at CPH. Even with passport control at CPH being too long at times for us US passport users, I would be less hesitant to send my relatives with young kids on a BGO-CPH-US trip with an hour layover at CPH, and I would be more hesitant to have a 4-7 hour layover at CPH that involves staying airside.

I'm assuming the family has checked luggage if traveling with young kids for so long. That means there is less chance to miss a relatively short connection than there is otherwise on a BGO-CPH-US route.

Tor Viking

The Bergen office will always have a key drop by near by.
Call them and ask where it is to make sure.

AverageHighFlyer

Exactly. This would be one of the rare occasions where I would actually strongly consider checking a bag (even if it just contains my laundry), to try to insure against a misconnect (if I didn’t have a Schengen passport).

Often1

The checked bag will not insure against a misconnect. It will simply mean standing in line at the arrivals baggage office after a lengthy journey with kids, having the bag follow on the next flight (or thereabouts) and be delivered to OP.