Amexpat

I have no problem with DY for domestic Norway, I've used them many times. The problem is if SK folds then there's no competition on the main domestic routes until another actor gets established and that could very well be Ryan Air.

fransknorge

I have little experience with the phone or ground crews and they have been generally OK or good; except that sometimes at SVG I was told "Business!", "Business only!" or something equally rude (two times even shouting at me) once I entered the Business/SAS Plus check-in area. No smile whatsoever. I appreciate they enforce that only entitled people use the Business check-in area but then please do it politely: ask me for my boarding pass or FFP card (do not forget to say please) ! I will point out that I was walking confidently as I know my way in this airport and do not look like a lost hobo.

As for flight crew, I sincerely believe I do not have an attitude problem as I approach a SK flight the same way I approach a LH, BA or KL one. Yet I most often leave with the feeling that crews are not as service minded on SK as on any other airlines I have flew with. My expectations are that crews do not chit-chat with each other during boarding but proactively ensure this is all going well. Smile a bit, go in the cabin from time to time to check that everything is good; not spend a good part of the time in the galley with curtains closed. Two day ago on CPH-SVG on a A320, as I open the curtain to enter the front galley and go to the toilet, one of the crew member (the three were there) told me that there is no toilet on front on this plane. Right, it was just they would have to move to let me enter ...

Most of the times I found them just indifferent, not really bad. I would say that around 20% I have service minded people; 50% of the times just indifferent people and the remaining 30% of the time people who have nothing to do in a service industry or I did not trust for my safety. Here are experienced behaviors (I never witness that on any other airline):
- Speaking scandic language only to people at exit row even though they say they did understood english only
- Not showing emergency exit when the safety video was playing (twice I did not see a single crew member when the video was playing)
- One flight without safety demonstration at all
- Mocking a passenger who explain to the crew he has a fear of flying and laughing at him

nacho

I try to avoid SK as much as I could and I think I'm doing the right thing. Maybe it's because we only travel on discounted Y.

Recent experience with SK:
IAD-CPH - sitting at the last row right in front of the loo.The flusing system was old and it was so loud that everytime someone flushes it woke me up. The galley light was on and the crew couldn't stop talking during the whole trip.

Food service - hopeless, 4 pax travelling with 2 kinds of food (maybe it's our lucky day) - the crew 'threw' the trays onto our tables skillfully. Fortunately the kids got filled up with cup noodles at CPH lounge.

PVG-CPH - I met the most insulting crew in my life. He was very impolite and especially during inflight sales. Instead of asking 'what would you like to buy', he asked, 'what do you want?' - as if selling things to you is like doing you a favour - perhaps it is for him.

There was a chinese crew with him too and he imitate me speaking Chinese when I was talking to the Chineses crew in Chinese.

I didn't want to bother him but I had a EUR 40 voucher to burn.

Check-in agent in CPH is not the best in the whole world. They refuesed to honour the *G priority tags claiming that they can't do it when the number is not in the system. Don't know what happen if I check-in using the extra bag perk as *G.

nussle

Well, I am surprised but credit where it is due.

Flew SAS from ARN to USA yesterday, friendly staff, food was pretty good and in all almost nothing to complain about (entertainment system not really working but ok, who cares.) internet stayed working from belt sign off to back on to land.

Anybody else been having these strange experiences or was it just a lucky one off and I should not expect it on return.

Checkin counter staff lived up to her name but I know her already and she knows me so I was expecting that, but the flight....very nice.

FlyingMoose

The IFE not working on a 9 hour flight is a pretty big deal. How was the food good? What class were you in?

I can't relate to your experience flying ARN-ORD 12+ times a year. There is the occasional unicorn flight where the stars line up and everything almost looks like a real airline but they are incredibly rare. Lets see if you get sleep on your return or whether the crew keeps the lights on and makes noise until about an hour before breakfast is served.

AverageHighFlyer

I just flew ARN-MIA on the 31st in Business on the A350, and I have to say I agree - I was overall very happy with the experience. Crew was very friendly, food was good, IFE working (although I didn’t use it), internet working. If I have to find something to complain about, it would be that the boarding experience in ARN was messy - the usual problem, where I ended up boarding with group 3 because I couldn’t make my way through the throng of people blocking everything.

To top off the excellent trip, immigration at MIA was an absolute breeze. No queues at all; when I walked straight up to a counter and presented my (non-US) passport, the agent didn’t ask any probing questions and didn’t want fingerprints or anything. He didn’t even stamp my passport, basically just scanned it and waved me through. Not sure if it’s because it was NYE and everybody was in a good mood.

I’m looking forward to the return trip tomorrow.

Nick Art

I flew ARN-CPH-LAX and EWR-OSL-ARN recently and both flights were highly enjoyable. Food was great (love the salmon), internet stable, crew very friendly and IFE seemed decent. Especially in row 1 on the A350s SK C is amazing. I think I haven't had such a seamless trip in quite some time. In CPH I walked to the gate with impeccable timing and was able to walk on to the plane as one of the first pax, in LAX customs with Global Entry took a mere 20 seconds, my bags arrived within minutes of me arriving at the baggage belt and I was out of the airport in less than 15 minutes. This trip really reminded me of what travelling is all about and how great and enjoyable it can be.

In EWR I did arrive as one of the last (just at the same time as the crew). Tipp: Don't try and take the Airport Express Bus to Newark. I ended up sharing an uber with some of the people waiting in line for the airport express that were just left there because the bus was already full. I nearly missed the flight...
The SK lounge in EWR is rather dreadful, the LH Sen lounge is better and when I visited, it was completely empty. It would be really cool if SK and LHG would decide and operate their lounges together, I'm sure they could do some nice stuff, with one lounge being for C and the other for *G, maybe even offering à la carte dining with the combined budgets like the US Polaris lounge? Yeah, I'm dreaming again...
Anyway, the A321LR I took to OSL was a really cool experience too and having gotten a throne seat I had a pretty good time as well. The seat is a little narrower (Vantage on the A321 vs. Vantage XL on the A330/A350), but still enjoyable. Dinner was nice as well and service friendly. Overall, a really good flight.
Immigration in OSL wasn't that great as there was only a line for NO or foreign passports, or at least the staff there was blocking the EEA line so I ended up behind some people that were questioned for a good 30minutes. Also having to reclear security in OSL isn't that great, but I digress.

SAS Business is a great deal for the great service you get, especially looking at the cheap tickets they often offer. I've decided to move more of my travels to SK, instead of LH/LX F (which has become insanely expensive), I'll fly SK C to NYC next year for example. And some flights to Tokyo will hopefully also end up on SK if their schedule sticks.
I did pretty much enjoy SK C just as much as LX/LH F tbh, the difference (at least for me) isn't huge. Sure, LH/LX F offer amazing ground service and better hard and soft product on board, but for me the difference really wasn't that great to how much I enjoyed my SK C flight to LAX.

nussle

The IFE was working, kinda, the ear phone socket was disconnecting all the time so I wrapped it around the coat clip on the otherside and this gave it enough tension that I could hear it. The problem was that the cable now crossed the screen but it generally worked.

In Plus. So midway between hell and heaven. If a heaven exists on SAS.

nussle

I put this here because generally SAS is absolutely bloody terrible, I have had some really loathsome flights with them and during covid the airline really hit bottom with service and staff behavior that I could not explain except perhaps they were scared. I swapped to TK/LH for a lot of my flights over that period as TK/LH was actually operating in a normal manner.

The checkin staff, there is one that is really unpleasant in ARN and I do my best to avoid her otherwise the rest are ok.

But, give credit where it is due, that was a fantastic flight and I really hope they do not mess up the return so I can stop wishing I had status on ryan air and start using my hub airline again.

CPH-Flyer

I just stepped off SK932 from Los Angeles, and again a rather postive experience. An absolutely full flight, but the food was good, and the staff very nice and pleasant. OK, they are neither Japan Airlines nor Cathay Pacific, but I'd be quite happy to select SAS business class again going on a route that I need. That is quite a carve out, as I don't see them returning to Tokyo any time soon.

GUWonder

Most of the feedback I got last quarter comparing SK TATL business class to LH TATL business class came back with LH being preferred over SAS.

Of my TATL flights last quarter, the only one with broken IFE was Delta. And they refused to reseat me and passed the buck on that to customer-unfriendly KLM even as it was a DL-operated flight. Worse customer service than from SAS when it comes to broken IFE.

ewosel

We are booekd for the 11th of July on the CPH-HND service.

nussle

LH was generally hard to beat, especially during COVID and TK was super reliable. SAS has never really been good but during COVID it took a serious down. However, my last flight with them over the atlantic I was seriously impressed although me having expected bad experience would maybe have put them being pleasant to me feeling the above expectations level had been broken.

I will fly them back....wait for the next update :-)

GUWonder

My SAS TATL class flying skyrocketed during the pandemic and it was indeed a much poorer offering in many ways then than it is now. But comparing SAS to the bottom of itself may sort of throws things off in some ways. But even this winter, I would still say SK in the air is weaker than LH.

Nick Art

LH C imho is pretty much at the bottom of the list of viable options for me currently. While it does offer the routes and such that I fly them replacing several routes with Eurodings (= no mileage earnings on *A), LHG management going totally in the wrong direction imho (in terms of culture and current practices), the LH C hard product being mediocre at best and the service just feeling not as heartfelt compared to other airlines, I just think SK J is superior on so many levels compared to LH C. The only product on LH I thunk is worth flying would be LH F.