sondra_finchley

There is luggage storage in the 'basement' of Arlanda. I seem to recall it was like 70kr a bag or something (as a per 24 hours rate - it may be less for shorter storage). We have used it plenty of times before - there is signage all over the place for how to get there. Its not a large airport, so even returning from your day in the city you will be able to pick up the luggage quite quickly and get to the checkin terminal.

highupinthesky

How do you define large? Walking from check-in at T2 to the SK check-in at T5 easily takes 30 min. CPH handle more PAX's than ARN but here it only takes 10 min. to walk from one check-in to the other.

IMHO. Based on number of PAX's ARN is mid size, but the stupid layout makes it a large airport physically

sondra_finchley

Sure, its mid-sized, I mean its not large in terms of you are walking miles and miles to get from A to B (unless its a Scandi domestic flight or that horrid Terminal 5 all the way back to SK. Even then I would say its a rather pleasant straight-shot walk of 15 minutes and not even close to the hell of navigating through the depths of any large American airport or say trying to change terminals at CDG. You can do it in 10 in a run if you really need to.). Relative to trying to find things/manage an airport the size of LHR/ORD/LAX/SIN - ARN is a doddle. That is what I meant. Perhaps it would be better to say its a less complex airport.

I haven't been through CPH in some years, but I do remember it being more accessible (both getting to the airport and in the airport) than ARN, I will grant you that. ARN has its issues but for a transit airport compared to some of the biggies in Europe, yeah, its the one I put my 70 year old parents through last year when they were flying between the US and Ireland.

tr3k

How does lounge at ARN compare to the one at CPH? Does it have showers (and are they available now)?

JR67

I assume you mean the T5 lounge, which is the only one open currently. The T4 lounge is a miserable affair, but the T5 lounge is better than at CPH (at least the gold lounge - I have no experience of the business lounge). Unlike CPH, ARN hasn't moved away from chairs in favor of sofas where people seem to think it is OK to stretch out and sleep on. There are showers, but I can't speak to whether they are open, unfortunately.

More seating options at ARN. Food is equivalently bad. No live barista at ARN, but otherwise I prefer it over CPH.

GUWonder

I find the *G lounge food at CPH better than at ARN. I find more space away from others on the *G lounge floor at CPH than in the open *G lounge at ARN.

tr3k

OT. There was no real food to speak of at the CPH lounge recently. Breakfast is ok-ish. Lunch is a set of cold salad ingredients (which they split up across many trays, otherwise it'd just be one sad bowl). Can't get any worse (well, unless we are talking UA-club bad, but that's in a whole different league).

nussle

I think we just have to accept that SAS is never going to have a good lounge, the good news is that as long as it is in star alliance we can access other lounges which are far better.

GaryK84

When I was at ARN and CPH a couple of months ago, there was no Gold section - business and Gold were all pooled into one. Has this changed recently?

GUWonder

Maybe "never" as in the future?

The primary SAS lounge arrangement at ARN for Star Golds is actually better now than it used to be a decade ago. Back then, it was about average or worse than average. Now, it's ok or even a bit better thank OK if taking out consideration for the food aspect of the lounges.

It wasn't all that long ago that the SAS *G lounge in CPH was a pretty decent lounge -- and actually better than average for North American, South American, European, African or even most Asian Star Gold lounges. I still consider SK*G lounge at CPH decent enough although the lounge at ARN feels "newer" to me because I was so used to the ARN lounge being so much more "disappointing" for so long compared to the CPH lounge. The ARN lounge setup is still nothing special but it's better than it used to be.

fassy

Yeah, I kind of agree... altough in my opinion:

OSL, GOT and ARN: the renovation and remodeling of the lounges made those lounges much better places. I really like the concept there, especially the lounge chairs in ARN facing the tarmac. Food and drinks.... terrible. Always has be, always will be. Just a tiny notch above a United Club or on par with one of the US American LH-group lounges. Disgusting.

CPH: I know, I said it a couple of times. But the renovation? I hated the change, and still do. Huge sofas to crowed together and snuggle with random strangers? No. Huge conference room tables to crowed together with random strangers listening in on sales pitches or project update calls? Equally no. The food court area is fine though and the small space facing the ex-Hilton is better now. My go-to place was always the small area facing the passport control/C-gate corridor. I loved that place. Nowadays, I hate it. The only thing there which I can tolerate are the few single desks at the far end or the "phone-boothes". And even those are just too close to each other for enough privacy to have a call or two without feeling "surveilled". If none of those are free, I usually leave the lounge in an instant.

The food in CPH is hit and miss. Mostly miss. Especially last two years. But they had a couple of better days in the past, with edible stuff. Still, I prefer not to eat there and just wit for the hotel/restaurant at my destination, the meal on the plane for long-haul in J, the LH lounge in MUC, FRA or LX in ZRH or just starve

oliver2002

The design concept for OSL/ARN/CPH is the same, SAS spent quite a bit on the concept with the same consultants that designed the 'cube' meal in regional SAS Plus

The catering is roughly the same, CPH has the hot dog which seems to be a local variation. The standards reflect the level they can get away with ... comparing it with the Asian/MEast/Turkish pleasure temples is probably not apt.

fassy

True, but IMHO OSL, GOT and ARN have a very different vibe than CPH. For once due to high ceiling as well as room lightning conditions and how the furniture elements and design (color, fabrics and materials) have been placed in the room.

While ARN and GOT have a bit more a "living room" atmosphere... if you can say that about a lounge... CPH feels like a grand-station main hall... i.e. ARN and GOT have the comfy sofa chairs, CPH has the huge sofas or the hard wooden banks. OSL is somewhere in the middle...

oliver2002

OSL domestic, which was the pilot of the designit lounge concept started the mega sofa concept

dodgeflyer

In my view ARN, then CPH, then OSL. OSL *G lounge is messy, the chairs often awful. At least ARN *G lounge has a bit of space.

They're roughly equal to OW Sapphire lounges in my book, which is about par for *G. But then again, CX lounge concept ranks so far beyond (but CX Sapphire is hard to achieve, let alone Emerald) with longer average, and fewer passengers, flights. Yes CX may not be around much longer. And they're not strictly comparable. But wine on tap??? I used to enjoy OW lounges, and may arrive a bit earlier but with *A lounges I go if I have time. Perhaps there's a strategy...