gardkarlsen

Hi

Some of you might remember that I have been a bit annoyed at SAS earlier on...last year I nearly didn't make it to Paris due to a strike in SAS...and in November last year I ended up paying 26.000 kroner (about 4300 US $) for business class tickets on SAS but I was moved over to Thai economy as there were no seats left on SAS and I did not get any compensation for this

On Monday I went from Stavanger to Gothenburg via Copenhagen on business class as that was the only seats available. On my way back my flight to Copenhagen was canceled due to a strike there so I got a couple of hours delay in Gothenburg and I had to wait in line for 1 1/2 hours to re-book my ticket to get back home. I was moved over to a tiny Wider�e flight to Oslo and when I got there the flight home was delayed 2 hours so I sat there from 9.30 PM until about 1.30 when we took of...so I was home at 2.30 AM which is not good when you have to be at work the next morning at 8 AM

Lately SAS has used money to advertise that they are re-introducing "service". I didn't see much of this even if I came home about 4 1/2 hours later than I should have. According to the SAS magazine the business class is their best product but that didn't help me at all when I was stuck in the 1 1/2 hour line in Gothenburg.

I guess the climax was when I came into the flight from Oslo to Stavanger and I was seated in the first row. I was hoping that this would get me faster out of the plane so I could get home fast...but the problem was that there was no space for my backpack. So I asked the air hostess if there was any place I could but my bag and she said "Well, there are no secret compartments here in the front so you just have to make your way back in the plane and find a place to put your items". So I had to put my stuff in various places and when we landed I had to wait for most of the passengers to get of the plane so I could retrieve my stuff.

I know that SAS did the best they could to get me home but I feel that they focused on getting me home in a way that was cheaper for them. We did get any offer of drinks or food and I guess I can't expect to get the frequent flyer points that I should have gotten for my original route. I didn't see much of the re-introducing of service that they have been talking about...I expect to get something back when I have bought their "best product".

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

tommy777

You seem to be unlucky with strikes... Unfortunately, there is little SAS can do with illegal strikes. In situations like this, lines often get very long. There are many business class passengers and EBGs. I can't see how SAS could solve a line at their ticket office. Usually there's no wait, but with a strike like this there can be hundreds of passenger who need to rebook their tickets. Do you suggest SAS have 50 persons manning the ticket office at all times?

SAS does not offer "Business Class" service on the routes you traveled, they offer Economy Extra for people who pay full fare classes. On these routes, what you get back for paying these fares is flexibility, refund ability and more points earned. You also get seated in a separate cabin in the forward part of the aircraft. On Norwegian domestic flights, you get to choose seats in front, but as you know, SAS has never had more than one class within Norway.

I don't know what you expected SAS to do in regards to your re routing. It sounded more than fine to me (compared to numerous pax who got stuck at CPH). I also don't see how they did it cheaper for themselves.

And when it comes to seating in row 1, as a frequent traveler you should know that you are not allowed to have any luggage in front of you during take off and landing. If you board late, the over head bins are usually full. If you have a lot off stuff on board with you (one piece is the maximum SAS allows btw), my recommendation to you is to choose another row next time.

SAS has reintroduced service. They actually now serve free breakfast on all Norwegian domestic flights and have improved their C product substantially.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=675061

You will of course get points for your original routing. Just call Eurobonus after the points have posted

I'm sorry this happened to you. It happens to all of us every once in a while and it sucks. But I can't blame SAS in any way in your case

gardkarlsen

Hi

Yes, I know there is little that SAS can do with a strike like this. But I just feel a bit ripped of when I have paid 6000 kroner for a ticket and then I don't get the slightest "We are really sorry about this". Instead I was sent on the Wider�e flight where I was informed that I could be a drink and no food was served.

As for the points...yes, I guess I would have gotten a few points if I used the original route...I'm not sure how much I will be left with after a Wider�e flight...and there are no points for flying domestic.

"You will of course get points for your original routing. Just call Eurobonus after the points have posted"
Really? When I went to Asia last year I did not get the points for the original routing...and I don't get any feedback from SAS when I try to get in touch with them.

When I said cheaper...I don't know what the conditions where like at the other airports....but I think I would have gotten home sooner if they sent me to Frankfurt and then to Stavanger...or maybe even better to Amsterdam and then to Stavanger.

Maybe I'm making a big fuzz out of nothing. I just feel a bit jinxed as each time I fly SAS I feel that something goes wrong and I don't get my moneys worth.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

jacob_m

Sorry about your poor experience, doesn't sound fun at all.
However I have to agree with Tommy777, it's hard to blame SAS for this. The strike was illegal and there is no way SAS can have a back-up plan for these situations.
I'm sure the staff in GOT (who were probably just as frustrated as you about their Danish colleagues) worked as hard as they could, and all in all it looks like they solved your situation quite well.
You got home the same evening, OK it was very late, but the same evening, your business class ticket probably helped you!! I'm sure plenty of passengers got stranded in CPH, GOT and other airports around the world during the night having to sleep in hotels or even at the airports.

We've already discussed your previous case before.
There is a difference between voluntary rerouting and involuntary rerouting.
In the case of you Asia trip you agreed yourself to be downgraded to get on a different flight, it was your decision, i.e. it was voluntary.
In this case you were rebooked because your flight was cancelled due to a strike, it was out of your countrol, not your decision, i.e. it was involuntary.
If you are involuntarily rerouted due to strikes/delays/cancellations/missed connections etc you are allowed to claim the points for your original routing, they will agree to do that in this case as well.

Point_Chaser

In a way I feel for the OP here!
Sure, illegal strikes are difficult to tackle, but why does it keep happening to SAS??? I think that SAS is probably one of the most strike prone airlines I know about, and I also feel a bit frustrated about this!
SAS DK is starting to be a big burden to the bottom-line of SAS, and somehow they have to start tackling this differently. Aren't illegal strikes grounds for firing people? A clear message needs to be sent out! It is starting to almost look a bit childish by SAS DK. They already have pretty good deals, and I have friends on the inside that also call them spoiled, to which I agree!

Regarding rebooking, I think that it's usually best to just call SAS up on the phone instead of queuing at the airport when something like this happens. Yesterday when I called there was a 45 minute queue on the phone, but with EBG priority it took 30 seconds... So they do actually care about their customers...

jacob_m

I think we can all agree that it sounds like a horrible experience, one of those long frustrating evenings when there are delays and cancellations and you just wait and wait. Yep, been there, done that!
And of course it's remarkable there is yet again a strike within the already troubled SAS, these employees just don't care do they?!

But it's still unfair to blame for example the staff in GOT, really what else could they have done?
I would also have called the SAS line instead though, the priority function for EBG is great, especially in these cases. But the profile does not indicate whether the OP is actually EBG, in case he is not it may just have created a hefty total on the phone bill.

Point_Chaser

I 100% agree with you here!

But the point I was trying to make is that it is the strike that causes this badwill and the anger feelings, and this is where I sympathise with the OP. And when the general traveller ends up in this situation, there is no such thing as SAS SE, NO, DK etc... It's all just SAS! The frustration you feel is towards SAS, full stop! And then whatever inconveniences you experience is down to the feeling that SAS is letting you down... Let's remember that we are more informed about SAS than the general traveller (and even than SAS sometimes), and they will just feel that SAS lets them down, be it through strike or otherwise.
As a general traveller I don't think that you really care about WHO is to blame, as it is affecting YOU. You see all the other airlines operating normally, but somehow there is always something wrong with SK! WHY?
That's the badwill these employees are causing! We are also talking millions in bottomline effects on top of the longrun badwill!

miikka

In my opinion every company is measured how they perform when there is something wrong. Anyone can perform pretty well when things go right, that isn't very difficult.

If SAS wants to hide behind the country organisation then they should divide the company completely into separate companies and brand and name them individually in such way that you cannot make assumption that they are unified SAS.

In this case the employee in GOT or ARN didn't cause anything but that person is responsible for helping their customer. The customer is stranded in that airport and cannot go to CPH and complain there. It is not fair to tell them that "Nothing we can do, it is Denmark who is the fault".

The correct way to handle this is to launch global campaign where all SAS stations are aware what is going on and will help their customers, they may point out that for "the unfortunate event that there is an unexpected strike in Copenhagen" they cannot fulfill their previous commitment to get you where you were supposed to go but they will help you in any possible and reasonable way as they are SAS who is taking care of their customers. I would be just happy (sort of) in that situation - that kind of behavior would indicate that SAS is trying their best and their is unfortunate situation but they care about me. If someone just comments that it is caused by Denmark and not Sweden then I couldn't care less about their opinion.

But that just me ... I usually tend to think that problem situations are the best situations to actually show that you care about your customers and you can actually make the relationship much stronger by showing that you are caring about your customer. You don't even have to do anything unusual, you just need to show some respect in that situation.

Balboa

I am getting tired of those SAS-Danish staff, I cant even recall how many times I had to take alot of crap from passengers for their never ending strikes when working at the airport. They have no understanding for their collegaues aroudn the world, they just think about themselves.

And still, their pay is already alot more than say Swedish and Norwegian collegaues for the same job. I suggest SAS uses ARN and OSL more and more so that the Danish staff cannot keep on dragging the rest of SK in the dirt. At least ARN has got BKK, PEK, ORD and NYC..more and more ^

I understand that people get angry towards SAS in total, but when working for SK or SGS as I did I am as angry towards the Danish staff as the customer and I am many times without solution and I feel that it is important to not put the anger onto the staff that has nothing to do with it, the hate it as much as the customers...that I I can promise.

IAHflyer

I'm with Point_Chaser on this one.

If strikes, illegal or legal, keep inflicting a company it's generally a sign that all is not well within this company. And whose fault is this: The company's !

I think it is reasonable, to a certain extent, to blame SAS and hold them accountable for these things. And I wholeheartedly agree with Point_Chaser on the SE, NO, DK thing. From the travellers point of view, this is one company.

It's sad to see this these things happening...

ranskis

it is a matter of monopoly: danish crews cannot be replaced, SAS cannot fire them since they don't have any crew to use instead, quickly. Finding crews abroad... i wonder how it would look like to have SAS "service" given in Estonian, French or Polish. Imagine that: "Teretulemast... il est interdit de fumer � bord... Dziekuje".

SAS can blame the monopoly of the union that they don't have any alternative than keeping them at the unions' conditions... but SAS knows pretty well how to use monopoly situation to impose its conditions, like their high fares on many routes, etc...

Robbiedeluxe

This is clearly a violation of the Norwegian Consumer Act. Have you asked for compensation? According to Norwegian legislation, you could be entitled to receive a refund.

miikka

Rhetorical wondering or serious one? I would not have any problem flying with those crews.

jacob_m

I'm not too sure about that, and we discussed it quite lengthy in another thread anyway.
That "I was moved" was in fact a voluntary decision to fly a different day. The SAS flight was full and Thai was full in C, so the OP was offered a seat in M on Thai and accepted that.

I really wouldn't mind that either.

Having flown quite a few times on LOT I have always found the Polish FAs to be very friendly, polite and respectful. Most of them are young and speak perfect English.
I'd be happy to have them working for SAS rather than some of the surly Danish FAs I've encountered on some flights.
And some handsome French FAs as well who know how to serve wine from a bottle... Oui s'il vous plaît! Allez-y!!

Someone83

As long as they can't speak English should there be any problems at all. Many of my Norwegian friends have problems understanding Danish anyway