In the swinging pendulum between budget and luxury, SAS really has swung too far in the budget direction for a product it still markets as business class.
This is not breaking news; SAS eliminated “business class” on flights within Europe over two years ago and replaced it with “SAS Plus”, a hybrid between economy and business. Middle seats are no longer blocked. Plated warm meals have been replaced with cold boxed meals. Glasses and porcelain dishware have been replaced by paper and plastic.
And yet SAS still sells this product as business class, at least to its Star Alliance partners. I booked my flight from Copenhagen to Reykjavik using United miles. The flight was marketed as business class, booked into a business class award booking code, and no disclaimer was given that you were not even guaranteed a blocked middle seat.
I knew what I was getting myself into, but there were some Japanese tourists who boarded the plane and were absolutely shocked when a flight attendant informed them that “this” was a business class. In their defense, the SAS website nowhere clearly describes what to expect in SAS Plus on flights within Europe.
Thankfully, the cabin was lightly filled and I ended up with a whole row to myself.
After takeoff, “breakfast” was served. It was a box containing a single slice of meat, single slice of cheese, single slice of bell pepper, yogurt, and a small sachet of granola. Concurrently, a hot bread roll was offered from a basket.
Again, in terms of economy class…this is a great breakfast (though Lufthansa, for example, offers. larger meal in economy class to its passengers on a flight of this length). In terms of business class…well, every other carrier flying to Iceland, including budget carrier Icelandair, offers a multi-course plated meal in business class.
I last flew SAS to Iceland in 2011. Here’s what I was served then:
What a difference a few years makes…
CONCLUSION
While I do think SAS should beef up its SAS Plus offering, I offer this post as warning rather than a complaint. At least know what you are getting yourself into. It hardly can be described as the sort of intra-Europe business class that other carriers like Air France, British Airways, KLM, or Lufthansa offer, even though you really would never know when booking via many channels.
What has your experience been in SAS Plus?
@ Matthew — If we let the fringe give-everything-away-for-free liberals run the US, this is what we’ll get too. Don’t get me wrong, Donald Trump is the worst thing that EVER happened to the US, but giving everything away for free would be bad too.
@Gene – Get back on the meds, bud. How is bad food in business class a political issue?
Heck, what does this have to do with you looking for an opportunity to bash liberals? I’m not sure there is a connection…
The problem is you keep referring to business class, something that SAS doesn’t do. SAS Plus is at best a premium economy. Their fares point towards this but as you flew on points you would not know that.
But other Star carriers market it as business class. Also true when you search for business class in some OTA search engines.
Have your beef with the OALs then as SAS doesn’t market inter European flights as business.
I have a beef that SAS doesn’t offer a business class product within Europe.
Excuse me. Donald Trump is the greatest US PRESIDENT since Reagan. Imagine trash like AOC, OMAR, TLAIB running America.
What a disaster. May Trump Win 2920 and contine to save America from the Leftist forces of evil.
I’d say just stick to economy class for this one then…
*bingo*
If hungry, you can buy the same breakfast for under 10EUR onboard…
Well actually SAS does state on their website that it’s the same seat as Economy and no middle seat is blocked. But other than that I do agree with you that it’s more Premium Economy than anything else. And also the price is nowhere near what other Euro airlines charge for C. I just booked it myself to Amsterdam. I paid 300 Euros on SAS for a Plus seat and Finnair wanted 995 euros for Business. So you get what you pay for. It’s overall a good value. Actually if you have a bag or two to check in it usually ends up being cheaper to book Plus since it includes 2 checked bags, Fast Track, Priority Boarding and Lounge access.
AFAIK, SAS Plus is marketed as premium economy. The ground services in Europe are all C – priority check-in, fast track security (only at SAS hubs and where Gold Track is available), lounge access (only at SAS and *A lounges), and priority boarding (a complete joke). Onboard, it’s more on the “economy” side than “premium” side. I’ve also found pricing to be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than intra-Europe J (around $50-$150 more than SAS Go/Economy). So yeah, you get what you pay for.
While their meals are pathetic, anything from the onboard menu is free for SAS Plus. At least you didn’t get the stupid boxes. Those are terribly designed and difficult to use. WiFi is always free for SAS Plus (short-haul and long-haul), assuming the plane has it and it actually works.
Long-haul SAS Plus has a better onboard product and *slightly* better meals but lacks lounge access and fast track outside of Europe, with a few exceptions (EWR and ORD SAS lounges).
Btw, they *do* describe intra-Europe SAS Plus, but it’s very hidden. “On flights within Scandinavia, Finland and Europe the seat comfort is the same as in SAS Go…” If you don’t already know what to expect, it can be a surprise, for sure.
I have a lot of complaints about the product, but I’ve gotten used to it. Unfortunately, they’re usually priced well. The extra miles also help. 🙂
If it is booked as an onward connection from a long haul flight it is very much marketed as business class. I have an SAS award coming up through Aeroplan, and it says both legs are in business class. I was well aware of the reality of what I actually booked, but I can see how someone could book an award ticket and wasn’t well informed, they could be very disappointed when they get on the short haul flight.
I am sorry, but please tell me how it is possible to offer something more than a boxed breakfast in 3hours flight? When there is 200 people in flight and maybe they want to buy something as well? It is not a long haul, most of airlines you get just small sandwich for breakfast. What to expect, fresh croissant with soya latte? It is the aircraft for God sake, not the Restaurant. By the way this one piece of meat is also served in 40minutes flight (which is approximately 20 min to eat) and there would be no time to finish something more, SAS cares about environment and cares about food going to waste, everything is perfectly counted so all this review is just meaningless. SAS plus gives you ticket flexibility, this is the main reason to buy it. Not the complimentary middle seat, which some aircaft configurations offering SAS plus don’t even have.
Thank you for this post, it helped me a lot!
Austrian still has phenomenally good cuisine for short flights. Flew Vienna to Paris and it was top notch.
I agree they should not sell this as Business Class. Still, I had one of the tastiest freshest vegetarian airline meals I have ever had served in a box in their Business Class. It made the lack of a decent seat more bearable!
For intra-EU/Schengen flights on SAS, SASPlus is good for one thing: earning miles toward award travel and elite status.
Matthew,
We should also mention that there is no separation curtain with Economy. Thus, the lavatories are accessible by everyone.
This resulted in a funny situation on a *packed* flight LHR-ARL a while ago: my friend was seated in Row 1, I was in Economy around row 17 or so.
There was a loong line for the loo throughout the flight, which resulted in a stench around the Plus section. He was also not offered much choice for food, because of ‘short flight’.
By comparison, in my row the air was bearable and since it was purchase-only, I composed myself a decent snack out of the available options.
So I say SAS should really not market their plus fares as a separate class, but just as a separate bundle, like honest LCCs do (with priority, cabin bag etc.).
Did you fly to Arly Burkina Faso?
SAS eliminated Business Class in 2013 so more than two years ago. Also, Plus passengers can choose anything they want off the BOB menu in addition to whats being served.
That is disgraceful and for SAS to sell this as a business class product is just thievery.
I recall a business award flight that included OSL-LHR on SAS a couple of years ago. I do recall priority check-in, lounge, priority boarding, etc. But I was quite surprised when I boarded to see that 1D was much like a Southwest 737. What?! As boarding progressed, the rows in proximity to me remained open. Immediately prior to the door being shut, a dozen or so ‘VIPs’ boarded. The FA politely asked me to move back a few rows. I politely refused as she would not tell me why I needed to move. A ‘security-looking’ dude with the VIP group politely requested to see my passport and boarding pass. I complied. Nothing else occurred except I could ‘feel’ the passenger in 1F glaring at me as she was trying to speak to the person in 1C and the FA no longer being pleasant with me. I recall being served a drink and a snack (like a bag of peanuts).
Stop crying you privelidged idiot
It’s privileged.
1) It’s supposed to be a business class product… whilst the service is actually bad and SAS Plus shouldn’t be marketed as a business class, even though it is
2) If you don’t like the blog then don’t read it and learn English (it privileged… not privelidged) … you idiot
Way to call out “Japanese” tourists. Was that really necessary? The Japanese are fully capable of understanding differentiated service offerings.
Andy, don’t be so sensitive. Maybe if he said “Some typical loud needy Asian tourists” but even then, come on, reality is still reality.
This is the European version of booking a First class ticket on a domestic US flight and excepting First class service and flight experience. At least nowadays they are classified as C/D in the system..
SAS doesn’t offer intra European business class. The fact some partner airlines sells it as business, isn’t SAS fault. With EVA air for example, you can only book these seats as premium economy.
The bonus is that the miles you get with these seats are usually at 125% and sometimes they are cheaper than the standard seats, especially if you need to bring luggage.
SAS Plus is premium economy not business. SAS are more open and transparent about this than most other European airlines are about what they offer as business class. It’s also generally much more reasonably priced than European business class at about 60% of the cost. In reality it offers a few perks over economy and it’s an OK product and when you book, you do know exactly what you’re getting.
Yikes. That’s just pathetic.
Last week I enjoyed a much more substantial business class meal on Air France during a 40-minute flight from London to Paris!
I had one of the tastiest freshest on board meals served in SAS Plus two days ago. Granted, it was served in a small square box but it’s was fantastic.
I’ll be sampling another one in about 20 minutes on the return leg of the journey.
It seems that the author of the article has a trauma with SAS, as he wrote two articles on a raw emphasizing ridiculous facts as very negative and half of the information is wrong or misleading.
As other users have pointed out, SAS never sells short haul class PLUS as a BUSINESS, specially when it does make a distinction between both classes in long haul flights, showing that there is no business in short haul. And from my experience, I can bet that the idea has been a commercial success, as in most of my flights I see quite some raws of Plus, often 8-12 raws, while when flying other airlines on similar routes they usually only fill 2-4 raws on their business class.
The product is pretty good, as the food is very high quality, and most of the times I get empty middle seat. But most of all, the price is very attractive, as it often is offered for a premium of 40-70€ over economy class, which in my opinion much worth compared to the premium other European airlines charge for business (200-300€ extra!)
In Nordics it is all about quality and minimalism, after all. That staff you got for breakfast is mainly organic and great quality, I also have tried that breakfast some times. Don’t fly Sas if you don’t like it?
Finally, comparing business btwn 2011 vs 2019, how sensible is that.
I’m trying 2 x SAS Go Plus flights in August 2020.
I understand this review, but these 2 x flights were < $100 AUD more than economy (each), which for me is more than worth it for extra baggage, priority check-in, priority boarding, and seated in 1A.
And of course lounge access, for the flight that departs from Copenhagen with a SAS lounge.
I found it to be excellent value over SAS Go at around $40 CAD more for each of TXL-ARN and ARN-AMS when I used it in January/February 2020. In fact, considering what I needed, it was cheaper than buying SAS Go and paying for baggage, and still cheaper than flying Easyjet.
I had 2 bags to check and both were free. Then there was the lounge access, priority security and priority boarding (the latter two were useless in TXL though). Oh and I thought the free food was very good considering the short flights – not to mention the free WiFi for SAS Plus.
Ended up with an entire row to myself on both flights (row 6 on the first flight and 5 on the second). Seating (A319 for both legs) was comfortable and the legroom was more than adequate for 6″0 me.
I also thought the FA’s were some of the best and most professional I’ve ever encountered.
Oh and the 125% Aeroplan miles that came with it were great as well.
I’d happily buy SAS Plus again if the price was right.