SAS Airlines?

[majesty318]

Lurker here...

Looking at summer flights from NY/NJ to Europe
(specifically, into Venice and out of Barcelona in August) and OMG they
are a lot more than they were 3 years ago!

The cheapest option for us right now is SAS and it's about $1100.

I read some pretty bad reviews of SAS but wanted to see if you guys have opinions/ experience?

TIA!

[GilliC]

I'm not a fan of their short-haul service. No frills, for-purchase soft drinks and snacks. It's not a huge deal on a 1-hour hop, but on a 3-hour flight it's nice to have something to drink given the dry cabin air. And considering it's not actually a LCC. Since you usually can't book a seat until check-in on those flights, the only thing it really has over the budget lines is a free checked bag and a newspaper.

However, I think their long-haul service is better than the US airlines. I flew them from Beijing to Copenhagen, and it was a nice flight. I would definitely consider them for my flights to NYC now that I've lost status on United (and therefore don't have access to the best seats on that plane anymore).

Also be aware of the aircraft. I think they (like others) do some trans-Atlantic trips on 757s, and any airline gets uncomfortable on a long-haul 757.

ETA - if they're the cheapest, I'd book them with no hesitation. The only way I wouldn't is if another European carrier was flying a similar route on a new plane (777, A380, 787) for less than $50 more.

[majesty318]

Thanks, GilliC! Yeah, I did a 757 home from Europe once and really not a fan.

Air Berlin is the same price but from JFK while we prefer Newark, so I was basically trying to figure out if SAS is worth saving the hassle of getting to JFK. After that it jumps to $1300 for Air Canada and we don't really want to connect in Canada.

[Norticprincess]

I agree with Gillic.

The transatlantic trip was fine both directions. Was and Copenhagen.

[Wanderista]

I've only flown SAS long haul transatlantic but I liked it. The entertainment system did not work at all on my flight but since I was flying a novel route, I was entertained by the maps and cameras. I can wonk out on geography. I thought the food was quite good for airplane food, the staff were nice and the other passengers were pleasant. I also flew on a flight where I got an entire middle row to myself, so that probably made me happier.

I should note that since I got a whole row to myself, I found the seats to be comfortable and the armrests would flip back comfortably. On some planes, they kind of jut out into the seat even when flipped up. This was more like a flat bed at coach price.

My favorite transatlantic airline is Virgin Atlantic (great for people who get bored and who have trouble sleeping on planes) but I'd have no problems with flying SAS again.

The info about short-hauls in Europe is useful. For those, I typically fly EasyJet or have also flown AirBerlin. Sounds like I should stick to that.