International transfer time at CPH

Is this all on one ticket, SAS all the way? If so, getting you to Bergen is SAS's problem, not yours.

SAS will fly you from IAD to CPH, and you will connect there to an SAS flight to BGO. You can probably feel safe with the 1 hour connection time (CPH is a pretty efficient airport); if you don't make that short connection, SAS will put you on the next available flight - presumably the one with the 5 hour connection (or maybe another later that same day - check to see how often their flights to BGO are). Remember, if SAS is offering you a one-hour connection in CPH, they think you have a pretty reasonable chance of making that connection.

The only real downside is if the second flight (the one with the 5 hour layover) is 100% full, then the "next available flight" might not be until the following day. How often is that flight 100% full?

It's a chance I'd probably take. They'll get you to Bergen, it just might be later than you expect to arrive.

Two caveats:

1. I'm assuming you have a single ticket all the way. If you don't, forget everything above, and no way would I take a 1-hour connection, period.

2. If you're on the second flight (or worst case, the next flight after that...which could be the following day) would that be a complete disaster (eg you would miss your arctic cruise ship departure and your entire trip would collapse completely), or would it just mean you get a free night in Copenhagen (really, not a terrible prospect) and you start your Norway trip the next day? Makes a difference.

It's all one ticket. The only other potentially complicating issue is that there are 5 of us. Finding five seats on the next available flight is probably harder than finding one!

Immigration (passport control) will be at CPH, but customs (goods to declare) will be at BGO - and as long as you have nothing to declare customs takes just 10 seconds to walk past anywhere in Europe.

I'd also take the 1 hour connection, if I was in your situation. As mentioned above, it will be SAS' responsibility to get you to BGO, even if your flight from IAD is late and you miss the connection at CPH. In that case, you may even be entitled to additional compensation - depends on the details.

If the next CPH-BGO flight is full, I could even imagine SAS could rebook you onto a connection via OSL, as CPH-OSL and OSL-BGO both are routes with frequent SAS flights. Of course nobody can give 100% guarantees, but I think it's very unlikely that you will not end up at BGO by the end of the day.

Recently SAS have scored towards the top of punctuality rankings and their network is built up with CPH as their main hub. In other words, SAS know what they are doing when it comes to connections at CPH.

If it's a single ticket I would not be worried about an hour transfer time in Copenhagen. It's an efficient airport and small enough for your next flight to be just a short walk away. And if the next flight to Bergen from Copenhagen is full, there are plenty of flights via Oslo. The risk of all those flights being full is pretty low. And if the first flight is a bit late, they might hold the second flight a while.

I’m booked on SAS via CPH with a 55min transfer and taking my chances. I’m going to Stockholm though, so would also have train options in the worst case. From what I’ve read, CPH is efficient.