Scandinavian Airlines experience

We flew SAS for internal European flights during August-September 2022. We had no complaints. Our flights were on time and they didn't lose our checked bags.

SAS is legit, it's a major airline that has been around forever (founded 1946!), and is the "flag carrier" (national airline) of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. They have been having some labor issues (related to financial troubles) over the past few years, but when I flew on them everything appeared smooth.

I flew home from Copenhagen to Chicago on SAS a little over a year ago. The plane (an A350) appeared brand new - it even had that New Plane Smell. We were in business class (with just 4 people in the entire forward cabin, the ratio of flight attendants to passengers was 1:1). Seat, food, service, all great, checked bags delivered, all on time. We were in business class, not Economy, but I took a look back in the main cabin, and things looked pretty good there too. I'd fly on SAS again with no hesitation.

We flew SAS in September-October in Business. Good experience. The lounge at LAX was decent...not great. They share a lounge there. No issues with the seats. BC was full. Flight Attendants were helpful & pleasant. The seats did not seem as comfortable as 2017 (last time I flew SAS). The food was not great for me. We flew through CPH & really liked the lounge there. Good selection of food. Showers if you want them. CPH was really nice to get around. It's smaller so pretty easy

Absolutely. Flew RT SFO to ARN via CPN in August - October in Biz class. AND they didn't lose my bag despite a 1.15 hour connection, which is saying something given the summer mayhem. The plane was new, seats were even nicer than before & the F&B is superior to UA. Crew is really pleasant, then again that's been my experience recently on UA as well. It's also part of Star Alliance, so you can get miles on UA if you're interested. There are occasional comments in the press about earnings issues, but I would take the slight risk, in fact now that you mention it I'm going to look for my next flight in April, so thanks for that!

Being Scandinavian I've flown with them a lot, and of course they are legit. (Also, how do you define legit?) They were as mentioned founded 1946 through the merger of Swedish airline SILA, Norwegian airline DNL and Danish airline DDL. In turn DDL was founded in 1918 so if we include their history, SAS is one of the oldest still operating airlines in the world. They are also a founding member of Star Alliance (together with Lufthansa, Air Canada, Thai and United).

I see no reason you should not consider them. They are in general a good airline in my opinion. Their long haul fleet is made up of A330s and A350s. The short haul fleet is mainly A320neos, as well as some older planes and some smaller ones. And their hubs are pretty small airports, which has its benefits. The biggest of them is Copenhagen, but it is still very small compared to Heathrow, Schiphol and Frankfurt. Even a non-Schengen to Schengen connection rarely involves any large distances.

Are they perfect? Of course not. They had a pilot strike this summer, but that has been resolved now. And I've been horribly delayed when flying SAS, but I've also been horribly delayed flying other airlines.

And of course, the internet is full of reviews. Here is one review of the A350 business class that includes the economy seats as well: https://youtu.be/k9fGmwPUUQ4?t=350

That's a really excellent review posted above by Badger. I was on the same plane/same route (in the opposite direction), and the reviewer nailed all the details - I had the exact same experience (and yes, it was great). If you're curious what a nice business class flight is like, this review on YouTube captures it very well (the review is thorough and detailed, but without any of the gushy hype and over-the-top self-promotion so often found on "reviews" of this type). While most of the review focuses on the business class experience (that's what he was flying in) he did a nice job of (briefly) showing what the economy seat was like (and it looked perfectly decent to me), near the end of the video. If you're considering SAS, definitely worth a look.

Any time I can fly to/from Europe on SAS I'll be glad to.

Thanks. This is our first time traveling to Europe so this is very helpful.

You don't mention from where and to where you are going, but if it is your first trip to Europe, SAS is a good choice. It saves you having to navigate a European mega airport.