An uneventful flight on SAS in SAS Plus (premium economy), but one which shows that you shouldn’t expect much on domestic flights with the Scandinavian airline.
Last flight of this journey that took me from Gothenburg to Chicago, a domestic flight between Stockholm and Gothenburg where I’ll spend an evening before heading back to Paris. This flight is booked in SAS Plus, the equivalent of premium economy, given that SAS does not offer business class on its short/medium-haul flights.
As a reminder, here is the air routing for this trip.
You’ll find a summary of all the articles about this vacation in the USA at the bottom of the page.
Ground experience and boarding
Having arrived from Chicago at the crack of dawn, I found myself with a 5-hour connection, which I spent in the SAS lounge, more pleasantly than I’d hoped.
I was looking forward to eating at the famous Amex Lounge by Pontus, but it was closed due to the ongoing works in Arlanda.
What’s more, it has been relocated to the F (non-Schengen) gates, and while this may seem temporary (Pop Up…) there’s no guarantee that it will ever return in its old form.
Anyway, knowing that I couldn’t possibly spend a single minute in the lousy Norrsken lounge, I dozed off in the SAS lounge.
I finally make it to the gate ten minutes before the scheduled time.
The plane is here and waiting for us, so a priori we should leave on time. It’s an A320 Neo, which unfortunately sports the old livery, which I’m not a fan of.
Boarding
Boarding starts on time and at least things are clearly explained.
For your information, Group F corresponds to a SAS Go Light fare with no hand baggage other than a small item such as a handbag or computer. So if a passenger needs to take a suitcase on board, he’ll need to buy a baggage allowance online before boarding.
Boarding starts right on time, and as Group A I’m the first to enter the aircraft.
The cabin
Absolutely nothing noteworthy: it’s an A320 in 3-3 configuration, with the usual SAS style of gray tones and a sober cabin that presents itself rather well.
I’ll be in 1A.
On the other hand, the seat isn’t very thick and is reminiscent of Lufthansa’s NEK seat, also known as an ironing board. This is hardly surprising, since both share a common parentage: a Recaro base.
The seat is very thin, but for a short flight it’s still quite acceptable.
Legroom is good but not as good as if I’d chosen another row:
If there’s no problem with my knees, being in the front row means I can’t stretch out my legs under the front seat.
Once again, for a one-hour flight, there’s nothing catastrophic about it.
The flight and the service
We leave on time and break through the cloud cover after flying over the Swedish countryside.
The service starts quickly and I don’t expect much.
Firstly, as I said, because SAS plus is not a business class but rather a premium economy. I was pleasantly surprised by what I was served on my flight from Paris to Copenhagen, but it’s still pretty simple. And this was an “international” flight, as opposed to the intra-Scandinavian flights treated as domestic and with even more frugal service.
For the record, economy class passengers are content with a buy-on-board service.
So here’s my treat of the day:
No, contrary to what the packaging might suggest, we’re not going to eat a rat!
This is a kind of bread filled with ratatouille.
The bread is a little dry, the ratatouille fresh but has little taste. It’s enough to keep me busy on this flight, and the food factor takes a back seat.
This brings me back to what I was thinking a few hours ago aboard my Chicago-Stockholm flight: it’s amazing how this airline can offer something so frugal on a medium-haul flight and, conversely, offer one of the best long-haul business class services we’ve ever seen. There are, of course, totally rational choices behind this, but we can’t help imagining what it would be like if they wanted to bother…
Arrival and disembarkation
The descent begins quickly and we find ourselves back in typical landscapes…lakes and greenery…
A smooth landing in Gothenburg and a short taxi to the gate.
All I have to do now is wait for my suitcase before heading to the hotel.
An opportunity to take a close look at Landvetter’s very vintage luggage delivery installation… It’s not new, but it works.
The crew
Not much to say about such a short flight. Professional and friendly.
Bottom line
A basic, uneventful flight, but what needed to be done was done well. But what a pity that SAS doesn’t try to offer a real business class product in medium-haul.
The articles about this vacation in the USA
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