If you fly SAS, you never know which terrible airline you get

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Күн бұрын

SAS used to be Scandinavian Airlines. Now, the cost cutting programs have taken a massive toll on the product. Join me on this round-trip flight between Zurich and Stockholm and witness the massive decline in quality.
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📝 This video is NOT sponsored. I paid for this trip myself. The airline did not know ahead of time that I was going to make a video, and the views presented are my own. Some product links are affiliate links. If you use them I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
✈️ Trip details:
Route: Zurich ZRH to Stockholm Arlanda ARN return
Date: June 15-18, 2023
Airline: SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK), operated by SAS Connect and SmartLynx Airlines
Aircraft type: Airbus A320 family
Class of service: SAS Go (economy)
Frequent flyer status: Star Alliance Gold (TK Elite)
Paid with: Cash
🎬 Related videos mentioned:
Lufthansa decline in quality: • Lufthansa economy clas...
airBaltic Copenhagen to Zurich: • airBaltic is a cool ai...
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⌚ Sections in this video (If you fly SAS, you never know which terrible airline you get):
00:00 | SAS flight to Stockholm
00:37 | Train from Basel to Zurich Airport
01:40 | Check-in for SAS at Zurich
02:05 | Lounges at Zurich Airport
03:03 | Boarding SAS Connect
03:59 | What is SAS today?
05:16 | Service and entertainment onboard
05:56 | Transfer between Arlanda and Stockholm
06:24 | Arlanda Express airport train
08:11 Check-in at Stockholm Arlanda Airport
08:28 | SAS Gold Lounge
09:41 | Boarding SmartLynx to Zurich
11:03 | The duct tape in the lavatory
11:57 | Train from Zurich Airport to Basel
🏢 Companies mentioned:
‪@flysas‬
‪@smartlynxairlines7263‬

Пікірлер: 104

@wegian3471 11 ай бұрын

Dude, I am not a fan of SAS either, but in regards to SLOTS, they are not the airline's fault. SLOTS are issued by air traffic control....

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@jatterhog 11 ай бұрын

As a frequent flier with SK, I want to answer some of the things in the video. 1) There is usually decent wifi on all SAS mainline and Connect flights that’s free for EBG-members. 2) Many of my recent flights with SK have been on time and issues have been resolved without much hassle. They changed the plane type and I wanna fly on the original one a day later? No problem. I paid for a reserved seat at booking but want to change it? No problem. The airport workers rammed a luggage loader into our plane (no kidding) - a new plane was ready in 1,5 hours despite the airport not having any other scheduled SK flights. They have however declined in intra-Europe punctuality during summer 2023 - but it is summer 2023 after all. 3) Smartlynx is a garbage product that should not fly under any SAS flight number, ever. SAS has a flight crew shortage leading to some desperate measures this summer. Will hopefully be rectified by next summer. 4) SAS Connect has great crew in my experience, and since many of the staff were former mainline staff, many speak great Swedish/Danish/Norwegian (of course exceptions, notably LHR). 5) Blaming slot restrictions on SAS? That comment makes me scratch my head a little bit. Lastly, I do think they should offer more in both Go and Plus in terms of catering. A free snack or sandwich at least in Go and a full meal in Plus would be welcome, as well as the possibility to book a “European Business Class” ticket above Plus with the same service but the middle seat blocked. Of course we’d all like to see some real Business Class, but for now all we can do is keep dreaming about it

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing your experiences! I don't think there was anything wrong with the cabin crew, it just wasn't what I expected. The crew was more similar to easyJet than classic SAS. And I love easyJet!

@erikbuiten14 9 ай бұрын

Yeah, the blaming on SAS for slot restriction really showed his bias if it wasnt obvious before. Also the free coffee is better than ANY other airline in Europe except for Airfrance/KLM which is the last airline to keep their snacks in economy. I would rather pay less for the ticket and by a snack beforehand to my liking.

@paulomendes928 10 ай бұрын

Markus , I love your videos! No fancy talk, just going to the point. Keep doing that, be honestly direct. I like your style! That’s the way to go!

@MarkusTravels 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching and for your kind words!

@Kudzai2010 11 ай бұрын

This was amazing sorry for the mishaps with the airline but I enjoyed this very much god bless you kind sir and I look forward to more of your content

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@viktorekman863 6 ай бұрын

So sad to see so many airlines take this path, especially SAS. I remember many years ago when I was a little kid and flew on the SAS 737's. You'd always get greeted in Swedish/Norwegian and the cups had SAS logos on them and overall the service was magnificent. Nowadays I can't even seem to distinguish what airline I'm flying. :(

@MarkusTravels 6 ай бұрын

I do hope their long-haul product is still good!

@colinrenfrew48 7 ай бұрын

Even with the issues, this is a fascinating video. Good job!

@MarkusTravels 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@avifut 11 ай бұрын

Also, may I ask what the registration for the plane flying to stockholm was if you remember?

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

No I didn't note it down. But it was the evening flight ZRH-ARN on June 15, 2023. I'm sure they tail number is available in some database.

@th8257 8 ай бұрын

The recent news that Air France KLM have bought a large stake in SAS is interesting. They have said that they want to bring SAS into Skyteam.

@MarkusTravels 8 ай бұрын

It's great that they were able to find a solution to save SAS. But after they leave Star Alliance it's very unlikely I will fly them. I just hope it doesn't happen before the end of the year, as I have a great SAS flight booked for Xmas!

@_Tripsandtips101 Ай бұрын

@@MarkusTravels, SAS var med Sky Team september 2024. En fördel med SAS på Skyteam är jag inte behöver att oroa vilket frequent flyer program att använda till StarAlliance flyg (Jag har också ett KrisFlyer-konto).

@avifut 11 ай бұрын

I've always loved SAS, and always had a good experience with them, unfortunate with their current situations though

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

The mainline SAS has been OK. I think the problem arises with these offshored flights.

@jatterhog 11 ай бұрын

@@MarkusTravels Smartlynx is really cheapening the brand. Connect is fine imo.

@jimbo6059 11 ай бұрын

I think they put all their best aircraft at the Copenhagen hub. They seem to have made Stockholm and Oslo more regional feeder ports. They will then staff these with the connect aircraft and wet leases. Not great. But their long haul product is not too bad.

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

I have indeed had excellent experiences on SAS long haul (and mediocre ones too). I'll fly business CPH to LAX in December, hoping to have a better experience than this!

@Matteopegoraro7 8 ай бұрын

@@MarkusTravelsYou Will get veryyyyy good experience then, i flew that route in the summer! It was amazing with sas

@Republic3D Ай бұрын

With regards to the slots, the blame can be partly put on the airline. Almost all commercially operated flights have slot windows, the length of which depends on how busy the airport is. It could be in a 5 minute window. If the aircraft is delayed by 6-7 minutes, they will have to wait until a slot is available, which in this case took 25 minutes.

@MarkusTravels Ай бұрын

Makes sense!

@johnvsymons 11 ай бұрын

Comprehensive and objective review. It's sad to see the decline in service and cabin maintenance on SAS but unfortunately this seems to be a trend for quite a few airlines nowadays. No "Swedish meatballs" in the Stockholm SAS lounge? 😂. They could at least offer them in the buffet.

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

Luckily there's an Ikea not far from the airport!

@daniyalbbd5281 11 ай бұрын

SAS has always been in decline, they act so much entitled it's sad

@strafrag1 11 ай бұрын

Hello. Well presented video. My compliments. As a retired LH employee, I believe now, after your review, that SAS would be much better off in joining the LH alliance along with SR and OS. It will be better for the customers mostly, with no hodge-podge of different operators, and I know that the aircraft maintenance will be outstanding.

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@jatterhog 11 ай бұрын

As a frequent flier with SAS I can only hope that does not happen. There does not need to be another European airline swallowed up into the Lufthansa Group. Also, I dislike the LH group’s (and AF-KLM/IAG) pricing system, which makes it almost cheaper to buy a round trip ticket than one way, versus SK that charges the same one way rate whether you book a return or not. Additionally, the deeply discounted SAS youth tickets are excellent and not offered by any other airline as far as I know. The more I think about it the more I dislike it! 😅

@strafrag1 11 ай бұрын

@@jatterhog The sad thing is that since 911 there is no motivation for any airline. It's sadly all about the money. Cheers.

@tommyp1976 11 ай бұрын

I really hope that SAS will keep standing as independent carrier and not be part of the LH Group. What the SAS is doing with the subsidiaries SAS Connect and SAS Link is outstanding work and showing that they are doing their best in the hard competition.

@aphde6057 9 ай бұрын

SAS as a part of LH would be a nightmare and would put the airline into the toilet. I hope that NEVER happens.

@johanhlenschlger8967 11 ай бұрын

Tak for en god video.

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching Johan!

@flops1804 11 ай бұрын

This is a leased plane that SAS leased.. SAS doesnt own that plane with the tape.. SAS has pretty new planes and i can assure you that it is quite rare to fly on a leased plane with tape lol. I've flown on SAS within europe a lot and the planes, crew and service has been great! I dont have anyh big complaints about them. And the slots time is not the airliners fault, its air traffic controls and can happen on any airline.

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

I also expected a nice modern aircraft when I bought an SAS ticket. But that's not what I got on this trip. But I'll fly them again at the end of the year, this time to LAX!

@flops1804 11 ай бұрын

@@MarkusTravels Just FYI, when you buy you're ticket on SAS website it shows you which plane you will be on and will show you if you will be on an A320 by Smartlynx... So you expecting a nice mordern SAS aircraft was you're fault only.

@tntfreddan3138 3 ай бұрын

The tape was probably there because a passenger on a previous flight had broken it and it was scheduled for repairs later. That's how most companies with big expensive vehicles deal with stuff like that. Something breaks. Is it crucial for vehicle to operate? No. Is it really that important for crew or passenger comfort? No. Then we'll temporarily fix it with duct tape and schedule service for later this week. The truking company I work for does the same thing. A Polish truck driver reversed straight into the front of my truck. After checking everything and seeing that only the grill and bumper was damaged, I could still deliver my goods. The grill was damaged for several days but it didn't impede on operability nor driver comfort. Sure, looks bad, but still functional. Imagine how expensive it would be fore you to take your car to the workshop every time you get a check engine light, or the stitching on your seat breaks, or you scratch the interior.

@_Tripsandtips101 Ай бұрын

Tack för ditt ondome. Jag hoppas att pröve att flyga hos SAS på ett inrikesflyg inom Sweden (Gothenburg till Arlanda). Flygen mellan de där städerna drivs av SAS Connect. Jag ska bli en liten besviken om jag inte höra svenska på ett inrikesflyg inom Sweden.

@MarkusTravels Ай бұрын

På inrikesflyg skulle jag också förvänta mig svenska! Vi får se!

@olivermcconnell1627 10 ай бұрын

Where were the crew from on the SAS connect flight ?

@MarkusTravels 10 ай бұрын

I don't know, I think multiple different countries.

@alexsakon 5 ай бұрын

Well I’m flying ARN CDG in a couple of months, never flown SAS but I guess I’ll find out….

@MarkusTravels 5 ай бұрын

Good luck! Maybe that route is important enough for them to use a real SAS flight.

@KevinEnjoyer 10 ай бұрын

My fault with SAS isn't usually their product; most of their planes are shiny new and only getting newer. And if you fly holistic routes, you'll get local crews and flights operated by the main airline. No, my fault with SAS is their loyalty program and food onboard. It falls flat against Ryanair's hot meals because it's usually cold cut salads that taste.....not so good for the SAS plus ticket you booked, or the 15 euros you paid for it. The second was the fact that once, SAS crew treated by father like any other passenger, despite the fact that he's a EuroBonus Diamond member. The crew didn't even acknowledge him, and his frustration was proved correct when the next set of crew realized who he was and was hovering by him all the time, offering drinks since they're free for him.

@MarkusTravels 10 ай бұрын

Good ol' EuroBonus. That's the frequent flyer program I started out with. Must have changed a lot since those days!

@IcePopGTAG 10 ай бұрын

Bruh i lov in Norway and take sas really osten and have never seen anything like that on the plane💀

@MarkusTravels 10 ай бұрын

Me neither, until this flight!

@Pili935 8 ай бұрын

SAS Business classis good on the A350 an dig have glas to water i give it 8/10.

@MarkusTravels 8 ай бұрын

I am actually looking forward to flying SAS Business on the A350 in December! I always enjoyed it in the past, on different aircraft.

@tommyd3257 7 ай бұрын

I guess you don’t travel that much, SAS discontinued intra-European business over 10 years ago and it’s quite common for all carriers, including your beloved Swiss to utilize other operators, like Helvetic or Edelweiss. As for IFE, no European carriers offers anything and while SAS has had wifi for ages in most of their short haul planes, LH group and Swiss has just started rolling it out and still has a long way to go. At the end of the day, there is less service across the board, but with status you still have a significant upside with lounges, luggage and fast track.

@MarkusTravels 7 ай бұрын

You're right! The biggest difference with status is on the ground.

@tommyp1976 11 ай бұрын

I would like to correct a comment about SAS Connect. Their aircraft’s are registered in Ireland but has a crew base in LHR, CPH and ARN. It is fully SAS owned subsidiary with crew from multiple countries. Another thing is that Norwegian Government is not owning anymore a part of SAS, so it is little bit misleading to mention that SAS is a flagship carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. That you had opportunity to fly with SmartLynx is a result of the challenges what SAS had to recruit crew and get aircraft’s from Airbus. Without SmartLynx your flight most probably had been cancelled. This is overall a result that we travelers are hunting the lowest prices, not the best service and many legacy airlines are adapting that service concept too. Many of you will not like my comment, but take the risk and type a comment. 😉

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

As far as I understand, the term flag carrier no longer means the airline is owned by the state. See British Airways and Swiss, for example. The SAS livery also literally carries the flags of the three Scandinavian countries.

@tommyp1976 11 ай бұрын

@@MarkusTravels I understand your point.

@a520simba 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for the nice video. My recently 2 flights with SAS were horrible. Return trip DUB-ARN. BOTH return from ARN to DUB were cancelled for no reason. So glad that Ryanair started the route between these two city now. 😢

@MarkusTravels 8 ай бұрын

It's sad when Ryanair comes out as the winner! But that's the state of SK these days.

@ericgeorge7874 11 ай бұрын

Always put an AirTag into your checked in luggage!

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@charliecurilan4110 2 ай бұрын

Flown SAS twice, yes gave them a 2nd chance, and NEVER AGAIN!!!

@MarkusTravels 2 ай бұрын

I've liked their long-haul business class in the past. But I'm never flying that again, as illustrated here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/a9SEdrybxLKznYk.html

@charliecurilan4110 2 ай бұрын

@@MarkusTravels Knowing that the airline has been in financial trouble for a while would only lead to poor performance across the board, including their aviation safety engineers. Look what's happening to United and everything Boeing.

@astenner3487 11 ай бұрын

The lavatory was not held together with duct tape! It's speedtape, which is basically aluminium with an adhesive. It's very strong and is meant as a momentary fix for non-important things like this, so it can fly to home-base and get the part exchanged. It's an approved momentary repair by the authorities and manufacturer.

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

Speedtape make plane go faster!

@marisbrenards6665 11 ай бұрын

So what's the difference compared to RYR? Let me guess... price!😂

@MarkusTravels 11 ай бұрын

Absolutely, the price difference is significant!

@MrWennerstrom 10 ай бұрын

Back in the day, I was travelling from Brussels to Karlstad (Sweden) via Stockholm. SAS lost my luggage and then the SAS representatives at Karlstad airport claimed that it was not their responsibility because they were technically a different company (subsidiary) of the parent company that apparently lost my luggage on the way from Brussels to Stockholm. Flash forward a few days and a taxi pulls up to my house in northern Värmland, four hours from Stockholm, with a Stockholm area code printed on its side and a driver with an obvous Stockholm accent. Buddy had been contracted to drive there and back just to deliver my bag. Moral of the story is friends don't let friends fly SAS.

@MarkusTravels 10 ай бұрын

I tried flying SAS but clearly wasn't able to. So I win?

@healingnarcissism_ 8 ай бұрын

so you got ur luggage back, where's the gratitude!?

@gunthermartinhampel2628 5 ай бұрын

Skytrax Rank 84😬

@MarkusTravels 5 ай бұрын

That sounds very appropriate.

@shipmonkey 10 ай бұрын

I’ve stopped flying with SAS completely. I’m Swedish and half Scottish and in the summers I always fly from Arlanda to Edinburgh. My options have always been either Norwegian or SAS. This year, I tried SAS and turns out the only benefit I had from SAS was that I got free coffee. No way in hell I’m ever gonna pay 40% more for free coffee. Plus, Norwegian offers free wifi for a limited time so no matter what I’m always gonna pick Norwegian from now on.

@MarkusTravels 10 ай бұрын

It was ages since I flew Norwegian, but I liked it a lot!