Economy Class Review: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Go SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
It would be in poor taste to not fly in economy class on the most democratic airline in the sky, SAS (Scandinavian Airlines). With one of the most refined cabins in the industry, flying SAS almost makes the trek out to EWR worth it. Join us on this hygge-infused flight from New Jersey’s Newark International Airport (EWR) to Norway’s Oslo Gardermoen International Airport (OSL).
Flight Review: Scandinavian Airlines SAS Economy Class SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
Highs: Choreographed lighting, a hygienic-feeling cabin, and refined Scandinavian interior design made for a relaxing flight.
Lows: The in-seat power came in waves. The entertainment offerings were truly abysmal. Wasteful meal service.
Verdict: Cashing in on the perception of Scandinavian refinement, SAS is the laid-back airline that has clearly thought about their experience and continues to do so.
BACKSTORY: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Review
Is it SAS? Like you say “Sass”? Or do you say it how the pilot said it- “Zahs”, in his thick Norwegian accent? Either way, I preferred to pronounce it letter for letter, S-A-S. It stands for “Scandinavian Airline System”, did you know? Also, did you know SAS is the flag carrier for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden?
Anyway, I only mention all of that because for me, SAS has been this airline I thought about, but never expected to fly. Altogether, I wasn’t even meant to end up on this flight. I was looking to take holiday to Austria, fully planning on taking a United Airlines flight to MXP then taking a scenic drive. But a change in itinerary called for a change in flight, and I was put on a SK908 bound for Oslo, Norway, then onto MXP. It presented an opportunity to fly on an airline I always felt too uncool for.
SAS calls their normal economy product “SAS Go”. They also have “SAS Go Light”, and “Plus” (not SAS Go Plus, though)'. “SAS Go Light” is essentially their Economy Basic offering. Plus gets you an economy seat with extra legroom, but also lounge access. There is another level called “Pro”, which allows for refunds and free changes. It’s all a little bit needlessly confusing because each fare class is barely different yet breakdown into 2-3 different versions. I bought a “SAS Go” ticket which included a free checked bag, a personal item, a carry-on, and meals. All tickets are entitled to free and complete refund within 24hrs of purchase.
Ticket price: $796.00, paid with Asiana Visa Signature® card from Bank of America
Points accrual (Asiana Club): Miles 3,675; Segments/Boardings: 1
SECURITY, PREFLIGHT, AND BOARDING AT EWR TERMINAL B
I took public transit to EWR (Newark International Airport), located in New Jersey, not far from Manhattan. United Airlins (and much of Star Alliance) now operates principally from this airport. Getting to EWR via public transport is remarkably easy. From my home in Brooklyn to the SAS check-in desk, the elapsed time was 1 hour and 20 minutes and my spend was about $20.00, for an NJ Transit one-way ticket and AirTrain ticket to terminal. The alternative, an Uber or Lyft, was ~$90.00 and would have taken about the same amount of time.
Economy Class Review: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Go SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
EWR is a charming, if not mildly outdated airport and Terminal B was not busy, even though it was prime time for departures to Europe. The check-in area is bright and airy, with clearly marked signs.
To note: Be sure you confirm and double confirm your gate. Just because you clear security to one gate area, doesn’t mean you can get to other parts of the same terminal.
The SAS check-in desk was simple and efficient. I did not self-tag my bag.
I cleared security in about 5 minutes (note that PreCheck is not accepted by all airlines operating from Terminal B) and settle into a random a wine bar. They were out of basically everything (as usual), and even the staff was hard to pin down with one guest having to basically walk into the kitchen to get someone’s attention. I had some sort of contemporary sandwich and a glass of sparkling wine.
The gatehouse area was very thin on outlets but I managed to snag one and finish some work as boarding began. I didn’t pay attention to how boarding worked, but it seemed to be the right amount of disorganized. My boarding group was truly meaningless as everyone just crowded around the desk until things fell into line. I will now suggest that boarding groups for international flights should be resolutely banished.
Many passengers were asked to take a biometric photo as they scanned the ticket. I wasn’t sure who was eligible or not, since the mix of passports seemed varied. I was not invited to take the photo.
Economy Class Review: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Go SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
Upon boarding and reaching my seat, I found pair of complementary headphones, a bottle of water (a nice touch!), a pillow, and a blanket.
Flight Review: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Go Economy Class SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
SAS Scandinavian Airlines Economy Class INTERIOR AND SEAT: AIRBUS A330-300
Although this particular aircraft isn’t new (a quick search of the tail number showed it to be 15 years old), the interior had gone through three reconfigurations over the years, with the last taking place in 2015, in line with the interior refresh that SAS conducted. That interior refresh has held up remarkably well because upon boarding, I could have sworn it was a brand new plane.
Since the 2015 refresh, this Airbus A330 has 32 lie-flat business class seats (1-2-1), 56 “Plus” seats (2-3-2) (premium economy) and 178 standard economy seats, arranged 2-4-2. You walk through premium economy to reach the standard economy, but you never go through business class.
I sat in 42H, a window seat. Given that the plane was not completely full, I was able to take the entire row for myself. Other’s opted for the middle section, which, with four seats across, afforded a full makeshift bed.
Flight Review: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Go Economy Class SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
Flight Review: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Go Economy Class SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
The interior is tastefully scaled and branded, with SAS logos appearing in thoughtful places such as on the seat fabric as a tag and on the bulkheads. Soft blond wood dominate the bulkheads, adding a pleasant, slightly luxurious feeling. Lightboxes soften the emergency exit and various signage.
Overhead storage is plentiful, but there are not closets for economy class travelers. The only options for my garment bag were to either put it at the very front of the plane or lay it inside of an overhead bin.
If you’re of average height (I am 5’ 9”), you’ll find the main cabin to be comfortable if not just slightly tight. I grazed the seat in front of me with my legs crossed.
Flight Review: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Go Economy Class SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
Each seat features a slight recline, an adjustable headrest (both the wings of the headrest and up/down), an IFE which is also up/down adjustable, a coat hanger, a tray table, a drink holder thing (? see photo), and no personal air controls. The overhead light is controlled in the IFE. There is a universal plug at the center of the seats.
There were five lavatories serving this cabin, and I never waited to use any of them. They were kept clean and stocked for the duration of the flight.
The cabin lighting went through a few changes, all of them tastefully theatrical- at no point uncomfortably bright or annoyingly dark. It felt expertly timed, from the gentle wake up colors to the near-black navy color for sleeping. It was soothing. The temperature was also regulated perfectly, during sleeping hours the temperature dropped several degrees, just the temperature conductive to sleep. During decent, the color of the cabin complimented the wide expanses of snow and icy waters outside. It all felt so artistic and articulated, in a word: choreographed.
CABIN CREW EXPERIENCE AND MEALS in SAS Scandinavian Airlines Economy Class
The crew seemed to be mostly Norwegian, and all announcements were made in Norwegian and English (makes sense, given the fact the flight was due for Oslo, Norway). The crew was clearly alert and eager to help, because as soon as I boarded I was assisted to my section of the plane (being led all the way to the cabin, no less!) and pointed to my seat. The announcements were warm and thoughtful, but the safety video was among the most forgettable.
The pilot only spoke a few times, but very languidly (Norwegian has a certain, uh, rambling, character to it…), detailing how the tailwinds were very much in our favor and we’d be arriving early. He also gave us the most precise taxi time I’d every heard (down to the seconds) before we’d take off. Who could doubt him?
Flight Review: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Go Economy Class SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
We took off around 6:55pm from EWR, and the first meal was served about an hour into the flight (a duration of about 6 hours total airborne). SAS is making a genuine effort to reduce its carbon footprint, even offering customers the opportunity to buy Biofuel with their flight purchase. I think it’s a great approach, recognizing weakness and trying to improve the bottom line. However, the SAS meal service is a plasticky, papery, generally wasteful mess that felt like a man-behind-the-curtain moment during an otherwise magical experience (the Scandi spell). (Editor’s note: on short-haul Scandinavian flights, meals are served in a sustainable “cube”. Learn about it here). Every item was individually wrapped, down to the salt and pepper and fork and knife. The bread was not wrapped. That said, no menu was distributed. There were two options for the meal, chicken with rice and chicken with a sauce along with a drink. Guests who pre-ordered their meals had a variety of options including Kosher, gluten free, vegetarian and so on. Cocktails were available for a fee; coffee, tea, wine, soft drinks and juice were complimentary. With the exception of water, coffee, and tea, passengers were allowed two drinks per meal.
Coffee and tea were served two more times after the meal in a reusable cup, with crew quietly asking “coffee? tea?” along the aisles, then again with cream and sugar. At some point, the crew stopped coming around to collect trash, so I took my tray full of SAS trash to the rear galley to be disposed of. It was nice to see the crew occasionally wiping down tray tables and venturing into the bathroom several times to tidy up. It really did make the plane feel more fresh and clean.
There was a second meal served about an hour before arrival at Oslo, as the sun was coming up. Same issue as the last meal with tons of waste, and everything wrapped in plastic. That said, the meal was genuinely refreshing and filling, with yogurt, granola, fruit, cheese, ham, bread, and butter- but no salt.
Flight Review: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Go Economy Class SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
TECH, WIFI AND IFE in SAS Scandinavian Airlines Economy Class
There is a universal outlet at the middle of the seats. The power was turned off at boarding, so I pinged the flight attendant who managed to get it turned on. It worked for about 2 hours before cutting out again. Pro-tip: use your Europlug rather than the US plug to secure your connection a bit better. It’s still a loose hold, but better.
The IFE has a separate USB port and 3.5mm headphone jack. The IFE came in only English, Japanese, and Mandarin, which tells me this plane may have flown Asian routes. Some movies are dubbed in German. The entertainment offerings included a few recent blockbusters, but a lot of random old ones. In the TV section, it featured many single episodes of shows, which seemed pointless.
Economy Class Review: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Go SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
The IFE also has a flight tracker and map, music, “SAS TV” which is basically promotion for SAS and the region it serves, the inflight magazine, Scandinavian Traveler, games, and something called ‘Landscape Camera’ which sounded cool, but I never got to work. The touchscreen is very responsive- there is no remote control.
As always, crew announcements will interrupt your programming. I watched Toy Story 4 dubbed in German then listened to some classical music with the acoustically challenged SAS-provided headphones. The headphones do cancel sound pretty well, so I kept them in even when not listening to anything, but if you’re actually trying to hear, everything will sound underwater.
The wifi is about $7.25 (February 2020) for the duration of the flight, and free for people with status or traveling in higher classes. It worked reasonably well while still around the USA, but I stopped using it because I didn’t need it anymore.
LANDING AND CONCLUSION
There was absolutely no turbulence on this flight and the landing was exceedingly smooth, among the most gentle I’ve ever felt. We departed on time, and arrived about 12 minutes early.
SAS’ biggest weaknesses are things that they seem to be aware of already- the meal service situation is something SAS is actively trying to improve the doesn’t require an overhaul of an interior. There is a ton of ambition being poured into this experience even to this day, offering a cohesive and healthy-feeling sensation for passengers and a degree of perpetual relevancy for SAS. The freshness of an interior that is five years old comes not just from good maintenance, but also continuing to refine its peripheral aspects within a clear goal of sustainability.
Economy Class Review: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Go SK908: Newark (EWR) to Oslo (OSL) (February 2020)
