SAS Lounge Oslo Airport Review

I find it interesting that some airlines (SK and AY) have better lounges for elite pax than ticketed pax whereas it's the opposite for others (mostly OW airlines with lounges only ticketed F pax get access to.

I spent several very pleasant hours in this lounge a few years back before an SK flight to KEF. Lovely food and drinks (the baked Atlantic salmon was delicious), comfortable furniture, pleasant, friendly staff, a calm and relaxing atmosphere and every pax was well dressed, polite and respectful. This is everything a J lounge should be. I felt more like I was in a nice hotel than an airport.
I also thought it was odd they consider their *AG flyers to be better than their J pax. Qantas are exactly the opposite - their (domestic) J/OWE lounges are significantly better than their QClub/OWS lounges. I would always think class of service would trump status. Lucky do you agree?

I use this lounge (the *G side) quite often and agree with the overall comments. I find the decor so much better than that in many lounges - much brighter and more modern and uplifting, rather than the fake dark wood which particularly US lounges seem to go for.

The other real plus point of this lounge is that they have GF breads and a good choice of GF food available.

"While Longyearbyen is technically part of Norway, making this a domestic flight, you still have to go through passport control when taking this flight. I suspect that’s because Svalbard is such a massive and open island, and there’s even a Russian settlement, so it’s treated as a separate territory."

Do you do you do any research to the places you visit, or just make assumptions?

http://www.visitsvalbard.com/en/Tourist-information/?News=53
Although the Norwegian mainland is part of the Schengen area, Svalbard is not, and due to this fact, a passport control is required of all foreign visitors visiting Svalbard.

@ Josh -- Right, I'm not sure how that's different than what I said?

Odd question, and I know it really doesn't have to do with this particular lounge (sorry). When you're in a lounge, and want to leave your seat for food/lav/etc, are you allowed to just leave luggage at your seat and go? And no worries about anyone rummaging through? I'm so used to economy gate protocol (don't you dare walk away for one second!) and hope one day to emigrate from the back of the bus. If you get to this, thanks, and have a nice day.

I never really get why airlines would build a whole lounge for Star Alliance Gold members at great expense when Star Alliance Gold members can just use the normal SAS lounge. At the very least they could just increase the size of the normal SAS lounge to accommodate the extra passengers. It just seems like an extra expense for the airline.

Great report, Lucky!

In addition to being outside the Schengen area, Svalbard is by international treaty (the Svalbard Treaty) an open territory with no visa or immigration restrictions for citizens of the signatory countries. The practical effect of this is limited because all flights to Svalbard go through mainland Norway and must clear Norwegian immigration.

@ Lucky @ Josh it's not materially different, but explaining that you would need a multiple entry Schengen visa would probably be more valuable for some of your readers since you're leaving, then re-entering the Schengen Area. Not all countries allow visa-free travel to the Schengen Area.

Just to cearify; Lucky is right, Norwegians like myself do not have to bring a pasport when going to Svalbard (I would just show my drivers licence or the like at the passport control) due to it being a fully domestic flight (the best thing about that being the great and cheap access to redeem miles obviously). Svalbard is not a Norwegian dependent terretory (as i.e. Queen Mauds land in Antarctica), but a perfectly "normal" part of Norway, though with a few special arrangements.

There are no shower facilities in this lounge. Although the interior might be nice, this is a big disadvantage compared to the lounge in e.g. CPH.
Especially when connecting in OSL from a transatlantic flight.

With the automatic gates, how does it work if you have a star alliance gold membership card but it's not linked to your ticket (because you attributing miles elsewhere)? Is there also a lounge attendant you can go to?

This is my second living room, and despite trying to reduce time in/at the airport to a minimum prior to my international departures, I find the lounge facilities in Oslo to be quite good. However, Thursdays and Fridays in the peak-hours (14-19) the lounges are way to crowded. Either it is to easy to obtain *A status, or Scandinavian companies are again making proper profits, and send their folks in SAS Plus (eqv. Business class), but Thursday afternoons between 16-19 this lounge is like a Tivoli.