Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, so the airline is trying to cut costs. Unfortunately the carrier’s latest cost cutting initiative impacts the premium passenger experience, eliminating one of the few things that differentiated it…
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SAS Plus passengers no longer receive free Wi-Fi
First for some context, SAS Plus is the name of Scandinavian Airlines’ premium economy product:
- On long haul flights, these are larger seats with more legroom, an enhanced meal service, and more
- On short haul flights, these are just economy seats at the front of the cabin, with a free meal, fast track security, lounge access, and priority boarding; unlike intra-Europe business class on other airlines (which SAS doesn’t offer), there are no blocked middle seats
On top of that, SAS has historically offered free Wi-Fi in both business class and SAS Plus. As reported by LoyaltyLobby, that’s no longer the case. As of this week, SAS has cut free Wi-Fi as a perk for SAS Plus passengers, meaning that only long haul business class passengers receive free Wi-Fi.
Interestingly this hasn’t been removed from SAS’ travel classes page. However, when doing flight searches, you’ll no longer see free Wi-Fi listed as a perk.
My take on these SAS Plus changes
Cutting free Wi-Fi in SAS Plus is a pretty disappointing change. I can appreciate the need to cut costs, though I have to imagine that free Wi-Fi is something that factors into people deciding to pay for SAS Plus.
For example, Star Alliance Gold members already receive most of the perks of SAS Plus (lounge access, priority boarding, etc.), so really the only benefit is a seat in the front of cabin, free food (which you can purchase in economy), and free Wi-Fi. With the Wi-Fi benefit being cut, I think we’ll see a material reduction in the number of people paying for this product.
Competitively this is also an interesting change, when you look at aviation in Nordic countries. Going back a couple of years, Norwegian offered free Wi-Fi to all passengers, so Scandinavian Airlines at least offering it to those in SAS Plus was something. Meanwhile nowadays Norwegian only offers 15 minutes of free Wi-Fi, so I suppose that could have factored into the decision for SAS.
Bottom line
Scandinavian Airlines has cut free Wi-Fi in SAS Plus, which has historically been one of the main perks of booking the cabin. While free Wi-Fi in premium economy or business class is far from the norm, the reality is that on short haul flights, the free Wi-Fi was one of the main perks of SAS Plus.
What do you make of these SAS Plus Wi-Fi changes?
Does it remain as a benefit for EBG and EBD?
Consider the cost of the ticket. Would you pay more for SAS with free wifi or pay less for their competitor that charges for wifi. The difference in the fare could be far more than the cost of the wifi. Many credit cards have airline incidental money that the wifi could be used for it. When you talk about "penny pinching" keep in mind it goes both ways. How much are they charging for wifi...
Consider the cost of the ticket. Would you pay more for SAS with free wifi or pay less for their competitor that charges for wifi. The difference in the fare could be far more than the cost of the wifi. Many credit cards have airline incidental money that the wifi could be used for it. When you talk about "penny pinching" keep in mind it goes both ways. How much are they charging for wifi anyway - $10-$15?!?! Besides, I think the middle seat not being blocked is much more of a competitive issue on the intra-European flights. On an intra-European flight which is only usually a few hours long, do you really need the wifi, especially with no privacy when you're crammed into economy style seating...
Bit disappointed that they're yanking the free wifi, as I think that made their PE product slightly more appealing as compared to their competitors. Would prospective passengers have been more likely to book SAS over their competitors? I think every little bit helps, and I certainly would. Though as @E39 suggests, the typical Scandinavian doesn't value free wifi, which is fair.
As for degraded speeds due to overuse... the ideal situation is for wifi to...
Bit disappointed that they're yanking the free wifi, as I think that made their PE product slightly more appealing as compared to their competitors. Would prospective passengers have been more likely to book SAS over their competitors? I think every little bit helps, and I certainly would. Though as @E39 suggests, the typical Scandinavian doesn't value free wifi, which is fair.
As for degraded speeds due to overuse... the ideal situation is for wifi to be fast and reliable enough that everyone on the plane who wants to use it, can. See JetBlue or Delta's connectivity abilities.
If the argument is that they need to conserve cash, I don't think it would really raise that much money unless they're paying their connectivity provider by unit of data. The installation of the equipment is already a sunk cost.
Plus (no pun intended), the goal of less people using it so the speeds are better, and the goal of making more money from it are slightly (if not completely) contradictory.
All in all, not a big deal in experience, nor for most people, but personally I am a little disappointed.
SAS is also undergoing a bankruptcy restructure.
SAS is probably the worst legacy airline in Europe. Pitiful product for the money whatever class. Lounges awful and little amenities.
I dont know why you find free wi-fi to be so great. If people don't have to pay for something, then they won't control their use of it. They will stream netflix even there there's seatback entertainment and hog all the bandwidth
the pricing should be high enough to ensure paying customers can reasonably use
I flew SAS today on a Plus ticket. I was surprised to find that wifi wasn't included. It cost $19 and was for "lower speed" wifi, meaning checking email, sending a few texts, and basic internet browsing. Definitely couldn't handle streaming anything. Very much not worth the price and a disappointing experience.
@Lucky:
“ so really the only benefit is a seat in the front of cabin” - Even that May not be the case. On my regional flight (likely ATR-72) the door is at the back and hence the SAS Plus section was the last few rows in the back. While you get to leave the plane first, the engine noise was very loud during the flight and I smelled exhaust fumes though the ventilation. I rather would hat sat upfront in the “cheap” seats.
I don't think you understand us Scandinavians entirely. I would be VERY surprised if anyone chose e.g. Norwegian over SAS due to the 'wifi situation'. Generally speaking, we don't value wifi connectivity that much, it is often more of a bonus: "hey there's wifi on this flight". Many people also doesn't know about the wifi.
Also, SAS Wifi is still free for all Gold, Diamond and Pandion members, and those are often the ones filling...
I don't think you understand us Scandinavians entirely. I would be VERY surprised if anyone chose e.g. Norwegian over SAS due to the 'wifi situation'. Generally speaking, we don't value wifi connectivity that much, it is often more of a bonus: "hey there's wifi on this flight". Many people also doesn't know about the wifi.
Also, SAS Wifi is still free for all Gold, Diamond and Pandion members, and those are often the ones filling the SAS Plus cabin anyways, so you likely won't see much of a difference.
My issue is that SK’s long-haul wifi speeds are often so lackluster that you can barely use the service. It used to be that everyone in Biz and Plus got it, as well as everyone with *G or EB Gold/Diamond/Pandion, which could include 30-50% of all passengers. I would much rather just have it for Biz and Diamond/Pandion, in order to provide useful speeds.
It is crucial for SAS or rather, for the Scandinavian countries, to remain free of Lufthansa's creeping (and frankly creepy) monopolization of European air travel.
The positive externalities from having nonstop flight service to the world cannot be understated; having to connect in FRA would make Stockholm and Copenhagen completely irrelevant business centers in the global economy.
Get McKinsey, Bain and BCG out of HQ. Throw the Dutch accountant masquerading as CEO back home...
It is crucial for SAS or rather, for the Scandinavian countries, to remain free of Lufthansa's creeping (and frankly creepy) monopolization of European air travel.
The positive externalities from having nonstop flight service to the world cannot be understated; having to connect in FRA would make Stockholm and Copenhagen completely irrelevant business centers in the global economy.
Get McKinsey, Bain and BCG out of HQ. Throw the Dutch accountant masquerading as CEO back home to his poorly run country. And then place a Scandinavian in the top management position whose KPIs include generating economic wealth for the countries the airline serves.
Pronto.
I don't see how his nationality or your opinion on how the Netherlands is run has anything to do with the conditions affecting SAS...
Just seems very bigoted.
Oh I'm not American, so muh bigotry isn't an argument. That only works by you guys.
I'm sorry for your feelings.
Where was it implied you were American ?
In the non-reply, sweetie. Americans seem to think their feelings are arguments. They are not.
I found on my numerous business class flights with SAS that the speeds had started becoming poorer and poorer, likely because the passengers in SAS Plus were all on the Wi-Fi. Considering there are 40+ seats in SAS Plus on the A330, that led to a material degradation in quality for the Business passengers. I welcome this change!