US airlines could learn a thing or two (or many more) from SAS. Let's start with their lounges. Take a look at this. When was the last time you saw that much room to move around without spilling your beverage in a US airline lounge? And note that this was the regular lounge, not the fancy pants limited access one that was upstairs. In addition to the space, there was a variety of seating options including one area with a fireplace as well as the typical things you'd expect in a club. You also didn't have to check in with a human -- just scan your boarding pass for the automated gates just like the ones used for automated board (and which was how I learned I didn't get to go upstairs -- a simple message saying my boarding class did not grant me access, rather than some sort of loud and embarrassing alarm). I should note that there were humans on hand, though, to deal with things like the guy who was trying to get his family of five into the lounge when he apparently hadn't paid for all of them to be in business class (guessing the nanny and the kids were in the back -- classy). Admittedly, this one was probably designed for connections so there was sufficient volume, but still impressive.
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| SAS Lounge in Copenhagen |
The onboard experience was equally impressive. First, their bulkhead walls had a blonde wood grain pattern -- made it feel nice and homey. Second, no-nonsense, efficient boarding. And finally, the food served to those like me in SAS Plus (yes, this was on a one-hour regional jet flight). It was a cold salad, but in the coolest cube box with different landscape drawings on each of the sides and internal organization that was like a combination between a bento box and Russian nesting dolls. But look at the description for what I got. Wow. And yes, it tasted good, too.
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| The SAS regional jet experience |
Got a nice picture as we were climbing. If you look closely, you can see not only a wind farm in the sea, but also the dual-use train/auto bridge/tunnel that connects Denmark with Malmo, Sweden. Also was nice to see, on the descent, how lush and tree-filled the area around Vilnius is. And finally, the Vilnius Airport itself was quite nice with interesting architectural details.
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Copenhagen, Malmo, the bridge connecting them and the wind farm
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| View during descent to Vilnius |
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| A few pics of Vilnius Airort |
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