COVID-19: Do you have an upcoming flight with Scandinavian Airlines? Here’s what you can do.
Do you have an upcoming flight with Scandinavian Airlines? SAS has finally announced today you can change your flight dates with no fees, given the novel coronavirus COVID-19 situation.
Since the beginning of the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, European airlines have started increasing the flexibility of their tickets, both newly bought, but also for those issued before March 2020.
Air France and KLM were great in this regard, they allowed rebooking tickets with no fees, which allowed people to re-think their trips and maybe postpone them for later.
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), on the other hand, is (in my opinion) falling behind in this regard, and has been very strict with their passengers.
First, they allowed rebooking or canceling tickets (with a refund) on flights to and from China. Later they added Japan and South Korea.
Since there was a dip in sales (people were afraid of buying), they introduced flexibility to change the flight dates with no fees but only for new tickets, not for previously issued ones. This didn’t seem reasonable at all, and of course, it came across as they were not really genuinely interested in their passengers and their uncertainty: they just wanted to boost sales.
When the Italy outbreak started, they reduced their frequency drastically and allowed people to re-book with no fees flights to and from Italy, no matter when those tickets were issued.
A few days later, when Italy entered a complete lockdown, SAS execs rethought the a little bit the whole situation and introduced flexibility on previously bought tickets, only within Europe (and not even Scandinavia!). Come on SAS, really? You already come from a bad experience from your last advertisement/marketing campaign.
The company could have used this negative situation (which is hitting the airline industry hard), to regain the trust and loyalty of its customers. They could have cared genuinely about their customers and offered complete flexibility to rebook, to any ticket and destination from day 1 (or, even day 10).
Instead, they show signs of cutting corners. Many travelers that bought the tickets, let’s say in January, were not able to rebook or cancel without paying a fee. I am one of those travellers.
Don’t get me wrong here. I am sharing my experience, and it is not that I’m complaining about them because it impacts my wallet. Nothing like that. I completely understand the restrictions of the tickets and family fares, and it is, of course, my responsibility to understand the risks and consequences when buying certain tickets.
But this case is different. The most dangerous thing about COVID-19 is that there’s a lot of uncertainty. During these times, the best company value you could show to your customers is care and understanding. By doing this, they will stay loyal and choose you over other companies.
In my particular case, back in February, I booked SAS round-trip flights from Stockholm to San Francisco for March 2020. When I booked them the situation was normal. Now, with more and more cases in the US, it sounds reasonable to try to reschedule. However, given their introduced policies, if I wanted to rebook I had to pay a fee, because the trip wasn’t within Europe, China, Japan, or South Korea, and because I bought it before March 5th.
This situation is extraordinary, and even though it is not the airline’s fault, I don’t find it fair to allow only certain customers to rebook without fees. I firmly believe it should be applied to all bookings.
Today, after Trump’s travel ban announcement, SAS had to make a statement, where they introduced a waiver for rebooking options online is activated.
Here are the terms for rebooking existing flights
(Updated 12MAR20)
As we know that flexibility is crucial to our travelers, we are offering new rebooking opportunities for all existing bookings to and from USA, Asia and Europe, except for bookings wholly within Scandinavia and for travel to/from Italy (Regarding rebooking opportunities to/from Italy, see information under heading “Coronavirus – Adjustment to SAS traffic program”).
The offer is not valid on SAS Charter flights.
Rebook online – My Bookings
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
No change fee applies for bookings made before 12 March for travel planned between 12 March-30 April 2020 (included)
The new travel date must be between 12 March -30 November 2020
If the ticket is changed to a higher fare, any fare difference between the existing booking and the new booking must be paid for
The offer is valid on all SAS operated flights, to and from USA, Asia and Europe. The offer is not valid for flights wholly within Scandinavia or Domestic Denmark, Norway and Sweden
No cancellations or full refund are allowed, unless the fare rules of your original ticket allow it.
The rebooking can be made only once.
The rebooking has to be made before the original departure date.
The rebooking is only valid to and from the same destination as your original one.
and here the flexibility for newly bought tickets
(Updated 11MAR20)
As we know that flexibility is crucial to our travelers, we are offering new rebooking opportunities when you buy a new ticket between 5 March-19 March 2020 for travel until 30 November 2020 (included). The rebooking fee will be removed. You may still pay the fare difference if the new ticket is more expensive than your original one.
Book a new trip online
TERMS AND CONDITIONSNo change fee applies to new bookings made from 5 March-19 March 2020 for travel between 5 March-30 November 2020 (included)
If the ticket is changed to a higher fare, any fare difference between the existing booking and the new booking must be paid for
The offer is valid on all SAS operated flights, to and from Europe, USA and Asia*. The offer is not valid for flights wholly within Scandinavia or Domestic Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The offer is not valid on SAS charter flights
No cancellations or full refund are allowed, unless the fare rules of your original ticket allow it
The rebooking can be made only once
The rebooking has to be made before the departure date
The rebooking is only valid to and from the same destination as your original one
* The offer is also valid on all SAS marketing flights (ticket number starting with 117) operated by Singapore Airlines for new bookings made from 6 March-19 March 2020
How is this situation impacting you? Do you have tickets with SAS and have/want to rebook? What are your comments on the airline’s attitude towards the situation?
I will make a separate post explaining how I rebooked my flights using the online system and to which dates!
Stay safe
