SAS or BA from Copenhagen back to States

[nini]

Are there any preferences for SAS or BA to return home

to the states? We would most likely choose Premium Economy.

We have only been to Europe once and it was in Economy on  BA.

 

The departure times give us more wiggle room to get to the airport.

Thanks for your opinions.

[mikkelhansen]

SAS has direct flights CPH-IAD each day, with BA you would have to transfer in LHR.

SAS seems to be flying the route mainly with their ageing Airbus A340s from around 2003 (and some days with their newer Airbus A330s, which would probably be the case next year, as they will start phasing out the A340s), whereas BA is currently flying the route with their brand new Airbus A350-1000s and previous months with their 5-8 year old Boeing 787s. So that may also influence your decision.

Do you have status in any alliance? That could have an impact on lounge access and/or baggage allowance, if that's relevant for you. SAS is in Star Alliance, BA is in OneWorld.

[nini]

Thank you for your detailed answer. We  earn Alaska miles which we can use

with "OneWorld". We were able to earn miles when we used BA and American.

The BA fares also cost less.

[mhb1757]

I have had better experiences with the SAS premium economy than with BA. SAS provides lounge access with premium economy. Not many perks with BA, but that was all pre coviid and BA wasn’t bad. If there was a substantial price difference I’d go with the least expensive. But if prices were similar I’d definitely go nonstop and avoid Heathrow. 

[fbgd]

On 7/10/2020 at 6:55 PM, mikkelhansen said:

SAS seems to be flying the route mainly with their ageing Airbus A340s from around 2003 (and some days with their newer Airbus A330s, which would probably be the case next year, as they will start phasing out the A340s), whereas BA is currently flying the route with their brand new Airbus A350-1000s and previous months with their 5-8 year old Boeing 787s. So that may also influence your decision.

 

I wouldn't necessarily choose BA based on the aircraft type as things are changing a great amount at the moment. 

 

I flew between London and Washington dozens of times on BA over the span of quite a few years and even then aircraft might change several times from booking until travel.

[SelectSys]

21 hours ago, nini said:

Thank you for your detailed answer. We  earn Alaska miles which we can use

with "OneWorld". We were able to earn miles when we used BA and American.

The BA fares also cost less.

 

BA, at least pre-COVID,  tended to charge a lot in fees for their award tickets whenever I have looked into using them with miles from AA.  I would always avoid BA as the all in cost compared to American was always much higher.  The only good news was that because of the price availability of award travel on BA didn't seem to be much of an issue.

 

With you particular routing, I would most definitely take the SAS flight if you get a direct flight and avoid a connection.  Adding a connection just increases your chance of having a problem.

[hallasm]

Think OP is from the state of Washington - not DC. No direct flights From CPH. One way tickets with SAS are normally quite expensive.

I do prefer SAS over BA and in particular I want to avoid change at LHR - but price difference also must be reasonable. Another option to consider is Icelandair - reasonable premium prices - short and efficient change in Reykjavík.

if time permits there is an option to stay few days in Iceland.

[mikkelhansen]

33 minutes ago, hallasm said:

Think OP is from the state of Washington - not DC. No direct flights From CPH. One way tickets with SAS are normally quite expensive.

I do prefer SAS over BA and in particular I want to avoid change at LHR - but price difference also must be reasonable. Another option to consider is Icelandair - reasonable premium prices - short and efficient change in Reykjavík.

if time permits there is an option to stay few days in Iceland.

Indeed, if we are talking CPH-SEA (or another WA airport) it would be at least one transfer no matter which airline. Hence, why I wrote CPH-IAD in my previous post, to clarify that I was talking about Washington DC.

I too would avoid transfer in LHR. Almost any other major European airport would be preferrable for transfer over LHR.

[nini]

Correct- we live on the coast in Washington State. So, there will be one stop.

And, correct again; we really do not like Heathrow. We have been to Europe

only once and connected in Heathrow. We are NOT fans.

 

Currently, there is a $400.00 p/p price difference for "Premium Economy". SAS stops in

O'Hare for 1 hour 50 Minutes. Is this enough time at O'Hare?

Thanks to all of you.

 

[hallasm]

54 minutes ago, nini said:

O'Hare for 1 hour 50 Minutes. Is this enough time at O'Hare?

Thanks to all of you.

Since SAS/United is offering this service with 1h50m layover you should be fine.

I have passed through ORD several time with no problems.

[nini]

Thanks!

[fbgd]

1 hour ago, nini said:

Correct- we live on the coast in Washington State. So, there will be one stop.

And, correct again; we really do not like Heathrow. We have been to Europe

only once and connected in Heathrow. We are NOT fans

 

If you don't like Heathrow you'll despise ORD.

 

You fly into Terminal 5, the international terminal, which is probably one of the worst US airports for immigration clearance unless you have Global Entry. Even for US Citizens when I last flew there it was about a 2hr line to clear immigration (this is completely normal for early afternoon at ORD). Then you have to take a tram (ORD's is known as the ATS) over to the domestic terminals where you check-in again and reclear security with all other departure passengers. Lately the ATS has been out of action and so there's a bus replacement service. I'm very zen about airports and travel arrangements but after a 15hr flight from the Middle East, even with Global Entry and no checked bags my wife thought it was awful...and she puts up with LaGuardia on a semi-regular basis...

 

Not all Heathrow connections are alike. If you connect through Terminal 5 you can connect through a near private security channel and have very minimal walks in some cases. It's one of the easiest international connections at any major airport anywhere in the world.

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by fbgd

[nini]

Wow... I am so glad that I have given some details. The other options

are: IAD, EWR, and SFO. Those are all with SAS and the connecting

flight home on either United or Alaska.

[mikkelhansen]

51 minutes ago, nini said:

Wow... I am so glad that I have given some details. The other options

are: IAD, EWR, and SFO. Those are all with SAS and the connecting

flight home on either United or Alaska.

Which date or at least month would you be flying (to determine seasonal routes), and would it indeed be to SEA?

SAS flies to LAX during the Summer season, currently scheduled for S21 on their brand new A350s. So during Summer 2021 (Apr-Oct) your options with SAS out of CPH should be BOS, IAD, EWR, , ORD, SFO and LAX.

 

If you want to avoid LHR, Oneworld airlines will not be possible for this routing.

Other one-stop routings could be SAS/Lufthansa to Frankfurt and Lufthansa on to SEA directly, Air Canada to Toronto and on to SEA (SK/LH/AC are all Star Alliance), Air France to CDG and Air France/Delta on to SEA (both are in SkyTeam).

 

As noted above, one-way tickets are often relatively expensive, compared to a round-trip. Another user suggested Icelandair, and a quick search on random 2021 dates shows that their Business fares for CPH-KEF-SEA one-way are generally around the same as Premium Economy on alliance airlines! And as a further note, Icelandair codeshares with Alaska Airlines, so you may be able to book award trips for Icelandair via Alaska Airlines and possibly earn points as well (I am not sure of this, though).

[nini]

Thank you so much! We do have an Alaska Visa and miles account with them as they are our

preferred domestic airline.

We plan (the operative word) on flying to Fort Lauderdale next April and doing a Transpacific

which ends up in Copenhagen and then we do a RT cruise. All that Princess EZAir lists

are BA and SAS for the flights that could work. We may be able to get them to link up so that

a RT could be done and therefor a cheaper price to include the one way to Fort Lauderdale.

Thanks for your help!

[hallasm]

I have traveled to US frequently both for business and holidays- last time was via ORD February 5th 2020 - normally the layover is round two hours - not had any problems with transfer in ORD.

Last time immigration and pick-up luggage took 30 minutes - I do not have global entry.

And still Icelandair might be a good option. Their Saga class is better than premium but not like business. 

[bennybear]

I would also consider total time in the air.   Flying through London is probably shorter and if you are saving $400 per person, that’s what I would do.  I like terminal five in Heathrow and find it quite straightforward.  

Edited July 14, 2020 by bennybear

[SelectSys]

So now that I understand you are mostly likely going to Seattle, have you considered Icelandair which is also an Alaska partner?  Flight time is very short and the connection would be simple.  

Edited July 15, 2020 by SelectSys