SAS Lounge, Copenhagen Airport Review - trying too hygge?
Hygge. I first came across this word in a pub in the West End of London about four years ago and had no clue what it meant. Did it mean ‘hey you guys, get excited’? Or something else? For those who haven’t Googled it yet, or aren’t in the know, pronounced hoo-ga it is a Danish and Norwegian word for coziness and a comfortable atmosphere - like what you get at home. You will see this sentiment across a lot of Danish and Scandinavian culture but is it reflected in the SAS Lounge at Copenhagen Airport? Read on…
Eligibility for Admission
You can get in for free if you are travelling in:
SAS Business (Long Haul)
SAS Plus (Short haul EuroBusiness)
Star Alliance Business or First Class
Wideroe Flex Class
Icelandair Business Class
Additionally if you have the following status, you are allowed admission:
SAS Eurobonus Diamond or Gold
SAS Eurobonus Silver “on selected days and periods”
Star Alliance Gold status holders
Paid admission is possible for those travelling in SAS Go (Economy) costing DKK 199/USD 32 when pre-paid online or DKK 249/USD 46/3000 Eurobonus points at the door.
Location
Signage for the SAS Lounge is extremely poor, so don’t bother looking for a sign explicitly for it. Instead follow directions for Gate C10, since the lounge is opposite here.
Setup
The lounge is setup as a split level design. The downstairs is designated as the Gold lounge for status holders whilst the upstairs is the designated Business Class “International” Lounge. Due to Covid-19, the downstairs is currently closed off and all Gold guests are directed towards the Business Class lounge which is supposedly the superior offering. Below is some pictures of the Gold lounge:
One portion, near to the lounge exit on the lower floor, is still open but is rarely used because it is tucked away. I didn’t even realise this was here until we left.
Atmosphere and ambience
The SAS Lounge is going for a premium IKEA-Scandi vibe as you would expect from the home airline of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. I like it though. It’s a clean design and a warm environment without feeling cold as sometimes Nordic environments can feel. The lounge features accents of SAS blue, warm whites and light wood colours.
The International Business Lounge is split into three key zones - albeit unofficially. The first area you’ll be greeted by is the canteen/kitchen area which is quite basic and, at around 06h30, was extremely busy with lots of families jetting away for autumn holidays. I wouldn’t bother setting down here unless you’re looking to grab a quick bite (more on that later).
Heading straight through to the rear of the lounge there is a more relaxed seating area with solo chairs in uniform lines. This is nothing particularly impressive but is a decent place to relax prior to a flight.
Further across is a lounging area, in lieu of beds, for a place to relax between flights. There isn’t any system for booking these and is just first come, first served with no requirement to be connecting from a long haul flight. They’re not particularly sound proof, only surrounded by some flimsy curtains, so don’t expect to get much rest if you are a light sleeper.
Additionally, if you’re travelling as a family head towards the far right of this lounge area and you’ll see a specific room space with a sofa made for groups. There’s only one of them and I suspect they will be very popular - but it may be a great place to sit if you are with children.
Heading back past the canteen area and stairs, you will end up in the business centre-esque area of the lounge. It doesn’t feel like business centres in other lounges, going for a more relaxed atmosphere, and due to it not being instantly visible it is a lot quieter than other sections. There’s large tables for group meetings or working as well as smaller desks segregated with the same curtains as earlier - making a relaxed atmosphere for an office area.
In this section is also a very unique feature for a lounge...a “daylight booster” room. Gimmick? Most definitely. SAS claim that the high brightness light is to help guests in the lounge improve their levels of daylight in the winter months...I’ve no idea if it works, but it probably needs more time than 5 minutes in here to work!
Food and beverages
If you’re looking for a great meal, this isn’t the place. Granted our visit was during breakfast hours, but I doubt the quality will increase. The offering at the SAS Lounge consists of cold meats, cheese, porridge, yoghurt bread and pastries whilst the drinks are all self-serve coffee, tea, soft drinks and alcohol. It’s quite lacklustre, lacking flavour and I would probably suggest most people head out of the lounge and get some food from Lagkagehuset bakery which will be ten times better.
You might be surprised to see a barista coffee station as you enter the lounge...only to then see a notice saying it was closed as of March...in 2020. This lounge and airport was very busy, you would expect by now that SAS would consider reopening this and letting people get some proper, fresh coffee that is far better than the self-serve machines.
There’s also another self-serve drinks station in the business centre zone of the lounge.
Bathrooms and showers
Similar to Singapore Airlines Lounge at Heathrow Airport, SAS have kept their showers closed - again likely to keep labour costs down. Bathrooms are open and again, nothing to note here, but they were clean at least.
Verdict
The lounge offering from SAS is middling - neither bad nor amazing, just pretty average across the board. I certainly wouldn’t advise anybody to pay for entrance to this lounge and just spend the money at another food outlet - it’ll save you some Krone. If you’ve got free access, then definitely take a look - it’s worthwhile as a slightly more relaxed place to stay but I wouldn’t bother spending too much time here.
As an aside, after visiting several lounges outside the oneworld alliance - shows how much better a lot of oneworld lounges are. The regional rival of SAS, Finnair, have a far superior lounge at their home airport of Helsinki whilst oneworld also features the excellent Qantas, Qatar and Cathay Pacific lounges. They really are a step ahead of the other alliance lounges - and certainly SAS should look to Finnair and the oneworld alliance in improving their lounge offering.
