Future SkyTeam member Scandinavian Airlines currently runs a great premium sale, discounting lots of premium economy and business class tickets. One of the possible destinations is Chinese megacity Shanghai, with ticket prices going as low as €1,483 (~NOK 16,940) for departures from Oslo.
Until December 2025, citizens of Hungary, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Spain may enter China for 15 days without applying for a visa.
You can find tickets at this price with departure from the following airports:
- Oslo at €1,484 (~NOK 16,952)
- Bergen at €1,484 (~NOK 16,952)
- Stavanger at €1,484 (~NOK 16,952)
- Trondheim at €1,484 (~NOK 16,952)
- Tromso at €1,484 (~NOK 16,952)
- Bodo at €1,531 (~NOK 17,488) (2 stops)
- Kristiansand at €1,531 (~NOK 17,488) (2 stops)
- maybe more…
If you prefer flying Star Alliance, you can check out Lufthansa‘s business class offer for €1,276 (~NOK 14,576).
Our availability calendar highlights all possible flight dates at the lowest price for trips up to 28 days from Oslo. It will forward you to SAS with your selected flight dates.
All flights have at least one stop in Copenhagen. The flights between Norway and Denmark see you seated in SAS Plus, which means better service, but no extra space. From Copenhagen, an SAS Airbus A350-900 takes you to China. These planes feature lie-flat-seats in a 1-2-1 pattern up front. You can find a review of the product here.
In its wide-body fleet, Scandinavian airline SAS has very big and comfortable seats, each offering direct access to the aisle. There’s a lot of storage room and also a very big desk which is perfect to work. The seats alternate between either being directly next to the window or directly at the aisle. There’s a different business class in their long-haul A321, however, which is less spacious. An upside of flying SAS: Free unlimited Wi-Fi! So it’s not a bad choice for hard-working businessmen.
Search & Book
According to the fare rules, these tickets are on sale until July 8, 2024 for travel between November and April 3, 2025. On that day, your inbound flight must arrive in Europe. A minimum stay of six days or one night from Saturday to Sunday is necessary to get the lowest fare.
Google Flights helps you find additional flight dates. We recommend purchasing premium tickets directly from the airline.
Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?
More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:
Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.
If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.
This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.
Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.
This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.
Miles & Points
SAS issues tickets for all flight segments in booking class J. A roundtrip from Oslo earns the following miles & points in SAS’ own frequent flyer program:
- 19,750 Extra Points + 19,400 Basic Points on SAS EuroBonus
SAS leaves Star Alliance on August 31, 2024, and joins SkyTeam the day after. Currently, we have no information where and how you can earn points with these flights, except for SAS’ own EuroBonus program.
The airline currently offers an attractive status match:
Destination
Information & Tips for China
China is the most populous and the third largest country in the world, so naturally, there is a lot to see. The most touristically important cities are the capital of China, Beijing and the financial and trade center Shanghai.
Best Time to Travel
Since the country is vast and extends over several climate zones, there is no best travel time for China. China is connected to Europe through numerous direct flights and the travel time is about 11-13 hours. Flights to China can be found for less than 400€ throughout the year, and there are also often excellent Business Class fares.
A general advice is that travel should be avoided during the Chinese national holidays, which span over the first two weeks of October. During these time tourist destinations are overcrowded with Chinese tourists on their domestic vacation.
Visa for China
Most European citizens will need a visa to enter China.
You can apply for a tourist visa at a Visa Application Service Center (CVASC) in your country. There you’ll hand in your visa application personally and can pick it up again after a few days. There is no faster and cheaper way.
Alternatively, you can apply for a visa by mail. The processing time will be up to two weeks, and you’ll have to pay for extra for shipping.
There are also so-called Visa services available that sometimes offer a faster (and maybe even cheaper) way to get your Visa. Check local sites to find out more.
Finding the Best eSIM Plan
We’ve compared various eSIM providers, such as eSIM4Travel, RedteaGo, and Textr. To see which plan is best for your travel needs, and which network offers the best coverage, feel free to read our detailed guide:
The Best eSIM Plans for China 🇨🇳 Compared
→ All Dealz for China
Information & Tips for Shanghai
Shanghai is the most important financial and commercial center of China. But not only business travelers are welcome here. Also, regular tourists can get there money’s worth. And this is great because the city is connected to many major airports and therfor we’ll often present you with good deals for flights to Shanghai.
Best Time to Visit
Since Shanghai is located in a subtropical climate zone, spring and autumn are the best travel times thanks to moderate temperatures and a few rainy days. April, May, September, and October are particularly suitable for a visit to the Chinese city thanks to the low rainfall and humidity.
From the airport to the city
Shanghai Pudong Airport is located 40km east of the city center. Probably the fastest and most exciting method is the Maglev. The magnetic levitation train takes only 7 minutes, and with costs of around 5€ it is also a rather inexpensive (and of course faster!) alternative to a taxi, which would cost about 20€.
→ All Dealz for Shanghai
Comments (2)
Hi, also from the 1st July citizens of Poland don’t need to have visa for travel till 15 days.
Hi Adam! Thanks for notifying us. I will edit the info-block right away.