SAS flying over San Francisco

The main purpose of this post is sharing some flight photos over the city of San Francisco after our SAS flight to Copenhagen circled after takeoff at SFO around Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park and over the Golden Gate with views of the Bay Bridge and downtown financial district, before heading northeastward.

My SAS flight San Francisco to Copenhagen earned the flight miles to put me over the mark for Aegean Airlines Silver elite status. I now have 12 months to fly 4 Aegean Airlines flight segments and earn 24,000 Tier Miles for Aegean and Star Alliance Gold elite membership. I will earn over 20% of those Aegean gold elite qualifying Tier Miles by the end of this trip with two more SAS flights scheduled, each earning 100% flight miles as Aegean Miles+Bonus Tier Miles.

SAS A340-300

SAS A340-300 with a 2-4-2 seat arrangement in economy class provided us 37G-H two seats together with the toilet behind. I am enjoying recent transatlantic flights in economy class with our seats backed by the toilet wall, similar to our flight last month in British Airways economy class. There tends to be some space behind the seat for storage and nobody grabbing or kicking the seat back during the flight. I watch movies and Kelley passes out, so toilet noise is not much an issue.

SAS is tight seating. There is very little seat pitch to move. Economy class food was reasonably good, especially their hot sourdough bread rolls.

No free alcohol though on the flight.

I enjoyed a four movies film watching binge on the flight to keep me occupied 10.5 hours. One of the joys for me flying SAS and Norwegian are watching Scandinavian films I would probably not otherwise see.

I had a mild case of Swedish depression after three Swedish films, each one about a poor child wanting an education to access a better life, while rejecting their families’ values and lifestyle.

Sami Blood is the film I found most intriguing. The story is about a 14 year old Sami Lappland girl from a reindeer herding tribe in northern Sweden who attends a boarding school with her sister in the 1930s. There are parallels to the Native American Indian experience.

Simon and the Oaks is about a Swedish peasant boy in 1939 who wants an education to escape his parents’ working class life. The film touches on issues of antisemitism and class structure during World War II.

Svinalängorna (Beyond) is the story of a young teen girl of alcoholic Finnish immigrant parents in 1970s Sweden.

Three intense Swedish films.

But T2 Trainspotting was the most depressing of the lot for me. I had high expectations from Director Danny Boyle for a follow-up to the original film from 20 years ago. That dream balloon burst with the final product viewing experience.

But again, the photos of San Francisco are the main objective here.

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco is white building in the park space. This is is one of my favorite areas of San Francisco for scenic views, especially just north along the golf course bordered road with fantastic views of Golden Gate Bridge.

The plane flew directly over Golden Gate Bridge, so I was unable to snap a distinctive photo of the bridge towers. I only saw the San Francisco land access portion of the bridge.

Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco side.

My final view of the city was looking out at the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge and downtown San Francisco financial district.

Be seeing you San Francisco.

12 hours later we were walking the streets and bridges of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Air travel is amazing.

July 2017

San Francisco SFO – Copenhagen, Denmark – Stockholm, Sweden – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Prague, Czechia – Bratislava, Slovakia – London, England – San Francisco SFO (22 days-20 hotel nights-6 flights-6 bus trips.

My July in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Czechia and Slovakia July 5, 2017

SAS flying over San Francisco

Copenhagen, Denmark: Skt. Petri Copenhagen Choice Hotels Ascend Collection

Amsterdam, Netherlands: Loyalty Traveler Lost and Found in Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Netherlands: Ramada Apollo Amsterdam Centre hotel review

Amsterdam, Netherlands: Amsterdam design for social living

Amsterdam, Netherlands: Amsterdam beer, bud and burger joints

Amsterdam and Prague Hotels: 2 stays earned 1 Free Friday Park Plaza Vondelpark Amsterdam and Park Inn Prague

Prague, Czechia: Pickpocket stole my wallet on Prague Airport Bus

Prague, Czechia: Park Inn Prague hotel review

Prague, Czechia: Best Western Hotel Kinsky Garden Prague truly boutique

Prague, Czechia: Hotel review Clarion Prague City reward stay