What to Do If SAS Overbooks Your Flight & Denies You Boarding

Written By Joanna Teljeur

Last Updated: April 1, 2025

The last thing any passenger wants to hear is that their flight is overbooked, followed only by being denied boarding against your will. As infuriating as this is, it’s important to remember that you do have rights as a passenger and that SAS must help you get to your destination. 

Additionally, you could receive up to £520 (€600) in compensation.

So, in this guide, we’ll explain what you’re owed by SAS, what you should do if you’re denied boarding, and tips to help you avoid it in the future.

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Why SAS Overbooks Flights

SAS, as well as many other airlines, practice overbooking flights to increase profits and keep ticket prices low. The more flights they can operate at full capacity, the better. So, to do this, they will intentionally sell more tickets than seats on a given aircraft, because they understand that a certain percentage of passengers will miss the flight for various reasons.

Overbooking, or overselling, helps SAS account for this, and it works smoothly most of the time. The problems arise when no one misses their flight, and there aren’t enough seats for everyone. The result: Voluntary and involuntary denied boarding.

SAS Denied Boarding: The Process

Voluntary Denied Boarding

Airlines don’t like to force passengers off a flight, so to avoid this, they will call for volunteers as soon as they know a flight has been overbooked. They entice passengers to accept a later booking in return for a compensation package that can include travel credits, miles, upgrades, and cash.

There are no rules about what SAS must offer passengers who willingly give up their seat, so passengers will sometimes wait until the last minute to step forward. When they do, they are in a position to negotiate for a better deal, knowing SAS is desperate to free up seats.

Involuntary Denied Boarding

If SAS cannot get enough volunteers, they have no choice than to begin choosing passengers to refuse boarding. If you’re chosen for involuntary denied boarding, then SAS is required by the rules of Regulations EU261 and UK261 to provide you with:

• Priority placement on the next available flight to your destination or a full ticket refund
• Refreshments and food for the duration of your wait
• Free hotel accommodation if you need an overnight stay while waiting for your next flight, as well as transportation to and from the hotel.

Who Won’t Be Denied Boarding?

SAS will try to make the denied boarding experience as painless as possible. To do this, they will avoid selecting:

• Unaccompanied children and minors
• Passengers with physical disabilities or service animals
• Carers for those with disabilities
• Passengers who have already been asked to give up a seat and are now being rerouted to their destination
• Frequent Flyers and loyalty customers.

Some airlines will try to avoid selecting passengers who are part of a travel group, but some SAS customers experienced this very thing. Trek491057 left a review of SAS on TripAdvisor stating:

We were a group booking from Australia booked months ago for 19 people. The flight was overbooked, and three of our group were bumped off the flight and had to wait 7 hours for a flight which was also delayed.

Involuntary Denied Boarding: SAS Compensation

EU and UK regulations state that passengers who have been denied boarding a SAS flight as a result of overbooking are entitled to cash compensation based on the distance of their flight, as you can see in the table below. Compensation can range from £220 (€250) to £520 (€600).

Bear in mind that your compensation payout could be halved if you accept a rebooking and arrive within 2 hours of your original flight, for flights up to 1,500 km, within 3 hours for flights between 1,500- 3,500 km or within 4 hours for flights longer than 3,500 km.

SAS Vouchers in Place of Cash

When it comes to airline compensation, it’s important to understand that you have a right to cash. Therefore, if you’re pressured to accept vouchers in place of cash, remember that you do not have to agree to this.

TripAdvisor contributor HAS wrote about how he was given a voucher for being involuntarily denied boarding an overbooked flight. Presumably, the voucher was more like a cash card to be deposited, but this review illustrates the issues that can come with these. 

DO NOT let SAS change your flights due to overbooking or any other reason and promise compensation. They will NOT pay you. The SAS travel desk in Copenhagen changed my flight home to one six hours later. In return, the desk agent gave me a voucher for 600 euros ("involuntary denied boarding") to be deposited into my bank account.
The voucher gives a website to enter your banking info. I did this the next day and the site said my info was approved, but the money never came. After several calls with SAS they say my voucher is 'invalid' or they say someone will email me to figure it out. This has been told to me at least 5 times and no one has reached out to me in over 2 months. This is a horrible way to treat your customers.

Denied Boarding a SAS Flight: What To Do Next

We know how inconvenient it can be when you’ve been denied boarding on an important flight, but what should your first steps be? Here’s what to do:

1. Ask the gate agent why you were bumped, and ask for written confirmation of this. SAS is supposed to provide a printed document stating why you were bumped and the approximate compensation amount you are owed.
2. Next, ask for a rebooking or a refund. 
3. Inquire about your compensation and when you will receive it.
4. Keep track of conversations you have with SAS agents and document everything in case you need to file a claim later.
5. Ask for meal and hotel vouchers if your new departure time is hours away or the following day.

Need Help with a Claim?

If you’ve been bumped from a flight and need help getting compensated, AirAdvisor is happy to assist. We’ve been protecting air passengers’ rights since 2017, and our legal team has a 98% win rate for airline compensation claims. See if your flight is eligible by entering your basic flight details into our free compensation checker.

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