SAS Releases ‘The Time Killer’ App for Customers of Other Airlines

Scandinavian Airlines Time Killer appMost of the time when a company releases a mobile app it’s to provide an important utility to their customers (or it should be). Scandinavian Airlines have gone the other way and have launched ‘The Time Killer’ app for people who are ‘not’ flying Europe’s most punctual airline. The app provides activities for customers of the other airlines as they kill time waiting for their delayed flights.

The games in the app include:

  • ‘Spin the Hamster’, turn your iPhone around in circles in order for the hamster to run around it’s wheel
  • ‘Follow the Footsteps’, pull down on footprints to see how far you can walk
  • ‘Hold That Thought’, place your fingers on the thought bubble and reflect for as long as you can
  • ‘Blow the Propeller’, blow into the phone’s microphone to make the propreller spin

Each game tracks your scores as you go, saving it in the high scores section. It’s all fun and pointless and that’s just the point. If you would have booked with Scandinavian Airlines you would already be in the air enjoying an an adult beverage and not sitting back in the departure lounge ‘spinning the hamster’ (yes, I just typed that).

Unfortunately when it comes to booking an SAS flight through the app the experience breaks down a bit. The link takes the user to the SAS home page where the unfun begins.

First: it’s not a mobile site. Why in the world would you not create a mobile app and not take the user to a mobile-friendly site to book a flight?
Second: Why do you need me to identify which country I am accessing the site. Why not ask me to share my location back in the app and append that information to the site URL? Even if I don’t share my location, at least give me a better way to identify my country of origin on your site. Redirect me to a mobile friendly landing page where I can select my country from a drop down. Or, detect my country and ask me to confirm. Arghhhhhh!

The site is fun for a few minutes, shows that Scandinavian Airlines has a sense of humour and does do a good job at illustrating the key message about it being a punctual airline.

‘The Time Killer’ app can be downloaded for free in the iPhone App Store.

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