Do you have friends and relatives in Scandinavia but no idea what to get them for Christmas/ Hanukkah/ Kwaanza/ other politically correct and officially approved winter holiday? No worries, SAS can help.

Though normally SAS is as useless as … (I shall refrain from using harsh words here, ‘tis the season after all, and I ought to be nice) their annual Advent sale has started today and I am inclined to hate them a little bit less for the next 23 days.

So, how does it work? Everyday starting today until December 23 (or maybe 24) SAS offers a new deal that’s only available throughout that particular day.

So, how to get it? You go to their website at sas.se and look for a little square with “Dagens lucka” written on it. Don’t worry, even though the whole thing is in Swedish, it’s very easy to follow. You click on the little “Dagens lucka” square and check out the deals for that day. They’re valid till midnight, and each day there’s a different destination on offer. Today for example, there were two, one from Stockholm to London for 1200 SEK round trip, all taxes and fees included, and one from Copenhagen to Berlin for 940 SEK.

When I tried the London one, I got a nice surprise, the actual total for the flights I chose was even cheaper – came out to 1100 SEK. And that’s from Arlanda to Heathrow on a normal airline where you don’t have to pay extra to have your luggage checked in. Flying to a normal airport, too, not some hole in the countryside from where it takes another 2 hours by bus to get to the city center.

Ryanair is of course hitting back with their 0 SEK fares (as if!), but after a quick check of that incredible fare, it turns out more like 500 SEK ticket. Add to that a 50SEK booking charge if you don’t have a Visa Elektron card, 50 SEK for checking in at the airport, and oh yeah, another 300 SEK for a return bus to Skavsta and suddenly that deal is not so sweet anymore. Especially, if you’re connecting from elsewhere via Arlanda.

Still, that’s exactly the kind of price war that SAS Advent Sale brings and price wars are always a good thing. Especially in this economy.