Gothenburg rewards patience precisely because no carrier flies there nonstop from Chicago, and after dozens of trips through Scandinavia I've come to appreciate the routing as part of the experience rather than an obstacle. There is no direct business class from Chicago to Gothenburg; the practical options connect through Copenhagen or Stockholm on SK, Frankfurt or Munich on Lufthansa, or Amsterdam on KLM, with total journey times typically running nine to twelve hours depending on layover length. SAS is the natural choice for anyone loyal to the Star Alliance, offering its A350 business class on the transatlantic leg out of O'Hare with fully flat seats and direct aisle access, then a shorter regional hop up to Gothenburg-Landvetter. Lufthansa routes through its German hubs, where travelers can sample the airline's long-haul business product—increasingly the new Allegris seat on select aircraft—before a quick connector flight north.
What separates a smooth Gothenburg connection from a stressful one is hub selection based on season and time of day. Copenhagen is my preferred SAS connection point in summer, since its compact layout and efficient Schengen transfer process make tight connections manageable even with only 75 minutes on the ground. KLM's Amsterdam routing works well for those wanting to break up the journey with a lounge visit in Schiphol's spacious business facilities, though I'd avoid tight winter connections there given the airport's frequent fog delays. An insider tip few travelers know: booking the SAS codeshare through Stockholm-Arlanda rather than Copenhagen during the June-August period often opens up better business award availability, since Arlanda serves as SAS's secondary long-haul hub and sees less competition for premium seats from leisure travelers.
Late spring through early autumn—May through September—consistently offers the best value and the most reliable weather for these connections, coinciding with Gothenburg's brief but glorious archipelago season. Because fares and award space on this routing shift quickly with the changing hub capacity between these three carriers, setting up fare alerts is the smartest move any serious traveler can make before booking.
