My wife and I live in USA. In Feb. we called SAS to explain that we wanted to fly to Stockholm, then Finland, and return to the US with our 15-year-old Goddaughter, who would stay with us for a month and then return alone to Stockholm, then Finland. It was to be her first visit to USA. we explained, and we needed to fly together on her initial transAtlantic flight. We were told we cd not purchase her ticket online. We needed to buy the more costly tickets over the telephone. We agreed and purchased the 3 Economy Extra seats in February for a flight the following August. We later called to reserve seat assignments. Each time we called SAS, we experienced wait times exceeding 20 minutes. Some of the representatives were very rude, made us feel they didn't have time or want to be helpful at all. Each time we persisted and explained our concern that we fly together with this 15-year-old who is a Finnish citizen. At NO TIME did any SAS representative inform us that US law requires an ESTA -- or electronic security authorization -- to fly to the US from Finland or Sweden. This is not a VISA, the law does not require a VISA from these countries for stays of less than 90 days. After arriving in Finland we took great pains to contact SAS to confirm our return flights as scheduled with our Godddaughter. Our electronic tickets and itenerary were reviewed by agents at the airports, as well. No one ever memtioned the ESTA requirement until we were ready to depart from Stockholm to Newark -- then they refused to allow our Goddaughter to fly! My wife and I could board, we were told, but our teenaged companion from Finland was not allowed to board. As a result, the flight took off without us, as we could not leave this 15-year-old alone at Arlanda in Stockholm, and she could not return to Finland. It took about 15 minutes to complete the ESTA application online and pay a $14 fee using a credit card. Then it took another hour or so before SAS personnel confirmed that ESTA application was approved. SAS then told us we could fly on the same flight the following day -- if we paid a $900 rebooking fee, $300 per person! We had no choice but to pay the fee, as we had already pre-paid more than $2, 300 for these tickets back in February. SAS did not apologize for not informing us of the ESTA requirement. They said it was not their responsibility to do so. One agent actually told us we should call the US Embasy in Stockholm to complain. The ESTA requirement was only created in March 2010. It is not well known - none of our friends who travel frequently to Scandinavia has heard of it. How are we to know about this essential requirement if the airline personnel who sell the tickets do not inform you of it? The requirement is mentioned on the SAS Web site, but we did not know we needed to scour the Web site for such info after we had so many direct contacts with the airline's personnel, who completely understood our special situation. When we purchased the tickets, the SAS representative should have advised us to carefully read their Web site for information related to Finnish citizens visiting the USA. I'm outraged at the way we were treated by SAS personnel, and have reason to believe it is a manifestation of a prevailing anti-American attitude held by many SAS employees. I've been flying SAS on a regular basis for 30 years, am a EuroBonus member, and feel that I was mistreated and actually robbed by this airline. I would urge American travelers to consider alternative airlines when visiting Scandinavia.