My 11-hour journey from Copenhagen to Los Angeles on the Airbus A350-900 was quite pleasant and productive for a daytime flight, though I’d love to see SAS put a bit more effort into its food and beverages in premium economy.
SAS A350-900 Premium Economy Class Review (CPH-LAX)
I’m sitting on quite a few SAS EuroBonus miles and SAS offers excellent redemption pricing on its own metal (30K one-way in economy, 40K in premium economy, or 50K in business class between Europe and North America). While business class is always the goal and well worth the extra 10-20K miles each way, I’ll take what I can get when I do not have flexibility in my travel dates and we wound up with premium economy for this trip: my first time ever flying in SAS premium economy (“Plus”) on a longhaul flight.
Zurich – Copenhagen – Los Angles cost 40,000 EuroBonus miles each for Heidi and me and 20,000 each for the kids.
After a nice layover in the SAS Lounge in CPH, we boarded our flight to LAX.
SAS 931
Copenhagen (CPH) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Saturday, May 24
Depart: 2:15 PM
Arrive: 4:20 AM
Duration: 11hr, 05min
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Distance: 5,624 miles
Seats: 23G (Premium Economy Class)
We found our seats and settled in for the longhaul to LA.
Seats
The SAS A350-900 features 32 seats in premium economy in a 2-4-2 configuration (versus 3-4-3 in economy class), which is ideal for my family of four. We chose the window-asile combo on the “starboard” side, with the kids sitting in front of Heidi and me (they are very well-behaved now on flights and will soon be to the age when we can put them in economy class while we fly business class…).
SAS uses the Collins Aerospace MiQ seats in premium economy (formerly branded as “Plus” class) featuring 38 inches of seat pitch, 19 inches width, and a recline of eight inches. Each seat has universal A/C and USB-A charging ports.
Unfortunately, the A350-900 has no personal air vents.
Bedding in premium economy includes a duvet and large pillow.
While my flight may have been an anomaly, the Plus cabin was less than half full…
IFE + Wi-Fi
I always try to get my work done before each flight and was reminded again why: the internet worked poorly for much of the flight. There were wide stretches where it was inoperative and even when it functioned, it was very slow. Internet is free for SAS EuroBonus Gold and Diamond members but otherwise costs about $18. SAS is in the process of adding complementary Starlink Wi-Fi.
Cheap free headphones were offered before takeoff.
SAS does not have a great library of movies, TV shows, and games, but I spent most of the flight talking to Heidi and writing e-mails that did not require an internet connection. I also appreciated the tail cam and views over Los Angeles as we approached LAX.
The kids quite enjoyed the IFE library, though.
Food + Drink
Lunch was served after takeoff, which is a bit of a hybrid between business class and economy class. Beverages are served in plastic cups, except for a single glass which is included on the meal tray. A choice of potato chips or cashews was offered with the first beverage.
Meals are served on a tray with metal cutlery and harder plastic bowls featuring an upgraded appetizer and dessert versus what is served in economy class, but the meal itself is the same. Our choices were chicken or lentils, while economy class passengers who do not order a special meal in advance are not given a choice: chicken only.
The chicken was fine…but I noticed there was a ton of liquid pumped into it (water was the second ingredient), and I would never eat something like that at home (I only buy air-chilled chicken).
During the flight, flight attendants made frequent passes through the cabin with water and did a formal beverage and snack service mid-flight. The midflight included a Korean-style sandwich (not very good) and more cashews.
Before landing, a cold meal was served featuring lentils, salmon, and chorizo (no choice). I was hoping for a Smørrebrød like on my Copenhagen – Newark flight, but almost ironically, the premium economy pre-arrival meal is more substantial than in business class. No desserts or sides, other than a warm bread roll.
Lavatories
Premium economy passengers do not have dedicated lavatories, but can use the four lavatories in the middle of the economy class cabin or the two in the rear of the plane.
Service
Great service onboard by the friendly crew, who were on the young side (I’ve taken this flight many times and usually the crew is quite senior). Flight attendants constantly monitored the cabin, offering water and other beverages or snacks.
CONCLUSION
We landed on-time to a pleasant afternoon in Los Angeles. My 11-hour premium economy flight on SAS worked well for us…the seat is a big upgrade over economy class and the service was lovely onboard. Overall, premium economy is still much closer to economy class than business class, but as a middle road, it was greatly appreciated.
“ (they are very well-behaved now on flights and will soon be to the age when we can put them in economy class while we fly business class…”
I assume that was a joke…..right???
I’m 100% serious.
Horrible Parenting 101 – by Matthew Klint
I agree.
A real good parent who doesn’t hate their kids would put them in premium economy, not economy.
Aaron, are you serious? Can you elaborate?
I’m with you 100%, Matthew. That’s how we took our two teenage daughters from LAX to SYD. Nipping the potential for an inflated sense of entitlement is a skill so many parents are neglecting. They also got over the relative discomfort during the flight when they saw the breakfast buffet at the Four Seasons. Checks and balances. 🙂
Thank you! I love my children dearly. This is to help them…not punish them.
Kids should have to earn seats in business class.
They can earn it by getting straight As for example
Between you and the flip flop traveler, great SAS review day! Did you scan the QR code to let the “chef” know what you thought of the Korean style sandwich?
I think for teenagers and up it’s OK to fly separate cabins, and obviously a cost savings, although I personally would not make that choice for lots of different reasons (courtesy to other passengers, desire to be with my family, etc.). Policies vary as well – for Delta if you are under 15 and not in the same cabin you are just treated as an unaccompanied minor and you have to pay $150 (for up to 4 children).
Premium economy on a flight to the US isn’t that bad (if business class isn’t an option). Much better than overnight flights in the opposite direction.
Was the Premium Economy section full? Can’t tell from your photos.
Have used it on Virgin Atlantic (LHR) and United (BER).
Each time, it was full or near full in each direction.
Was not full…entire back row empty.
Where do you read that the chicken was 32% water?
It appears I misread the label. Comma is important!
@Matthew, good review. They must’ve changed the mid-flight snack; IIRC, for years, it was the reindeer or cheese wrap.
I’m pretty sure the A350 is a 3-3-3 layout instead of 3-4-3 in Economy.
Also, “complementary Starlink Wi-Fi” should be “complimentary.”
“they are very well-behaved now”
Of course they are. And like everyone’s kids, they are above average.
They’ve already traveled more than most will travel in their entire life. I don’t care about average or above average…I know they prove over and over how well-behaved they are when they fly.
“…with the kids sitting in front of Heidi and me (they are very well-behaved now on flights and will soon be to the age when we can put them in economy class while we fly business class…).”
Be careful. Leave the kids in back and some passenger might expose your kids to pornography. A man did that to me when I was a kid. I laughed it off and the porn was kind of soft porn.
One teen falsely accused a male passenger of masturbation and ejaculating but no other passenger witnessed anything like that. The teen was apparently jealous that the male passenger was with his girlfriend and kind of flirting with each other, asking what the teen thought were childish questions to each other. The accusations were not made to the airline until weeks later. A trial resulted in a not guilty verdict.
Wish there was a way to transfer MR or UR to SAS. Looking at MIA-CPH-TLV for a family trip at 40k (20k for the kids) in premium and would love to book it. Do you know whether on such award tickets the CPH-TLV flight books into their newly named business class or economy?
I would avoid TLV if I was you. It’s currently ran by a government that’s commitimg genocide, and IDF solders have been caught raping women and murdering children. Personally, that’s not a country I’d like to support.
Matt have you found that SAS’s meals taste much better when returning from CPH than they do heading to CPH from NYC? Maybe it’s different with EWR (doubt it) but in March I traveled SAS on JFK-CPH and the food was so ungodly pitrid that people were LITERALLY throwing up. But on the return to JFK, it was not just edible; it was GOOD. Wondered if it was due to better caterers on the Danish side than on the JFK trashy NYC side lol.
I recently flew in Delta Premium Select from MSP to AMS (a complimentary “upgrade” from my booked Comfort+ thanks to a weather-related diversion and rebooking). My impression having flown Delta’s equivalent of this premium economy product is similar to yours – it is a strange hybrid of premium cabin marketing combined with economy service flow. For example, meals were served on actual plates and with metal cutlery, but were served off of the same economy class food cart and felt very much economy level in quality. Beverage service was combined with economy class off the cart, though served in glassware. Lavatories were shared with economy. Obviously, you do get a wider seat and extra seat pitch, but at the revenue premium Delta is asking for this product (roughly double Comfort+ for my travel dates – about 50k miles or $500 for a paid upgrade), I don’t know that the upgrade is worth it. I think I arrived less achy than I would have otherwise, but I did not sleep any better in PS than in C+. It was interesting to read this review and see similar takeaways, though the premium being charged does not seem like it was quite as steep here.
Took this flight yesterday in Business and the first meal service took 4 hours. It was the most disorganized and chaotic service I’ve endured in 30 years of flying. It was bizarre.
Really? Any idea why?
Hi. I booked a flight as LHR-CPH-ICN in this December and i am very confused because SAS has mentioned that SAS Plus tickets to Asia/US flights doesn’t include lounge access at cph anymore. But when I asked it about to the online-agent at SAS website they said cph lounge access is included. i was wondering if the lounge access at cph was inclueded at your ticket.
I don’t think it is included anymore as of 10/01, but if you have a screenshot of that converastion, hold onto it.
For me Premium Economy is all about the seat since I loathe three across.With some carriers it depends on the aircraft,a350 PE for certain.I flew SAS Cph-Mia on the a330 economy,two across,paid for a window and aisle seat remained vacant,just as comfy as PE,it was clean and the meal/snack was fine,warm rolls in economy were a nice touch.