I’ve had consistently good experiences with SAS longhaul business class over the years and this flight was no exception…not just because of the comfortable seat and excellent food, but because of the timing. Flying to Europe on Christmas Eve is not how I’d normally choose to spend the holiday, but sometimes award availability dictates your plans. Thankfully, SAS made this A350 business class journey to Copenhagen both restful and enjoyable for the whole family.
SAS A350 Business Class Review (ORD-CPH)
I love EuroBonus, the loyalty program of SAS. If you are willing to fly SAS, there are great redemption opportunities and a lot of extra space for members compared to redemptions via SkyTeam partners. Our tickets were 60K miles each and children 12 and under are half price (it’s a very family-friendly program). There are no fuel surcharges, just government taxes. A great deal to get the entire family in business class!
We showed up at O’Hare Terminal 5 at 5:30 pm, just under two hours before departure. The check-in agent was curious why we did not check in online, especially because we had no bags, but it was a busy day and I find the process of manually entering passport information rather arduous.
After a visit to the Air France Lounge, we boarded our flight at 6:50 pm, about 30 minutes prior to departure. Normally I like to be first onboard, but when traveling with my family I instead maximize our time in the lounge and board toward the end of the boarding process.
Scandinavian Airlines System 944
Chicago (ORD) – Copenhagen (CPH)
Wednesday, December 24
Depart: 7:20 PM
Arrive: 10:50 AM+1
Duration: 8hr, 30min
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Distance: 4,271 miles
Seat: 4H (Business Class)
I had to laugh…I mentioned in my intro this trip report series that we were traveling light because of our connection on easyJet and because we have plenty of clothes in Germany. My wife Heidi was carrying her green backpack and it was filled with medical textbooks and her computer, making it extremely heavy (and also deceiving, since it wasn’t particularly bulky).
A flight attendant welcomed us onboard and, being a gentleman, offered to help my wife with her bag. He picked it up and before I could warn him yelled, “OH SH*T!” and dropped it (lightly). We all had a laugh and I told him I’d handle it. Hard to blame him when this little backpack probably weighed over 60 pounds (27 kilograms). He was not expecting that!
Seat
Onboard, the flight was less than half full…no wonder SAS had copious amounts of award space available in all three cabins! Christmas Eve is a great day to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
The SAS A350 business class cabin includes 40 Thompson Aero Vantage XL seats spread over two cabins in a 1-2-1 configuration, with a galley and lavatories in between. Even-numbered A and H seats are true window seats (with the side console on the aisle side rather than between the seat and window). The bulkhead seats (rows 1 and 9) do have a larger cutout for your feet.
Each seat is 22 inches wide and converts into a 78-inch lie-flat bed. The seat has a bi-fold tray table that slides out from the console and includes a personal device holder that can support a tablet or mobile phone. On the side is a compartment that houses noise-canceling headphones and below it the seat controls and a universal outlet and USB-A charging port.
Bedding includes a soft pillow and duvet from Dux. With the flight booked so light, I grabbed a second one to create a layer underneath me while I slept. There are no personal air vents, but I slept well on this flight.
Heidi and Claire Marie slept well too:
But as always, Augustine fell asleep with his seat in the upright position:
Amenity Kit
The SAS amenity kit has not changed in years. It is Dux-branded, like the bedding, in a striped bag. Contents included:
- Verso face moisturizer + lip balm
- Swedish Stockings (high-quality socks)
- The Humble Co dental kit
- Dux-branded eyeshade
- Earplugs
IFE + Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is complimentary for business class passengers and worked well enough for me to send and receive messages and email, though I “unplugged” for most of this flight.
A selection of movies, TV shows, games, and music were also available, along with noise-canceling headphones, but I did not watch anything other than the moving flight map (I forgot about the tailcam…).
Lavatories
The SAS A350 has a lavatory reserved for crew use in the front of the aircraft and two lavatories between the business class cabins. At some point midway through the flight, some eucalyptus or other green plant was added to the lavatory.
Food + Drink
After a redeye from LA followed by long day, I was ready to get to sleep, but not before eating. Thankfully, the service was efficient, with dinner served promptly after takeoff.
The menu:
Service began with a hot towel and warmed cashews, followed by an appetizer (smoked salmon or duck) and a green salad.
I love that SAS has upscale “Apple Must.” Like fine wine and coffee, not all apple juice is made equal and the Norwegian Ringi Farms takes apple juice to a whole other level.
We had pre-ordered our main courses on sas.com, which these days is necessary if you want fish (since the three onboard options tend to be beef, chicken, and pasta). You must order at least 24 hours in advance (unless leaving Copenhagen, where the limit is 18 hours). The salmon with lentils hit the spot…an excellent dish with a nice balance of muhammara and tahini.
Seared salmon with tahini, red bell pepper and walnut muhammara, black beluga lentils, sautéed Swiss chard and red grapes
Heidi and I had fish while the kids both wanted steak:
Pan-roasted center-cut sirloin with garlic confit, Madeira sauce with sherry vinegar, roasted paprika fingerling potatoes and golden baby beets, spinach and cherry tomato confit
I was very happy that Claire Marie did not eat her beets…I love golden beets! The chicken and roasted cauliflower dishes also looked good. SAS still serves meals via cart, which is rather old-school, but I like it:
I rounded out the meal with fruit and cheese, leaving about six hours until landing to sleep.
I skipped breakfast and slept until we began our descent into Copenhagen, then drank a cappuccino before landing.
Breakfast would have been:
Bircher muesli with berries and shaved coconut, smoothie, marmalade, assorted charcuterie, cheeses and assorted vegetables, served with breakfast breads
Flight Deck Visit
Claire Marie had trouble waking up…
The first officer, who had stepped into the cabin, noticed and invited the kids into the flight deck, an unexpected and kind Christmas treat.
CONCLUSION
This was a very pleasant and very peaceful flight to Copenhagen and another excellent A350 longhaul on SAS.
While I prefer to spend “Heiligabend” (the German word for Christmas Eve) at home with family and attending a late-night church service, sometimes you just have to take the space that is open. SAS delivered a comfortable journey once again…it’s a carrier I have yet to have a bad meal on and I found the overnight journey to Copenhagen very restful.
This review looks good, I shall come back to read it in detail later. Unfortunately, however, your praise of Eurobonus availability for SAS needs some serious qualifying.
The excellent award finder on the SAS website is currently showing ZERO seats available to/from BKK and HKT until the end of schedule, ZERO business class seats to/from ICN, a total of 15 premium economy ones (meaning you can go in a few days but can’t return until February!), and 5 business class later this month to HND (but once again, there’s absolutely nothing on the way back and the next premium economy one is in January).
I still don’t regret having done the millionaire challenge, but I really hadn’t envisaged that flying with SAS themselves would turn out to be nigh on impossible.
If you start looking three days or less before travel, I’ve had great luck at securing saver space. I understand it is a leap of faith!
They’ve got quite a bit of availability on the US routes, but I had been hoping to make a few Far Eastern redemptions and they’re just not releasing much at all- realistically, you can only go as far as BOM. Fingers crossed they’ll start releasing last-minute availability to Thailand when the flights restart in October.
Traveling in business class is always a plus…traveling in business class when the cabin is half-full is even better.
Well said.
How do you acrue that much sas eurobonus?
Earned two million miles with SkyTeam challenge in late 2024. (1mn for me, 1mn for son)
https://liveandletsfly.com/sas-eurobonus-million-mile-challenge-completed/
A half-empty cabin staffed by crew who are happy to be arriving home early on Christmas morning sounds like a real treat to me, too.
Classy SAS. Classy SAS. Classy SAS… It’s worth noting that the legendary Ringi Gravenstein Apple Juice is made from 100% Norwegian apples (large and either a nice yellow or fiery red) and offers a fresh, natural taste with a perfect balance of sweetness and acidity. Gravenstein is full-bodied, discreetly sour, full of character with a long aftertaste. Gravenstein is very versatile, and is well suited to meat and fish. One last point. This tasty apple variety came from Denmark at the end of the 17th century.
Thank you, Doctor!
You’re very welcome.
Great review, thank you! This matches our families experiences flying long-haul business class on SAS – we booked premium economy but got lucky with upgrade bids. Our three kids absolutely loved the apple must, and it really is a family friendly airline.
Alas, since SAS left Star Alliance I think our days with them are done. (Flying SAS and four segments with Aegean was a cheap way to maintain Aegean Gold – gave my wife and kids Gold Status for 10+ years).
But what’s with the deal with SAS not offering aquavit? It’s literally the region’s indigenous liquor. Seems like a lost opportunity to introduce a storied local product to the world (at least of those who imbibe and want to try something special).
SAS is strange when it comes to liquor. The menu works for me, but I agree that aquavit should be included…and the lounge selection of alcohol is notoriously poor.
Let’s refresh our memory that Aquavit (or akvavit) is a traditional Scandinavian (born in Norway) distilled spirit (close to gin, essentially an infused vodka), typically 40–45% ABV, flavored primarily with caraway or dill (with secondary notes of fennel, coriander, anise, and citrus). Produced from grain or potatoes since the 15th century, it is often enjoyed chilled as a snaps shot during festive meals (crayfish parties) and traditionally paired with hearty food (smorgasbord) to aid digestion. Aquavit is increasingly used in cocktails, replacing gin or vodka for a more savory, spiced flavor profile. This remarkable Scandinavian liquor is a prominent brand found on Nordic carriers and cruises, such as Viking Line. While less common as a standard free airline offering, it is available in duty-free for carriers like Finnair and British Airways, especially when operating from Scandinavian hubs.
Let’s add that, as of April 10, 2026, SK has 5 A350-900s in its fleet with an average age of 4.5 years.
Children on the flight deck? https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-03-mn-41784-story.html
I took the same flight a few days later,back in steerage,and it was completely full,grumpy Brunhilde FA,etc..,Iberia one month later to Madrid was very pleasant and chill.Curious about Barajas,it’s huge,and yet every time I’ve passed through it’s easy to navigate.CPH was backed up at immigration like LHR and missed my flt.to Gdansk,but the ferry from Ystad instead was actually a nice diversion.(Mostly Swedish and Polish truckers this time of year).
SAS seems to be consistently cheeper in premium carriers than the other legacy carriers, suggesting this is a “low cost” carrier. But after flying in Plus Permium round-trip LAX-CPH, I didn’t find anything “low cost” about it. Decent seat, food and service. All staff was very professional.