For our journey back from Germany, we flew from Zurich to Los Angeles via Copenhagen in SAS Plus, the premium economy class cabin. The 11-hour journey from CPH to LAX on the A350 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 Plus.
SAS A350 Premium Economy Class – My First Impressions
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 tkae 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 every flying in SAS Plus on a longhaul flight.
On the A350-900, seating is 2-4-2 instead of 3-4-3, 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).
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.
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 (32%) pumped into it and I would never eat something like that at home (you should 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.
Before landing, a cold meal was served featuring lentils, salmon, and chorizo. I was hoping for a Smørrebrød like on my Copenhagen – Newark flight, but this was not bad.
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.
SAS does not have a great library of movies, but I spent most of the flight talking to Heidi and writing e-mails that did not require an internet connection.
I tried to nap and was unable to, but still appreciated the seat was much more comfortable than economy class.
CONCLUSION
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.
Finally, while my flight may have been an anomaly, the Plus cabin was less than half full…we’re still watching trends to see if there is a decline in inbound travel to the USA or whether demand will remain strong.
I’ll share more pictures and info about the flight and its amenities in my full review.
Genuinely curious as to your thinking for what age it is appropriate for the kids to sit in economy while the adults sit in first/business. Different for a domestic vs international flight? And how would you go about buying the different class of tickets?
Good question! I can see getting away with sitting in different rows if you’re in the same class, but I would think it’s necessary to book an entire itinerary in the same class. How could children be booked on a separate itinerary without triggering the requirement for an accompanying adult?
The only way I see it (for now) is if he books two different classes with one parent/child each and then does a seat swap with approval from the FA.
Bingo. That’s the way I would do it (not asking the FA, though).
Makes sense. I guess can try and link the PNRs for IRROPS. Downside is then potentially losing elite benefits for the entire group depending on who has status, etc. I feel like at ages 15+ it’s easy enough to do. At younger ages I could see doing it easily on a 2-2 regional jet – kids can sit together wherever and grownups can sit together up front. I think it’s a little much to ask on a domestic 3-3 config to ask a third person to sit with two kids that are, say, under 10. Curious how my own thinking evolves on this as my kids get older!
The wifi situation is frustrating, it seems so arbitrary whether it works or not. I’ve had daytime flights where it has worked the whole flight with great speeds, and flights on the same route where it never even connects.
Premium economy on a daytime flight from Europe to North America is not bad at all. Have never flown SAS PE, but it looks comfy enough.
Did you have to pay to select the seats?
I did not. I wasn’t aware SK charged for seats, but maybe I did not have to pay since I am SK Gold?
It might be that…they are charging for business class seat allocation between the US and CPH and within Europe…
Could also be the kids. I know on Air France last trip we got free seating in advance because of the kids.
I presume the air chilled chicken is a deadpan joke but I’m not sure.
I thought the same. I don’t even know what that means.
I don’t know either, but I generally avoid chicken as it’s typically reared in the worst possible conditions and, certainly in the UK, tends to be killed following religious rituals which, as an atheist, I don’t really want to support. Not sure I’d trust SAS to make a tasty lentil dish, however. I suspect I might have ended up tucking into the snacks I tend to carry with me when travelling.
“certainly in the UK, tends to be killed following religious rituals which”
Nah, tbe majority of chicken killed in the UK is not done according to religious rituals.
You’re right, I conflated the chicken stats with the lamb ones (see link). Still, the proportion is substantial and constantly growing. https://www.fwi.co.uk/business/markets-and-trends/meat-prices/halal-lamb-a-market-farmers-can-no-longer-ignore
An atheist… interesting. In Chemistry and in astrophysics, did you know that it is accepted that order cannot come from disorder? Humans have designed some very complex computer systems and machinery, but remember: NO computer is SMARTER than its designer. The designer must program various macros and parameters within the mainframes for the computer system to function as DESIGNED. So if we KNOW that a computer system or complex machine cannot DESIGN itself, then why should we believe that the human who designed that computer system does not HIMSELF have a designer? Let me know. Take care.
Because I don’t see any benefit in thinking about things that we cannot control. No problem with other people supporting rituals according to their preferred design of the universe, I just don’t want to participate in that sort of activity or its financing (the costs of religious certification boards are picked up by businesses in the food supply chain and passed on to the consumer).
@Christian, no it’s not a joke at all. Next time you buy chicken, check out how much water is added…it is generally 2-10% in grocery stores, but more so when you buy those pre-made rotisserie chickens, which I have stopped buying. It’s really nasty and banned in the EU.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHbGK-ERYod/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJRv8kkuhUW/
It’s such a shame that they’re not making any effort whatsoever with the catering. I’ve recently flown AC in premium economy on the fifth freedom EZE-GRU leg and was impressed by the food, drink, and utensils. It really doesn’t take a huge amount of money to create a positive experience for a smallish group of passengers.
Isn’t that a cold meal, though?
It was cold, but it was great quality. Sliced roast beef, grilled mushrooms, tomatoes and a few other bits, plus really good fresh fruit. I suppose that it might have been a little bit light for someone who got onboard really hungry, but the departure was also a bit too late for lunch and too early for an evening meal.
My point is that someone had clearly put some thought into it and the airline wasn’t trying to get away with plopping a salad box with a pair of crackers and a prepackaged slice of cake onto the tray table a la KLM/SN European business class.
I agree with PM, my experiences on LATAM on those South American routes have also yielded positive experiences with meals, even on short flights like BSB-GIG. It just seems like other countries’ airlines (or 5th freedom segment meals) try just a little harder than the North American Airlines do.
Air Canada is North American though, and I have also had good meals on Aeromexico, so I suspect that the issue is mostly confined to one country!