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 (32%) pumped into it 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.