SAS Plus premium economy review – A350 from Los Angeles to Copenhagen

This is our review of the SAS premium economy cabin, called SAS Plus.

Confusingly, ‘SAS Plus’ also refers to the current short haul hybrid business class the airline offers. In 2025 it is moving to ‘proper’ business class on short haul and will, I assume, rename the cabin accordingly.

On my way to LA I had already reviewed SAS Business as well as the SAS Lounge in Copenhagen. This left SAS Plus for my way home.

SAS provided my flights for review purposes. HfP paid for all of its other expenses.

The SAS Plus check-in experience

I arrived at LAX airport astonishingly early, in part because I had already checked out of my hotel and wanted to see the new Air France Lounge during daylight. In truth, I had also accidentally mistaken the boarding time for my flight as the departure time. Oops!

It turned out that I had arrived about five hours before departure and, quite naturally, the SAS check-in desks would not open for another hour. However, upon closer inspection I realised I could check in and print my bag tag via the self-service machines.

After a bit of assistance from the LAX staff (my mobile boarding pass initially didn’t work, and I had to scan my passport again at one of the self-service kiosks) I was able to drop my bag at a self-drop desk and head straight through security – a win in my book.

SAS Plus customers ordinarily do not get access to lounges (although they do at the SAS Lounge in Copenhagen, it seems) but I was able to gain access via my SkyTeam Elite Plus membership courtesy of Virgin Atlantic. You can read my review of the Air France lounge at LAX here.

The SAS Plus seat on the A350-900

Boarding was a bit of a scrum due to a late arriving aircraft and a gate area that was quite cramped thanks to the mid-concourse moving walkways. We got on board about 15 minutes after the scheduled time and made up the time during flight.

On board, SAS has four rows of 2-4-2 seating in its SAS Plus premium economy cabin for a grand total of 32 seats.

SAS has gone for the Collins Aerospace-made MiQ seat which I’ve previously flown on United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. I think it’s a comfortable seat.

There’s just a curtain divider at the back of the cabin which doesn’t feel quite as private as a solid bulkhead divider – although it is lighter and therefore more fuel efficient.

I had popped myself in the last row – 34 – with a window seat. Why the last row? It meant I could recline at leisure without having to worry about anyone behind me.

Let me take you on a tour of the seat. In front of you is a 13.3″ HD touch screen with a literature pocket underneath:

A larger empty storage pocket is underneath and for your own use, whilst between these two storage pockets you’ll also find two universal mains sockets – one for each person.

One armrest features the spring-loaded bifold table and was very easy to pop in and out, unlike on some seats.

The other armrest features a small storage area, big enough for a bottle of water or an amenity kit. You get two small cocktail tables:

The seat has three buttons to control comfort: one to recline, one to pop up the leg rest and the last to adjust the foot rest. If you’re as tall as I am, the last one is basically useless – I think I would have preferred a fold-down footrest.

Leg room is officially pitched at 38″ – pretty standard in the industry – but for some reason I felt I had more legroom than normal.

Waiting at my seat were a pillow and blanket – identical to the ones provided in business class – which were very good for premium economy. A bottle of water and an amenity kit were stuffed into the storage pocket.

The amenity kit was nothing to write home about: a plasticky shoe bag containing an eye mask, ear plugs and a dental kit with a massive tube of toothpaste, which will come in handy!

Meanwhile, the supplied headphones are the cheap in-ear type you normally get in economy:

In-flight entertainment and wifi on SAS

An 13.3″ HD touchscreen is built into the seat in front. It was very responsive and I liked the SAS in-flight entertainment system.

The catalogue was stocked with some classics as well as newer releases:

Of course, on the A350 you can also choose to watch the in-flight cameras which I always like to do or have on in the background when I’m not watching anything.

SAS offers wifi on its A350s although you’ll need to pay unless you have SAS status. A full-flight pass (the only option) is $16 which isn’t too bad for an 11 hour flight, although many airlines are beginning to move to free wifi for all passengers.

Food and service in SAS Plus

The service starts with a drinks run after take-off, which was served with a bag of cashews. I had a glass of sparkling wine – Prosecco – and some apple juice:

This was served in plastic but all drinks with meals were in real glassware.

The meal service followed with a choice of two dishes: a creamy chicken dish or pasta (no paper menu was provided so I can’t quote the description!)

It came with an interesting mixed leaf and coleslaw salad topped with prosciutto as well as a slice of tray-bake cake.

It is served in a tinfoil dish placed into a reusable plastic dish, which somewhat diminishes the point of having ‘solid’ dinnerware. The cutlery is the same Scandi design as in business class although I could have done with a bigger and slightly more robust napkin.

I turned down the follow-up tea and coffee service and put myself straight to bed, as I was very tired.

I got some decent sleep – perhaps five hours? – which I was happy with. I had tried to stay roughly on UK time on my trip so my body was naturally waking me up at that point.

Cabin crew came around a couple of times with water but, to be honest, I was asleep most of the time so I don’t know what else was offered!

Some two hours before landing breakfast was served. This was a cold plate of ham, cheese, half a boiled egg, some fruit and some bread. Yoghurt and granola were also provided. It was pretty comparable to the second meal I’ve had on other airlines recently.

Conclusion

SAS Plus is a competitive premium economy proposition. In many ways it is a business-minus cabin, with the same cutlery, pillow and blanket you get in business class also provided here.

In others it is clearly more economy plus: the range and quantity of food is closer to economy, with just two options served in metal trays – albeit this is placed into reusable heavy plastic dinnerware.

I was able to get several hours’ sleep which was my goal for the flight, and despite a totally full cabin I felt I had enough room without disturbing my neighbour too much.

All things considered, this is a comfortable way to fly if you want more space and upgraded amenities versus economy but don’t want to splash out on business class. It is a happy compromise that is clearly popular, given the relatively large and fully booked cabin.

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