The last segment back to the United States was in the A350-900 business class of Scandinavian Airlines. I hadn't flown SAS A350 business class before, so I was looking forward to this flight. I've only flown SAS long haul business class once, and it wasn't a good experience. I wanted to know how the airline would do this time. The crew was friendly, the seats were comfortable, the food was good, and business class passengers got free wi-fi. This might be one of my top five business class products. I booked the return itinerary through Air Canada Aeroplan and was able to get a business class ticket for 105,000 Aeroplan points. Ankara to Istanbul departing at 6:05AM and arriving at 1:10PM. The flight from Copenhagen to Miami leaves at 9:35AM and arrives at 3:05PM.
BEN SAYS:
Scandinavian Airlines' A350 business class impressed me, between the comfortable seats and cabin, friendly crew, good food, and free Wi-Fi.
How I booked my SAS business class ticket
One of the great things about Aeroplan is that you can add a stop to a one-way award for 5,000 points, so I was able to spend a couple of days in Copenhagen.
After visiting both the SAS Lounge and the Eventyr Lounge, it was time to head to the departure gate for our flight to Miami. 45 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave, our boarding was scheduled to start.
Even though we were already in the non-Schengen area, the flight was departing from gate E129, which was a surprising distance from the Eventyr Lounge. The terminal was completely empty and we walked very far.
There was no announcement about boarding. The crew only showed up five minutes after that. The gate agents were working to find a replacement for a flight attendant who was missing, but they didn't know how long it would take.
The purser made an announcement at 9:20AM. A replacement flight attendant should be arriving any minute after one flight attendant called in sick last minute.
He explained that the flight attendant was helping us and not the reason for the delay, so we shouldn't blame her. He suggested we cheer when she arrives.
It was obvious that the flight attendant was out of breath when she showed up at 9:30AM. She was not just casually strolling with an iced coffee in her hand. The crew was praised for their professionalism.
Business class passengers were invited to board first after the last flight attendant arrived.
There are 40 business class seats in the A350-900s. There is a forward cabin between the first and second set of doors with eight rows of seats, and a rear cabin behind the second set of doors with two rows of seats.
There are many airlines that have business class seats in SAS, including Philippine Airlines, Qantas, RwandAir, and more.
The seats are staggered to maximize efficiency. The footwell can be to the side of the seat in front. If you travel with someone, you will not be that close to the other person as you sit in the center section.
The window seats have differences between them. In odd numbered rows, the window seats are closer to the aisle, making it harder to look out the window.
The window seats are closer to the windows, which would be my preferred seat, because they offer the most privacy and the best views. The last row of the business class cabin is assigned to me.
There is a literature pocket and coat hook next to the television in each seat.
There is a counter on the other side of the seat. There is an exposed storage compartment that has a hook for headphones, as well as a reading light, seat controls, entertainment controller, and outlets.
There are a few pre-set positions you can control from a panel underneath the side table.
The tray table can be extended from the armrest on the right side of the seat and folded over in half.
If you have big feet, the footwell can be on the small side with these staggered configurations. I didn't find space to be an issue when trying to sleep because of the large footwells in the SAS Vantage XL seats.
The latest generation overhead consoles included a reading light and seatbelt sign. There were no individual air nozzles.
Business class passengers have two lavatories behind the cabin. They were small, didn't have windows, and didn't have any exciting amenities.
Each seat had a pillow, blanket, and mattress sheet. I found the bedding to be quite good, the pillow was large, the blanket was cozy without being warm, and it was nice to have a mattress pad as it doesn't offer much additional padding.
There was a kit at each seat.
The contents were limited and included a dental kit, socks, eyeshades, earplugs, face moisturizer, and lip balm.
There were headphones with a noise canceling feature.
Pre-departure drinks were available with the choice of champagne, orange juice, or water. The champagne was served in proper glassware.
About 15 minutes after it started, boarding was complete. It was an efficient boarding process, thanks to the flight not being too full, business class and premium economy were around 75% full, while economy seemed to be around 50% full.
The announcement was made that our flight time was 10 hours. The safety video was screened at 10AM after we began our pushback.
It was a quiet day at the airport and we taxied to the runway by 10:00AM. An Air China A330 was the only interesting plane.
I kept an eye on the tail camera of the SAS A350s, even though I just looked out the window. I could watch this all day. We were cleared to take off on runway 22R by 10:15AM.
We had a smooth takeoff roll and gradual climb out, and I had a great view from my seat.
I browsed the entertainment selection as we climbed out. The SAS entertainment system is responsive, but the screen has a lot of glare, and there aren't any ways to change the settings. When the cabin lights are on, expect to see a lot of glare.
The entertainment selection was below average. There were 87 TV shows and 57 movies. It can be fun to get into a series if there are more than one episode.
I liked the shows on SAS entertainment, but they only lasted a few minutes at most, so I exhausted my selection pretty quickly.
I had the map feature on for most of the flight and it was perfect entertainment.
SAS's entertainment system is not as good as it could be, but it is better than nothing. SAS gives business class passengers free wi-fi on one device. The speeds were very fast.
When boarding your flight, make sure you give your first and last name and booking reference so that you can access the free wi-fi.
The cost for the entire flight without data caps is 199DKK if you don't have access to free wi-fi.
SAS has a huge competitive advantage because there aren't many airlines that offer free wi-fi with no data caps across the Atlantic.
I did not sleep on this flight, but I did test out the bed mode for comfort. I found the bed to be quite comfortable, even though I like to bend my knees, and the seat was spacious, even though I am a side sleeper.
There is an interesting note about cabin ambiance. The crew never turned off the lights in the cabin, but the below mood lighting was as dark as it got. I like the fact that most airlines turn off lights on long flights so that people can sleep, even though I wanted to stay up.
The meal service started quickly. An announcement was made over the PA telling passengers of the meal choices in business class. The service began with the distribution of tablecloths.
Carts with drinks were rolled down the aisle. I ordered a glass of sparkling wine and an Italian white wine, which were served with salted cashews. The flight attendant was wearing a chef uniform. SAS execution of the onboard chef concept is not like Turkish Airlines, where there is a specific function the chef seems to perform.
The entire meal was served on a single tray.
The food quality was excellent. The smoked cod loin was a starter.
There was a choice of steak with cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes, or Faroe Island salmon with jersualem artichoke sauce, and organic pasta with mushroom sauce.
There was a dark chocolate dessert. A coffee trolley was rolled down the aisle and I had a cup of coffee with my dessert.
The food quality was very good despite the lack of menus and one tray presentation. I enjoyed the starter, main, and dessert more than I have had on other flights.
All meals were cleared within 90 minutes of takeoff.
There was a bar in the galley. There were several types of drinks, as well as packaged snacks. Other drinks were available from the crew.
At the halfway point of the flight, the crew distributed sandwiches with either cheese or ham. I had a cheese sandwich and it was good.
I had coffee in paper cups on the flight.
The snack was served about 90 minutes before the plane touched down. The chicken sandwich was quite good. A side of fruit and a box of chocolates were served with this.
I had a cup of coffee after the meal.
This is something that impressed me more than my last flight on SAS. The crew on this flight was very nice. The flight attendants were attentive and friendly. Maybe it was because they were flying from Northern Europe to Florida in the winter.
The captain came on the PA to tell us that we would be landing in Miami in 45 minutes. The cabin was ready for landing around 15 minutes after we began our descent.
The views on approach to Miami were beautiful, even though we were landing into the west. There were great views of Miami Beach.
We arrived at runway 26L at 2:20PM.
You have to love the traffic at Miami Airport, from an Icelandair Boeing 757 operating charter flights to Cuba, to a Boliviana de Aviacion Boeing 767.
We were a bit behind schedule and arrived at our gate at 2:30PM. While walking toward immigration, we were treated to a beautiful view of the SAS A350.
I came into this flight with low expectations, based on my previous SAS long haul experience. They were exceeded a lot. The most comfortable business class seats offered by a European airline are the Vantage XL seats. This was a great experience because of the tasty food, friendly service, free wi-fi, and general comfort of the A350.
I think the main room for improvement is with the entertainment selection and the introduction of a menu and drink list, so people can more easily figure out what they are ordering. I would choose SAS again on a long haul flight in a heartbeat if those were minor details in the grand scheme of things.
Stay up to date with the next trip report, launching shortly, thanks so much for following along with this journey.
What was it like to fly in SAS A350 business class?
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