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.

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.