Review: SAS Business Class A330 Los Angeles To Stockholm

Live in Copenhagen, from NYC, fly back and forth a few times a year. This sounds like a below average crew. Most of the time they're friendly enough, maybe a little forgetful or not ultra proactive, but smiling and happy to help once reminded. The food is almost always good, especially fantastic when flying out of Scandinavia. Lounges in CPH and ARN are pretty great. The dinner service takes way too long on flights out of the East Coast. It's totally fine to have a 2.5 hour lunch on a lunch flight from CPH, but coming from New York there's almost no opportunity to sleep before breakfast starts. Finally, the lounge at EWR is a mess as it's tiny and their CPH, ARN, and OSL flights all basically leave at the same time.

Overall I am a huge SAS fan, however I did fly the A330 on a route via EWR to ARN last year (and I plan to in a few weeks). For how much the upgrade is ~$500 ahead of time on OptionTown.com, I would rather fly Premium Economy, the value in their Business Class just is not worth it, in my opinion. The food is excellent, yes, but I also enjoy the seats closest to the window the most and the issue with that is the cocoon problem. I am not claustrophobic in any way but that seat gave me some serious anxiety.

Not sure how long you have in Stockholm, but I visited for the first time ever this past Spring and loved it. For some reason I had the impression (wrongly) that Swedes weren't the friendliest of the Scandinavians, but that was proved wrong over and over again. Such a beautiful city with great food and people.

Foot Cardigan socks! I have those!
Have never flown SAS but just experienced United service on SFO-SIN flight...yeah, a smile would be nice on a 15hr 39min flight.

Are you wearing socks in the lavatory? What happened to the OCD?

Lucky, were you able to get a sense of the pricing for the upgrade they were offering in line? I'd probably pay if it weren't ridiculously priced, but curious to know what that runs.

@ RCB -- I only heard the price for economy to premium economy, and think it was something like ~$130, which seems very reasonable.

that's a really cool beer list...

@ Arcanum -- Hah, while I'd usually wear slippers, I'm not totally opposed to wearing socks in lavatories, though I'm careful where I step. I change my socks often, so doesn't bother me too much.

My experience on SAS was similar although I like the seat better than you and the food less than you. Agree on the FA's. I flew the CPH-PEK route on an A340. Was impressed with the cabin as it was immaculate for a 10+ year old aircraft. My wifi didn't work at all. The crew was pleasant but dutiful, they didn't partake in any conversation. Maybe it was a language barrier. Definitely agree on the "chef". Simply one of the FA's changing uniforms for the food service. Also my service was done on carts, not trolleys. The Vantage XL seat was the winner for me. I had a window seat and it was private. I thought the food room was ample, certainly better than a standard Vantage seat, which I had just flown on Austrian the day before. Also really like the IFE system. Overall SAS has been one of my better business class experiences.
http://www.rewardflying.com/report-blog/2016/5/31/sas-a340-business-class

One wheel hitting the ground way before the other is indicative of the pilot dealing with a very strong crosswind. Judging by the flatness of all the airport photos you've posted, I'd bet that was the case.

"Our taxi to our arrival gate took just five minutes, and we taxied past a Thai Airways 777-300R."

I think you meant 777-300ER...

oops, I thought the foot room was ample,

OMG what's going on with the awful pop up advertising appearing over the top of each picture ? Very intrusive and annoying !

Thanks again for the great report. Love your detail on food and wine.

That muffin looks more like a crumpet than a muffin!

How easy is it to converse with the person next to you if you are in the center seats? From your pics it looks like you would have to lean forward quite a bit...is that the case? Thx

Cool

"I had a roll, while Ford had a slice of bread."

Alan Bennett meets E. J. Thribb.

I'm going to take the SAS A330 business class from HKG to ARN in a few weeks time so this report is really timely! Thanks for all the details and pictures Lucky and I do hope I am "Lucky" enough to have more friendly crew on my flight!

Flown SAS intra-Europe in business (which isn't saying much if you're aware of what their business class 'product' is). Crew were very friendly, and provided great service. I'm also not from any of the Nordic countries, so that can't have been a factor.

I really enjoy reading your trip reviews.
Because of your favorable review of AA First from SYD-LAX, I will be trying it in January.
Have you flown in Air France's new First suite ?
Looks great. Sofitel "My Bed", etc.
Looking forward to more trip reviews.
Thanks.

i 'm flying to Bergen, NO in August and last month I had the choice booking an award J seat on SAS out of SFO or NZ out of LAX. After this review, I'm glad I booked NZ J on the 77W. Overall, the NZ J hard and soft product looks better.

I generally wear the amenity socks over my socks.

What does it mean to proactively serve fruit?

@ Unhoeflich -- It means we didn't ask for it, but it was automatically served with the dessert.

Great review, the crew can be a hit or miss. Sometimes you get the best crew ever and other times the experience is what you had.
Why didn't you review the exceptional beers they serve on board? I love the special beers from Mikkeller only served on board SAS flights. The large bottles are awesome! 🙂

@Paul Dude thats your browser adjust your adware. I find Scandinavians to cordial but not friendly in the air.

Sorry but you don't know your cheeses. Definitely not Roquefort. And Roquefort goat cheese makes no sense. Maybe you just meant to say chevre.

@ M -- I was going off what the menu listed.

Them socks.

SAS is pretty widely recognized for having the most "US-airline-like" service of any of the European majors. Thanks to their aggressive unions (way more militant than anything we have on this side of the pond), you have the same embittered 'lifers' working the most prestigious long-haul routes. Smiles are rare, service is generally bare minimum, corners are cut very often, and many crew members have the same just-rolled-out-of-bed look you see on AA and UA. The focus is generally on completing things quickly so they can sit down for the rest of the flight.

I can understand wanting to try the new cabin product, and it looks like the food was considerably better than what you'd get in J on American or United. You'd be hard-pressed, however, to find anyone who flies SAS for its friendly and professional crews.

I would love to try those Mikkeller beers, but sucks that you got such a surly cabin crew, as the rest of the inflight product seems pretty satisfactory.

In June I flew SAS business CPH-ORD both ways. The seat and food was great! Service was good on the outbound flight, but less so on the return.
The true window seats are just awesome. The size of the foot cubby did not bother me, and I am 191 cm.
What did bother me was the wear of the seat. It had many scratches despite being around a year old. I also found the cabin to be very dark on the outbound flight - which was a day flight. With all window screens down and most cabin lights off it was just a little too dark and dungeon-like.

Hi Lucky,

Great review. I fly SAS many times every year ex-Dulles since my wife is from Norway. We've flown economy, economy plus and business many times. The service is usually a little better than what you've described, but you're also witnessing a little bit of the Scandinavian 'way'. Like Russia, it's simply not in their nature to be exuberant or proactively happy (the idea of forcing a false sense of bubbliness just isn't common in Scandinavia even in the service sector). That said, you still probably got a crew on a bad day or just some established lifers.

Another note on the bedding, just as an FYI. Although the bedding provided may not have been good compared to other airline bedding, Hastens is probably the highest end mattress manufacturer in the world with mattresses starting around $20,000 and going up to $100,000. They're a Swedish brand, but sell to the 1% of the 1%. Even if their airline offerings are abysmal, it's worth noting that SAS has made a pretty impressive partnership with what could be described as 'the Krug' in the mattress and bedding world (Westin Heavenly bedding would be the "Duc de Paris" compared to Hastens--at least when you're on the ground).

I think it is way over-rated based on my experience with them.
It used to be a great product, where trained personnel would take care of you,
it is like the Eco Plus class has received all attention after introduction.

Many thanks for this great review, I am traveling EWR to ARN next summer in a group of 4. I have a pretty easy question: how easy do the pods make talking and conversing with nearby passengers? For example, with the staggering, would it be possible to easily chat across the aisle? I'm just curious what seat arrangement would be best for a group of 4. Thank you!

Window and center seats are slightly staggered as you stated. I was in 4A and the center seats were slightly behind me. I couldn't see the occupants because you have the structure of the pod blocking the view. The window seats on the aisle would be easier, but then you have the center seats next to you shifted over and that pod blocks the view. However sitting in the two center seats you can easily communicate with the person next to you. I can attest as the two next to me on the way to PEK decided to talk all night while I was trying to sleep! You are probably better off splitting in 2's and taking two rows in the center. On SAS again in a couple weeks, will take a closer look. Hope this helps,

I just arrived back from 8A (you can find my review here ( http://luxurylifttodrag.com/blog/2016/7/31/sas-business-class-a330), I actually did not find the seats to be that accommodating to having conversations with nearby passengers. This is one reason I enjoy these shell seats when traveling alone. If you're traveling in a group, because these seats are not angled, it makes it more difficult to be able to structure your seating arrangement so that you can interact.

I don't understand why people continue flying SAS Business.
SAS Business has become a self-serving class, they even remind you that you can "visit them in the galley" before take off. Try entering galley in business class at other airlines.
The service level is generally low in Scandinavia Airlies, yes the cabin in the old planes has been upgraded, they did forget to upgrade the staff...

Sorry you didn't have a good flight Sigger. I've had two great SAS flights recently and found the crews very nice and accommodating. Of course every flight is different.

http://www.rewardflying.com/report-blog/2016/10/8/sas-a330-business-class-arn-ord
http://www.rewardflying.com/report-blog/2016/5/31/sas-a340-business-class

I don't get the obsession with friendly crew, I prefer not to interact with them anymore than necessary and I couldn't care less if they smile or not as long as they're efficient.

I realize this is an old review, but I fly to Scandinavia a lot and your experience with this SAS crew is typical. I have had some of the worst service of any kind on SAS flights. (I try to connect in Zurich on Swiss now on flights to Scandinavia). SAS provides a great product in terms of design and meals, but the service is terrible. I have a had a lot of discussions with SAS employees and Swedish friends about this and they all agree that this is due to terrible labor/management relations. SAS is primarily owned by Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and each country has their own unions. As a result SAS has probably the most complicated labor structure of any airline and the battles over the last 20 years have been fierce. It's too bad that management and labor can't find a way to works things out, because with the current product...as nice as it is...they are not competitive.

We just flew seven leisure passengers Business class nonstop IAD-Copenhagen and agree also with your experience of SAS crew is totally accurate - curt and unsmiling. Also, what’s up with the SAS Copenhagen business class lounge having no newspapers, magazines, one iffy low def tv, and, horrors, no full service bar. They had beer and wine on tap and the wine on tap didn’t work, so basically you could get a beer. No mimosas or bloody marys - wow, just wow. Seats are nice as is entertainment system, but movie choices somewhat limited. Good on time flights, but substandard lounges and surly crew...

Will be heading from Jacksonville, FL to Stockholm in a few weeks on SAS A330 Business Class. I have to say this is the best review of business class for any airline that I have ever read. Thanks for the great information. I will look forward to reading and following your blog.

I have flown SAS Business multiple times and I recommend to get the bulkhead seats. They have additional storage space so you can put a small backpack or a small trolley in the closet in front of the seat and you have a huge space for your feet. If you fly the A340 they have 2 rows of bulkhead seats.

Just flew from ARN to BGO in SAS “business class.” It was a 737 and my seat was indistinguishable from coach. There was a person in the middle seat next to me crowding my space. The only distinguishable perk was the “chicken wrap” they pretended was food that was provided without an extra charge. Oh and one “cup” of wine. Cabin crew was invisible after the initial “food” service. This is the worst airline in the world. I can’t believe United let’s them be part of Star Alliance. Maybe you should try their regional “service.” Obviously no one from United has ever set foot on this airline. Have you flown it on narrow body jets? Might be a good idea to get a full picture of this company’s treatment of their customers. Would love to hear if you’ve tried it.

I recognized that you guys are not anymore showing the "information block" with all flight details = flight no., day/date, hour of departure/arrival, duration, etc. - especially the duration I always found a nice detail. Any reason for not mentioning that anymore?

SAS was one of the five founding members of Star Alliance, quite hard to kick them out 😉

Plus intra-Europe “Plus” is meant as a premium economy product, not a full business class product.