SAS Plus in the Airbus A330-300 to Los Angeles

Every year I try to escape the hustle and bustle of mulled wine on the German Christmas markets, but also the gloomy December weather. This time there was a cheap offer with SAS Plus to Los Angeles. On the one hand, I was able to soak up some sun, on the other hand, thanks to the good yield of frequent flyer miles, my Star Alliance Gold status was almost extended. So I flew on St. Nicholas Day 2019 in SAS Plus in the Airbus A330-300 to Los Angeles. In the following trip report you will find out what service and what equipment you can expect in the premium economy from SAS over long distances.

After a short night at the airport hotel, I took the shuttle bus to Terminal 5 of Stockholm Airport early in the morning. Since not all the check-in counters were staffed, it took a little longer to check my luggage. However, I was able to make up for the longer wait thanks to Fast Track at security.

Boarding SK939 to Los Angeles

After a sumptuous breakfast in the SAS Gold Lounge (Link to the Lounge ReviewI went through passport control and then to departure gate F58. The number of passengers in the waiting area already suggested that the Airbus A330-300 wasn't actually fully booked. Thanks to Rob from robisintheair.com I had information that my adjacent seat in SAS Plus was blocked, so there was a good chance it would remain free.

Boarding began on time, and first passengers from SAS Business, SAS Plus, and SAS Premium Economy, as well as frequent flyer status customers, were called to board. Since I still had to download some TV shows to my laptop, I didn't use priority boarding and boarded almost last.

SAS Premium Economy in the Airbus A330 – Cabin and Seat

The SAS Plus cabin in the Airbus A330-300 is separated from Business Class and located immediately after the second door. SAS has installed a total of 56 premium economy seats in eight rows in a 2-3-2 configuration.

Apparently, there had been a last-minute seat change, and so my neighboring seat was occupied after all. However, since the Premium Economy cabin was only 50% full, I took the opportunity and simply moved two rows forward to seat 25H.

The seats in SAS Plus are upholstered in a gray fabric and comfortably padded. The first Premium Economy row (row 20) has an adjustable leg rest, while the following rows only have a footrest. The seat pitch is very generous at 96 cm, and the seat itself is also sufficiently wide. The tray table was tucked away in the armrest and was rather small. Nevertheless, I was able to work on my laptop without any problems. To ensure that no one ran out of power, each seat had a universal power outlet and a USB port on the monitor.

SAS Premium Economy in the Airbus A330 – Service

The service began about 45 minutes after takeoff with a round of drinks. On the SAS Plus flight, I had free choice from the drinks menu and, to properly celebrate the start of my short break, I ordered a glass of sparkling wine. I was also asked what I would like to drink with my meal. I ordered a red wine and received two bottles of Italian Syrah. Cheers!

For lunch I had the choice between fish and chicken. I chose the chicken, which was served with barley and vegetables. It came with potato salad and a moist carrot cake.

About five hours before landing, a small snack was served. Besides fresh fruit, there was a kind of wrap with cheese and ice cream. The Swedish lingonberry ice cream was really fruity and delicious!

As we flew over the snow-covered Rocky Mountains at the latitude of Salt Lake City, another snack was served. It was a piece of smoked salmon with bulgur salad. I ordered a non-alcoholic beer to go with it. The American-style wheat beer is brewed by the Mikkeller brewery specifically for SAS and bottled in these stylish cans.

Each seat also included a pillow, a slightly better blanket, a 0.5-liter bottle of still water, and an amenity kit. The amenity kit in SAS Plus consisted of a toothbrush, a sleep mask, and earplugs.

SAS Premium Economy in the Airbus A330 – Entertainment

The monitor in the seatback offered a good selection of movies, TV series, music, and games. There were 61 movies available, which could be filtered by various categories. A specific search, for example, for a German audio track, was not possible. A great addition was the display of the two external cameras installed on the aircraft. This allowed me to watch the takeoff from Stockholm from the cockpit's perspective.

SAS also offers Wi-Fi on long-haul flights to the USA and Asia. This is free for passengers in SAS Plus and SAS Business classes. Unfortunately, the Airbus A330-300 I flew on to Los Angeles was the only aircraft not yet equipped with satellite technology. What a shame!

Approach to Los Angeles

After a flight of approximately 12 hours, we landed on time at Los Angeles International Airport. This brought a fantastic SAS Plus experience to a close.

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