Following Christmas with my husband in Mexico City, I almost immediately departed for another trip: a Scandinavian Retreat in Stockholm, with my mom. In this series of reviews I’m reviewing all the SAS lounges that I accessed, including the SAS lounge in Newark, in Stockholm and in Copenhagen. While I wasn’t planning on reviewing any flights since I had simply bought economy tickets (I was able to get a pretty good value), I got lucky and was upgraded to premium economy on the flight to Stockholm, and I reviewed that experience here.

On the outbound, I took flight SK904 from Newark EWR to Stockholm Arlanda ARN, departing 17:40PM and arriving 7:30AM the next day. Although I booked a Light (basic) fare, my Flying Blue Gold (as it maps onto SkyTeam’s Elite Plus status) status provided priority services and lounge access for the entirety of the trip.

In this first post in this series I will review the SAS Lounge at Newark EWR, Terminal B. I was here once before, back in August 2024, when I gave a combined review of this lounge, the business class experience of SAS, as well as the SAS Lounge at Copenhagen CPH. This time I’m dedicating separate posts to the lounges (I separately reviewed the SAS Lounge at Stockholm Arlanda’s Terminal 5) and the SAS Plus (premium economy) flight experience.

Interestingly, since that time I feel as though the lounge upped its game. While it was already busy when I entered and got rather crowded later on, I thought it was still a pleasant place to sit, if only because I took a seat in an area off the main area. I very much enjoyed the food, especially the salmon and the desserts. The drinks selection was quite nice too. Overall, I’d be happy to return to this lounge, but keep in mind that it gets quite crowded as the departure time for all SkyTeam flights out of Terminal B nears.

I entered the lounge around 3pm or so, since I was flying on SAS flight SK904, departing Newark EWR at 5:40pm, and arriving at Stockholm Arlanda ARN at 7:30am the next day. I’ll post a review of the flight itself soon.

1. Location and Hours
2. Access Requirements
3. Seating and Design
4. Food and Drinks
5. Restrooms and Showers
6. Summary

Location and Hours

The SAS Lounge doesn’t have clear opening times, but Google tells me 7am-10pm. Unfortunately the SAS website doesn’t state explicit opening times, except that they tend to open an hour before the first scheduled SAS flight, and close 30 minutes before the last SAS flight leaves. However, the Newark SAS Lounge also caters to all SkyTeam flights departing from the terminal as well as a selection of non-alliance partners, so the actual hours are a bit of a mystery.

The Newark SAS Lounge is located in Terminal B, by gate 60, which is the north-most concourse of Terminal B. I could see the plane that would carry me to Stockholm already parked at the gate when I arrived by AirTrain, with the New York Schedule as gorgeous backdrop for the gorgeous aircraft:

Every conourse in Newark’s Terminal B has its own security checkpoint. While TSA PreCheck is offered, SAS doesn’t offer a SkyPriority lane at Newark, so if you also don’t have TSA PreCheck, the regular lane is all you can take. Past security simply follow the corridor until eventually the signature dark blue color of SAS shows up in an alcove off the right side of the corridor:

Turn right and you’ll be in the entrance corridor that leads straight to the reception desk through a set of glass doors. As you can see, on the left wall is a list with all SkyTeam member airlines, all of whose passengers can enter the lounge (though they don’t all necessarily fly into Newark, or if they do, operate flights out of this Terminal B concourse). The attendant will scan your boarding pass and let you into the lounge.

Access Requirements

You can enter the SAS Lounge in the following ways when presenting a same-day boarding pass for a SAS flight:

• As a Business Class passenger on a SAS-operated flight, or as a Business Class passengers operated on a flight by a SkyTeam or another partner, you may get access to the SAS Lounge if it is the designated partner lounge. For example, the Newark SAS Lounge also caters to all SkyTeam partners and a select few other airlines, such as Emirates and El Al.
• If on a domestic SAS flight in Premium, you can also access the lounge (though that wouldn’t happen at the Newark SAS Lounge, as there are no domestic SAS flights departing from there)..
• Gold members or above in SAS’ Eurobonus frequent flyer program can access the lounge.
• SkyTeam Elite Plus members traveling on a same-day SAS flight can access the lounge.
• You can buy access to the SAS Lounge for $60 online until 3 hours before departure, or otherwise $65 within 3 hours before departure. For the Newark SAS Lounge you may not be able to buy access at the entrance, though at other locations it will be $65.

Note that as a SAS business class passenger or if you have Eurobonus Diamond, you can enter select SAS Lounge locations upon arrival as well. This depends on the arrivals procedures at the airport. However, at Newark arriving and departing passengers flows are separated, so you wouldn’t be able to access the lounge.

Seating and Design

Once passed the reception desk, you’re immediately in the lounge proper. Right in front there is a bit of open space, with large round tables with a big light fixture hovering over it. Then to the immediate left is a narrow corridor to another room, as well as the buffet.

These big round tables seem to be a bit of a thing at SAS Lounges, as I recall seeing them in the Copenhagen SAS Lounge as well. All of them have some sort of plant for decoration, and are surrounded by several high-top stools, though they don’t seem super comfortable due to the ribbed seat.

Over to the right is a bit of a hidden space, which is supposed to be something of a quiet room. This long, somewhat narrow space has couches on either side with little tables that can apparently be moved around.

Back in the louge proper, if you walk further into the lounge nad pas the buffet, you’ll get to the main seating area of the lounge. Here, the lounge opens up to the right, revealing a lot of lounge chairs, side tables, as well as long communal, high-top seating, all with the same hovering fixtures as was used for the circular tables before. All the lounge chairs follow a color scheme similar to what you’ll find onboard SAS planes, with blue, black, grey, wood and earth tones. I think it’s fitting, given the Scandinavian design language of an earthy, minimalistic aesthetic. The side tables have electrical plus so it’s easy to keep your devices charged.

The chairs over by the window are probably my favorite, given that they feel a little more private and secluded than if you were to sit in the center of the space. It happened that there was a good view from here on a SAS A321, perhaps for the flight to Oslo (SAS has flights to Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo all departing within half an hour from another).

One thing I’m sure you noted is just how busy this part of the lounge is. Meanwhile, if you go over to the left from this space, you’ll find. quieter side of the lounge, perhaps because the seating is less comfortable. There is a variety of high-top seating here: a long, communal table, and along the all a couch with a series of smaller, high, circular tables.

Going back to the entrance of the lounge we can take the corridor I mentioned and explore the other space. Along the corridor are more couches, and to my surprise I did see some people sit here now and again (probably because the lounge got very crowded by about 5pm).

The narrow corridor opens up into a smallish space. It’s actually a fine size, just much smaller compared to the other room. As you enter, you’ll find seating on both sides of the room, bot of which feature lounge chairs or couches surrounding coffee tables.

If you walk into the space and go beyond that divider, you’ll find another set of chairs surrounding a low table, as well as a bar of sorts with high-top seating. This is kind of nice, givne that you can look outside, but unfortunately EWR Terminal B’s circular concourses have a corridor for arriving passengers wrapping around. So, you’re actually seeing that, and then more in the distance are windows looking out over the apron. As a result, it’s not so easy to get a good view here.

Walking back to the corridor that led to this space in the first place, right before you’d exit this space, there is door leading to something of a private room. I’m not sure what this is supposed to be, but since the door was slightly ajar, I decided to take a peek. Inside it’s basically more of the same chairs and tables, as well as a wall-mounted TV and shelves with various glasses. I think this may be a VIP room of sorts, perhaps for the highest-tier members in SAS’s EuroBonus frequent flyer program?

Finally, by the divider, is a single phone room. It’s a small space with a swiveling chair of sorts, and glass door that can be closed shut. I can attest that the door actually provides some good sound insulation, as I was sitting close to this room and didn’t hear the conversations going on inside.

Overall, I think the EWR SAS Lounge is a pleasant space but a rather earthy design that I think is fitting for a Scandinavian airlines. Various types of seating should provide plenty of choice for guests visiting the lounge, though I feel as though the lounge chairs are by far the most comfortable type of seat in the lounge. I also appreciated the various side rooms with additional types of seating. However, the lounge definitely gets very crowded, not just because of the three SAS flights that leave soon after one another, but also because of other SkyTeam and partner flights leaving at similar times. So, I’d recommend arriving early if you want to nab a good seat!

Food and Drinks

The buffet is just beyond the reception desks, on the left. Here you can find hot options, cold options, dessert, and a selection of hot and cold drinks, including various alcoholic options. The hot and cold options are separated into their distinct islands, with drinks along the walls.

There was a good selection of hot options, ranging from steamed vegetables, to poached salmon and chicken wings and ratatouille. I tried the latter three options and enjoyed them all, even if the salmon was a little overcooked perhaps. It’s nice that there’s options without cheese, vegetarian, fish and meat, so that there’s options for all dietary requirements without resorting to just a salad.

Of course, there was also a salad bar, with a variety of raw vegetables, including lettuce, cucumber and such, accompanied by hummus and such, for dipping. There were also various salads on offer. Then, on the edge of the island there was a selection of breads and crackers, including pieces of baguette, white buns and typical Swedish rye ‘crackers’.

On the other side of the island were the desserts, which included a bunch of small cakes, which were actually quite delicious. I particularly enjoyed th chocolate squares. Then there were also fruit cups, pies and a selection of cheeses.

Finally, there was a fridge right by the entrance to the kitchen. This had a further selection of wraps and sandwiches and more salads. I took a peek at this and it was my understanding that these were potential options for those with further food allergies that may not be accommodated by the buffet. But, I imagine these may make for to-go options, though I don’t think the lounge means for you to take any of it with you…

In terms of drinks, these are all along setup along the walls. On the left there are all the alcoholic drinks. The right half of this self-serve ‘bar’ includes beer on draft, and coolers wiuth a selection of white and sparkling wines. Red wines are on a shelf by the wall, right above a large coolers with liquors. The selection is quite good, and I also thought the display was nice. Then, the left half of this bar included bottled beer and fruit juices, which I saw people mix into simply cocktails with some of the liquors. What was also nice was that there was a staff member who would help people pour the drinks. For example, she poured a beer for me.

Then on the right half of the drinks setup were all the non-alcoholic options. This included water taps (cold and sparkling) and two soda fountains on the left, and hot drinks machines towards the right. Between all these machines I gathered that you’d be able to get most drinks you’d want. However, it did seem like the lounge may need to invest in additional cups and mugs, as they were consistently running low on this, given how busy it was in the lounge. I actually ended up using a beer glass to get some water.

Ultimately, I thought the food and drink options were solid, and better than at some of the other lounges I’ve visited recently. It’s interesting because I don’t remember the food being quite this nice when I was here at my last visit. Still good, but it seems to me the food got better. I was able to have a nice, filling dinner before my flight, and that’s mostly what I was hoping for.

Restrooms and Showers

The lounge doesn’t feature showers. The restrooms are over at the other room. Follow that corridor just by the buffet, and when you emerge into the other space, take a right and another right into a corridor. Here you will find several bathroom stalls, one of which is extra large to allow easy wheelchair access. The restrooms are functional, were kept generally clean, but didn’t offer any interesting amenities of any kind.

Summary

As the firsts top of my Scandinavian Retreat to Stockholm, I visited the SAS Lounge at Newark EWR, Terminal B. I enjoyed my time here. The lounge has a pleasant Scandinavian design aesthetic that is calming in vibe, and I managed to find a somewhat quite spot. I thought the food and drinks options were solid, and I especially liked the ratatouille and poached salmon. The desserts were very nice too, offering a nice fruit cup and delicious chocolate squares, among other things. However, the lounge does get extraordinarily busy, and this is felt especially in the main part of the lounge, and by the buffet, were some foods (and glasses!) kept running out. Still, if you come on the earlier side, you should be able to get a good spot to sit and relax a little before your flight.