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, I got lucky and was upgraded to premium economy on the flight to Stockholm, and this flight is the topic of this post.

Obviously it was a big surprise to be upgraded and as I theorized in a previous post, I imagine this was an operational upgrade that I received (over other people) because of my SkyTeam Elite Plus status. I can also definitely say that SAS Plus, which is how SAS calls its longhaul Premium Economy product, is a noticeable improvement over SAS economy (not to be confused with AeroMexico’s AM Plus, which, while sometimes also marketed as premium economy, is simply an extra-legroom economy product).

With a wider seat with improved recline, better food and larger portions, a better pillow and blanket and a basic amenity kit, I had a comfortable flight aboard SAS’s A330-300. However, this plane clearly has an older interior than SAS’s newer A350s, so do expect everything to be a little bit tired in appearance. But overall, I would be happy to fly SAS Premium Economy again!

1. How I booked this flight
2. An unexpected upgrade: From Economy to Premium Economy!
3. Boarding at Newark EWR
4. SAS A330-300 Premium Economy Seating
5. SAS Premium Economy Amenities
6. Departure from Newark: an Electrical Reset?
7. Dinner Service
8. Entertainment and WiFi
9. SAS A330-300 Premium Economy/Economy Lavatories
10. Sleeping in SAS A330-300 Premium Economy
11. Pre-Landing Snack
12. Arrival at Stockholm Arlanda ARN
13. Summary

How I booked this flight

I had simply bought economy tickets with cash, as I was able to get a pretty good value: I bought a return ticket from New York to Stockholm on Scandinavian Airlines for $662.11 with the following schedule:

• On the outbound, flight SK904 from Newark EWR to Stockholm Arlanda ARN, departing 17:40PM and arriving 7:30AM the next day. That’s what I’m reviewing here.
• On the return, I flew SK401 from Stockholm Arlanda ARN to Copenhagen CPH, departing at 8:00AM and arriving at 9:10PM, where I had a layover of 3:45 hours. I then boarded flight SK909 from Copenhagen CPH to Newark EWR, departing 12:55PM and arriving 15:40PM.

…And while $660 for a return ticket to Europe is not usually a good price, remember I’m flying over the holidays, which is always a very expensive time to fly. Besides, although I booked a Light (basic) fare, my Flying Blue Gold status (which maps onto SkyTeam’s Elite Plus status) provided priority services and lounge access for the entirety of the trip.

However, while I was enjoying a hearty meal in the SAS Lounge at Newark’s Terminal B, I decided to check on my flight, only to realize that something had changed…

An unexpected upgrade: From Economy to Premium Economy!

Though I have SkyTeam Elite status, complimentary status-related upgrades are not a thing in Europe, unlike in the US. So, imagine my surprise when I looked at my boarding pass within the SAS app (not the wallet – that doesn’t update automatically with SAS), about an hour before boarding, and saw the seat had changed! Obviously I wasn’t thinking this would happen so I didn’t make a screenshot of anything, but here’s what the booking (still) looks like on the left, and then look at my updated boarding pass and seat in the middle and right screenshots:

As you can see, the seat changed from the original 30A to 23B, and the service class from LIGHT to PREMIUM. The seat map confirmed 23B was in the premium economy cabin due to the 2-3-2 layout (economy would have been 2-4-2). Note that the tag SKY PRIORITY is part of my Flying Blue Gold benefits. I was surprised by the boarding group, though: I was provided boarding group 1, which is usually reserved for business class passengers. Does anybody know whether SAS provides group 1 boarding to SkyTeam Elite Plus holders as a general rule, rather than group 2?

Here’s the kicker though: if I’d actually looked at the paper boarding card I was given when I checked my bag at the counter, I’d have immediately seen that I was provided an upgrade into ‘Premium Light’, as can be seen under ‘Class’ as well as the changed seat number (23B):

I’m pretty sure I was upgraded is because economy class was oversold: economy seemed completely full, whereas there were some seats available in premium economy. Further, I saw somebody sitting in 30A as I went to the restroom so that seat wasn’t ‘broken’; given that the flight was nearly full, weight and balance doesn’t seem like a likely reason; and finally, the aircraft type operating this flight was the same type initially scheduled.

But then, why was I upgraded and not somebody else? A big reason is my Flying Blue Gold status, and what would have also helped is that I’m a solo traveler, so it’s easier to move me without breaking up a party. So, even if Flying Blue doesn’t have an upgrade perk, having it can still give you a higher chance for an upgrade over other passengers. So, in that sense, I’d dare say that rather than saving me $358 worth in additions, Flying Blue Gold may have just saved me about $600 by scoring me an operational upgrade to premium economy!

Boarding at Newark EWR

I had been enjoying dinner in the Newark SAS lounge until about 15 minutes before boarding was scheduled to start. From my previous experience flying with SAS, I remembered that when I went to the gate early, I arrived just in time for group 1 boarding. So following the same paradigm, I arrived earlier than what my boarding pass indicated – only to find that group 1 boarding had just ended, and group 2 boarding was about to begin. Talk about being just in time! Apparently boarding had started at 4:45pm, quite a bit earlier than what was written on my boarding pass.

The gate agent scanned my boarding pass and soon I was walking through the gate doors, when the plane emerged in front of me beyond the glass windows of the boarding corridor. I snapped a quick pic before entering the jetway:

I proceeded on board through the second set of doors, and was greeted by the friendly flight attendants, who directed me to turn an immediate right, towards my seat in the Premium Economy cabin.

SAS A330-300 Premium Economy Seating

Premium Economy on this SAS A330-300 is in a 2-3-2 configuration (with Economy in 2-4-2). As you can see, Premium Economy is quite large, with 8 rows total. Then follows Economy until the very back of the plane.

The cabin is older on this A330, and stands in some contrast to the carrier’s A350, both in a good and bad way: on the downside, the interior does look more worn and the seats don’t have the newest technology. On the plus side, I really find these older seats to have better padding than the newer seats, especially in Economy.

I was seated in seat 12A, which I had not selected for myself, but rather, was automatically assigned that seat upon my upgrade. Hey, I’m not complaining if the alternative would have been Economy! As you can see, these seats kind of look like a larger version of the Economy seat.

These seats are the Safran 5810 seats, with 38″ of pitch, 18.3″ of width and 8″ recline. For comparison, the economy seats on this A330 Have 31″ of pitch, 18″ width and 6″ recline. So, the truth is that the width is not so different between premium economy and economy, but the pitch and recline make a very noticeable difference for comfort. This is different on the A350, where the width in Economy is 18″ (the same), and in Premium Economy 19″: the A330 is a narrower plane than the A350, hence the difference.

The entertainment monitor is a 13.3″ HD monitor, and appears quite crisp with good color balance. It was not the most responsive touchscreen in the world, but it was certainly functional enough to easily select options. The UI and organization of the system is a topic I’ll get to later, because I’d say it’s a little different from what I’m otherwise used to. To the right of the display were also a USB-A port and a headphone port.

The center console in-between the seats is a decent size. In front it looked like there was a cup holder of sorts that could be pulled out, but as much as I tried, I was not able to pull anything out of there. Not sure if it was stuck, or it was never supposed to be pulled out…

The middle parts can be folded open to pull out the tray tables. Those were quite a bit smaller than I thought they might, and I also felt like they were a little bit on the flimsy side. Putting my particular table back into the armrest also wasn’t the easiest thing, as it seemed like it would get stuck on something and not go down all the way. As a matter of fact, on the screenshot immediately below this paragraph and on the left, you can see the armrest not fully down: this was because the table didn’t fold down all the way. With a good smack, though, I was able to fix that. I suppose these are some of the issues you can expect with an older cabin!

In-between the seats in front and down at the bottom were two universal power plugs. There was also a leg rest that could be folded down from the seat in front., and I thought this one was positioned appropriately. It was comfortable, while sleeping to pull this down all the way and rets my feet on it. Finally, up above there were no individual air nozzles, unfortunately.

Overall, I was quite happy with the seat. It was comfortable, and even if the width wasn’t much more than in economy, it did feel more spacious. The legroom was great and the display was absolutely sufficient for a good experience.

SAS Premium Economy Amenities

At my seat were a variety of amenities waiting for me. This included a pretty nice pillow. Clearly better than what was in Premium Economy, but a step down from what’s available in SAS business class. The blanket, on the other hand, while clearly better than the economy counterpart, was actually pretty great, and not all that different from what’s available in SAS business class. It was very big, pretty thick and soft, making it easy to get comfy.

There was also an amenity kit. SAS’s amenity kits are a little different, foregoing luxury for practicality, also in business class. The bag itself is a great example of that: it’s actually a shoe bag, which makes sense. It allows you to take off you shoes at year seat and store them in a practical way. While that’s not what I did, I thought it was a good thought! Otherwise, the contents of the bag included ear plugs, an eye mask, and a dental kit, all of which are perfectly sensible items that actually help improve the flight experience.

In the seat pocket there were also a basic pair of ear buds and a bottle of water. These ear buds are the same as the ones you get in SAS economy. While comfortable, I was hoping for something more elevated. And it’s basically the opposite of what Singapore Airlines does, where you get the business class headphones in premium economy.

Overall, these were a nice set of amenities. I very much liked the big, soft blanket, and was happy with the practical amenity kit and elevated pillow.

Departure from Newark: an Electrical Reset?

Boarding ended up completing early, at 5:20pm. Then, we just sat there, waitint gor our 5:40pm departure time. While we were supposed to then depart at 5:40pm, that’s not quite what happened.

Strangely, around 5:50pm, all the power in the cabin seemed to go out: all TVs turned off. It was then, around 5:57pm, that pushback finally started, despite all the displays still being powered down. And this entire time there had been no announcements to inform us of what was going on, though. It was only after pushback, around 6:04pm, that the entertainment systems reboot and I was presented with a lovely Norwegian (?) landscape.

Since I wasn’t sat at the window seat, I couldn’t make any pictures out the window. This SAS A330, to my surprise, was however outfitted with cameras! Specifically, there was a cameras at the front of the plane. Unfortunately, the quality of the display was rather bad, especially in the dark. This was late December, so by 6pm it was essentially dark outside.

We had a taxi of about 10 minutes out to the runway, and then promptly started our takeoff roll, rocketing into the evening sky. Sadly, I wasn’t able to take a single picture of any of it…

Dinner Service

Shortly after takeoff the pilot come on the PA to make his announcements. It’s here that he welcomed everybody on board, and mentioned that there’d be quite a lot of turbulence a little later into the flight. On the plus side, this prompted the fastest dinner service I’d ever had on a plane. Because, as the flight attendant explained when he served my neighbor his meal: “we’re trying to get everybody fed before the turbulence hits”.

Since I was upgraded, I’m not so sure if it’s possible to preorder a meal or not. In business class this option was available. On board, there were only two options, described to me as a beef stew and a pasta dish. So, I select the beef stew. For a drink, I went with the Calvet sparkling wine, which came in a cute bottle. Other options included red and white wine, beer, and a variety of soft drinks and juices.

As you can see, the three-course meal was all presented on one tray. The tray is bigger than what you’d get in economy, and immediately it was clear that the portions were a good size. I’d also add that the cutlery is metal and the dishes holding the food are of a heavier material than the plastics of economy, though it’s not exactly the ceramic or earthware that the business class meal was served in. Further, the drinks were served with proper glassware.

The starter was a sort of bean salad with pieces of pork and cheese on top – it was a little strange, but fine. The main dish was the beef stew with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. While there is only so much you can with steamed vegetables, the beef stew was really very nice. The meat was tender and juicy, with a lovely gravy combining well with the mashed potatoes. Finally, the dessert was delicious! I love a good chocolate cake, but this one had a rich mousse layer that was very tasty and was also served with a pleasant cherry jam.

During dinner the flight attendant came by for a drink refill, and later he came by again offering a hot drink to close the meal – tea or coffee. He then took away all dishes, well before any turbulence hit.

Overall, this was a very nice dinner service that was nicely differentiated from the economy dinner service. The portions are substantially bigger, the cutlery is metal and the dishes, while not ceramic, of a heavier and more substantial material then i economy. Further, there is a larger selection of drinks (alcoholic and otherwise), and the service is more attentive. I was left with a good impression and was ready to relax with a movie before getting some shut-eye.

Entertainment and WiFi

Following dinner, I settled in to watch a movie, covering myself with the lovely blanket. SAS’s entertaiment system has a minimalistic UI that’s similar to that of an iPad, while simultaneously lacking much of the normal airplane entertainment system UI elements you may be accustomed to.

The starting interface has just the SAS logo and a ribbon with buttons up top. Once you ‘get started’, you’ll be asked to select a language, and the ribbon on top will add a menu button, a flight progress button, and a favorites button. The rest of the UI shows featured content for various kinds of media, allowing you to swipe back and forth and select recommended or often-watched movies, shows or music. The ‘flight progress’ initially just shows a pop-up window, which can be expanded into a fullscreen interface. Pressing the menu button expands to the aforementioned iPad-like interface.

While you can select certain movies and such from the ‘home screen’, that menu button is essentially the only way to navigate the entertainment system. While it’s perfectly intuitive, there’s some duplication in button functions that seems superfluous. For example, the ‘movies’ button will bring you to all movies, while ‘enter at your own risk’ and ‘Santa’s Picks’ will bring you to scary and Christmas movies, respectively. I was traveling around Christmas so I suppose Christmas and Halloween movies are appropriate genres to call out, but it seems like an unnecessary source of confusion. As you can see, there are 129 movies in total.

Other than movies, TV shows and music were also on offer. There were 275 TV shows, though I’m not sure if that’s actually the number of shows, or rather the number of total episodes that could be watched. Then there were 51 musical albums to choose from, which I think is too little.

The ‘Inflight Menu’ button will show you all the drinks and snacks that are available onboard, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Clearly, in terms of foods there were only nuts, but it was useful to see what drinks were otherwise available.

Otherwise, there was also some specific programming for kids as well as games, and the inflight camera I had already shown that earlier in this review. Given the quality of the visuals that the camera offered, I didn’t look at it much.

You may have noticed that there was no separate button for the inflight map: that’s because this is accessed through the ‘flight progress’ button, by the menu button. Pressing this opens a pop-up window, the content of which cycles through basic flight information and maps. You can then expand this into a fullscreen mode that resembles what you’ll find with other airlines.

Finally, there was also an inflight WiFi option. I had tried to use this before, when I flew business class with SAS, but at the time I wasn’t able to even connect. This time around I was able to connect. It proved simple: simply connect to the inflight WiFi through your device’s WiFi settings page, and you’ll be able to navigate to the wifilh.flysas.net start page. From here, you can directly connect for free if you’re in business class, or otherwise you can buy a WiFi pass. For the full flight you’ll pay $16, which seems cheap, but note that SAS admits that the speeds can be slow. I didn’t buy the WiFi pass, so I can’t vouch for how fast or slow this really is, though I’ve anecdotally heard that speeds are usually quite good.

Overall, I think SAS inflight is a little lacking. It is limited in scope compared to the competition, and I also felt that a bunch of the movies on offer were a bit… weird, for lack of a better description. For example, I ended up watching a movie about stay-at-home mom who was unhappy with her home life, and reinvented herself as… a dog? Be that as it may, I wish SAS invested more in their inflight entertainment offering and expanded both the selection of movies and music on offer.

SAS A330-300 Premium Economy/Economy Lavatories

Before going to sleep, I visited the lavatories. Note that SAS Premium Economy doesn’t have a dedicated lavatory, so even though you’re right by the business class lavatories, you’re supposed to walk back to use the Economy lavatory. As expected, there’s nothing particularly special about it. It being an A330 with an older cabin, the lavatory is of the more spacious kind, though definitely a few steps down from the business class lavatory, which had a window! Otherwise, there’s no special amenities besides a bottle of unbranded hand soap. The lavatory was further kept reasonably clean for the duration of the flight.

Sleeping in SAS A330-300 Premium Economy

As I ahd mentioned earlier, the Premium Economy seats have an 8″ recline and 38″ pitch, so it wasn’t too hard getting comfortable. While of course not fully flat, I felt that this recline was quite generous as I was able to lean back a lot. Paired with the pleasant blanket I was able to get comfortable fairly easily. A more substantial pillow would have been welcome, but it was perfectly sufficient. See below an impression of what the seat, when fully reclined, looks like.

Unfortunately, I ended up barely sleeping. This has less to do with the comfort of the seat and amenities, and more with the fact that the flight departs at 5:40pm and arrives about 8 hours later: by the time of landing, it’s about 1:40am EST, so it’s not until the last 2-3 hours of the flight that I’m tired enough to fall asleep. Which, of course, is right when the pre-landing snack is served. So, I rested my eyes for an hour or two until that snack came by, and then afterwards dozed until landing.

Pre-Landing Snack

As I mentioned, the pre-landing snack gets served around the time I’d normally go to bed and would fall asleep. Indeed. around 11:30pm EST, when we were about 1 hour and 50 minutes from Stockholm, the cabin lights were turned up and breakfast was served.

In this flight, that consisted of a hard-boiled egg, some fruit, cheeses and cold cuts and a warm bun, as well as some yoghurt and muesli. It seems like a typical Northern European brekafast to me, and myself being Dutch, this is precisely what I’d have at home. However, I’m not at home – I’m flying SAS Premium Economy and if I’m honest I was hoping for something a little bit more substantial.

Still, I ate all of it, except for the yoghurt. and cheeses. The quality of the fruits and meats was good, so at least that was a positive point, and I thought the bun was tasty as well. As you can see, it’s also served with metal cutlery. For drink I initially ordered orange juice, and later when the flight attendant came by offering a hot drink, I had some tea as well. A refill was also offered, until around 12:15am the trays were collected and breakfasts service concluded.

Arrival at Stockholm Arlanda ARN

At this point we were still a little over an hour away from Stockholm. Around 12:36am the pilot made his descent announcement. Not surprisingly the temperatures in Stockholm were frigid and it was windy. Ultimately the descent and approach were relatively smooth and we flew straight into the airport. We touched down around 1:24am, that’s 7:24am local time. We had a speedy 5-minute taxi at Concourse F of Terminal 5, which is SAS’s primary terminal at Stockholm Arlanda, and is a beautiful, modern facility.

I gave the A330 that had ferried me to Stockholm one last look before I exited the jetway and made my way to customs:

Note that Stockholm’s Terminal 5 arrival procedures are similar to those in the US in that arrival and departing passenger flows are entirely separated. As such, there is no way to visit the SAS Lounge on arrival, which is something business class passengers are entitled to. This is quite nice, since the flight arrives so early in the morning that hotels are unlikely to accommodate you. In that case, the SAS Lounge would have provided the option for a shower. Note that at Copenhagen CPH, you can visit the SAS Lounge before exiting the airport, as arriving and departing passengers are not fully separated.

Summary

Overall, I had a comfortable flight in SAS Plus (Premium Economy). While the seat is not much wider on the A330 than in the economy seats, the superior legroom and recline make a substantial difference in the experience. I also though the amenities were a clear step up, with a large, cozy blanket, a better pillow, and a useful amenity kit. The food was a good portion and I liked that it was served in proper dishes with metal cutlery and drinks were served in glassware. I liked the food as well: the beef was tender and delicious and I much liked the dessert. The breakfast service, on the other hand, was a little underwhelming, given that it was basically just a plate of cold cuts, fruits and cheeses with a warm bun. As for the entertainment, I do think SAS needs to invest in. this to bring on more movies and music.

So, would SAS Plus be worth the higher price? I think so! For the right price, I think SAS Plus is absolutely worth the premium. For example, while my basic economy (Go Light) fare was $660, the SAS Plus fare was double that, and also would have included checked luggage, fast track security and lounge access. Keep in mind that my Flying Blue Gold status provided me all these perks anyway, and that’s why I decided to stock with Go Light over a more expensive fare. However, if you don’t get these perks with status, $1300 is a reasonable fare for the added perks, much improved seat comfort, and bigger food portions. Next time, I might simply go with SAS Plus…