Is American or SAS better to Europe?

SAS scores 8.3/10 against American at 7.5/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare. On the four dimensions we can verify, American wins 1 and SAS wins 1. Service and food are not scored here because they cannot be read off a spec sheet.

Which is cheaper, American or SAS?

On the 52 routes where both were priced for the same week (November 8–14, 2026), American was cheaper on 7 and SAS on 45. Every pair of fares is the same departure and return date in the same cabin, so the difference is the airline rather than the dates or the cabin.

Does the aircraft change the answer?

Yes. American scores 10/10 on the 787-9P (Flagship Suite) and 8/10 on the 777-300ER / 787 (Flagship Business). Check the equipment on your date before deciding.

Has Jon flown either of these?

Neither, so this page is product facts and fares only. Any review we publish of either will be labeled Researched until that changes.

Head to head

American vs SAS

SAS scores 8.3/10 against American at 7.5/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare.

By Jon Miksis · cabin data verified September 1, 2026 · fares for travel November 8–14, 2026

Best product each one flies

Scored on what can be verified. Service, food and ground recovery are absent deliberately: they need someone in the seat, and they live in the reviews rather than here.

One caveat on the Value line, stated rather than buried: Value is computed from business fares, and a carrier with too few of them does not get a Value score at all. Where you see a dash, we have fewer than three priced business routes for that airline and did not want to invent a figure from one or two — so its product score is the mean of three dimensions rather than four, and it is not directly comparable to a score built on hundreds of fares. The airlines with the most fares behind them are named on the business-class ranking.

American

787-9P (Flagship Suite)

Seat: 10/10
IFE: 8/10
Lounge & bags: 10/10
Value: 2/10
Product score: 7.5/10

SAS

A330-300 / A350-900

Seat: 8/10
IFE: 8/10
Lounge & bags: 10/10
Value: 7/10
Product score: 8.3/10

Dimension by dimension

Seat: American
10/10 on the 787-9P (Flagship Suite) against 8/10 on the A330-300 / A350-900.
IFE: level
Screens, connectivity and power: 8/10 against 8/10.
Lounge & bags: level
What the fare includes before you board: 10/10 against 10/10.
Value: SAS
Median premium over the cheapest carrier on the same route: 2/10 against 7/10.

Where both were priced on the same dates

Every fare is November 8–14, 2026, so a difference between two rows is a difference between two airlines and nothing else. These are economy fares, while the cabin scores above describe the business product — read them as how each airline prices against its competitors, not as what its business seat costs.

Route	Cabin	American	SAS	Cheaper
JFK → MAD	economy	$686	$609	SAS by $77
MIA → DUB	economy	$849	$626	SAS by $223
BOS → LHR	economy	$823	$636	SAS by $187
MIA → FCO	economy	$1170	$659	SAS by $511
JFK → LHR	economy	$796	$664	SAS by $132
JFK → CDG	economy	$714	$682	SAS by $32
MIA → LHR	economy	$1331	$682	SAS by $649
JFK → MXP	economy	$712	$686	SAS by $26
LAX → MXP	economy	$821	$686	SAS by $135
MIA → MXP	economy	$842	$691	SAS by $151
SFO → MXP	economy	$826	$706	SAS by $120
SFO → MAD	economy	$806	$708	SAS by $98
SFO → FCO	economy	$2056	$717	SAS by $1339
ORD → MAD	economy	$757	$723	SAS by $34
MIA → MUC	economy	$846	$726	SAS by $120
ORD → CDG	economy	$1203	$730	SAS by $473
LAX → CDG	economy	$832	$738	SAS by $94
ATL → DUB	economy	$757	$896	American by $139
BOS → MXP	economy	$798	$760	SAS by $38
ATL → MXP	economy	$763	$790	American by $27
ATL → CDG	economy	$844	$773	SAS by $71
ORD → BCN	economy	$811	$778	SAS by $33
LAX → ZRH	economy	$783	$887	American by $104
ORD → LHR	economy	$1707	$787	SAS by $920
ORD → LIS	economy	$804	$811	American by $7
LAX → LHR	economy	$1331	$813	SAS by $518
MIA → EDI	economy	$985	$821	SAS by $164
MIA → AMS	economy	$827	$923	American by $96
ATL → MUC	economy	$847	$1038	American by $191
LAX → LIS	economy	$869	$848	SAS by $21
LAX → FRA	economy	$864	$856	SAS by $8
ORD → EDI	economy	$1078	$865	SAS by $213
LAX → EDI	economy	$975	$902	SAS by $73
ATL → ZRH	economy	$1176	$925	SAS by $251
ATL → LIS	economy	$1179	$952	SAS by $227
LAX → FCO	business	$4648	$5489	American by $841
ORD → CDG	business	$10366	$5181	SAS by $5185
ATL → MXP	business	$12651	$5393	SAS by $7258
ORD → BCN	business	$8569	$5394	SAS by $3175
MIA → EDI	business	$7869	$5458	SAS by $2411
LAX → MXP	business	$8111	$5479	SAS by $2632
ORD → EDI	business	$8556	$5719	SAS by $2837
BOS → MXP	business	$6601	$5901	SAS by $700
LAX → BCN	business	$8143	$5904	SAS by $2239
SFO → BCN	business	$12268	$5904	SAS by $6364
SFO → FCO	business	$6555	$5912	SAS by $643
ORD → MAD	business	$11115	$5975	SAS by $5140
SFO → MAD	business	$9669	$6325	SAS by $3344
SFO → MXP	business	$7961	$6422	SAS by $1539
BOS → EDI	business	$8216	$7040	SAS by $1176
SFO → EDI	business	$7893	$7626	SAS by $267
LAX → LHR	business	$12367	$8945	SAS by $3422

What happens if the aircraft swaps

Both carriers are paying-the-same-fare-either-way propositions on some frames. The worst product each one flies:

American

777-300ER / 787 (Flagship Business)

Seat: 8/10
IFE: 8/10
Lounge & bags: 10/10
Value: 2/10
Product score: 7/10

SAS

A330-300 / A350-900

Seat: 8/10
IFE: 8/10
Lounge & bags: 10/10
Value: 7/10
Product score: 8.3/10

American: Reverse herringbone, direct aisle access from every seat, no privacy door.

SAS: Thompson Vantage XL in a staggered 1-2-1 on both widebodies, so the product does not change with the frame.

Common questions

Is American or SAS better to Europe?: SAS scores 8.3/10 against American at 7.5/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare. On the four dimensions we can verify, American wins 1 and SAS wins 1. Service and food are not scored here because they cannot be read off a spec sheet.
Which is cheaper, American or SAS?: On the 52 routes where both were priced for the same week (November 8–14, 2026), American was cheaper on 7 and SAS on 45. Every pair of fares is the same departure and return date in the same cabin, so the difference is the airline rather than the dates or the cabin.
Does the aircraft change the answer?: Yes. American scores 10/10 on the 787-9P (Flagship Suite) and 8/10 on the 777-300ER / 787 (Flagship Business). Check the equipment on your date before deciding.
Has Jon flown either of these?: Neither, so this page is product facts and fares only. Any review we publish of either will be labeled Researched until that changes.

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