LAX to Lyon: Scandinavian Airlines

They have a nice premium economy section on their long distance flights, so not a bad option. One major advantage is that Copenhagen is a great airport for transfer.

Thanks @Badger. Some extremely well-traveled friends just told me exactly the same thing. Great prices, too.

I think most PE fares on SAS also come with SAS lounge access, which is a nice
touch, and which you'd probably have a chance to use connecting in CPH or ARN.

@shoeflyer, that's awesome. Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely want to take advantage of that.

My PE was downgraded to Economy with a change of aircraft. (out of ORD - the cost was adjusted) I did receive notice of the change, but not in time to upgrade to Business, no availability. Just mentioning this if PE is absolutely vital. SAS Business is quite comfortable, at least on my ORD return flight.

Can you check the aircraft configuration and flight history of actual aircraft flown out of LAX? The due diligence may be necessary only if PE is vital. (On a long haul like yours - I get the importance!!)

Lounge at CPH is acceptable, not one of the "better" lounges for comfort and amenities that I've used, but OK for a couple hours.

I believe SAS is now totally out of bankruptcy?? (Badger probably knows).

We recently met some folks who regularly fly LAX>Copenhagen to see family, and they said it's really been ok, a good experience in premium economy.

Re-reading this topic, OP may want to pay particular attention to the timeframe around
Black Friday. SAS has in the past had sales around then. Not sure if the new airline
alliance or something else will change that, but in 2022 I bagged a more-or-less 50%
off PE fare to Europe for July 2023 during Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Travel Tuesday
weekend.

My PE was downgraded to Economy with a change of aircraft.

I think the risk of that happening is pretty low. SAS had a shortage of long distance planes last summer, so they leased an A330 to cover some of their routes, and that aircraft did not have premium economy. But the situation looks better now and they have two A350s on order that are scheduled to be delivered early next year.

Lounge at CPH is acceptable, not one of the "better" lounges for
comfort and amenities that I've used, but OK for a couple hours.

They have two lounges in Copenhagen, the regular lounge and the Gold lounge, but when travelling in premium economy you only have access to the regular lounge. Which is still pretty nice.

I believe SAS is now totally out of bankruptcy?? (Badger probably
knows).

Yes.

I get notices from travel trackers and this seems a common new suggested carrier with frequent sales. But you'd have to connect in Copenhagen and I'll only do nonstops nowadays. Not sure that works with Lyon, but does with Zurich.