Twelve years of connecting through European gateways has taught me that the San Diego to Copenhagen route rewards patience and strategic routing far more than it punishes travelers with a nonstop absence. There is no direct service between SAN and CPH, so the real decision isn't whether to fly business class from San Diego to Copenhagen but which American carrier's transatlantic hub gets you there with the least friction. Delta routes most efficiently through Atlanta or JFK before connecting onward to Copenhagen, often aboard the Delta One suite on its 767 or A330 fleet, with sliding doors that make the long haul feel private rather than communal. United typically funnels passengers through Newark or Chicago, deploying its Polaris business class with lie-flat seating that's comfortable if not class-leading, while American Airlines usually routes via its Philadelphia or Dallas hub before a codeshare or partner segment completes the journey into Kastrup.
What separates a good routing from a great one is the layover architecture. I always recommend building at least a 90-minute buffer at the US connecting hub, particularly at JFK or Philadelphia, where international-to-international or domestic-to-international transfers can eat time unexpectedly during peak summer travel. If you're connecting through Atlanta on Delta, the Sky Club adjacent to the international terminal is worth the extra walk for a proper meal before the long transatlantic leg. Arriving into Copenhagen, Kastrup's efficient immigration process means business class passengers rarely wait more than fifteen minutes, so there's no need to rush off the aircraft—linger over that final espresso instead.
Seasonally, May through September delivers the best combination of fare value and daylight-heavy arrivals into Scandinavia, when Copenhagen's long summer evenings make the jet lag adjustment considerably gentler. One insider trick: search Delta's award and paid fares departing on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, when corporate travel demand dips and premium cabin pricing on the Atlanta or JFK routings tends to soften noticeably. Given how much these fares fluctuate week to week across three different carriers and routings, setting up automated fare tracking for this specific city pair is the smartest move you can make before booking.
