radu

I honestly cannot believe that this measure is to correct a mathematical error SAS made, that they wouldn't have calculated the price of lounge access for Plus passengers and they were surprised by the bill. I want to give SAS management a bit more credit than that.

So the question I have been asking myself is why first over-value the Plus product and then devalue it at a rather fast pace? I always thought it bizarre that SAS included lounge access with Plus tickets, since it is considered an economy fare. I supposed it was just a 'special offer' to get traditionally low-fare customers to move up the pay scale, to pay the premium and get used to travelling in Plus - I know a few who did just that. I also supposed that SAS would gradually eliminate this 'offer', since it made no commercial sense. And so it happened. Over the recent past I am sure we all noticed that Plus has indeed become less 'special' overall: less flexibility with the introduction of the saver fare, less points on the lower Plus fares, less availability in the 'same booking class' unless you have the highest booking class on the ticket. Now they are eliminating lounge access not only in contracted lounges, which would be an expected thing to do, but also in *A lounges outside Europe.

Moreover, why devalue in this way the EBG/EBD status, when every survey they ran showed that lounge access was the most valued benefit for elite status holders? Last time I flew out of Bucharest in early December the lounge staff asked me for the first time ever if I had an invitation from SAS for the lounge, and my negative answer was followed by a remark that SAS passengers would soon be accepted by-invitation-only, the Gold card is no longer sufficient, so I should remember to ask for a voucher next time. It did make me think on what grounds the invitation would be issued, but I had not seen this coming.

Here's my two penn'orth, considering that Scandinavian cultures are long-term oriented and that all SAS enhancements are meant to make us travel/pay more. What if this, in fact, was a long-planned step in a strategy to
(1) add value to EBD and
(2) re-introduce business class fares intra-Europe?
In a (short) while SAS will launch its enhanced EB programme. Will they start issuing lounge invitations for EBD irrespective of travel class at all airports, while EBG will be limited to *A business lounges where they exist? And will further enhancements follow, with the current saver fares remaining in Plus, while the higher fares - and some even higher ones - becoming Business, including full flexibility and invitations to lounges?

This is just speculation, but probably a few things I would go for if I were somewhere high up at Frösundavik