Cuts in SAS earning [GoLight to zero, PE/J reducing from 1st Apr 2021]
Oct 5, 2018, 3:24 am
#16
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
I hadn't realised that Plus rates are unchanged. Lets just hope that's reflected in any cut that IS made to M&B earnings. After all, there are many nonsensical 'mappings' out there where a particular fare class earns highly with one airline's program and earns nothing with another, or vice-versa.
And it's correct what people are saying about Plus sometimes offering good value, even in Europe. On my most common SAS route (ATH-ARN) I would typically pay around 90 Euro for the basic fare and sometimes only 40 Euro more for Plus. That's not so bad for double mileage. I think these lower Plus rates are mostly found on less premium-heavy routes anyway. With the recent dropping of the free checked bag for *G members on basic fares, Plus is even better value for those, like me, who often have a checked bag.
Anyway, for next year, I feel a long haul on Ethiopian may be on the cards...
And it's correct what people are saying about Plus sometimes offering good value, even in Europe. On my most common SAS route (ATH-ARN) I would typically pay around 90 Euro for the basic fare and sometimes only 40 Euro more for Plus. That's not so bad for double mileage. I think these lower Plus rates are mostly found on less premium-heavy routes anyway. With the recent dropping of the free checked bag for *G members on basic fares, Plus is even better value for those, like me, who often have a checked bag.
Anyway, for next year, I feel a long haul on Ethiopian may be on the cards...
Oct 5, 2018, 4:48 am
#17
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,344
Hmm, while it's disappointing news, I ran the numbers and I don't think it will affect me so much
I don't do pure mileage runs, and Scandinavia is expensive so even though the flights are cheap I end up spending lots on hotels and food.... meanwhile Aegean flies me to cheap countries but their flights are expensive (I'm slightly happier now that I managed to use some of my upgrade coupons)
In the past two years I earned 10000 tier miles on SAS and paid £940
I also got 13000 tier miles on TK having paid £1500
I received 7500 tier miles on A3 for spending £500
So strictly speaking many of the SAS flights were not necessary (or there were cheaper options) but at the time of booking I did not know whether I would be taking any A3 flights or getting enough miles elsewhere.
I don't do pure mileage runs, and Scandinavia is expensive so even though the flights are cheap I end up spending lots on hotels and food.... meanwhile Aegean flies me to cheap countries but their flights are expensive (I'm slightly happier now that I managed to use some of my upgrade coupons)
In the past two years I earned 10000 tier miles on SAS and paid £940
I also got 13000 tier miles on TK having paid £1500
I received 7500 tier miles on A3 for spending £500
So strictly speaking many of the SAS flights were not necessary (or there were cheaper options) but at the time of booking I did not know whether I would be taking any A3 flights or getting enough miles elsewhere.
Oct 5, 2018, 12:12 pm
#19
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,476
It all depends on how flexible you can be, of course. I have to (well, try to, no-one forces me!) qualify for both BA Gold (oneworld Emerald) and A3 Gold. That means I can’t realistically find bargain basement prices for both because I can’t fit holidays around it, so I end up paying a bit more for one or the other - usually the Star one.
This time the only Star flights I can find that deliver big mileage are in November, to the US West Coast, and they’ll be in the region of €900 and return 25k miles. With other bits and pieces from normal travel I end up well over, but I still need the SK Y+ fares to push me over the line.
I need to retire so I can just fly at short notice ...
This time the only Star flights I can find that deliver big mileage are in November, to the US West Coast, and they’ll be in the region of €900 and return 25k miles. With other bits and pieces from normal travel I end up well over, but I still need the SK Y+ fares to push me over the line.
I need to retire so I can just fly at short notice ...
Oct 8, 2018, 6:44 am
#20
Join Date: Aug 2015
Programs: BA Gold/ Star Alliance Gold
Posts: 401
Hi there, I am a newbie with A3. I was checling for the SAS Plus fare. but the cheapest I could find was around 923 Euro.
How would I be able to find the fares around 500 some of you are talking about.
[deleted and posted in beginners thread]
Many thanks!
How would I be able to find the fares around 500 some of you are talking about.
[deleted and posted in beginners thread]
Many thanks!
Last edited by Shl; Oct 8, 2018 at 7:07 am
Oct 8, 2018, 2:48 pm
#22
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: OTP/KRK
Programs: M&M FTL, Miles+Bonus Gold
Posts: 664
probably he is looking for intercontinental flights in W... @Shl: Use Google Flights, choose only SAS and PE then look for flights to their destinations and pick lower prices from calendar you have for date selection
Oct 8, 2018, 4:52 pm
#23
Join Date: Aug 2015
Programs: BA Gold/ Star Alliance Gold
Posts: 401
probably he is looking for intercontinental flights in W... @Shl: Use Google Flights, choose only SAS and PE then look for flights to their destinations and pick lower prices from calendar you have for date selection
Oct 9, 2018, 2:31 am
#24
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: PAS, Paros Greece
Programs: A3 *G
Posts: 1,372
For cheap intra-Europe flights, check out leisure heavy destinations. Athens is actually a good bet for a combined run to also get segments. I have found ATH-ARN for 117 Euro in February or March (3016 miles) or ATH-CPH-ARN for 154 Euro (4216 miles). This all assumes that A class flights are NOT devalued from December, of course. Forget business oriented destinations. ATH-ARN only goes up from 73 Euro to 117 Euro for double the miles, whereas ARN-LHR, for example, is more than double (sometimes nearer triple) the cost.
Last edited by Knobbgb; Oct 9, 2018 at 2:53 am
Oct 9, 2018, 2:43 am
#26
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: PAS, Paros Greece
Programs: A3 *G
Posts: 1,372
I hadn't really considered that. It's all the same airline really though isn't it? SAS Ireland is just a 'flag of convenience' to allow them to cut costs. I haven't been on those new A320 yet. I was assuming there was no difference in product. Just with my example above - ATH-ARN is is still operated by SAS whereas ARN-LHR is SAS Ireland.
Oct 9, 2018, 4:34 am
#27
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
I hadn't really considered that. It's all the same airline really though isn't it? SAS Ireland is just a 'flag of convenience' to allow them to cut costs. I haven't been on those new A320 yet. I was assuming there was no difference in product. Just with my example above - ATH-ARN is is still operated by SAS whereas ARN-LHR is SAS Ireland.
Dec 4, 2018, 5:05 am
#29
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: OTP/KRK
Programs: M&M FTL, Miles+Bonus Gold
Posts: 664
a little update. it seems that A3 didnt change yet the earnings for SAS. I flew this weekend from SFO to ARN via CPH and today they credited 100% miles (I had booking class T, SK936 left SFO on Dec 1st and CPH-ARN on December 2nd).
Dec 6, 2018, 4:50 pm
#30
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: USA, JPN, GBR
Programs: A3, AA, AC, AS, DL, NH, SQ, SK, UA; BW, CP, HH, IHG, MB
Posts: 1,950
Regardless, I agree that for the foreseeable future, the earnings will stay as is, since A3 doesn't really seem to be in a hurry to update their charts. I mean, SA and TK haven't had First Class in YEARS, yet they're still in the chart. 
It took forever for them to start crediting UA "P" fares (as an aside, it'll probably take even more time for them to update UA's earnings chart, now that they've also gotten rid of First Class). SN has a ton of fares that earn zip, even in their "Flex & Fast" category, since all the Economy fares seem to (IME) book into a single, non-earning fare class. LH "P" still earns nothing.
It took forever for them to start crediting UA "P" fares (as an aside, it'll probably take even more time for them to update UA's earnings chart, now that they've also gotten rid of First Class). SN has a ton of fares that earn zip, even in their "Flex & Fast" category, since all the Economy fares seem to (IME) book into a single, non-earning fare class. LH "P" still earns nothing.