WilcoRoger

That's easy - "my flight was leaving from there" Worked every time anyone asked (rarely)

intuition

While it is really annoying having flights cancelled when one is flying because of a promo, SK are decent enough to allow something similar to "orignal routing credit". If they cancel a flight on you, you can apply to earn points & segments for that flight. Albeit at normal earnings, not at the promo level, but it is still nice to get points&segments plus money back.

It is a temporary thing and who knows how long they'll keep on doing it, but some people have had a good boost for re-qualification from cancelled flights!

tulokas

So the question is, could it be possible to earn SK status without actually flying just trying to guess which flights are most likely to be cancelled and book those to gain status just like AY is at the moment showing 3(?) daily flight to VAA in September which is unlikely to happen. One should just try to find similar routes in SK network and start to book. How hard can it be

intuition

Some did play this game in april, yes. A lot of flights to smaller destinations still had multiple dailys, which in the end couldn't be made commercially viable even with ATR. It was not difficult to pick them out and end up with segments and points without leaving the sofa.

Now in june, last month of the promo, I'd say the schedules are pretty stable. Many destinations has 2-3 daily with zero cancellations, flying A320 with decent to high load factor. Onboard service has returned, so has some lounges. Things are almost normal now in the SK domestic route network (so this window of opportunity is closed)

kauppias

I wish AY had one so... I even suggested ORC in Liu of a refund but they very rudely stated no...

I would NOT be so bitter about losing my cash versus my TPs 😂😂

Go figure why it's so difficult for AY to compromise and offer a WIN WIN solution??

ffay005

What, SK has onboard service?

I've sort of done this with AY, too. When they cancel my flights, I rebook at a later date and pick flights that are less likely to operate. Thus, I now have an open ticket to BER, as both legs in August are cancelled. If I feel the need to fly to BER tomorrow, it's just a phonecall away, at no extra charge.

intuition

For domestic there are now again hot drinks free of charge, all classes. Y+ has breakfast box in the morning and snacks, softdrinks, beer free of charge rest of day. Same snack assortment available for purchase in Y-. Preorder meal also possible, in domestic I think it is limited to the plus breakfast box.

Service is in the same old nonchalant style and stuff can run out, but unless we are debating the inner true meaning of the word 'service', SK now has onboard service, yes!

ffay005

I hope I won't be slain for this comment, but I (mildly) disagree with the need for another status extension. The way I see it is that now is the time to entice people to actually fly. Yeah yeah, I know about our government recommendations, they've been the same for 16 months now. But seriously, the rest of the world is starting to travel, too.

What complicates it here is that most tier points come from longhauls, and AY only has two lonhaul markets: the US, with a complete travel ban ex-Finland, and Asia, with a practically complete travel ban for practically everyone. Why they haven't started flying to Cancun, like all the others, and why they didn't start this a year ago, beats me. But if AY wants to stick with US&Asia, then there will be very little longhaul traffic.

Instead of just offering a status match, I believe AY could and should entice us to actually fly, albeit only within Europe at this time, and start accruing those points. What about "earn double points for your first return flight, and triple points for your second return flight each calender month"? Or a moderately priced J campaign over the summer?

I realise the status match doesn't cost AY anything as virtually all the benefits have been slashed, as opposed to other airlines. But the status match also does not bring customers back.

Then, of course, comes the big question of business travel. I suppose it has not recovered to any considerable extent. And I am afraid it won't, either, for a very long time. There has been, and will be, some work-related travel all the time, but I suppose most meetings and more-or-less social business trips will not happen in the foreseeable future.

kauppias

I do agree with this in that I suggested something similar awhile back somewhere here on FT

Like 2x one flight 1&2 3x on flight 3&4 and 4x on flights 5&6 for instance... But something is needed as there is very little in terms of Longhaul flights now...

Other alliances are offering TP campaigns so some of us will move on if AY does not reveal it plans soon!!

OH-LGG

Who would be the target group for AY's profitable CUN operations ?

ffay005

Cistavoda, me and everyone else who does not follow government recommendations and who wants to see the sun. For a direct flight to restriction-free Mexico, 900 EUR would not be a bad price in Y. If AY can operate HAV or PUJ profitably, then I can't see this being any different. Of course, it would need a bit more courage from AM than what they have right now.

This would also make Mexico a very easy bridge country for Finns into the US. Open jaw HEL-CUN / JFK-HEL.

OH-LGG

HAV and PUJ both were operated before Covid, not during that.

Travelling is easy for someone. Some friends of mine are working and they have after crossing Finland borders, mandatory non-paid quarantine by employer.

So 2 weeks in Mexico and you need 7-14 days more holiday to spend home and that is wage-free. Far away from normal times and holidays. Plus all nosedigging-höpöhöpö.

ffay005

I hope they do realise this is illegal.

OH-LGG

What do you mean ?

WilcoRoger

The employer has probably the right to deny you entry to the premises (but not to put you under any sort of quarantine) and has no right to make it non-paid.