Pooling Basic Points *new confirmed rumor*
 

Just received the following email from SAS and it indicates pooling basic points is coming soon



Dear premium member,

One of the most exciting years for us at SAS is coming to an end, and it’s time to look back and remember some of the great moments of 2015. But before I summarize, on behalf of the entire SAS family, I would like to thank you for your loyalty during the year.

Last week we were happy to announce one of the best annual results for SAS in many years, + 1,174bn SEK before non-recurring items and tax.

After our successful New Cabin event in February, we have upgraded another six long-haul cabins so far, and have received two new aircraft with the new cabins. Customer ratings tell us that this has been highly appreciated, with world-class satisfaction levels on cabin comfort and several other cabin-related measures. This was the first step in our new long-haul strategy rollout where we later also launched our new route to Hong Kong and several increased frequencies on intercontinental routes, and announced three new destinations in the US.

Along with our long-haul strategy, we have introduced a new food and beverage concept in our Business cabin for which we have received fantastic feedback. In addition, our lounge offering underwent significant changes in 2015 when we upgraded our international lounges at Arlanda and Gardemoen and introduced the café lounge concept at domestic airports.

This past year, we enjoyed great momentum with our We are Travelers concept. We are closing this successful year with over 1.6 million followers in social media, 1.4 million readers of our onboard magazine, Scandinavian Traveler, several awards in Scandinavia and internationally, and all-time high brand preference among frequent travelers.

The EuroBonus program now counts 4.2 million members, with only 800,000 left to reach our target of five million. We entered into 11 new partnerships in Scandinavia this year and next year, we will take significant steps to make the program even better for you. First of all, we will introduce an easy way to book award flights and ensure that you enjoy even more access to them. We will also make it easier for you to maintain your tier level. For example, you will be able to use your family members' Basic points towards your own tier level status and it will be easier to achieve "Lifetime Gold” status.

Looking into 2016, we foresee another exciting year for SAS. To highlight just a few things, we will launch our new digital platform with a new design and new functionality, introduce changes to our short-haul food and beverage offering, receive the first of our new A320 planes and, of course, start operating our new routes to Los Angeles, Miami and Boston. We will also be inviting you to celebrate SAS's 70 years in the industry.

Thank you for your loyalty during the year and we look forward to welcoming you onboard in 2016!

Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year!

Best wishes,

Eivind Roald Executive
Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer, SAS Group

Not sure I agree this is a good idea. Actually I would have preferred if they brought back some decent point earning in the more expensive Plus saver booking classes instead.

Another stress on the FF amenities. Also, why go for Gold for mom and Gold for dad when you can pool, get mom a Diamond card that she use to gift dad a Gold card? This should vastly inflate the number of Diamonds.

I can't believe this.

Now that can't be true. I clearly remember you speaking fondly of at least the sparkling water. :D

While this would help me in renewing EBG next year, we neeed to be realistic that any perceived improvement will be offset by an eventual devaluation. I would be happy for this not to happen as the number of elites should go up and because I would expect the qualification for each tier level to increase...or earnings to soon but cut to compensate. Short term gain, long term loss for elites.

At least I had a laugh at the concept of improving the short haul catering. I suspect they are reading our threads and are just trolling FlyingMoose ☺

Edit: I may need to change my calculations of my kids MRs. The ability for me to earn basic points would tip the scales further in my favor. I have changed my mind...as long as SAS implements this in the next 3 weeks and retracts it by March. If not, my former statement holds.

I wonder why they didn't opt for rollover points instead of family basic point earnings/pooling. While it is great for people that have family accounts (and I do) but it excludes people without such social constructions from perks.

Rollover points and upgrades-vouchers. How hard can it be for SK to grasp that those are the things which are of value to their loyal elites.

Does anyone remember the facts around the current lifetime gold setup? I recall there was some age restriction or something for it to kick in after 10 years of gold.

Yes, family pooling will lead again to a huge increase of the elite members - it will even boost the Diamond numbers by far.

Only option is to reduce point earnings even more to offset that - everybody looses.

Lifetime Gold requirements have been 10 years EBG and being over 60 years old.

This could be motivated by tough competition with DY on family & vacation market. So it is not aimed for improving things for you and me, but to get some of that market back.

Strange move... I would rather think the total cost of the trip would be the deciding factor for families which opt for RyanAir or Norwegian - not to help mommy or daddy on their status.

Indeed.

SK has repeatedly stated that they want to be the airline of choice for the Nordic business traveler.

It would be a stretch to argue they want business travellers on SK planes as well on their leisure and holiday travel and hence introduced this, though that is unlikely.

This is not an enhancement that helps them achieve their mission. Rollover points and upgrades-vouchers do, though in typical SK fashion they first have to reinvent a worse version of the wheel before they copy a winning formula. Unnecessary and disappointing.

I'm still a few decades away but I'm wondering if those 10 years of EBG need to be consecutive?

Since it is not really in writing anywhere, I guess no one truly knows. 10 consecutive would make it a bit more challenging....

I think SAS would devaluate their points as a counter-measure for the pooling basic points to avoid excessive number of elites. Making 1 elite doesn't make family travelling with *A outside SAS hubs useful as you can only guest 1 person into the non-SK lounge.

DY has definitely taken a lot of shares for business travel from SK - The company Mr is working for puts DY as their preferred airline. He tried it and said DY is much better than SK and the free wifi works well.

I guess making 1 elite beats making 0... I know families where neither make gold but combined they could make 1. Which would for instance help the golf clubs along.

Try sitting 72 hours in LAX and see how much you appreciate the working wifi on the way home... :-) though the short haul is a far better side of DY.

I can confirm that you do not have to be EBG for 10 consecutive years. The rule is that you must have been EBG for 10 years in total and of course turned mighty 60! I'm getting there in less a decade :D.