SKT-DK

Well before the OP gets further up on a high horse on the point of what a C means, and continues to bark at people telling him it is not black and white.... When BA domestic UK routes were still all economy, everyone from cheap to full-fare received a boarding pass with a C printed on it. That did not mean that you were a business class eligible customer whatsoever, nor does a C in the SAS case mean that SAS Plus is a business class product.
Also, the cheap fares on codeshares (e.g. A and P class to name a few) do not book into business class on LH or LX - only the higher ones do. Not sure if it is still the case, but used to be S and above if I am not mistaking.

w0r1dtrave1er

I wonder why this is the case with United. It could because of their domestic US/CA policy of not allowing lounge access for *G or FC pax, so they can sell lounge membership as another product. I was a paid lounge member of Delta Crowne Clubs for years, when a majority of my flying was intra N. America

CPH-Flyer

That is exactly to be able to sell United Club memberships. No doubt about that.

w0r1dtrave1er

At least with SkyTeam I've had no problem entering Delta Clubs on domestic flights when I was crediting to Alitalia, and at the time I was SkyTeam Elite Plus with AZ...

So sometimes for N. American travelers it can be a benefit to hold status with an non-US airline specifically for this purpose (looking at you A3)

CPH-Flyer

I have zero issues going to a United Club based on Eurobonus on a domestic only ticket, I have zero problems using AA Flagship check in on domestic only based on my JAL card. The flip side is that I can't use the domestic upgrades. Each traveller has to weigh what perk is most important to them, and decide how to manage their elite status.

Nick Art

Most posts here have been moved and a lot of context has been lost. I didn't want to have a topic created out of my comment which has been taken out of a discussion which essentially I had already quit: The topic of the discussion wasn't about lounge access, but weither SAS Plus on short haul should be seen as Business or as Premium Economy not service wise, but system wise. I've made my take on this clear and presented my case, if you agree or disagree is up to you.

As for your argument of the letter, in my experience the letter Y is used to identify Economy, the letter C for Business and the letter F for First across all of the star alliance airlines I have flown. I am not certain how it is with the Premium Economy tickets, sure, but exactly because Business Class tickets are labled C it lead me to my conclusion to see short haul SAS Plus as Business Class. (While on longhaul it is labled Y, while Business is labeld C.)
As for the lower booking classes not mapping into Business on LH/LX: SAS doesn't sell the lower classes on the codeshare flights. The only way to force this would be to book a long haul SAS Plus flight with a feeder on a codeshare which will then map into Economy, while on SAS it would book into Plus.

The reason why I stoped replying in this discussion was that both sides had arguments and it essentially comes down to personal preference on if you view SAS Plus on short haul as Premium Economy or Business Class.

And I'm not barking at anybody from my high horse, I'm only trying to lay down my arguments constructively in this discussion, there is no need to start insulting me.

Nick Art

On the specific topic of United: I've just looked up the access rules:




So essentially all UA *G do not have access on domestic flights, while all other airline *G do?
That is indeed quite harsh!

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

Correct. It's the same with all US airlines in Star and OneWorld. Class of service (except for some limited routes) and status don't grant lounge access. That is achieved through paid membership of airline clubs (AAmirals Club, United Club etc).

Foreign alliance status pax, where members can't be expected to have paid a membership, are granted access to lounges.

(Edited to clarify this does not apply to Skyteam which has different criteria mentioned in the post below)

GUWonder

CPH-Flyer

I actually thought DL got that policy pushed throughout the alliance, no status based lounge access on domestic only tickets. Now that I think of it.

GUWonder

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

Apologies re Skyteam! I have almost no knowledge of their lounge access policy. By the looks of it it is very different to OneWorld and Star with it's limit to international flights only.

CPH-Flyer

I know Aeroflot is of that view as well.

highupinthesky

The whole problem is there are no letter for Premium Economy. But that doesn't change the fact the SAS Plus is a premium economy product. On both short haul and long haul you get fast track and lounge access when flying SAS plus, so the service class on your boarding card can't be used to determine your lounge access etc. That's probably also why SAS has started to use SAS plus or SAS business etc. on boarding cards, instead of the service class letter.

AlicorporateUK

Another data point regarding Sky Team/lounge access - as a Platinum through Flying Blue, I have no lounge access when flying Alitalia within Italy whereas coming from an international flight and connecting to a domestic service (or vice-versa) then lounge access is permitted. Flying domestic within France would get me lounge access at CDG/ORY/BOD/LYS/NCE but it's been ages since I've done that (i.e. France domestic) so things may have changed in the meantime.

G