Points expiration in times of COVID19
Apr 15, 2020, 7:40 am
#31
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Cape Town, WC
Programs: AF LTP, LH Sen, M Amb
Posts: 400
Thanks everyone for chiming in.
Well... looks like no good options are on the table, only bad ones. I do agree with others it's totally pathetic. I mean being so pettifogging with not pausing points expiration is bad enough (and the optics of such move! basically every other major program minus LH did so). Then to add insult to injury they severely limited options to spend points. Tricksters. They're not ashamed to basically take advantage of the situation and do fast track liability reduction within EuroBonus.
I couldn't find how to write in. Contact Us has only phone numbers listed and a couple of non relevant emails for US market. I called US and SE numbers - never got through. Then I called Russian phone number (one has to wonder why they still have one), no wait, talked to a pretty nice lady who advised no policy in place and suggested to call back in a month.
Would be a go to option if nothing better pops up by the end of May - booking an award and hoping the flight would get cancelled.
At least something, but that would apply only to SAS flights as you can't book any Star Alliance flights at the moment.
Well... looks like no good options are on the table, only bad ones. I do agree with others it's totally pathetic. I mean being so pettifogging with not pausing points expiration is bad enough (and the optics of such move! basically every other major program minus LH did so). Then to add insult to injury they severely limited options to spend points. Tricksters. They're not ashamed to basically take advantage of the situation and do fast track liability reduction within EuroBonus.
I couldn't find how to write in. Contact Us has only phone numbers listed and a couple of non relevant emails for US market. I called US and SE numbers - never got through. Then I called Russian phone number (one has to wonder why they still have one), no wait, talked to a pretty nice lady who advised no policy in place and suggested to call back in a month.
Apr 16, 2020, 2:22 am
#32
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Koala Lemur
Programs: SK EBD LTG (*G)
Posts: 2,447
I do agree with others it's totally pathetic. I mean being so pettifogging with not pausing points expiration is bad enough (and the optics of such move! basically every other major program minus LH did so). Then to add insult to injury they severely limited options to spend points. Tricksters. They're not ashamed to basically take advantage of the situation and do fast track liability reduction within EuroBonus.
I am also surprised that they limited the physical shopping, at least according to reports here. I always thought that selling through the physical shop was an excellent way for the airline to divest of the points debt accumulated. But, of course, expiring points, is even a better deal for them...
Apr 16, 2020, 3:15 am
#33
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Tokyo
Programs: JAL Metal Card (OWE), SAS Eurobonus Gold (*G), Marriott Titanium (LTP), Tokyu Hotels Platinum
Posts: 21,160
Perhaps, you hit the nail on its head. It might be that SK matches their actions to LH. It might be just showing whom they consider as a serious competitor in their home markets, at least when it comes to 'stealing' frequent fliers.
I am also surprised that they limited the physical shopping, at least according to reports here. I always thought that selling through the physical shop was an excellent way for the airline to divest of the points debt accumulated. But, of course, expiring points, is even a better deal for them...
I am also surprised that they limited the physical shopping, at least according to reports here. I always thought that selling through the physical shop was an excellent way for the airline to divest of the points debt accumulated. But, of course, expiring points, is even a better deal for them...
Apr 17, 2020, 1:49 am
#34
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Seat 1L these days :)
Programs: AF Platinum/AY LUMO/SK EBG/baEC S/HYATT Globalist/MR LTP/A3 *G/HH Dia/IHG plat
Posts: 7,957
It is still a cash out, while the redemption rates are pretty abysmal for the members, I don't think that the cash out per point is lower than it is on partner airline redemption. Partner airline redemption that they cut completely. They would generally prefer you to book SK flights, or have your points expire. Probably in that order.
perhaps they should open space on SK flights for redemptions into the future 😁 I have rarely been able to book any desired SK flights on LH... HKG/LAX/SFO etc allways full except of course when cash prices are 299€ 😂😂😂
Apr 17, 2020, 1:54 am
#35
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Tokyo
Programs: JAL Metal Card (OWE), SAS Eurobonus Gold (*G), Marriott Titanium (LTP), Tokyu Hotels Platinum
Posts: 21,160
Yeah, I did forget to think about the abysmal J availability. How is Y and PY actually? I never looked at long haul awards for Y and PY with SK.
Apr 17, 2020, 2:16 am
#36
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: AGH
Posts: 5,976
Apr 17, 2020, 4:12 am
#37
Join Date: Oct 2011
Programs: EuroBonus Diamond, Delta Skymiles 360, BAEC LTG, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 2,827
This is still a confusing thread, the closest SAS has to frequent flyers already enjoy their points not expiring. If you need years to save up for a ticket to X or only qualify Silver or Gold, is the loss even noticeable?
Apr 17, 2020, 6:02 am
#38
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: AGH
Posts: 5,976
I guess the people hit hardest are the EBGs qualifying by segments. Because qualifying by segments means they fly a lot on very cheap tickets which don't give any benefits like lounge, FastTrack or similar. For them, losing the Gold benefits will be noticeable. For EBD/EBG qualifying through long haul in Premium Cabins, the current benefits are anyway already covered via the ticket price - more or less.
Apr 17, 2020, 7:19 am
#39
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: CPH, Swedish side of the bridge
Programs: SK*G (EBD)
Posts: 574
BTW - How long do points last at the different levels. It was a long time ago I had to worry about that, and I can't seem to find the info on the SAS website...
Apr 17, 2020, 2:05 pm
#41
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: United Kingdom
Programs: Bonvoy LTTitanium, BAEC Silver
Posts: 591
So I could just book something later in the year and if the dates don't work closer to the time then I can rebook for free even though the points would have expired presumably?
Apr 19, 2020, 4:57 pm
#42
Moderator: SAS
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: BLL & CPH & ZRH
Programs: LX, SK EBD (*G)
Posts: 3,152
Correct, but you can only rebook to other award availability, which will be difficult to find later depending on the route.
Apr 20, 2020, 2:01 am
#43
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: United Kingdom
Programs: Bonvoy LTTitanium, BAEC Silver
Posts: 591
Apr 20, 2020, 3:51 am
#44
Join Date: Oct 2011
Programs: EuroBonus Diamond, Delta Skymiles 360, BAEC LTG, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 2,827
I guess the people hit hardest are the EBGs qualifying by segments. Because qualifying by segments means they fly a lot on very cheap tickets which don't give any benefits like lounge, FastTrack or similar. For them, losing the Gold benefits will be noticeable. For EBD/EBG qualifying through long haul in Premium Cabins, the current benefits are anyway already covered via the ticket price - more or less.
Apr 20, 2020, 4:11 am
#45
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: AGH
Posts: 5,976
Are those flyers really a loss? I imagine it would suck having to do a lot of very short flights on very cheap tickets before getting the status back and I doubt they really have alternatives. In my book those are exactly the elites you don't want to pamper in these times.
Sure, we can always discuss if having too many cheapo elites dilute the status for high spending elites by impacting the exclusivity, which in turn might have an impact on extra services provided.