dark_phoenix

Got an email today saying that from Feb 2023, my terms and conditions of for my Eurobonus Mastercard Premium card would change.

The tl;dr version:
* Annual fee increases 25% (at least in Sweden) from 1495 SEK to 1855 SEK
* "Guaranteed EB Silver" is gone (e.g. fixed status points per month). Instead, everything is considered extra points and 25% of the extra points you earn every month get allocated as status points

Personally for me, I am not sure the SES EB Mastercard Premium makes sense anymore. I liked the card mainly because the FlyPremium bonus, but that has become increasingly difficult for me to use unless doing short haul trips where I plan in advance (e.g. SAS' habit of steering people towards indirect flights or limiting award ticket availability for popular times of the day).

Anyone else get this message yet?
If you have a SAS EB Mastercard Premium, will you be keeping it?

AutismoSupremo

Still undecided whether I will keep the card. I am currently thinking I will cancel the card as I've only been paying the annual fee as a way to gain status points/baspoäng with SAS. And after a breakdown in my relationship with SAS due to their Summer of Idiocy (which still isn't over for me as we are yet to be reimbursed three and a half months later), I am thinking of giving up on SAS completely.

Too bad Finnair folded their cards quickly after starting the direct route from Stockholm to L.A. I used to love the convenience of flying directly from ARN to LAX to see my SO before we got married. But now, living in a different country, waiting for a price hike in annual fee, suffering through "enhancements", limited award availability etc., it's getting to a point where it's very difficult to justify coughing up not SEK 1,495, but 1,855 a year for something that brings me no joy (Marie Kondo style)

GUWonder

I’m nudging some to move to the Nordic Choice Club credit card for those eligible and having use for hotel stays and hotel status in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark/Copenhagen. It too being SEB-issued, a devaluation of this card too wouldn’t surprise me — but for now it remains an especially cheap card to get for those who have Nordic Choice Club status at the Silver/Gold/Platinum level.

dark_phoenix

I completely understand you. I had an okay experience with SAS this summer in spite of their best efforts. They expect our loyalty to be recurring, but their efforts towards us are transactional at best.

I thought about this some more this morning. My loyalty may be misguided (it's actually down to a stunning lack of rewards-based credit cards in Scandinavia), but most of my spend happens on SAS-branded credit cards. And because we don't have corporate credit cards where I work, the amount of spend I could put on the Mastercard would probably help me get status faster (but I prioritise meeting the requirements for the 2-4-1 AmEx vouchers since those are more useable for me than FlyPremium). But unless credit card spend would be considered as part of getting EB Pandion, once I achieve ED Diamond through a combo is flights and spend, the Mastercard would go back into the drawer because I wouldn't want to lose 25% of my points every month to status points that don't help me achieve status (they aren't baspöng so they won't be useable to redemptions).

I can see how this would be a good use case for some people (if you don't travel a lot, the concept helps you get beyond Silver if you spend a reasonable amount, provided you want abandon extra points for status points). However, "power spenders" get limited value from the card past a certain point. If they were really interested in building customer loyalty, they would integrate with the EB program to make it that all points earned are extra points once someone reaches EB Diamond to keep them using the card.

I'm still modelling scenarios.

Thanks for suggesting this. Will definitely look into it.

nacho

Now we only have the SAS blue AMEX as it's free. SAS still owes us compensation for 4 pax and we are all EBG! Basically they don't care and chatted with them and they said we need to be patient and wait for an answer.

dark_phoenix

I am EBD, but I have noticed via my EBG friends that the service quality level for them has declined in recent months. I got my refunds/compensation within a week. And when I had to rebook during the strike, they were quick with Lufthansa. Three of EBG friends are still waiting for compensation four months later.

I don't have any evidence, but I do wonder if all of their status boosting activities last year (4x) and this year (2x) have created so many EBGs that they basically guarantee a backlog even for the EBGs?

FlyingMoose

I think it is great news. It lets me re-qualify SAS Diamond without flying SAS or *A. Wonder how AMEX will respond seeing how they raised their fees for the Platinum card substantially without providing value.

nacho

I don't think there are that many people go out of their ways to try to score EBG just because SK had the 4x offer. We are TK G through flying and we got EBG through the 4x offer. It's like people in the Marriott forum that everyone is Plat or something, but if you look at the statistics most people are just regular members.

The customer service with SK is close to non-existent, chat and call won't help you with the compensation. I can't even get a human to look at a case that got me through a horrible ordeal. No outstation ticketing office and basically they are cutting down to zero - I saw people said SK ended the contract with Bag support so now no more replacement suitcase at CPH. I was also told by a CSR when I called to ask about rebooking option with other airlines for a flight to Japan that was cancelled and he said he is not sure if LH agreement will still be there in February 2023. The refund did go through fast which was faster than I expected (the CSR said SK is dealing with the refund of tickets as their first priority).

GUWonder

Could be. I suspect that they just don’t run a tight ship and are more eager to bring in the revenue now than worry as much about what it may mean with regard to providing service and the service levels for those in the elevated FFP ranks.

Of the Swedes I knew to have EBG in 2019 probably pretty much just from work/OPM flights, most seem to be no longer flying as much in 2022 as in 2019.

jerrythegreat12

Same EBD, flight canceled in July, still waiting for compensation.

Fredrik74

I got it today but had read about it elsewhere.

This is my secondary card and I foresee less points coming my way. I'm not willing to give up yet, especially since my next qualifyiing period is Oct-Sep so I will get a few status points anyway. Just as for you FlyPremium has been one of the things I found valuable.

This card has been used to help less frequent travellers to reach EBG but I'm aware it's not popular to mention that. Not that it's anything wrong with it. I can see that those travellers may re-consider the value of the card.

I should be able to requalify just from flights and AMEX this period so there's no urgency on my side. I don't have AMEX Plat but have their Elite card. No enhancements yet but I'm sure it's coming. In any case their shift towards being a lifestyle enabler isn't my cup of tea. Others may like going to a restaurant that AMEX selected and "choose" the available menu.

I don't need that validation in my personal life but I know at least some people over at BC are like that...

SASegments

SASegments

That is not what the letter says. In stead of getting 1,000 status points as a fixed monthly amount you will get status points equal to 25% of the extra points earned. Says nothing about losing the extra points or any conversion.

nacho

The choice cc is not available in Denmark. Denmark really sucks in terms of CC offerings.

Basically the MC premium is designed for big spenders which is not really for regular people.

Daner

I am not flying as often as I would like to, but I am close to earning lifetime gold, so it still makes sense for me.

Every purchase that takes Amex (with the exception of double-point weekends for the MC) goes there to keep the 2-4-1 deals coming. Everything that doesn't take Amex goes on the MC.

When I hit lifetime gold in another couple of years, I'll re-evaluate.