The airline is en route to Air France-KLM. This means, among other things, that SAS has been delisted from the stock exchange in Norway and has left Star Alliance.
This can be of great importance, both for you as a customer and for shareholders.
For now, the question is what the change in ownership will mean for the bonus points you may have collected after using the company’s services. The points system is known as EuroBonus and it has become almost a sport to collect as many points as possible.
It is not yet clear what will happen to these points, but it is assumed that they will at least be affected in the long term.
– It is important to emphasize that we are not making any changes immediately. We are still members of Star Alliance until further notice, SAS CEO Anko van der Werff said at the press conference on Tuesday.
– Now anything can happen
Kaspar Synnevåg is among those excited about what will happen when SAS officially leaves Star Alliance. He is behind the podcast “Klassereisen”, a project in which he and his partner Henrik Hylland Uhlving collect as many Eurobonus points as possible.
They are listed with a pretty incredible 807,000 points. They’ve also won the million in the past, but Synnevåg recently booked a trip to Bali, among other places.
– Now anything can happen. I don’t have clear answers and it’s difficult to speculate on this, Synnevåg tells Nettavisen.
He says he treats collecting points as a project and started collecting points seriously because he loves traveling and having new experiences.
– It’s called prime, so I never take them for granted. You shouldn’t be too afraid, because that’s part of the game. But I see a real danger: the money will lose its value if SAS moves to another program. It will be exciting to follow, says Synnevåg.
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– Bonus tickets can be tight
He says he is tentatively optimistic about becoming a Sky Team customer. He likes the idea of being able to discover new places outside of Europe.
– The “worst case” is that the points are reset to zero. If that were to happen, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. At the same time, the program is very valuable to SAS and builds loyalty. I am confident that this will continue into the future in a form that will benefit customers, he says.
– Are you going to make hasty decisions following the change of ownership?
– I’m going to Bali in the fall, so that’s kind of where I have time to travel in the future. I would probably hurry, as it can be tight for bonus tickets. There is probably someone in the SAS who will be demoted.
Star Alliance includes, among others, Air Canada, Thai Airways, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines. Cooperation between airlines means that they share their bonus programs, lounges, technology and logistics, schedules and offers involving multiple airlines.
– Absolutely no way of long term prospects at the moment. When we leave Star Alliance and join Sky Team, we will make sure we take good care of our Eurobonus members, van der Werff said.
The new ownership of SAS is distributed as follows:
- Air France-KLM: 19.9 percent
- Danish state: 25.8 percent
- Castlelake Investment Fund: 32 percent
- Lind Invest investment fund: 8.6 percent
The final 13.6 percent will likely belong to creditors who will see the loaned capital converted into shares.
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