SAS EuroBonus is celebrating its 20th year and has made some changes to the program. One change is the way in which members earn points on economy class flights. In the past, members could earn varying points on the same flight route, but as of May 4, 2012, members will earn 100 percent point earning on economy flights with SAS, Blue1 and Wideroe.
Another change as of May 4 is in the way members earn Gold status. In the past, the entry to Gold status varied quite a bit between countries. Now, for all parts of the world except for members in Norway, members can reach Gold status after earning 50,000 points or flying 50 one-way trips during your membership year. Members in Norway earn Gold status after earning 45,000 points or taking 35 one-way flights (no change). The reason that the members in Norway have a lower threshold is because members of EuroBonus in Norway cannot earn EuroBonus miles for domestic flights. Silver membership thresholds remain the same.
Along with harmonizing the way members earn Gold status, the way members earn points has been streamlined. Some flights will now earn more points while others will earn less. For example, before the May 4 changes, trips within Scandinavia earn 150 points in low economy, 600 points in economy, 900 points in Economy Extra and 1,200 points in business. After May 4 for flights within Scandinavia, economy (plus low economy) will earn 500 points, Economy extra will earn 750 points and business will earn 1,000 points. There are changes throughout the earnings chart but members will continue to earn 50 percent more miles in Economy Extra than in economy and twice as many points when traveling in business class. For details, visit http://insideflyerus.wpengine.com/link/?6071
Bottom line: Members can expect more changes to be announced in the near future, but for now, the program has been streamlined and that is not a bad idea. For members in North America, and other areas outside of Scandinavia, Europe and the Middle East, you can now earn Gold status after 20,000 points less than before–50,000 points compared to the previous 70,000 points. But if you earn status through one-way flights, you’ll have to fly 10 more flights than before to earn Gold Status, the change is from 40 one-way flights to 50.
