Skift Take
With the ink barely dry on the divorce papers, Star Alliance is wasting no time in luring back some of SAS’ most loyal - and profitable - passengers. The aim of this neatly timed promotion is business continuity and customer retention, but it remains to be seen how many frequent flyers will take up the offer.
On September 1, SAS Scandinavian Airlines left Star Alliance and joined SkyTeam. The change came just days after Air France-KLM formalized its 19.9% shareholding in the Nordic carrier. With the Franco-Dutch group a cornerstone of SkyTeam, it was incomprehensible that SAS would remain with Star.
SAS EuroBonus silver members are now recognized as SkyTeam Elite, with gold and diamond members now ‘Elite Plus’. Any previous status held through SAS with the Star Alliance disappeared overnight. But that’s not the end of the story.
In a tactical move with timing very much by design rather than accident, Star is offering SAS’ best customers an opportunity that many will find hard to refuse.
On September 2, Star announced that SAS EuroBonus silver and go