Star Alliance Fires Back at SAS Defection with Loyalty Status Match
Skift Take
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
