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EXPLAINED: How SAS’s decision to switch airline alliance will affect travellers

Scandinavia's SAS airline has announced it is moving to SkyTeam from the Star Alliance, with knock-on effects on routes, points and lounges for travellers from Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Published: 8 April 2024 17:08 CEST
EXPLAINED: How SAS's decision to switch airline alliance will affect travellers
SAS Eurobonus Gold members will gain access to the SkyTeam lounge in Istanbul (pictured) but will lose access to lounges elsewhere. Photo: SkyTeam

In a statement posted on its website, the airline said the change would occur from August 31st 2024. 

SAS co-founded the Star Alliance, through which it is currently tied to 28 airlines, including Germany’s Lufthansa, the US’s United, Singapore Airlines, and Air China. 

But after Air France-KLM bought a $1.2bn stake in the airline last autumn, it has always been only a matter of time before the airline switched to their rival SkyTeam alliance, which includes Delta Airlines in the US, China Airlines in China, and Korean Airlines in the rest of Asia. 

Irina Busic, SAS’s press officer in Sweden, told The Local that the details of the switch had still to be decided. 

“It’s complex to change flight alliance,” she said. “There are a lot of contracts and agreements that have to be reviewed/renegotiated and IT-systems to be integrated.” 

But here are some of the things that are likely to change. 

Flight destinations and routes

The change will affect the partners SAS has in flights to far-flung destinations it does not serve directly, meaning passengers flying to the US are likely to fly the US leg of their journey with Delta rather than United Airlines. Those travelling to China are more likely to fly China Airlines than Air China and those travelling to Southeast Asia, more likely to fly with Korean Airlines than Singapore Airlines. 

The switch may also change the airports where SAS customers have stopovers or layovers, with fewer stops at Frankfurt, Lufthansa’s main European hub, and more at Amsterdam Schiphol (KLM) or Paris Charles de Gaulle (Air France). 

In the US, SkyTeam member Delta Airlines’s biggest hub is at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, whereas the biggest hub for Star Alliance member United Airlines is Chicago–O’Hare, which could affect where SAS passengers travelling to the US have to change planes. 

Because SkyTeam is a smaller alliance, with 19 members to the Star Alliance’s 26 members, the switch may also reduce the number of destinations SAS can serve though their alliance, although in its press release, the airline said it would still be able to offer customers flights to 1,060 destinations. 

What difference will the change make to SAS’s bonus programme? 

SAS said in the statement that its EuroBonus programme would remain “largely the same”, with loyal SAS customers keeping the points they have accrued and still able to spend them on flights with partner airlines. 

From September 1st, the airline said that EuroBonus members could enjoy “similar benefits” to today with “most” SkyTeam alliance airlines. 

Among other things, this means that EuroBonus Silver members will get extra baggage and priority check-in when travelling with most SkyTeam airlines. 

EuroBonus Gold and Diamond members, meanwhile, will receive benefits like “lounge access, fast track and priority boarding” when travelling with most SkyTeam airlines.

SAS customers will be able to use EuroBonus points to book bonus travel on most SkyTeam airlines for all flights from September 1st.

Until August 31st 2024, EuroBonus members will be able to use their points to book trips on Star Alliance airlines using the Star Alliance Bonus Trip booking tool, even if the travel date is after August 31st 2024.

What difference will it make to access to airport lounges? 

SkyTeam members offer around 750 lounges, with six dedicated SkyTeam lounges in airports around the world. This is slightly fewer than the roughly 1,000 lounges operated by Star Alliance members. 

 
 

Member comments

  1. There are already changes for this summer.
    I used to fly back to Lyon (France) via Frankfort or Munich, but this is already no more available for this summer.
    With strange routing, going to Istanbul instead.
    Despite what SAS is claiming, it looks like Lufthansa has already reduced connections to its network

  3. It’s going to be a big downgrade in terms of quality of the alliance beyond Scandinavia. I wonder if and how Star Alliance will try to cover the gap there is in Scandinavia as it will be now dominated by SkyTeam and one world.

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TRAVEL NEWS

How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

As European travellers prepare for the introduction of enhanced passport checks known as the Entry & Exit System (EES), many readers have asked us what this means for the '90-day rule' for non-EU citizens.

Published: 1 May 2024 07:18 CEST
How do the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

From the start date to the situation for dual nationals and non-EU residents living in the EU, it’s fair to say that readers of The Local have a lot of questions about the EU’s new biometric passport check system known as EES.

You can find our full Q&A on how the new system will work HERE, or leave us your questions HERE.

And one of the most commonly-asked questions was what the new system changes with regards to the 90-day rule – the rule that allows citizens of certain non-EU countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the EU without needing a visa.

And the short answer is – nothing. The key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any rules on immigration, visas etc.

Therefore the 90-day rule continues as it is – but what EES does change is the enforcement of the rule.

90 days 

The 90-day rule applies to citizens of a select group of non-EU countries;

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Citizens of these countries can spend up to 90 days in every 180 within the EU or Schengen zone without needing a visa or residency permit.

People who are citizens of neither the EU/Schengen zone nor the above listed countries need a visa even for short trips into the EU – eg an Indian or Chinese tourist coming for a two-week holiday would require a visa. 

In total, beneficiaries of the 90-day rule can spend up to six months in the EU, but not all in one go. They must limit their visits so that in any 180-day (six month) period they have spent less than 90 days (three months) in the Bloc.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90 days are calculated according to a rolling calendar so that at any point in the year you must be able to count backwards to the last 180 days, and show that you have spent less than 90 of them in the EU/Schengen zone.

You can find full details on how to count your days HERE.

If you wish to spend more than 90 days at a time you will have to leave the EU and apply for a visa for a longer stay. Applications must be done from your home country, or via the consulate of your home country if you are living abroad.

Under EES 90-day rule beneficiaries will still be able to travel visa free (although ETIAS will introduce extra changes, more on that below).

EES does not change either the rule or how the days are calculated, but what it does change is the enforcement.

Enforcement

One of the stated aims of the new system is to tighten up enforcement of ‘over-stayers’ – that is people who have either overstayed the time allowed on their visa or over-stayed their visa-free 90 day period.

At present border officials keep track of your time within the Bloc via manually stamping passports with the date of each entry and exit to the Bloc. These stamps can then be examined and the days counted up to ensure that you have not over-stayed.

The system works up to a point – stamps are frequently not checked, sometimes border guards incorrectly stamp a passport or forget to stamp it as you leave the EU, and the stamps themselves are not always easy to read.

What EES does is computerise this, so that each time your passport is scanned as you enter or leave the EU/Schengen zone, the number of days you have spent in the Bloc is automatically tallied – and over-stayers will be flagged.

For people who stick to the limits the system should – if it works correctly – actually be better, as it will replace the sometimes haphazard manual stamping system.

But it will make it virtually impossible to over-stay your 90-day limit without being detected.

The penalties for overstaying remain as they are now – a fine, a warning or a ban on re-entering the EU for a specified period. The penalties are at the discretion of each EU member state and will vary depending on your personal circumstances (eg how long you over-stayed for and whether you were working or claiming benefits during that time).

ETIAS 

It’s worth mentioning ETIAS at this point, even though it is a completely separate system to EES, because it will have a bigger impact on travel for many people.

ETIAS is a different EU rule change, due to be introduced some time after EES has gone live (probably in 2025, but the timetable for ETIAS is still somewhat unclear).

It will have a big impact on beneficiaries of the 90-day rule, effectively ending the days of paperwork-free travel for them.

Under ETIAS, beneficiaries of the 90-rule will need to apply online for a visa waiver before they travel. Technically this is a visa waiver rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of an era when 90-day beneficiaries can travel without doing any kind of immigration paperwork.

If you have travelled to the US in recent years you will find the ETIAS system very similar to the ESTA visa waiver – you apply online in advance, fill in a form and answer some questions and are sent your visa waiver within a couple of days.

ETIAS will cost €7 (with an exemption for under 18s and over 70s) and will last for three years.

Find full details HERE. 

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