This is arguably the most interesting development in the airline market this year: On September 1, SAS Scandinavian Airlines will switch from Star Alliance to SkyTeam – i.e. in only three days!
SAS has been busy updating the mileage tables for its newly acquired partners. The earning rates for flights with Air France & KLM were announced back in July. Last week, updates for credits with airlines such as Kenya Airways & Vietnam Airlines followed.
Now, several more airline partners have been added, and their point rates have been published. New additions include China Eastern, Delta Air Lines, and Virgin Atlantic. However, these tables bring a significant disappointment for Delta passengers: The credits for the cheapest fares range from 0% to 10%—even on long-haul flights. And – currently – you’d get 0 miles for any Delta premium economy flight.
Mileage Tables Published for 14 SkyTeam Airlines So Far
So far, earning rates have been published for the following SkyTeam partners. We’ve linked each mileage earning table below:
- Aerolineas Argentinas
- Aeromexico
- Air France
- China Airlines (from Taiwan)
- China Eastern
- Delta Air Lines
- Kenya Airwas
- KLM
- Korean Air
- Saudia
- TAROM
- Vietnam Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- Xiamen Airlines
Therefore, Air Europa, Garuda Indonesia, ITA Airways, and Middle East Airlines are still missing.
The new earning rates have already been integrated into our mileage calculator:
If you currently hold a status at EuroBonus, you can use the following calculator to see the earnings, incl. your status bonus:
Disappointing Earning Rates for Delta Flights
While the credits for most other airlines look quite reasonable, the situation with Delta is different. There’s nothing to complain about regarding business class earnings, where at least 125% of the distance is credited as points. However, if you’re travelling on a cheap economy ticket or ANY premium economy ticket you can almost forget about EuroBonus as an option. Here’s what you can expect:
- No miles in Basic Economy (fare without luggage)
- Only 10% miles in booking classes T, X, and V
- No miles in premium economy (Premium Select)
Notably, V is usually the booking class applied when upgrading from Basic Economy to Main Cabin. For instance, Delta currently sells round-trip flights to New York for €396 (Basic Economy) or €531 (Main Cabin), as seen in the following screenshot:
For the €400 ticket, you would earn no miles at all. If you book the fare with luggage for €531, you would only earn 805 status and award miles.
This is very meagre compared to other SkyTeam programs. For instance, with Flying Blue, you would earn 1,610 award miles in booking class E, and at least 2,014 award miles in class V.
A potential workaround might be to book Delta flights as a codeshare with KL or AF flight numbers, but that is not always possible.
Delta’s premium economy (booking classes A, G, and P) is entirely missing from the mileage table. However, this could be a mistake and may hopefully be corrected sooner or later.
Other Notable Earnings
While most published earnings are quite standard, a few booking classes have caught our eye. Here’s a brief overview of things we’ve noticed:
- Saudia: Economy booking classes N, T, and V get you 50%. Usually used for €300-450 tickets from Europe to Asia
- Virgin Atlantic: All business booking classes get you 200%, as well as premium economy W & S. (Maybe a mistake?)
- China Eastern: Economy class gets you max. 40%.
- Aerolíneas Argentinas: 200% for business class, 150% for “premium economy”. We’re pretty sure that’s a mistake. It’s highly likely that the correct earning rates are 150% and 125%.
Credit for SAS Flights with Other SkyTeam Programs Still Unclear
Regarding the mileage credit for SAS flights at other SkyTeam programs, there are still no updates. It remains unclear how many miles SAS passengers can expect to earn at Delta SkyMiles, Flying Blue, and others. Hopefully, this information will be released by September 1.
Translated and edited by Ditmar
Cover Picture: Ditmar Lange