Update: This promo has officially hit the mainstream, with the Wall Street Journal covering it yesterday. Will you try to earn 1 million miles?
Originally posted on 10/10:
SAS was a founding Star Alliance member, but they jumped ship to SkyTeam last month.
That’s a pretty cool promotion.
I did my share of mileage runs back in the day.
In 2004 I earned 8 AA AVNYC free systemwide flight vouchers for flying twice between NYC and Florida or California during a price war with JetBlue.
In 2006 I flew home from yeshiva in LA with a dozen connections, thanks to AA offering 10K miles with each flight segment.
Just 8 years ago, I took the family on 2 JetBlue flights, just to earn 300,000 bonus JetBlue points.
I certainly miss the era of creative mileage promotions like Wendy’s Cups to rack up decades worth of flight credits.
For the SAS promotion, you can book paid flights with miles credited to SAS, use SAS miles for flights, or a combination of paid and award flights, as long as they’re credited to SAS or from SAS miles.
You have to fly on 15 of the 17 SkyTeam airlines found here, which lists SAS, Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeromexico, AirEuropa, Air France, China Airlines, China Eastern, Delta, Garuda Indonesia, Kenya, KLM, Korean, Saudia, Tamon, Vietnam, Virgin Atlantic, and Xiamen.
Notably, Aeroflot, Czech, ITA, and MEA do not qualify for this promotion.
A flight with multiple segments on multiple airlines counts as flying each of those airlines.
5th freedom routes may make this easier or more interesting. For example, Kenya Airways flies from Bangkok to Guangzhou and from Victoria Falls or Livingstone to Cape Town. KLM flies from Singapore to Bali and Buenos Aires to Santiago. China Airlines flies from Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney to Auckland. Virgin Atlantic flies from Bridgetown to Grenada and S. Vincent. They’re not 5th freedom routes, but Air France flies from Miami to Pointe-à-Pitre, Montreal to Pointe-à-Pitre, Pointe-à-Pitre to Fort-de-France, Fort-de-France to Cayenne, and Los Angeles to Papeete.
Here is the SAS award chart for SAS flights.
And here is the SAS award chart for partner award flights.
Points expire 4 years after the year in which they are earned. If you enroll now, points earned in the next year would expire in 5 years from now. The exact date can be found in your SAS profile.
There was certainly a time when I would have creatively figured out how to best take advantage of this to earn a million miles. But my problem these days is finding the time to burn through the miles I keep racking up through opening credit cards!
Will you take advantage of this promotion?
Leave a Reply
45 Comments On "[Now Covered In The WSJ] Fly 15 SkyTeam Airlines And Earn 1,000,000 SAS EuroBonus Miles!"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
Can someone put together a group and an itinerary? Let’s do this
+1
Try here:
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=137656
What’s the tax liability on this?
None.
“There was certainly a time when I would have creatively figured out how to best take advantage of this to earn a million miles. But my problem these days is finding the time to burn through the miles I keep racking up through opening credit cards!” If you need help using those miles. I’ll gladly take some off your hands 😉
If you don’t have the same problem, you’re not playing the game hard enough. 😀
I’m playing tee-ball, you’re in the majors
Not that much time left till the end of 2024
But would be so much fun to work this out!!
“There was certainly a time when I would have creatively figured out how to best take advantage of this to earn a million miles. But my problem these days is finding the time to burn through the miles I keep racking up through opening credit cards!”
what a good problem to have 😉
Indeed, BH.
paging zalmy silver …..
Not safe.
Alol
Im a little confused, do I have to fly 15 in different airlines or could it all be in the same airline
Not sure how what I wrote could be confusing. Read it again?
The Title of the post answers that question. No
I want to confirm in order to get these miles. I need a book through SAS?
Not for paid flights. You just need to credit the miles earned to SAS.
How?
Do I earn s a s point?
AI:
Here’s a 15-flight itinerary with SkyTeam airlines to complete the EuroBonus challenge starting from New York on November 9th, late PM. The goal is to finish in the shortest possible time, aiming for around 12-15 days.
Day 1: November 9, 2024
Flight 1: Delta Airlines (DL)
Route: New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG)
Departure: 10:00 PM
Duration: 7h 30m
Arrival: November 10, 5:30 AM (local time)
Day 2: November 10, 2024
Flight 2: Air France (AF)
Route: Paris (CDG) to Amsterdam (AMS)
Departure: 8:30 AM
Duration: 1h 20m
Arrival: 9:50 AM
Flight 3: KLM (KL)
Route: Amsterdam (AMS) to Rome (FCO)
Departure: 2:30 PM
Duration: 2h 20m
Arrival: 4:50 PM
Day 3: November 11, 2024
Flight 4: ITA Airways (AZ)
Route: Rome (FCO) to Milan (MXP)
Departure: 7:00 AM
Duration: 1h 10m
Arrival: 8:10 AM
Flight 5: TAROM (RO)
Route: Milan (MXP) to Bucharest (OTP)
Departure: 11:30 AM
Duration: 2h 10m
Arrival: 2:40 PM
Day 4: November 12, 2024
Flight 6: Aeroflot (SU)
Route: Bucharest (OTP) to Moscow (SVO)
Departure: 6:00 AM
Duration: 3h 20m
Arrival: 9:20 AM
Flight 7: Air Serbia (JU)
Route: Moscow (SVO) to Belgrade (BEG)
Departure: 1:30 PM
Duration: 3h 10m
Arrival: 3:40 PM
Day 5: November 13, 2024
Flight 8: China Eastern Airlines (MU)
Route: Belgrade (BEG) to Shanghai (PVG)
Departure: 7:00 AM
Duration: 11h 30m
Arrival: November 14, 12:30 AM
Day 6: November 14, 2024
Flight 9: China Southern Airlines (CZ)
Route: Shanghai (PVG) to Guangzhou (CAN)
Departure: 3:00 PM
Duration: 2h 20m
Arrival: 5:20 PM
Flight 10: Vietnam Airlines (VN)
Route: Guangzhou (CAN) to Hanoi (HAN)
Departure: 7:30 PM
Duration: 2h 0m
Arrival: 9:30 PM
Day 7: November 15, 2024
Flight 11: Korean Air (KE)
Route: Hanoi (HAN) to Seoul (ICN)
Departure: 8:00 AM
Duration: 4h 0m
Arrival: 12:00 PM
Day 8: November 16, 2024
Flight 12: Garuda Indonesia (GA)
Route: Seoul (ICN) to Jakarta (CGK)
Departure: 1:30 PM
Duration: 7h 20m
Arrival: 8:50 PM
Day 9: November 17, 2024
Flight 13: Xiamen Air (MF)
Route: Jakarta (CGK) to Xiamen (XMN)
Departure: 9:30 AM
Duration: 5h 10m
Arrival: 2:40 PM
Day 10: November 18, 2024
Flight 14: Saudia Airlines (SV)
Route: Xiamen (XMN) to Riyadh (RUH)
Departure: 8:00 AM
Duration: 9h 30m
Arrival: 3:30 PM
Day 11: November 19, 2024
Flight 15: Delta Airlines (DL)
Route: Riyadh (RUH) to New York (JFK)
Departure: 11:00 AM
Duration: 13h 0m
Arrival: 4:00 PM
This itinerary allows you to complete the challenge in 11 days with 2-3 flights per day in some legs, ensuring a quick but manageable pace. I recommend reviewing the airlines’ schedules for exact timings as some flights could shift slightly. You could also optimize layovers for shorter times depending on availability
Nice, but go back to the drawing board.
2 of those airlines don’t count for this promotion, as noted in the post.
Do the bookings with the 15 airlines need to be in a specific class/fare
Or any will do ? (Also basic?)
Anything that earns miles, see the SAS site for which fares earn miles for each partner.
Don’t forget to include the price, otherwise it’s a waste of time
This is clearly from AI
Yea, the very first word of the comment is “AI:”
Chat GPT gave me this itinerary .
Here’s a revised itinerary starting and ending in New York, accommodating your preference to avoid traveling on Fridays and Saturdays, while still covering the 15 required SkyTeam airlines.
Revised Itinerary (No Friday or Saturday Travel)
Day 1: Monday, October 28, 2024
Flight 1: New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG)
Airline: Delta Airlines
Segment: 1
Flight 2: Paris (CDG) to Barcelona (BCN)
Airline: Air France
Segment: 2
Day 2: Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Flight 3: Barcelona (BCN) to Madrid (MAD)
Airline: Air Europa
Segment: 3
Flight 4: Madrid (MAD) to Amsterdam (AMS)
Airline: KLM
Segment: 4
Day 3: Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Flight 5: Amsterdam (AMS) to Cairo (CAI)
Airline: Saudia (via Riyadh)
Segment: 5
Flight 6: Cairo (CAI) to Nairobi (NBO)
Airline: Kenya Airways
Segment: 6
Day 4: Thursday, October 31, 2024
Flight 7: Nairobi (NBO) to Johannesburg (JNB)
Airline: Kenya Airways
Segment: 7
No Travel on Friday, November 1, 2024 (Rest Day)
Day 5: Sunday, November 3, 2024
Flight 8: Johannesburg (JNB) to Bangkok (BKK)
Airline: Vietnam Airlines
Segment: 8
Flight 9: Bangkok (BKK) to Taipei (TPE)
Airline: China Airlines
Segment: 9
Day 6: Monday, November 4, 2024
Flight 10: Taipei (TPE) to Seoul (ICN)
Airline: Korean Air
Segment: 10
Flight 11: Seoul (ICN) to Tokyo (NRT)
Airline: China Eastern
Segment: 11
Day 7: Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Flight 12: Tokyo (NRT) to Los Angeles (LAX)
Airline: Xiamen Airlines
Segment: 12
No Travel on Friday, November 8, 2024 (Rest Day)
No Travel on Saturday, November 9, 2024 (Rest Day)
Day 8: Sunday, November 10, 2024
Flight 13: Los Angeles (LAX) to Mexico City (MEX)
Airline: Aeromexico
Segment: 13
Day 9: Monday, November 11, 2024
Flight 14: Mexico City (MEX) to Buenos Aires (EZE)
Airline: Aerolineas Argentinas
Segment: 14
Day 10: Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Flight 15: Buenos Aires (EZE) to New York (JFK)
Airline: Aerolineas Argentinas
Segment: 15
Adjustments Summary:
No travel on Friday, November 1, or the weekend of November 8–9, 2024.
The itinerary is extended slightly to allow rest days on the weekends.
Total of 15 segments on 15 SkyTeam airlines.
This revised itinerary ensures you avoid travel on the specified days while still meeting the SAS promotion requirements. Let me know if further adjustments are needed!
Typical of AI, that does not have 15 airlines.
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=137656.msg2875110#msg2875110
I am in the middle of doing it BUT the IT system is having big problems. I called to see why my flights are not being credited and they just sent a vanilla email saying:
“Due to some technical difficulties, we’re currently unable to register points. Please know that our team is working diligently to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding.
Thank you for being a valued member of our community.
Warm regards,
SAS Customer Service”
I hope they are able to fix this as I am finishing with the 15 airlines the next 2 weeks…
PS I already did:
Kenya airways NBO-MBA
Xiamen HAN-XIE-BKK
Korean Air PVG-ICN
China Eastern PEK-SHA
Virgin Atlantic LHR-JFK
Vietnam Airways ICN-HAN
KLM OSL-AMS
Air France AMS-CDG
Saudi RUH-LHR
Awesome!
so cool! now tell us what your day job is and how long this is taking you, costing you and the sacrifices.
I so wish i could do this myself
I remember the Wendys cup promotion from close to 20 years ago. You needed 124 cups for two Air Trans RT tickets. I bought mine from a guy who was selling them on Craigslist and used them for flights to Florida.
Probably my favorite airline promotion ever!
Yes that was fun! I bought some from eBay. And I literally saw a few people dumpster diving at Wendy’s! :-))
Do you have to fly with each carrier or can it be a flight booked on their website and fly with a different carrier ? Example booking a flight with virgin Atlantic website but flying delta
Hey Dan, I’m actually in the middle of completing this challenge. Just finished up the European airlines, heading to China on China eastern tomorrow. The entire thing is costing me $4,800
Best part I was able to fly Tarom to Israel as they’re one of the only non Israeli airlines flying there!
WOW
How much is the million miles worth?
I am partially done with this promotion, but I have to keep trying to use the missing mileage credit process to know where I really stand in the game. And it’s a game in its own right on how to add the SAS frequent flyer number and whether or not the three letter prefix should or should not be included as part of the entry into the frequent flyer program field. And then what displays on the boarding pass doesn’t always match what is in the ticketed booking.
what are the chances they pull it early? i don’t think they envisioned thousands of people doing this…
are thousands of people doing it?
Award flights counted? Book DL award on sas or in delta ? How do uou use one million sas miles ?
Theoretically , if one millions sas give you 10 r t awards nyc tlv nyc, and cost of flights is $5000, then each israel RT cost you 500$
Plus hotels and 2 month work
Plus , some airlines are not friendly now Days
Hopefully u can get out w no incident
Kedai ?