EuroBonus

EuroBonus is the frequent flyer program of 5 European airlines. It was launched by Scandinavian Airlines System (SK) in 1992.

Airline partners

EuroBonus airlines

* airBaltic
* Blue1
* Estonian Air
* Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS)
* Widerøe

Star Alliance partner airlines

* Adria Airways (Regional partner)
* Air Canada
* Air China
* Air New Zealand
* All Nippon Airways (ANA)
* Asiana Airlines
* Austrian Airlines
* Bmi
* Croatia Airlines (Regional partner)
* EgyptAir
* LOT Polish Airlines
* Lufthansa
* Shanghai Airlines
* Singapore Airlines
* South African Airways
* Spanair
* Swiss International Air Lines
* TAP Portugal
* Thai Airways International
* Turkish Airlines
* United
* US Airways

Other airline partners

* Air Greenland
* Air One
* Atlantic Airways
* Cimber Air
* City Airline
* Qantas
* Skyways

Hotel partners

* Best Western Hotels
* Country Inn & Suites
* Hilton family of hotels
* Park Inn
* Radisson Edwardian Hotels
* Radisson Hotels & Resorts
* Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts
* Regent Hotels (selected hotels)
* Scandic Hotels
* Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts
* Sol Mélia Hotels & Resorts

Other partners

* The Economist
* Diners Club
* MasterCard

Membership Levels



EuroBonus has four membership levels. The entry level is "Basic", followed by "Silver", which is attained by earning 20,000 bonus points in a year. Benefits include business class checkin and extra baggage allowance on some flights, as well as 15% extra bonus points os SAS Group flights. Following that is "Gold", which requires 55,000 bonus points in a year. Benefits include all Silver benefits, plus priority security at certain airports, access to SAS and Star Alliance lounges and a 25% bonus on points on SAS Group flights.There is also an exclusive membership tier, called "Pandion", which is awarded personally to 1,500 selected customers by the CEO of SAS. Each Pandion membership is reevaluated yearly, and you have to "fly more than the pilots and crew of SAS" in order to be eligible. In practise the membership is awarded according to revenue created for SAS by a single flyer rather than the amount of EuroBonus points earned. Benefits include guaranteed seats on SAS flights, even on fully booked flights, and exclusive service.

Norwegian ban on frequent flyer miles

In 2002, SAS bought up the rival airline Braathens, giving the company a near monopoly on major domestic routes within Norway. After a few months, the airline Norwegian Air Shuttle started flying major routes in competition. To remove the edge SAS had over the new airline, the Norwegian Competition Authority then banned the award of EuroBonus points in Norway from August 1 that year.

In 2005, Morten A. Meyer, the Modernization Minister asked the competition authority to consider extending the ban on frequent flyer miles to include all of Scandinavia. Norwegian Air Shuttle and Sterling Airlines had also complained about SAS's bonus program in Scandinavia. It was pointed out that the situation on these routes was different from the monopoly which had been present on the Norwegian domestic market

The authorities indicated in 2007 that the ban against frequent flyer points would continue, arguing that the ban on EuroBonus had reduced the ticket prices by 30% and boosted competition. SAS Norge, the Norwegian affiliate of SAS protested, arguing that the extent of the fare reduction was exaggerated (claiming 18.4% rather than 30%), and were due to more efficient spending, not the ban on EuroBonus.

Freddie Awards

EuroBonus won the Freddie Awards, the largest award in the travel industry, for best frequent flyer program numerous times. They won the six years prior to 2003, and again in 2004. In 2005 they wound up in a disappointing 13th place. The ban on domestic point awards in Norway, which reduced the value of the program, was part of the reason for EuroBonus's decline in the rankings.

EuroBonus received the acclaimed Industry Impact Award at the Freddy Award Ceremony held in Phoenix, Arizona on April 24 - 2008. What in fact was awarded was the Award Seat Prognosis - transparently displaying any available award seats online for the members setting a new standard for Frequent Flyer Programs can display award availability for their members.

Criticism of the Program

Although EuroBonus has been awarded the Freddie Awards several times, there are still many SAS Group passengers who criticize certain elements of the EuroBonus program especially compared to similar programs on other Star Alliance airlines. EuroBonus has two different types of point/miles like most frequent flier programs do, some which qualifies the holder for elite status and some which don't. Usually the non-qualifying points are only used for points acquired in terms of non-airline activity such as hotel stays and car rental. However, with the EuroBonus program, passengers only earn what SAS refers to as BasicPoints (i.e. elite qualifying points) when flying with a SAS group airline. If a passenger flies with another member airlines the passenger will only earn ExtraPoints (i.e. non-qualifying points). Another often criticized part of the EuroBonus program is the fact that points/miles expire after 5 years regardless of activity. This is as opposed to other airlines where as long as you keep flying once every two years, your miles will never expire. Or even some airlines like Continental Airlines where your miles never expire.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/