Among the major airlines that have been running status match promotions fairly regularly in recent years, SAS is definitely one of them. They offered a status match back in May, although that one was limited to residents of India. Now they’ve finally opened the floodgates to most of the world, so let’s take a look.
The application page is here. The rules are as follows:
- Excludes residents of China, Brazil and Argentina
- Match to SAS Silver, Gold or Diamond
- Fees are €89 / €199 / €349 respectively
- A large number of airlines outside SkyTeam are eligible
- Once matched, the status is valid for the current and following membership year
First of all, this is a paid status match, and residents of India and Poland pay considerably less (€39 / €79 / €159). There are also residency restrictions, with three huge markets where SAS doesn’t operate being excluded outright. Presumably they’re worried about people taking advantage of the programme without ever flying SAS. Of course, if you don’t mind testing your luck, you can still give it a shot: failed applications are refunded.
SAS Gold and Diamond are both SkyTeam Elite Plus equivalent. When flying SAS, Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Delta, China Eastern and more, they come with benefits such as complimentary seat selection, extra checked baggage, priority check-in and boarding, and Business Class lounge access. Within SAS’s own programme, there are also perks such as the ability to gift status and discounts on award tickets.
As mentioned above, the match accepts almost all of the major non-SkyTeam airlines, such as British Airways, Lufthansa, United, American Airlines, Alaska, Cathay Pacific and Turkish Airlines. In most cases, it’s essentially Gold-to-Gold, while Diamond or Platinum can match to Diamond, so the requirements are pretty reasonable.
What I find generous is that British Airways Gold can be matched directly to SAS Diamond, although BA Gold isn’t exactly easy to earn these days.
The biggest highlight, however, is that even easyJet Plus can be matched to SAS Gold. And anyone can simply pay £249 to buy an easyJet Plus membership.
One important reminder about the membership year: SAS’s membership year starts from the date you join. In other words, if you create a brand-new account now, your status could effectively be valid for almost two years. On the other hand, if your current membership year is about to expire, you may only get a little over a year.
There are also some interesting data points from recent matches suggesting that SAS not only offers soft landing, but may even randomly extend status. One reader took part in the previous match, barely had any flight afterwards, and somehow found that their Gold status had been extended for another year recently.
Since this is a paid match, it’s obviously not something you can jump into blindly. But considering the relatively low requirements and reasonable cost, this is still a pretty decent status match if you have a use for SAS or Skyteam status.
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