Qantas and SAS (the joint national airline of Sweden, Denmark and Norway) are ending their frequent flyer partnership this weekend. So if you have a stash of SAS EuroBonus points it's time to spend them before 1 May if you want to use them for Qantas flights.
According to SAS:
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and Qantas will continue with a strong commercial relationship, even though our respective memberships in Star Alliance and Oneworld means our bilateral frequent flyer affiliation with Qantas is no longer possible.
Award tickets in the partnership need to be issued by tomorrow, 30 April, for travel up to 29 April next year. There's also a six-month window to claim cross-partnership frequent flyer points or miles for flights taken up to 30 April of this year -- so make sure you claim your points by 30 October.
It's not an entirely unexpected move for the airlines, and it sounds like SAS' Star Alliance partners Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways want a piece of the Australia to Asia part of the lucrative Kangaroo Route.
Similarly, Qantas' oneworld partners Cathay Pacific, Finnair and British Airways will also want the connecting traffic on the European side, especially with Finnair boosting its Hong Kong and Singapore flights in May.
Qantas and SAS will continue to offer joint tickets to Europe, connecting in Asia. Qantas Frequent Flyers will be able to earn QFF points on the Qantas part of the ticket, and SAS EuroBonus members can earn on the SAS flights.
The SAS section can also be put towards any other Star Alliance airline's frequent flyer programme, including Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer and Air New Zealand's Airpoints.
Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.
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