News

September has been very hectic and busy for Scandinavian Airlines, and it isn’t over yet. SAS is still rolling out deals, updates, and news regarding their successful rebirth post-Chapter 11. As usual, we summarize everything in this post, so you don’t have to! Here’s the roundup.

Alaska Airlines has finished the acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines and are now joining forces to create a powerful alliance with over 90 years of history each, while keeping both brands intact. Here’s a quick breakdown of what this means for travelers and award flight enthusiasts:

We’re thrilled to announce a major expansion to AwardFares—we now support GOL Smiles! That’s right, you can now search award flights on GOL, Brazil’s largest airline, using your hard-earned Smiles miles directly through our platform. In addition, GOL is not part of any major airline alliance but has over 57 global airline partners, making Smiles an incredibly rich program full of sweet spots and redemption opportunities.

SAS is on fire this month, and just announced a massive route expansion from Copenhagen in its summer 2025 schedule. The move aims to establish Copenhagen as the airline’s global customer point, with 15 new routes taking flight, including a long-haul route to Seattle, a domestic route to Billund, and 13 exciting European destinations.

Right in the middle of joining SkyTeam’s celebrations, Scandinavian Airlines announced they will be reintroducing direct flights between Copenhagen and Seattle starting in May 2025. This move follows the growing travel demand to the U.S. and customer requests. The new route strengthens ties between Scandinavia and the Pacific Northwest, a region with a strong Scandinavian heritage.

September is loaded with news, right after the switch to SkyTeam. SAS has just released new discounted tickets for EuroBonus members: 30% discount on award flights to/from the USA. The offer applies to one-way and return journeys in SAS Go Bonus, SAS Plus Bonus and SAS Business Bonus, for travel during November. And as usual, children 2-11 years old get 50% of the point price, even on the already discounted price.

A few weeks ago, Turkish Airlines officially announced a new direct route connecting Istanbul to Santiago, Chile. The first flight will be on December 18th, 2024, and the tickets are now on sale! This marks a significant addition to Turkish Airlines’ expanding network, becoming the airline’s ninth destination in Latin America, along with Buenos Aires (Argentina), São Paulo (Brasil), Bogota (Colombia), La Habana (Cuba), Ciudad de México y Cancún (Mexico), Panama City (Panama), and Caracas (Venezuela).

American Airlines is expanding its trans-Atlantic network with five new routes, resuming flights to Edinburgh, Scotland (EDI), for the first time since 2019! The airline is also introducing new connections to Athens (ATH), Madrid (MAD), Milan (MXP), and Rome (FCO).

As summer slows down, SAS has shared a series of news that frequent flyers won’t want to miss, from a limited-time sale to lucrative 2x points offers, and new lounge access with the transition to SkyTeam. This post summarizes all the latest updates, so you don’t have to. Enjoy!

Last Wednesday (August 7th), Emirates started operating its first Boeing 777 with a complete cabin refresh, now sporting a stunning new design. This revamped aircraft took 37 days to overhaul and made its debut flight to Geneva as flight EK 83, four days ahead of the previously announced schedule.

July has been very busy for the aviation industry, with several announcements from both airlines and manufacturers. In this post, we look at the latest routes announced by top airlines including American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, Aeromexico, and Avianca. Good news is that for almost all of them, there are award seats available, meaning you could book those new flights right away using points or miles. Let’s dive in!

A while back, ANA announced that they were launching three new direct flights from Europe to Tokyo this winter: Stockholm, Istanbul, and Milan to Tokyo. After several back-and-forths and postponed dates, tickets are now on sale, and the best part: awards are available. So far, we’ve seen seats using SAS EuroBonus and United MileagePlus.

Summer of 2024 continues to heat up, and so does the EuroBonus program rolling out the news: from a special status match campaign to new benefits for Silver members and a revamped award chart with the inclusion of SkyTeam partners, there’s plenty to look forward to. There are also new ways to maximize your points through car rentals. In this post, we summarize them all!

Our team at AwardFares is thrilled to launch a highly anticipated feature: Dark Theme! Now, you can go award hunting in the dark, making those late-night searches for the perfect flight redemption even more enjoyable (and a little easier on the eyes). Who knows, maybe you’ll even find a red-eye flight you don’t completely dread!

The Air France-KLM group is taking advantage of the SAS acquisition as an opportunity to reshape European air travel, going full thrust on strengthening their offerings for travelers. Starting September 1, 2024, new codeshare and interline agreements will extend benefits across their European networks and loyalty programs.

More new coming in from SAS regarding the transition from Star Alliance to SkyTeam! The airline has revealed the new award charts with point prices when redeeming EuroBouns points on SkyTeam partners. Compared to the Star Alliance chart, there are some price increases and new fees, but also the exciting addition of Premium Economy. SAS also released more news on earning points with Air France and KLM after September 1st. Let’s look at all the changes.

This year is coming with plenty of solid news for the aviation world Lufthansa Group, the German aviation giant, has just received the green light from the European Commission to acquire a 41% stake in ITA Airways, Italy’s national airline. This means we can expect exciting changes, another alliance shift, and a whole new level of travel possibilities.

Etihad Guest, the renowned frequent flyer program of Etihad Airways, now integrates seamlessly with AwardFares, bringing you even more opportunities to maximize your travel rewards. What sets Etihad Guest apart is its flexible earning and redemption options, along with generous stopover programs in Abu Dhabi and frequent special promotions. Additionally, its innovative features like Milesbooster and Family Membership make it easier and faster to accumulate and redeem miles.

Virgin Atlantic is offering a whopping 40% discount on all award redemptions for travel in 2024. This offer applies to all routes, cabins, and classes, so you can save big on your dream vacation.

As summer kicks off, the EuroBonus program is still buzzing with updates to enhance your travel experience. We love to keep you informed about the latest developments and opportunities to make the most of your points. From new service transformations to enticing promotions, here’s a summary of what’s happening this June.

Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) is revamping its business travel program, SAS for Business, with a new name and a focus on making business trips smoother for both employees and companies. The program will now be known as SAS for Work, and it launches with a myriad of new benefits starting June 11th.

Flying Blue just announced an exciting new partnership with Oman Air, expanding your travel options and mileage potential.

SAS just launched a discounted offer for EuroBonus members: 25% discount on award flights to/from Paris, London, Amsterdam, Gdansk, Poznan, Brussels and Manchester. This promotion is applicable to flights on SAS Go Bonus, and SAS Plus Bonus.

As spring winds down, the EuroBonus program keeps things interesting. As usual, we love catching you up on all the latest news and updates to help you maximize your points, especially during these turbulent times. Here is our monthly summary of the hottest EuroBonus topics!

Grab your winter gear because SAS just dropped some exciting news, perfect for anyone itching to explore the remote northern frontiers! SAS has announced updates to its winter schedule, including new routes and increased frequencies to various destinations.

SAS announced a discounted offer for EuroBonus members: 20% discount on award flights to/from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. This promotion is applicable to flights on SAS Go Bonus, and SAS Plus Bonus.

American Airlines just announced their biggest-ever winter schedule for the Caribbean and Latin America, offering more flights and destinations than any other U.S. carrier. ✈️

We’re thrilled to announce a major update to AwardFares that makes finding the perfect seat on your award flight easier than ever before! Our improved Seat Maps feature now offers detailed seat availability for flights operated by:

We’re thrilled to share that Aeromexico Rewards has now joined the lineup! Finding the best ways to use your points for Aeromexico flights just got easier. AwardFares lets you effortlessly search for the most rewarding redemption options on Aeromexico and explore award travel opportunities with other airlines in our comprehensive search engine.

Heads up EuroBonus members. There are a number of ongoing promotions and offers by SAS that expire soon. From discounted tickets to Atlanta, to several extra points incentives, here’s our quick summary.

For frequent flyers and luxury travelers, 2024 promises to be a year of exciting innovations in premium cabins. Airlines are unveiling new designs that focus on increased comfort, privacy, and personalization, taking the in-flight experience to new heights. Here’s a look at some of the ones that caught our attention.

The EuroBonus program is buzzing this spring, and we’re here to keep you in the loop with all the latest news. Every month, we summarize the hottest topics, so you can stay effortlessly informed.

After a series of strikes that hit hard, Lufthansa is ready to share some exciting news for long-haul travelers. Lufthansa’s new premium travel experience, Allegris, takes off on May 1st, 2024.

American Airlines is heavily revamping their inflight experience for a more enjoyable journey this summer season. A wave of premium upgrades is coming your way, including new amenity kits, bedding, and delicious menu options. Let’s have a look at the details!

SAS launched a new special offer for EuroBonus members: a 20% discount on award flights to all destinations. This promotion is applicable to all cabin classes including SAS Go Bonus, SAS Plus Bonus, and SAS Business Bonus. It’s rare to see promotions like these with no geographical restrictions, so it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of the offer and enjoy a wonderful destinations while making a cost-effective trip!

We’re glad to announce a major expansion to AwardFares’ award search capabilities – Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is now on board!

The wait is over for SAS EuroBonus members. After months of rumors, SAS confirmed today they’ll be moving from Star Alliance to SkyTeam starting September 1st, 2024. The shift will impact how you earn and redeem points, but also opens doors to a whole new network of airlines.

Alaska Airlines claims it is revolutionizing the way its Mileage Plan members can redeem miles for award flights, introducing a new, streamlined award chart system set to take effect in March 2024. This overhaul simplifies the previously complex and varied award pricing, making it easier for members to understand and utilize their miles across Alaska’s extensive network of partner airlines.

More breaking news (under development) on the SAS front. It looks like it’s no longer possible to book flights on Thai Airways with EuroBonus points. After United was disabled in March, the EuroBonus portal now fails to book redemptions with Thai.

Welcome to our SAS EuroBonus monthly updates, March edition! The EuroBonus front is very hot right now, with lots of things going on. Each month, we explore and summarize the most recent developments so you don’t have to.

Today, we woke up to some unexpected developments in the SAS EuroBonus saga. It appears that booking flights on United Airlines using EuroBonus points is no longer an option. Their system fails to display any itineraries that include United flights. These changes could be linked to the recent slowdowns observed in their search engine and are likely associated with the new partnership with Delta Air Lines and the intention to join SkyTeam.

Flying with American Airlines? Starting February 20, 2024, the airline is implementing several changes that will impact how you pack, earn miles, and book your next trip. These changes aim to reward loyalty and incentivize booking directly with American Airlines. AAdvantage members will enjoy additional benefits, while some fees will increase for non-direct bookings.

SAS launched a new campaign for EuroBonus members with a 25% points discount on SAS Go and SAS Plus trips to selected destinations in Scandinavia.

Another month, another roundup: welcome to the latest edition of our SAS EuroBonus Updates. Each month, we explore the most recent developments and offerings from SAS Scandinavian Airlines’ loyalty program, so you don’t have to.

Delta Air Lines is making it easier for people to visit warm places in Latin America and the Caribbean by increasing its flights from Atlanta, New York-JFK, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. The airline will start flying to new places like Barbados, Puerto Plata, Mazatlán, and will fly more often to Curaçao.

SAS Scandinavian Airlines is introducing an exhilarating twist to the conventional award booking. The airline has announced a cool promotion called Destination Unknown. This particular offer challenges passengers to sign-up on a journey to an undisclosed location, igniting the spirit of adventure that lies within us all.

The oneworld alliance, a global network of some of the world’s leading airlines, is celebrating a major milestone today: its 25th anniversary. Launched in 1999 with four founding members – American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas – the alliance has grown to encompass 13 member airlines, serving over 900 destinations across 170 territories.

American Airlines just announced an expansion to its flight schedule introducing new services, including a notable route to Brisbane, Australia (BNE), starting in October, using the Boeing 787-9 aircraft equipped with Flagship Suite seats (new Business Class). This expansion also includes the launch of flights to Veracruz, Mexico (VER), further broadening its already massive domestic and short-haul international network. The airline will also resume its service to Kona, Hawaii (KOA) from its Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) hub.

Austrian Airlines introduced a new direct flight connecting Vienna Airport (VIE) to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). This significant addition, set to start in the summer, establishes the first nonstop link between Boston and the Austrian capital. The service, beginning July 1, will operate between five to six times weekly, enriching the travel choices for those looking to explore Vienna or venture further into Europe.

American Airlines is set to enhance the travel experience for AAdvantage members in 2024, introducing a range of new benefits and changes. Let’s go through some of the updates!

United Airlines announced a significant expansion of its flight network across North America, adding over 100 daily departures during summer 2024, and targeting popular outdoor destinations. The move comes after noticing the rising interest in nature-centric travel post-pandemic.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is ramping up for a big addition to its fleet this coming August – the Airbus A321neo. This new aircraft is not just a step up for KLM but a leap forward when it comes to eco-friendliness and passenger experience.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is launching new flights to Milan, Stockholm, and Istanbul in the latter half of 2024. This is great news for travelers looking to experience the best of Japan, as these new routes will provide more convenient access to the country.

We have some thrilling news to share that we believe will make your award travel planning even more exciting and efficient. After much anticipation and hard work, we are proud to announce the integration of JetBlue TrueBlue awards into AwardFares!

Turkish Airlines has officially announced its inaugural flights to Australia, beginning on March 15 with a thrice-weekly service from Istanbul to Melbourne, via Singapore Changi Airport. The initial flights will utilize Boeing 787-9 aircraft, transitioning to Airbus A350-900 from March 31.

The days of refreshing search pages and missing out on dream deals are officially over. We’re thrilled to announce two game-changing features that will heavily simplify how you find the best deals and maximize your points: Price Alerts and Max Price Filters.

Waking up to more exciting news for SAS travelers and EuroBonus lovers! Scandinavian Airlines announced it will expand its North American network in the summer of 2024 by introducing a ninth destination: starting June 17th, there will be daily nonstop flights from Copenhagen to Atlanta.

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has rolled out several updates and changes that are set to enhance the travel experience for its members. From eco-conscious initiatives to exciting new routes, here are the top SAS EuroBonus updates you should be aware of in January 2024.

Exciting times to be a Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) enthusiast! In spite of the uncertainty around switching to SkyTeam and leaving Star Alliance, there’s still a positive angle to the story. The airline has announced an extensive expansion of its flight schedule, adding nine new routes to its list of over 130 destinations in more than 40 countries.

Although 2023 is almost ending, our team is still working full-thrust to deliver convenient new features every week. This time, we are completely revamping our Journey Planner experience, allowing you to work on multiple journeys in parallel and share journeys with friends and family via URL (even to anonymous users!).

SAS is promoting their Airbus A350 Business Class with a new campaign! Starting today and on selected Fridays until February 2, 2024, they will fly with the flagship A350 between Stockholm and Copenhagen. It is a unique opportunity to experience SAS Business Class. Buy a Plus ticket and get a Business Class seat for your booking.

We’re thrilled to announce that AwardFares now supports the Flying Blue program! This exciting integration means that our users can now effortlessly track and redeem their Flying Blue miles for flights with Air France, KLM, and a host of other partner airlines. With its incredible Promo Rewards at crazy rates, multiple transfer partners, and the future incorporation of more airlines and routes (e.g., SAS), Flying Blue stands as one of the best programs to look into during 2024.

Delta Air Lines just announced that it will enhance its Asian network by introducing a daily direct flight from Seattle (SEA) to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), starting June 6, 2024, subject to government approval. This route marks a significant milestone as Delta’s first nonstop flight from the U.S. to Taipei and signifies the airline’s return to TPE since its last operation through Narita in 2017.

Are you ready to snag the deal of the year? This Black Friday, and for a limited time, get 2 MONTHS FREE (15% OFF) when pre-purchasing 1 year of AwardFares Gold or Diamond¹. This deal is for EVERYONE — whether you’re new to the AwardFares fam, or you’ve been with us since day one.

Delta SkyMiles has been one of the most acclaimed frequent flyer programs in the United States, carving out a reputation for its flexibility, lack of blackout dates, and a wide array of redemption options. Despite recently upsetting a large portion of their members with major changes for 2024, it remains among the best options to redeem award flights on SkyTeam airlines and stands firm for great earning options and seat availability.

Heja EuroBonus members! If you have just a few points on your account and are unsure what to do with them, this is a great time to book a winter escape at great rates. The program is offering a 25% discount on SAS Go and SAS Plus award trips to selected destinations in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

If you are sitting on a pile of miles or points or are about to plan your next dream award trip, you’ll like this news. November 2023 looks like a promising month for the aviation industry, with the introduction of several new routes, particularly in the Asian and American markets.

We are thrilled to unveil a set of game-changing features that will redefine the way you explore and book award flights. In this occasion, we are introducing award prices and mixed-cabin award searches.

With all the buzz around SAS joining SkyTeam after being acquired by Air France-KLM and others, we read many negative comments about this transition. At AwardFares, we are focused on helping EuroBonus members navigate this new phase by bringing the latest tools and information we have at hand.

SAS announced major news today during a press conference. The airline has been under restructuring since it filed for bankruptcy under the U.S. Chapter 11 process. After several months, they reached a significant milestone: it will be acquired by a new consortium that includes Air France-KLM, leaving behind Star Alliance and joining SkyTeam.

Great news for EuroBonus lovers! The program just launched a new campaign with a 30% points discount on SAS Go Bonus trips (Economy class) from Scandinavia to destinations across North America and Asia.

From June 2024, Brussels Airlines has scheduled a new service between Brussels and Nairobi, pushing their destinations in sub-Saharan Africa to a total of 18. This isn’t their first venture into the Kenyan capital; they previously operated there from 2002 to 2015. The service will feature a technical stopover in Kigali, thus bumping up the airline’s Rwanda service to daily flights.

STARLUX Airlines, the rising Taiwanese career, is moving full-speed-ahed with their ambitious plans to strengthen its foothold in the U.S. market. After launching extremly successfus flights from Taipei to Los Angeles earlier this year, today the airline announced they are expanding to San Francisco.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is taking the skies by storm with its latest collaboration with the Pokémon Company. After the successful launch of their “Pikachu Jet NH” on June 4, 2023, the airline is introducing the “Eevee Jet NH,” inspired by the Pokémon Eevee, known for its multiple evolution forms.

American Airlines has announced its most significant trans-Atlantic expansion since 2019. As part of this expansion:

Whether you haven’t booked your summer holidays yet, or you are looking for cool places for a quick trip, this post is for you. Earlier this year, SAS has announced over 5000 new routes and frequency increases for this summer, and there are still plenty of seats left to book using EuroBonus points.

Air Canada announced its plan to reintroduce nonstop flights between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Singapore’s Changi International Airport (SIN), marking a return to the Singapore market after over 30 years! The service will start on April 3, 2024, and operate four times weekly using the Boeing 787 fleet.

Star Alliance member ANA announced that they will be resuming their route from Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Perth (PER), and gradually opened reservations today. Based on the available data, the airline schedules 3 weekly flights with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The first flight is scheduled for October 29th, 2023.

Lufthansa announced that they will be adding 10 new routes in 2023, expanding the airline route networks from Frankfurt and Munich. These new routes will put Lufthansa right behind its pre-pandemic route numbers. Flight operations from both hubs will reach a whopping 5200 per week! (87% of its pre-COVID-19 levels).

SAS Scandinavian Airlines is gearing up to launch its service to Morocco this November, marking its grand return to Africa after a break of many, many years.

SAS recently announced the launch of their second route between Copenhagen and New York flying to JFK. We’ve been eagerly awaiting to see what will happen to the award space on this route. The wait is over and as of today the award space is wide open!

Some exciting news from EVA Air, who have announced they will be launching a brand new route connecting Taipei and Munich. The Milano route is now also officially resuming after being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’re glad to finally release a couple of new features that we’ve been working on for quite a while! Today we’re releasing three brand new features:

Earlier this year, in February, SAS announced that they will start to fly from Stockholm (ARN) and Copenhagen (CPH) to Toronto (YYZ). Award tickets were finally released and made available to book!

Recently while trying to book a flight back to Asia from North America I was happy to find that there were a lot of award seats available right now. I mostly checked departures from the West Coast of North America, traveling from Vancouver, San Francisco or Los Angeles, to destinations such as Tokyo, Singapore, Malaysia, and Taipei. Primarily served by United, ANA, EVA, and Air Canada.

UPDATE (SEPTEMBER 2024): SAS is now part of SkyTeam. It’s no longer possible to redeem SAS EuroBonus points on Star Alliance partners. Check our latest guide and learn how to book SkyTeam award flights with EuroBonus.

Historically Lufthansa First class partner award redemptions have only been available 14 days in advance, making it a little difficult to plan trips with them. However, it seems that has now been extended to up to 30 days in advance. We’ll have to wait and see whether or not this is a permanent change.

Big news at AwardFares! Despite the current situation we’ve been hard at work building new features. One of the most requested improvements over the years has been to be able to search for full trips. You asked, and we listened. Introducing search with stops!

Earlier during the year SAS stopped the ability to book Star Alliance awards using EuroBonus points. However, SAS have now (partially) resumed the ability to book these flights. The service is currently only available by phone. The online booking service is unfortunately still closed at this time.

Update (April 17, 2020): Award space with United MileagePlus is now wide-open on the Cape Town and Cancun routes. Interestingly only Business awards are available on the Cancun route.

SAS EuroBonus has just released award availability on the new ANA direct flight between Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) and Tokyo Haneda (HND). Award space is currently wide-open, which is a rare sight for any Tokyo route. A maximum of 3 economy seats and 2 business seats have been released per day. Get your flights while they last!

We recently announced a new Gold/Diamond feature that lets you see cabin information for certain flights. Read more here Introducing Cabin Annotations. Today we’ve released cabin annotations for many more airlines and even added support for seat maps.

Cabin type information is now available for certain flights. Most Singapore Airlines flights and some ANA flights will now display the type of cabin used for that particular flight, if the information is available. Note that this feature is only available to Gold and Diamond members.

Scandinavian Mountains Airport (SCR/ESKS) is a new airport in Sweden that will begin operations during December 2019. The airport will serve the Sälen, Idre, and Trysil ski resorts. SAS will operate seasonal flights from Copenhagen (CPH), Aalborg (AAL), and even London Heathrow (LHR). SAS Press Release

Earlier this year nearly all Thai Airways long-haul award availability disappeared. Now it seems most of that availability is back, especially on the Paris (CDG) - Bangkok (BKK) route. There’s lots of availability, including both Business and First during the next couple of months.

On Feburary 18 EVA Air launches their new European route to Milan (MXP):

With the opening of Beijing Daxing airport (PKX) LOT Polish Airlines is the first Star Alliance member offering award availability to the new airport. Starting on October 28 they will be moving 4 of their 7 weekly flights from Beijing Capital (PEK) to Beijing Daxing (PKX).

Awards are now available on ANA’s new A380 service between Tokyo Narita (NRT) and Honolulu (HNL). Book while seats are available as they’ll probably disappear quickly!