SAS receives criticism for campaign where you can get 1 million bonus points – news Nordland

– When I saw this campaign, I thought “Is this bullshit?!”, says Anja Bakken Riise. – It’s everything the world doesn’t need, summed up in one campaign. The leader in Framtiden i være hans aims for a new stunt from SAS. Anja Bakken Riise is far from satisfied with the latest campaign from SAS. Photo: Terese Samuelsen The airline has struggled with finances for a long time, but a year ago they received a lifeline from Air France–KLM, Lind Invest and the Danish state. They invested NOK 13 billion in SAS. As part of the trade, SAS withdrew from the Star Alliance partnership, and became part of Sky Team in September. To kick-start the transition, SAS is now launching a fierce campaign for those of you who have the opportunity to set aside a lot of time to travel before 31 December: Travel with 5 different Sky Team airlines – earn 10,000 bonus points. Travel with 10 different Sky Team airlines – earn 100,000 bonus points. Travel with 15 different Sky Team airlines – earn one million bonus points. How difficult is this to achieve? And how expensive will it be? We made an attempt: Bjarte Johannesen The journey begins…In Oslo, and first destination; Amsterdam. We choose the airline KLM and fly on 3 November at 06:30. Price: NOK 1,236. Unknown No time to lose! In Amsterdam we have lunch before the journey continues to Paris, this time with Air France. The flight leaves at 13:55. Price: NOK 1,819. Total price so far: NOK 3,055. AFP Small dinner before… We don’t have time to go into the city centre, but grab a croissant at the airport. Next stop; Milan with Italia Trasporto Aereo. Departure 18:20. Price: NOK 2032. Total price so far: NOK 5,087. AFP An overnight stay later In Milan there will be an overnight stay, and a quiet morning. The next stop is Madrid with the afternoon flight. Air Europa will take us there at 18:20. Price: NOK 2,882. Total price so far: NOK 7,969. Reuters Over the sea! It’s starting to get a little more challenging to find new companies – that’s why we’re taking the trip across the Atlantic. First an overnight stay in Madrid before Mexico City. Aeromexico will take us there at 10:25. Price: NOK 9909. Total price so far: NOK 17,878. AFP Northward…After tacos and an overnight stay in one of the world’s largest cities, we continue our journey to yet another big city; New York. Delta will take us there at 12:00, Thursday 7 November. Price: NOK 6,876. Total price so far: NOK 24,754. AP Over another ocean…A little night in The Big Apple, also on to a new continent. This time with Korean Air to Seoul. Departure on Friday 8 November at 12:00. Price: NOK 9,285. Total price so far: NOK 34,039. AP Further in AsiaFortunately arrived at a continent with many airlines. Now on to Hanoi in Vietnam with Vietnam Airlines. Departure on 9 November at 18:05. Price: NOK 1,436. Total price so far: NOK 35,475. AP China!Another overnight stay, have to wait for the right airlines now. China Airlines takes us to Guangzhou in China. Departure at 17:35, and we have arrived at 10 November. Price: NOK 6,657. Total price so far: NOK 42,132. Reuters Stort landFinally we don’t have to spend the night. Straight on in China to Xiamen at 21:10. Who will take us there? Xiamen Airlines. Price: NOK 2923. Total price so far: NOK 45,055. Reuters New country Sunday dinner will be in China, before the journey continues to Jakarta in Indonesia. Garuda Indonesia flies at 07:30, early riser. Price: NOK 2,801. Total price so far: NOK 47,856. AFP Another continent An evening and night in Indonesia is enjoyed before another long journey, now to Nairobi. Kenya Airways takes off at 13:05. Price: NOK 9,811. Total price so far: NOK 57,667. Reuters Svipp trip to the Middle East We have arrived on Thursday 14 November, and the trip goes to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Airlines controls the levers. Price: NOK 3,979. Total price so far: NOK 61,646. Unknown Now we have to move home. Difficult to find anything the next day that will get us closer to Norway, so we wait until November 16. Tarom flies us to Bucharest. Price: NOK 4250. Total price so far: NOK 65,896. Stian Strøm Oslo! Monday 18 November it is finally time to go home. SAS flies us there via Amsterdam, before they give us 1 million bonus points. Price: NOK 1,388. Total price: NOK 67,284. – Unsolidary and unmusical – Right now, thousands of Americans are fleeing Hurricane Milton. Millions of people are affected by floods in the Sahel. This type of shameless and aggressive marketing from SAS, which rewards those who travel and those who get out the most, is disjointed and unmusical, says Riise. Nor is Ingvild Kilen Rørholt, subject manager for transport at the Environmental Foundation Zero, impressed. – This is encouraging unnecessary travel, says Rørholt. In an e-mail to news, Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji of SAS writes that they recognize the climate criticism. At the same time, they emphasize that the campaign is designed to reward those who already fly a lot, not to encourage people to fly unnecessarily. – We are constantly working to offer smarter, more responsible travel opportunities through collaboration with players who share our sustainability goals. Together, we aim to reduce the climate footprint of the airline industry, she writes. But the criticism continues. In addition to being not very climate-friendly, Anja Bakken Riise believes in Framtiden in our hands that the SAS campaign is not aimed at just anyone. See the full response from SAS news sent the following questions to SAS: First of all: What is the purpose behind the campaign? To achieve rewards in this campaign, you must fly with airlines far away from Norway, which fly to destinations that are unlikely to be part of people’s usual travel patterns. Who is this campaign aimed at? Do you even expect people to be able to carry this out? The environmental organizations therefore believe that the campaign encourages many unnecessary flights. How do you comment on that criticism? How does SAS respond to the claims that the campaign works against the climate goals? Zero also boasts of their Conscious Traveler campaign. What steps could you take to make this campaign more climate-friendly? Communications manager Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji at SAS was unable to be interviewed, but replied as follows by e-mail: – This campaign does not encourage unnecessary travel. It is designed to reward those who are already planning to fly with SAS and our Sky Team partners. – We are constantly working to offer smarter, more responsible travel opportunities through collaboration with players who share our sustainability goals. Together, we aim to reduce the climate footprint of the airline industry. – At SAS, we focus on concrete measures, such as sustainable fuel, improving our efficiency and investing in modern aircraft with low emissions. The collaboration with our partners in Sky Team strengthens the work towards a more sustainable aviation industry. – SAS and the Sky Team are determined to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The work includes the use of renewable energy at our facilities and premises, the electrification of ground work, and increasing efforts to use the most sustainable fuel possible, so that we can cut our emissions both in the short and long term. – We recognize the climate concern. But this campaign rewards those who already fly a lot, while ensuring that the travelers contribute to more sustainable air traffic. Collaboration is a cornerstone of this work, also with our passengers. This is what the campaign looks like on SAS’ own website. Photo: Skjermdump / SAS.no Bodø-Oslo 100 times Achieving the full pot in SAS’ campaign is not a very short trip. The 17 airlines that are part of Team Sky operate in Asia, Africa and America, among others. The airlines in Team Sky SAS Aerolineas Argentinas Aeromexico Air Europa Air France China Airlines China Eastern Delta Air Lines Garuda Indonesia Kenya Ariways KLM Korean Air Saudia Tarom Vietnam Airlines Virgin Atlantic Xiamen Airlines – The campaign is obviously intended for wealthy Norwegians, says Riise. The future in our hands has prepared a separate report which shows that most Norwegians travel by plane 1-2 times round trip a year. On the other hand, 8 percent of us travel very often. Another report came out this summer which suggests that air traffic pollutes more than we first assumed. – Then I believe that it is both unmusical and unsupportive of Norway to come up with this campaign which encourages those who have the most, and those who escape the most, to travel even more. During the pandemic, our flight usage decreased considerably. Traffic is now on the rise, although the desire to travel has not yet recovered to its previous level, figures from Avinor show. If you take as a starting point how much you can get for your bonus points today, one million points can take you round trip between Bodø and Oslo 100 times. Ingvild Kilen Rørholt in Zero is clear that flying will be an important part of our travel habits going forward, but believes there are limits. – We will need flights. But we must drop all the unnecessary journeys. Encouraging to fly so much in such a short time will only lead to much more emissions, and will not be in line with our reaching the climate targets, says Rørholt. At the same time, she emphasizes that SAS has a campaign that she believes can make a positive contribution. EuroBonus Conscious Traveler encourages you to make slightly more climate-friendly choices when you travel. – That campaign works better to reduce emissions and increase biofuel use, says Rørholt. – The Sky alliance is also doing a lot of good on biofuel. They should rather invest their efforts and efforts there, to show what they are doing to reduce emissions from aviation. Instead of promoting campaigns where emissions are going to skyrocket. But there are people who might be interested in trying to take advantage of the campaign. And for them, is it even possible to achieve? Ingvil Kilen Rørholt in Zero believes that we must cut out all unnecessary flights for the sake of the climate. Photo: Miljøstiftelsen Zero – It’s clear, the bonus points are tempting, but the scheme may not be the easiest or cheapest to implement, says Renate Sandvik from Bodø. She runs the travel blog Renates Reiser, and is currently in France. – Sky Team has airlines all over the world, so it can be long journeys and quite expensive. But you get it again if you are awarded one million bonus points, says Sandvik. Renate Sandvik travels a lot herself, but understands the criticism of SAS. Photo: Renate Sandvik / Privat – But I can imagine that it could tempt someone with good advice, who likes to compete. – What do you think about the criticism SAS receives? – As far as I am concerned, I agree with it. Now it’s no secret that I travel a lot, but I try to travel directly to where I’m going as much as possible. And when I arrive I mostly travel on the ground. The goal of this campaign will probably be nothing more than getting hold of those points, so that you can travel even more. Published 10/10/2024, at 10.44



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