SAS awards are now available using Delta SkyMiles (and other partners), including business class flights to Europe

Almost a year has passed since Scandinavian Airlines announced plans to leave the Star Alliance, which it helped found 25 years ago, as part of a financial deal with Air France-KLM. The airline officially left SkyTeam at the end of August and has since been building close relationships with its new SkyTeam partners, including Delta, the Stockholm-based company with which it signed a codeshare agreement that came into effect on September 25.

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Some intra-Europe awards on SAS have been available using SkyMiles, and there have been reports that Flying Blue miles can be redeemed on other long-haul flights as of last week. Now, however, it appears that long-haul SAS awards can be booked using not only SkyMiles on Delta.com, but also Virgin Points on the Virgin Atlantic site.

This opens up more options for SkyMiles members, as well as people with points transferring to Virgin Red, to fly between the US and Europe with their points. While business class awards are both expensive and scarce, there are plenty of good value deals in both economy and premium economy.

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SAS Rewards uses Delta SkyMiles

According to TPG’s findings, economy awards range from 44,000-56,000 Delta SkyMiles one-way between the airport’s Copenhagen hub (CPH) and its US gateways including New York JFK International Airport (JFK), Boston Logan (BOS), Chicago O’ Hare (ORD) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), depending on the city and date. They seem to be more widely available between now and next summer.

Premium economy awards from various US cities appear to range between 92,000-120,000 SkyMiles each way, depending on the date and city.

Finally, business class seems to start at 230,000 miles round trip, but goes up to 375,000. There isn’t much available for the lower level, sadly. Those prices match the same rewards on Delta’s own flights. Here is an example of a flight from Copenhagen to Los Angeles with a stopover in Atlanta.

Redeeming Virgin points for SAS flights

Virgin Atlantic is also offering more economy and premium awards on SAS flights now, starting at 22,500 and 47,500 points each way, respectively, for economy and premium economy tickets from different gateways including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Chicago, New York and Boston. We have not been able to receive business class awards in the coming months. And we haven’t been able to set up awards on non-stop SAS flights from West Coast cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco yet.

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However, economy awards start at 25,500 miles each way between the US and Europe, and 47,500 miles round trip in premium economy with taxes and fees jsut $5.60 when flying from the US and about $56 when flying from Europe.

SAS added flights between Copenhagen and Atlanta in June, and the airline recently added a flight from Copenhagen to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) starting next summer earlier this month.

Using miles to fly SAS

Don’t have SkyTeam miles to redeem for SAS flights? There are many easy ways to build your mileage balance.

For Delta SkyMiles, you can consider applying for one of the following cards.

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is also a transfer partner for American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards and, most recently, Wells Fargo Rewards, so if you have a card that earns miles with those plans, you may have good options for attaching your Virgin account.

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