SAS sale $476-$533 USA to Europe, book by Aug 24

SAS Scandinavian Airlines launched a sale this week from 7 US airports to several Scandinavian airports with fares starting at $476 to $533 for travel September to February-April. This sale is scheduled to run through August 24.

While these are generally not the lowest fares available, this is a sale I have been waiting for all summer. SAS flights from San Francisco to Scandinavia are the lowest cost EQM I have seen this summer to earn Aegean Miles+Bonus Star Alliance Gold elite status.

SAS flies from 7 USA airports

1. Boston BOS
2. Newark EWR
3. Washington IAD
4. Miami MIA 
5. Chicago ORD
6. Los Angeles LAX
7. San Francisco SFO

Lowest fares are capital routes to Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki. Copenhagen is more expensive than flying to Norway or Sweden with Gothenburg, Sweden and several cities in Norway on sale including Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand and Alesund.

These fares are not the lowest fares available. SkyTeam, Oneworld and other Star Alliance airlines have had and still have lower fares by as much as $100 or more.

I will pay $100 more for SAS flights to earn Star Alliance Gold elite status more quickly.

The reason I have been waiting for an SAS sale to Europe is my 2017 frequent flyer plan has been focused on obtaining Star Alliance Gold elite status. Aegean Airlines (A3) Miles + Bonus is the program where I have credited my Star Alliance flights for the past year.

The added value of SAS flights are all economy class flight codes earn 100% flight miles as Aegean Miles + Bonus Tier Miles.

United and Air Canada flights to Europe in deep discount economy K code flights only earn 50% Tier Miles. Swiss and Lufthansa deep discount economy K codes, currently the lowest priced Star Alliance flights to Europe, do not earn any Aegean Tier Miles.

I earned Aegean Miles + Bonus Silver elite status in July 2017 with 12,000 Tier Miles and 2 Aegean flight segments.

For Aegean Gold elite I need 24,000 Tier Miles + 4 Aegean flight segments by July 12, 2018.

Currently, I need an additional 16,663 Tier Miles to reach the 24,000 Tier Miles EQM for Aegean Miles + Bonus Gold elite and Star Alliance Gold elite.

With the right itineraries, I can reach Gold elite with one SAS round trip ticket from San Francisco to Scandinavian ($550) and two Aegean 2-segment tickets ($200).

There is also the option for me to buy 1,000 Aegean Tier Miles for 50 EUR as an Aegean Miles + Bonus Silver elite member.

SAS $546.89 USD  Mon Oct 9 – Wed Oct 18

San Francisco SFO – Copenhagen CPH – Stockholm ARN – Copenhagen CPH – San Francisco SFO

SFO-OSL round trip ticket earns 12,174 Tier Miles with 10,974 Tier Miles for SFO-CPH flight segments and 1,200 Tier Miles for CPH-ARN segments. Aegean Miles+Bonus earns a minimum 600 Tier Miles for SAS flight segments.

Aegean two-segment tickets like Warsaw-Athens-Brussels are as low as $60 one way for 2,301 Aegean Tier Miles.