Air France has taken a 20% ownership stake in Scandinavian Airlines. SAS will move from Star Alliance to SkyTeam on September 1. And the SAS EuroBonus program is looking for competitors’ customers in the Star and oneworld alliances.
A couple of months ago I wrote about SAS offering a status match. Some readers complained that it wasn’t broadly relevant enough, since it states it’s available only to European residents. But it’s relevant because they appear to be status matching anyone with enough of a pulse to fill out a form. Vital signs sufficient to upload attachments not required. They are just matching everybody. Here is the request form. August 30th is the last day to request the match.
- They are not requiring submission of proof of current status
- They are not requiring submission of proof of residence
They say during the match process that they might ask for one or both of these. I submitted a match request on Friday, stating that I have British Airways Silver status (which happens to be true). I listed my address as a prominent hotel in the U.K. Tuesday morning I received an email confirming that I would receive the match:
I requested this purely as a test. I do not need SAS EuroBonus elite status.
- It’s SkyTeam Elite Plus, but I already have that through Air France KLM Flying Blue where I’m a Gold member.
- And SkyTeam Elite Plus doesn’t get you as much as comparable status in Star Alliance and oneworld. It gives you lounge access on international itineraries only – not flying Delta domestically (where I get lounge access through Amex Platinum already).
I don’t anticipate using this status. I was just curious to see whether the NINJA loan-equivalent of a status match was real. It is. Use this information responsibly.
- So who is being scammed harder, SAS or United?
- But even that is probably the wrong, since the level of incompetence that opens up these vulnerabilities really makes it their own fault.
Earlier this month I wrote about how United’s status match system was being scammed. MileagePlus stopped verifying that credentials were real. They stopped verifying that the people getting the status were real. Then I covered $20 Marriott Platinum status.
The optimal amount of fraud isn’t zero. The things you’d have to do to eliminate all fraud would make the programs unusable. But some of the pathways for fraud are just super obvious, and the optimal amount of fraud surely doesn’t approach 100%, either.
“And SkyTeam Elite Plus doesn’t get you as much as comparable status in Star Alliance and oneworld. It gives you lounge access on international itineraries only – not flying Delta domestically (where I get lounge access through Amex Platinum already).”
The comparison is far worse when one considers that the Delta lounges have a perpetual overcrowding problem worse than any other lounges.
I filed a bunch of status matches with SAS. Most of the applications came back with emails from SAS asking for proof of European citizenship or European residence — and they wanted photographs — before they would approve the applications. Can’t say whether they actually confirm the proof of European residence or citizenship, but they were asking for it and put the applications on hold until they got emails with photos in them.
and as discussed yesterday, there are and always will be ways within alliances to undercut pricing and status.
Switching alliances is a “justifiable” time for an airline to take risk but it still proves that there is not consistency and it isn’t hard to understand the reasons for that inconsistency.
just put in my request and they dont even ask for my address in the UK!
fingers crossed
Surprised you posted admitting you did this.
@khatl – why? it was a test, and I do not intend to use the benefits that SK provides.
Ah like my college accounting professor said… “What’s the appropriate level of tax fraud? Just the right amount.” Also taught us how to kite checks.
Encouraging fraud. Really?
@Jr – People can do with the information as they wish, I encourage them explicitly in the post to act responsibly, but I think it’s meaningful to call out how SAS is currently being scammed. Lots of folks across the industry read the site and can learn from it, and lots of frequent flyers are interested in how this stuff works.
The site you linked to in the original post (Head for Points) says the LH match doesn’t work
I submitted my request over a month ago and am still waiting. About a week later they asked for proof of residence, which I duly sent, yet still no word.
It don’t work if you have status with AA, I am a Executive Platinum, no option to enter that info
This article is misleading. SAS has thought this through. There are only 4 airlines one can match to SAS from and they don’t need you to upload ‘proof’ because they verify each frequent flyer number that is entered. Since you actually had BA Silver, Gary, just entering your number was enough for their system to verify that your status is legitimate. For TK it’s instant verification–because star alliance database.
Look, I couldn’t tell you the difference between Lincoln-Douglas and forensic, but this is clear:
You connect to a website and, by misrepresenting yourself, you obtain something of non-negligible value. The fact that it has little value to you is irrelevant.
You then publish to your blog, with an impressive readership and significant AMP traffic, the news that this company is rewarding fraudulent applications with something of non-negligible value. You add: “use this information responsibly.”
Now, as a ‘thought leader’ for a couple decades, you undoubtedly have an idea how to contact the company in question directly. And you probably know that the responsible thing to do, after a ‘white hat’ test, is to contact the company and inform them of the vulnerability.
So, the question is: what possible ‘responsible use’ is there for the general public, assuming that fraud is not ‘responsible use’? And who do you expect will benefit from your work?
How big of a settlement are you willing to make?
‘cos this looks bad
@Jack Marrves
You’re correct. I entered my BA#, only a few hours later, they sent me a rejection email. I’m surprised they can check with BA. I may have authorized BA to share such info sometime in the past?
Bubba is right VFTW needs a legal department, stat!
I requested status match with star alliance gold for Turkish miles and smiles, but they made me a silver in their program this morning
With a frequent flyer number and name for the frequent flyer, it’s pretty easy to figure out what the person’s status is with the airline.
They do name match verification, tier status verification and when needed they ask for more info.
I tried a few changing names and using various star carrier and BA accounts in my family; rejected unless truly matching including my status.
Trying to send in other carrier ffps , like delta or united numbers, than those listed all failed when using same fields but with tweaked data. Instant reject.
On one request they asked for proof of residency. Guess the residency is the hardest but least important unless asked to submit documents.
Now I also get on all when trying again that my ffp matching from or to; is already used.
I did this but the normal legal way, to match to my BA Gold status, at the beginning of June. I was told that I would have to actually book and fly SK for it to take effect.
“Thanks for your interest in SAS.
“Unfortunately, you do not meet the requirements for Status Match.
“The customer must have at least one future booking with SK or the customer must have travelled with SK in the last 6 months.
Given poor reviews of SK, I haven’t taken them up on completing the offer terms. As soon as I feel adventurous, I may book an initial flight with them……
Denied with Finnair: did a White Hat test with everything right but my current status with Finnair.
Conclusion: they have access to other airlines databases.
+1 You should change the title of this post or maybe delete it.
“ Encouraging fraud. Really?”
Every time you come across a salesperson, attractive product packaging or advertisement trying to sell you something, do you see some fraud being encouraged by the media and property owners/managers encouraging those sales? Unless the “fraud” is criminal, isn’t it sort of like people trying to impress a date or potential date with questionable actions in order to get some action, future commitment or both?