Aegean Airlines: 19,000 Miles And You’re Star Alliance Gold!

Can statuses be matched (ex: Oneworld)?

@Sammy:
You can’t match to Aegean, but you can use the Aegean status to match to other airlines, like Alaska Airlines, that will get you free bags on AA and Delta.

Any way to get the mileage with purchases instead of flights?

@arch:
Nope, the 3K for Silver and 19K for Gold after the signup bonus have to come from flights on Star Alliance carriers.

Is there more ezpass availability for elite members?

hi dan, which airlines go to which alliance? sorry is that a dumb question? i am getting very confused. how do i transfer my points to an “alliance” rather than to a specific airline? or do i transfer it to an airline which is apart a certain alliance? and how do i sign up and how does this really help me on regular flights (i.e. domestic or even internationally – israel)

To clarify you do get access to continental and united lounges with gold status?

@Wolf:
Continental/United elites and credit card holders have unlimited ezpass availability. That has nothing to do with Aegean Gold though.

@TZvee:
You don’t transfer points (such as AMEX MR, Chase UR, or Starpoints) to an alliance, you transfer to an airline and you are subject to their policies and rates and get travel on their partners.

You can see member airlines on the major alliances websites:
http://www.staralliance.com/en/
http://www.oneworld.com/
http://www.skyteam.com/

I wrote in the post the benefits of attaining Star Alliance Silver and Gold status through Aegean.

@David:
Correct, you get access to Continental/United and USAirways lounges even in the domestic US with Aegean Gold status, you do not get that in the domestic US with Continental/United or USAirways gold status.

Do i get access to the lounge even if i am traveling on a diff airlines?

@Rajnish:
Yes, as long as you are traveling on a Star Alliance airline departing from that airport.

@Dan: What about saverpass?

Dan- so what you are saying is that if we qualify, we get 4 years of SA Gold, but if we take one flight on Aegean while we are SA Gold, we will get our status extended for 3 more years?

So the total is 7 years of Gold?

so a bus/first tlv-ewr r/t will get me how much?

so to clarify, even though you will have Premier Gold status, you will not be eligible for free upgrades?

@Wolf:
Yes, Continental elites get better saverpass availability.

@miguel:
You never need to take a Aegean flight. And according to the terms the Gold status will never expire as long as you credit one Star Alliance flight every 3 years to your Aegean account, though that can always change if they feel like it.
So you will get nearly 4 years of Star Alliance Gold at the minimum, and possibly Star Alliance Gold for life as long as you credit any Star Alliance flight to Aegean every 3 years thereafter.

@joeb1:
Good question.

It boils down to when they consider that to be a United flight instead of a Continental flight. The Continental program ends on March 2nd, so maybe that will be the cutoff date?

At any rate if it’s a Continental flight and it’s a J, C, or D class businessfirst fare it would earn 11,384 x 125% Continental Business=14,230 miles.
If it’s a Continental flight and it’s a Z class businessfirst fare it would earn 11,384 miles.

If it’s a United flight in any class it would earn 11,384 x 200% United Business=22,768 miles.

It may matter if you purchased the ticket from Continenta or United, or it may only matter which airline operated the flight. For now though it’s quite complicated until the Continental brand name goes away and is fully merged into United.

@JAS:
You won’t have “Premier Gold” status, that is a Continental/United status level.

You will have Aegean Gold which comes with Star Alliance Gold status, but upgrades are generally only if you maintain elite status on that airline. That’s the same reason Continental/United elites don’t get upgraded on USAir and USAir elites don’t get upgraded on Continental/United.

The benefits you get with Star Alliance Gold are outlined in the post.

r u sure that you can take a free checked bag with silver status

@Sam:
Air Canada, Continental, United, and USAirways all give a free bag to Star Alliance Silver elites and each of their companions and 3 free bags to Star Alliance Gold elites and each of their companions.

so since it is not technically Premier Gold you will not be able to book exit seats and aisle seats either in advance. Is this correct?

@JAS:
Your mileage may vary on that one. By calling and giving your Star Alliance Gold number you may be able to reserve preferred seats in advance for free, though you are correct that they are not a written benefit of Star Alliance Gold status.

The advantages of this status is that it’s much easier to reach and retain and that you have access to domestic lounges, but there definitely are major advantages to earning status directly with your preferred airline.

please remove this post as i did this years ago and it’s been great if too many people do this its over

Do these Aegean miles actually have to be EARNED through flying? Or can you buy the miles, transfer Amex MR or Chase UR points to Aegean, or something of the like. And if I am understanding this correctly, is Star Alliance status a completely separate account/membership/loyalty club then the specific airlines frequent flyer programs? For example, would I need to set up an a whole new account through the Star Alliance website and a new entry to track in Award Wallet, or is it when I get the Aegean or any Star Alliance airline status that status is just automatically applied to all Star Alliance frequent flyer programs I am a part of.

@Everett:
-Earned from flying (besides for the 1K bonus for opening the account)
-When you get Aegean Gold (or Continental/United Premier Gold or USAirways Gold, etc) on that elite membership card is a Star Alliance Gold logo.
When you show that card with the Star Alliance Gold logo together with a departing boarding pass from a Star Alliance airline at any Star Alliance lounge you get free access for you and a companion.

When you supply your Aegean Gold frequent flyer number to Continental their system will recognize that you are Aegean Gold which is also Star Alliance Gold and you will get 3 free bags and priority baggage handling and priority boarding.

Again, there is no separate “Star Alliance” account. It’s just a linked benefit from having Aegean Gold elite status.

Sounds great. How long does the silver status last? Anyway to extend that the 3 years?

* Alliance Gold will give you and a guest access to Air Canada lounges when flying on any * Alliance flight

Dan, if the distance of my first flight is 8k miles (to first get me to Silver @ 3k), will the extra 5k (8k-3k) miles be deducted from the 16K miles required to qualify for gold (leaving a balance of 11k) or will I have to fly a new sector and accrue 16k?

@Kelli:
The Silver status will also be good until 12/31/15 and crediting any flight to Aegean by then will extend it for another 36 months!

@Marcus:
Sure, as it works for any Star Alliance lounge.

@Jay:
It does not reset at 4K, so you will only need 11K more miles to reach Gold!

us airways changed there policie on silver status for international you have to pay 70$ for the second one

is that corect Dan ?

@Dan Thanks for the info.
Does anyone know a good resource for finding out how many miles certain flights are (aside from just Googling ‘how far is SF from NY?’) It would be great to know how far away I need to fly (I live in San Francisco) to hit the 4k, or even the 11k, and what my options are for earning it through mileage runs.

thanks for the info, dan. if i achieve gold or silver status through aegean, and then fly enough miles to get elite status on united, will united recognize both? i’d like to be in line for automatic upgrades on united or continental.

If I get Star Alliance Gold through Aegean, can I still get Gold benefits (free bags) when flying united if I use my united frequent flier number. If so, how will United know I am gold unless I use my Aegean frequent flier number. Thanks!

Dan,

Wish this offer was with a OW partner, as I only fly AA Domestic 🙁

Jason

How does swiss work out with aegean? Also, why no post yet on all the new spg perks?

@Dan, i’m flying jfk-tlv on austrian (“economy L” so i cant accrue miles for the flight) and was wondering if this will help get me more free luggage on the flight. if so, will i be able to get the miles/status before i fly in april?

@Everett:

There is a link in the post to a site That does that.

Looking at the Aegean website, I see no mention of elite qualifying miles (i.e., flown miles). It seems, therefore, that Aegean miles earned through any means, including hotels and Hertz car rentals, count toward your total for Gold.

Also, their bizarre award chart includes Greenland (!), Mexico and all of the Caribbean as part of North America, meaning they are reachable on SA partners for 25K in coach. Hawaii, on the other hand, is an eye-watering 80K in coach from the US.

I have miles on a lufthansa miles and more cld it be transffered to aegean to gain the stat

@Sam:
That’s correct.

@Everett:
Look in the post for info on the Great Circle Mapper.

@anne:
Recognize both for which purposes specifically?

@sk:
United allows you to supply an agent with mileage number for benefits and a separate mileage number for elite benefits!

Even if you get an agent that can’t do that you can always checkin and check your luggage with your Aegean number and then switch the mileage number to United at the kiosk, online, or at the gate or club.

@jake l.:

http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/program-description/earn-miles/#SWISS

Frankly besides for free wifi for Golds I don’t find the new benefits that exciting or applicable to most people.

@moshe:
If you go on a mileage run before the flight it’ll help you.

@megerton:
They do have “tier miles” earned only for flying.

@josh:
No.

Re: SPG – so 10 free suite nights is just chopped liver?

@jake l.:
Given that it requires you to spend a whopping 50 nights in SPG hotels and it can’t be confirmed until 5 days out that’s exactly what I would call it.

Thanks Dan

@Dan: My husband is a Continental and Star Alliance Silver and took a US Airways flight from JFK to TLV recently. He was only allowed 1 suitcase.
This is from their website:
If you bought your ticket on or after November 15, 2011 (and you’re traveling on or after December 15, 2011)
If you’re a Star Alliance Silver member we’ll waive the fee for your first checked bag and you’ll be charged for your second checked bag. Also, if you’re traveling to/from Tel Aviv, there’s a $70 fee for your second checked bag.

@DealsSeeker:
And your point is?

@Dan: I am quoting you here “Elite Benefits:
-Star Alliance Silver gets you and each of your travel companions a free checked bag on Star Alliance carriers like Air Canada, Continental, United, USAirways.”
But on international flights there is no baggage fee waiver on flights on US Airways for Star Alliance Elite (just for local travel), that is my point.

@DealsSeeker:
Silver gets you one free checked bag, not an additional free bag.

Will Star Alliance Silver get me access to United Economy Plus seats for free? Either automatically via the website, or by calling up an agent?

Dam, If I book a first class flight for mid-March through United website with a United flight number, but the metal is actually flown by Continental,will i receive the 300% flight credit to Aegean for the mileage?

I reached gold status but never received my card i went on to the website and requested a new card and it never came any thoughts?

I have six sa flights from the passed seven weeks. How can I credit the miles? I have some boarding cards and some itinerary sheets…Thanks

is there a way i can use my mr points for this?

@Matityahu:
No, but maybe at the gate.

@Melvin:
Continental stopped on 03/02.

@yanky:
Call them?

@moishy:
Call them?

@jack L:
No.

I presently have United Elite status as well as the United Club Club Card. What are the downsides of checking in using an Aegean FF number (to achieve SA Gold)? Would I not receive Upgrades etc.. And are there any workarounds for any such issues.

my continental one pass plus was turned into united mileageplus explorer by chase.the old card had my flown miles doubled on continental f/f account because I charged the ticket on the continental chase card. Is this now true on the united explorer ,as well?

Aegean is a Greek airline and heavily in debt. A recent Hungarian airline, Malev, was in a similar position and folded in March. With immediate effect, all miles, status etc. were lost.

I’ve got a non-stop on United in December booked in K, thus earning 50%. If I upgrade using 40k miles and $150 will that bump me up to F,A and get me 300%?

I’m in Israel, went on Turkish. Should I join Aegean based on this?

How can I find out which Air Canada flights will earn status miles?

Any way, other than flights, to gain qualifying miles with Aegean? Would be nice to send them 2000 miles from Starwoods and get their Blue card (Silver in SA).

WOW!!! This sounds FABULOUS!!! I am at about 7th grade level in the travel hacking/frequent flying realm…lovin’ my studies though…had some AWESOME trips…SOOOO I sign up and then what–sorry! 🙂 I book a flight on United how?? I guess I don’t understand how to get Aegean credits, etc… Thanks and HUGS to the fam I LOVE to rad about…Kathy

@Ephraim:
You can pay to upgrade the fare class, but I don’t beleive a mileage upgrade would work.

@Too Lazy To Read All The Comments:
Depends on the fare class of the ticket.

@Chaim:
You need to find out the fare class.

@MacDan:
Not that I’m aware of.

@Kathy:
All you need to do is signup for an Aegean number and then provide that number to United or any other Star Alliance carrier online or at the airport.

sorry, i’m still new. how do I earn miles on Aegean? Go to United.com and book using money not miles, then go to Aegean website to “claim air miles”? Thank you.

actually i got it. you don’t sign in to your mileageplus account. let it goes to the next page and select aegean program. silly me.

Hey, great post!
If i sign today and dont reach silver within year – I can just start over in a year from now? (I could just open a new ff account and get 1k/2k miles and get another year to earn silver)

Also, I can add my aegean ff number to any *A flight whether its domestic or international?

i flew us airways recently nag received us airways miles. can i switch those to aegan

@shotguns:

Same question here.. I received 5500 united milage plus miles last month for flying to israel, can change these miles into Aegean miles?

I have a question as well. I’ve got a US Airways domestic ticket for Nov. booked. Can I change the FF# to Aegean, and how do I go about doing that?? I know….us beginners, ugh Thanks a bunch

@Jean M: You can change your FF# online, over the phone, at the airport kiosk, check-in counter, or gate. Just make sure you change it prior to boarding your flight. You can also get retroactive credit, but not if you had a different FF# on your ticket when you fly.

@however: you are correct, i would not have my miles with Aegean, just like Malev, can be gone and say goodbye to miles!!!

If you credit your miles to Aegean, do your flight legs still earn credit towards elite status on another airline?

eg I fly US Airways and pushing to retain my Silver status. If I use my Aegean # presumably I would get the miles on Aegean and not get the credit for flights on US Air?
Gracias.

aegean requires a minimum amount of miles from air canada and others, any idea what this means, and if it applies to each flight segment or if the roundtrip meets the limit is good?

@e-foooo:
Your “eg” assumption is correct.

@acanada:
Lol, by minimum they mean that even if the flight is less than 500 miles they will still give you 500 miles.

@Dan:
AWESOME! Thanks

1) I just checked baggage allowance on Air Canada, and the price didn’t change for star alliance silver. (gold shows 3 free bags) did they change the policy?
2) could I accumulate my wifes miles on my status?

i flue yesterday on air Canada ‘Y’ fare & i gave in my Aegean number & i didn’t got the points

also do they give points on ‘L’ class by Lufthansa ?

It’s now 2013:

does that mean qualifying for gold now means until the end of 2016?

If i apply with agean can i later combine the account with my united account?

Hi Dan thanks for your great posts, if i transfer 20k membership rewards points to aegean does that qualify me for the gold status ?

thank you so much for this i am wondering i fly Turkish airlines and i will become gold member after my flight from Israel to JFK however how would i get a lounge access with blue status without any credit cards is there a way to pay i know this post doesn’t really go here but not sure where else thanks

i have 19500 miles is there a way i can become gold without flying again

Is this still promotion still on ?

if i fly tlv to jfk round trip how can i know which fare class will give full or half mileage

@dale:

You should check class at time of booking. Rule of thumb, avoid TATLs on LH, they will usually give 0%.

Can u get milage for flying a ticket booked with miles? If yes then how?

When is US Air leaving star alliance to American airlines?

@Deeleewee:
nope.. you can’t earn miles (except in some certain using some higher cost Lifemiles) on award tickets

If using Avios to book flight flying American or any other non-british airways airline will we avoid paying all the high taxes that BA normally charges?

Hi Dan I hope you will see the 86th questions, I am already an Aegean Gold and i got now preferred seats on Air Canada but they told me that I can only get all Gold benefits if my Aegean number is on the ticket, so how can I switch now back to a different airline and getting the benefits?

@AAMM:
You can switch it after picking a seat and checking your luggage.

If I already added my us airways # through orbitz can I switch it.
Also can I use the same # for wife or would infant in lap do anything

Hi Dan. I see that you can only use miles from flying, but I can’t find whether transferring miles from flying i.e., USAir miles, would work, or only new miles from flight? Thank you.

How can I check which fares from air Canada get credited? Flew in July on air canada T & L class tickets & if they earn miles would credit it to Aegean. Also do rental cars credit to Aegean?

Thanks again Dan! If I get the 4,000 for silver but cant get the *G requirements…to keep the silver active just credit one flight within 36 months. I dont have to credit 4,000 miles to keep *Silver- just literally one flight? THANK YOU!

I am a Gold Member of Aeroplan and want to travel to Israel in October 2013 on points. I found a huge fuel surcharge on Air Canada and also high charge on US Air or Lufstansa. Which Star Alliance from New York to TLV avoids these high fuel charges on redeemed points? Also, I was asked for 80,000 points. Is that the standard?
Thank you S.Grafstein

i am a aeagen gold member & just came from tlv to phl &then to yul with us airways I took 2 suitcases & entered the lounge & priority check in & security it was awesome!!!!

Dan,

Great post, thanks so much! Will be trying this soon.

Question for you if you know the answer. I travel once a year to a destination that’s 6000 miles away. After the first trip, I should become Silver. But it sounds like I won’t make the Gold status since it requires you to take the next 16000 miles within the year after you turned Silver? I usually stay at my destination for a month, so the last leg of the trip won’t be counted. Is that right?

Thanks!

I am based in Israel and fly to the States usually once maybe twice a year. I am finishing up accumulating miles on Delta and want to start something new. I am thinking of star alliance but dont know in which airline to put the miles. I have a few thousand in AA and a few hundred points on LY

I am flying next Monday so I can get the Aegean bonus and *A silver but probably could not make gold.

Which airline would give me the best deal based on lowest points needed and low or no surcharge

Thanks for a quick reply

Instead of booking a flight on a star alliance would it help to rent a car with hertz and then your status won’t expire?

I am looking to do a mileage run to get status ~19,000 miles. Is there a way I can find routes to optimize $/miles flown on USAirways or United?

Hi Guys! It sounds great! One question…there’s a frequent flyer program that give you 100% miles with a L class (Lufthansa ) and N class ( Singaporea airlines). I got few trips with them in economy that I could charge on one of the program! Thanks

Thanks for the top, it’s a great one! However, something about the BENEFITS you mentioned sounds weird:

The post mentions “Star Alliance Gold gets you and each of your travel companions 3 free checked bags on Air Canada, United, and USAirways. United even allows each bag to weigh 70 pounds.”

However, Aegean “Gold Card Privileges” webpage says:
As a Gold Member, you are entitled to additional 20 kg (44 pounds) where the weight concept applies, or one additional piece of luggage where the piece concept applies. For flights on Aegean Airlines only one extra piece of baggage is applied.

US Airways’ and United’s websites say the same (+1 baggage).

Where did you bring the “3 free checked bags” from?

Guys, this is the best mile calculator I’ve found.

I’m based half in Greece, half in Asia – after years, upon YEARS of being AirNew Zealand Gold/Gold Elite (not quite) – I changed over to Aegean (which I fly once a month, London to Athens, at least) and although was not awarded miles as generously as expected, I was able to gain gold status in 2 months, not 11 months 29 days when flying on non-operated/non-code-share flights. I fly about 50,000 – 75,000 kilometers per month; about 25,000 – 40,000 miles – mostly to strange places, and the lack of generous cross-crediting always gripes me (that I get lounge access through my AMEX credit card, not through carriers) – because I spend probably $70,000 on Star Alliance flights, and $40,000 on One World flights per year.

To be fair on Aegean, I wouldn’t be surprised if they follow all the other carriers, and make “qualifying flights” mandatory – and convert the “must fly once per 3 years” a condition that that flight is on Aegean, not “any” *Alliance flight…

Bear in mind, that flying Aegean only – it is VERY hard to earn gold status – most of their flights are under 100 miles – and only a few are over 1,000. You basically have to make 10 return trips to London (one per month) (a 4 hour flight) to earn native gold status. It’s onerous, and not different to the extreemly hard to get Air New Zealand status (about one return flight per month, in economy, to an “average destination/haul flight”… Fair then that A3 (aegean) have a comparatively low threshold in terms of miles, I think.

This is the best Aegean calculator i have found…

http://www.owenrudge.net/utils/starcalc/?p=A3

Not found a site that works out best routing for optimized carrier recognition though.

The first-class checkin, and being able to arrive at airports 45 minutes before international flights is gold. Particularly when you fly every 2 days like I do.

Hope this helps – even though it’s a very old post.

Is it possible 2 get the Aegean credit card?? And does it go towards becoming gold??

@Dan:
Dan, after several flights I accumulated over 20,000 miles but was told that fewer than 10,000 are tier miles, but rather award miles which won’t get me gold status. Since all but first 1,000 miles were earned on flights, why are t all my miles tier miles. I’ve asked Aegean & they direct me to their website which says (see below). Can you help me understand?

CHAPTER 3: MILES/CATEGORIES
Miles are classified into two (2) categories:

A. Tier Miles: they determine the level of the programme to which the Member belongs. These are Miles that each Member collects from specific activities cumulatively, in order to become a BLUE Cardholder and then a GOLD Cardholder. Tier Miles cannot be redeemed, save in the special instances set forth herein.

B. Award Miles: they are Miles that every Member collects in order to redeem, by exchanging them with the award of his choice, i.e. products and services offered by the Programme.

Hi Dan- I understand from you that you only need 19k miles to upgrade to gold, but on Aegean web it sounds like you need way more (about 48k ‘tier miles’) would you please clarify. Thanks

Once you have qualified for Silver, you then have another 12 months to achieve Gold. You will need to earn an additional 24,000 status miles (including 4 Aegean segments) or 48,000 status miles on any Star Alliance airline.
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