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Jul

by: The Global Traveller

With Aegean having joined Star Alliance just this week, there is now a super easy way to attain Star Alliance Gold status (ie the level with free lounge access and extra baggage allowances). 20,000 status miles for Aegean Miles & Bonus Gold status, which is Star Alliance Gold (4,000 for Blue status which is Star Alliance Silver).

Even easier, new members get 1,000 status miles (and 1,000 award miles) just for signing up!

The program is similar to Miles & More – 150% or 200% earning rates for business class, and 300% for first class. Flights on many (but not all) Star Alliance airlines also have minimum mileage earning.  Awards are a bit cheaper than Miles & More rates.  The program isn’t all good – international awards must be booked 14 days before departure.

17 Comments Tags: , ,

  1. Star Alliance Gold status for just 20,000 status miles - One Mile at a Time said,

    [...] of the hat to Musings of the Global Traveller) [...]

  2. Adam said,

    According to
    http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/Content.aspx?code=winFly , many carriers’ economy fares only earn only 50% or zero Aegean miles.

  3. Aegean Airlines — the New and Easiest Path to Star Alliance Gold Status - View from the Wing said,

    [...] and Kiwi Flyer have already written about the great, low qualification requirements for Star Alliance Gold status [...]

  4. bernard pollack said,

    I can’t tell you how helpful this tip was. I’ve been in Africa so flying far fewer Star Alliance flights than normal (and I would have lost my US Airways Gold Status this year) — but this tip will allow me to retain Gold status at the end of the year. I am a regular reader and really enjoy this blog! Via Aegean Air!

  5. Anonymous said,

    [...] – View from the Wing Star Alliance Gold status for just 20,000 status miles – One Mile at a Time Super easy Star Alliance Gold status with Aegean – Musings of The Global Traveller Reply With Quote + Reply to [...]

  6. The Art of Non-Conformity » Beginner’s Guide to Travel Hacking said,

    [...] more miles and you’re already on the ladder. My thanks to AONC reader and fellow traveler Kiwi Flyer for sharing this [...]

  7. Beginner’s Guide to Travel Hacking said,

    [...] more miles and you’re already on the ladder. My thanks to AONC reader and fellow traveler Kiwi Flyer for sharing this [...]

  8. Anderson Cooper 360: Blog Archive - Beginner's Guide to Travel Hacking « - CNN.com Blogs said,

    [...] only 3,000 more miles and you're already on the ladder. My thanks to fellow traveler, Kiwi Flyer, for sharing this [...]

  9. Matt said,

    The claim points form on Aegen airlines is missing a whole bunch of cities… For example, I was unable to claim my Vancouver -> Sydney flight on Air Canada which would have gotten me 15K points round trip.

  10. The Global Traveller said,

    You can make a manual claim. In my experience many FFPs struggle to have fully functional online mileage claims and invariably I have to email or fax details where it involves an airline other than the home airline of the FFP.

  11. Adrian said,

    I’m trying to take advantage of this but am unclear on what “Minimum miles” refers to. Is it the minimum needed to get credit? Or is it the minimum that will be credited per segment? I have a couple of Economy flights coming up and am not sure it’s worth crediting to Aegean at 50%. However, I have some short segments that are less than 500 miles so if that’s the minimum that they credit I may use Aegean for those. Thanks!

  12. The Global Traveller said,

    It is a minimum amount that will be credited per flight, although care is needed in interpreting. Aegean minimum miles, are on flights with selected airlines only, and vary by booking class (higher minimums for full fares than for cheap fares and also higher for first & business than for economy). Crediting flights on some airlines does not attract a minimum mileage – eg even the most expensive booking class on Air New Zealand will earn only about 50 miles for a Wellington to Blenheim flight.

    Whereas for most frequent flyer programs with a minimum mileage earning, this is an absolute number (eg 500 miles) but may have eligibility requirements (eg only applies if you have elite status).

    Check out the Aegean earning table for more information.

  13. Adrian said,

    TGT, that for the response. For United and Continental, I am looking at fare classes that only accrue 50% Aegean miles but the table states that the minimum miles is 500 for that same fare class. So if I fly SFO-LAX for example, I should get 500 miles of credit on Aegean for traveling on UA or CO?

    Also, if the fare is a codeshare, I assume the rules of the actual carrier apply? If I book a US Airways flight that is operated by United, the UA table would apply, right?

  14. The Global Traveller said,

    Yes 500 miles in your case.
    With Star Alliance codeshare flights, the programs translate the booking code on the marketing airline to a corresponding booking code on the operating airline (won’t necessarily be the same letter). Earning is then based on the booking code of the operating airline.

    Unfortunately there is no comprehensive information publicly available translating booking codes for codeshares but often educated guesses can be made.

  15. CO/UA: SEA-LIM $403 all-in - Page 17 - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] have enough for Aegean Gold/ Star Alliance Gold. Only 16,000 miles to hit Gold according to this blog post W fare on Co only gets 50% on Aegean, thus you have to book a higher fare… still worth it i think [...]

  16. Mary Alice Brown said,

    Thanks for the tip! I am signing up now!

  17. Merger Update: 2012 MileagePlus Program Details - Page 36 - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] those people always pushing to make it (25k miles to qualify the first year still). Two words: Aegean Airlines. [...]

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