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Aegean recently announced updated terms and conditions for elite status qualification and retention. These negative changes make it much more challenging to retain status for travelers that don't fly enough on Aegean Airlines.
These new changes went into effect on June 1, 2023. Here's what Aegean elites (or aspiring elites) should know about the program changes.
New Aegean Miles + Bonus Elite Status Retention Requirements
Starting June 1, 2023, Aegean Miles + Bonus tier upgrades and elite status retentions have the following terms:
Earn Aegean Silver Tier
To upgrade to the Silver tier, you need to do one of the following:
- Earn 12,000 tier miles in 12 months and fly with Aegean and/or Olympic two times.
- Earn 35,000 tier miles with partner airlines.
Retain Aegean Silver Tier
To retain Silver status, Miles + Bonus members need to meet one of the following requirements within 12 months of earning Silver status:
- Earn 8,000 tier miles and fly with Aegean and/or Olympic twice.
- Earn 35,000 tier miles with partner airlines.
Upgrade From Aegean Silver to Gold Tier
Silver status members can upgrade to Gold — which critically includes Star Alliance Gold elite status — by meeting one of the following requirements within 12 months of earning Silver status:
- Earn 24,000 tier miles and fly with Aegean and/or Olympic four times.
- Earn 70,000 tier miles with partner airlines.
Retain Aegean Gold Tier
Aegean Miles + Bonus Gold status members can retain Gold status by achieving either one of the following within 12 months of the date of reaching Gold status:
- Earn 12,000 tier miles and fly with Aegean and/or Olympic four times
- Earn 70,000 tier miles with partner airlines.
Previous Aegean Miles + Bonus Status Requirements
The new requirements went into force on June 1, 2023. Previous requirements were much simpler for earning and retaining status tiers:
- Silver: Earn 8,000 status miles with two flights with Aegean and/or Olympic OR earn 16,000 tier points — less than half of the new 35,000-mile requirement.
- Gold: Earn 12,000 status miles, including four flights with Aegean and/or Olympic OR earn 24,000 tier points. That means the new 70,000 status mile requirement is a massive, nearly three-fold increase.
Related: Aegean Airlines Launches genAIRation Loyalty Program for Travelers Ages 18-25
Earning Aegean Miles + Bonus Elite Status
The new changes make earning and retaining status by flying Aegean's partner airlines very difficult. This is especially true if you want to credit your United flights to Aegean to earn Star Alliance Gold status.
Consider this: When flying in United’s most premium cabin, the most you earn is 100% of miles flown. To put the new earning rates into perspective, consider a flight from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX), which has a distance of 2,475 miles. You would need to credit at least 15 one-way flights in business class, premium economy, or full-fare economy just to retain Aegean Silver elite status.
However, to earn or retain Aegean Gold, you need to credit a mind-boggling 29 one-way transcontinental flights in a premium cabin or fare class. That's more than one transcontinental flight every other week over the course of a year.
Related: Do Aegean Airlines Miles + Bonus Miles Expire?
Our Take
This change is disappointing, especially for those who used Aegean as a quick way to reach and maintain Star Alliance Gold status.
However, you may have some sympathy for the carrier for wanting to clean house. It's very likely that they looked at their program and found a large number of Gold members who had not set foot on an Aegean or Olympic aircraft in years.
With these changes, are you going to switch programs in your quest for Star Alliance Gold? Let us know in the comments below!
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