Why EgyptAir Plus is the Best Airline to Get Star Alliance Gold Status

If you do a quick google search for “which is the best airline to get Star Alliance Gold status,” you will invariably find one answer: Aegean Airlines. It is true that Aegean is a solid program, however, if you look around there is one that is even better, especially for couples or families. With some astute flight planning, you can hit Star Alliance Gold in just one trip! That loyalty program is EgyptAir Plus.

What to Know About EgyptAir Plus

EgyptAir has been a full Star Alliance member since July 2008. The program, EgyptAir Plus, has four membership levels: Blue, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The different levels align to the following Star Alliance status tiers:

• Blue = Not Applicable
• Silver = Star Alliance Silver
• Gold = Star Alliance Gold
• Elite = Star Alliance Gold
• Platinum = Star Alliance Gold

EgyptAir has two types of miles:

• Award miles: These are redeemable miles that you use for flight redemptions.
• Tier miles: Your elite qualification miles, which determine your level of status.

The interesting point about these miles is that they're accrued at the same rate. You earn miles when you fly with EgyptAir or other Star Alliance partners, so long as your credit the flights to your EgyptAir Plus account. To move between the tiers, you need to accrue the following:

• Blue to Silver: 30,000 miles
• Silver to Gold: 30,000 miles within two years of achieving Silver
• Gold to Elite: 300,000 miles within two years of achieving Gold
• Elite to Platinum: 600,000 miles within three years, achieving Elite.

EgyptAir Plus status is valid for 24 months from the date of upgrade. To maintain Gold status, you need to earn at least 40,000 flown miles within 2 years of being upgraded to Gold.

Credit: EgyptAir Plus

One of the quirks of the EgyptAir Plus program is that it has a family or household account system. While airlines like JetBlue and British Airways have a similar feature, what makes EgyptAir's program unique is that all miles are pooled. Typically with a family account, the award miles earned by the family member are added to the main accountholder’s account, while the status miles are either not credited at all, or are credited to the individual’s account, not the main household/shared account.

Credit: EgyptAir Plus

Tier Miles are Credited to the Main Account Holder

This is what truly makes the EgyptAir Plus program unique: they credit both the award miles and tier miles to the main account holder. I'm sure you're thinking to yourself, “No way.” Well, check out my statement from earlier this year showing a flight that I took with my wife from Dublin (DUB) to Cape  Town (CPT) with Lufthansa in Premium Economy. Looking at the statement, it is clear that I received the award miles earned by my wife, but also as the main account holder, I received the tier miles she earned as well.

Credit: EgyptAir Plus

This double dipping has been the norm for years, and is EgyptAir Plus’ main policy. Below is my statement from nearly 10 years ago showing a flight that I took with my wife from Jakarta, Indonesia (CGK) to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt (SSH) with Turkish Airlines. Again, it credited my Tier Miles to the main household account.

This double-dipping is a great way to pick up status, especially for those who do not regularly fly for work, and would find it impossible to pick up elite status from the few flights they take every year. So, what is the most efficient way to pick up EgyptAir Gold elite status — and, by extension, Star Alliance Gold?

The Easiest Way to Get Elite Status

There is NO requirement to fly EgyptAir to earn elite status. You can credit miles flown with partner airlines to EgyptAir Plus, so long as you add your account number to the booking. However, flying EgyptAir itself can boost your miles earning since you benefit from a generous fare class bonus as well as a status bonus.

The easiest way to pick up status for a couple is a vacation to Thailand, while for a family of three or more, it is a quick trip to Egypt to visit the Pyramids, for example. We break down several of the best options below.

The Thailand option

Getting to Thailand, the two most rewarding options are either direct from New York (JFK) to Bangkok (BKK) via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, or, for maximum earning, New York to Cairo (CAI) on EgyptAir, then on to Bangkok via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. Depending on how many passengers are flying, the mileage earned should look something like this.

Using EgyptAir with a stop in Cairo first would give you instantaneous Gold status on the completion of your trip. Not only that but also you would have 24 months to earn the 18,000 miles to maintain your Gold status. You can also save some money since you can book a lower business class fare bucket (J). The difference in earning is directly related to fare class bonuses.

Opting for the direct route and skipping out the Cairo leg will leave a couple 1,900 miles short of Gold status, which should not be a problem especially if you don’t live in New York since you can pick those miles up flying United to New York, your international gateway on your trip.

Traveling as a family of three or more, you can go direct and use a lower business class fare bucket, and you will hit Gold in one trip.

 TAP To Israel from the US

When it comes to value for money, earning EgyptAir Miles with a partner airline, TAP Portugal, is an astounding option. You will earn a whopping 200% of the miles flown on all business class fares.

Credit: EgyptAir Plus

This high bonus makes it possible to reach Star Alliance Gold status in one round trip. Consider a round-trip business class fare from Los Angeles (LAX) to Tel Aviv (TLV) via Lisbon (LIS) in Tap Business Class.

• 1 passenger: Will earn approximately 32,777 miles, or enough to reach Silver if starting from zero.
• 2 passengers: A couple taking the same flight will earn a massive 65,554 tier miles in the primary account holder. Starting from zero, that would take you directly up to Star Alliance Gold

Flying TAP can be incredibly lucrative in terms of miles, so much so that I have a trip booked later this year from Dublin to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) via Lisbon (LIS) for two. This round-trip fare will take me up to Star Alliance Gold, and give me nearly 10,000 of the 40,000 miles required for re-qualification.

A Note on Mileage Calculation

Things can be a little tricky when it comes to working out how many miles you will earn with EgyptAir on partner airlines — the only way I have done it is to call them (+1-212-938-3560) and ask, however, there are a few simple workarounds:

• For EgyptAir-operated flights, you can use their own mileage calculator
• To work out the fare class bonus you will earn with partner airlines, you can use EgyptAir’s partner earning page. The page will not give you exact mileage per trip, just the percentage fare class bonus for various Star Alliance members
• For partner flights, you can use gcmap.com to work out the mileage for each leg of your flight. It is a good indicator since, for most calculations, it will yield a slightly more conservative figure than EgyptAir will award.

What to Do With EgyptAir Miles?

Obviously, no one wants to park thousands of miles in a mileage program that they can’t cash in. However, EgyptAir is a member of Star Alliance, which means its miles can be redeemed on United, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, and other Star Alliance airlines. You can review the EgyptAir Plus Star Alliance redemption chart (prices are round-trip). You can also review different regions and zones.

Redeeming your miles on EgyptAir is very straightforward, in my experience, as they don’t seem to have award space allocated. You call the support center and ask for the EgyptAir flight you want, the date, and the class of travel, and they give you the ticket. There doesn’t seem to be any blackout dates.

Redeeming with Star Alliance is slightly more complex since you still have to call EgyptAir up in Cairo to get your redemptions. One thing to keep in mind is that for some utterly odd reason, you cannot call EgyptAir in Cairo if you are outside of Egypt. The main international call center of EgyptAir is based in Dubai, and you can reach it by calling +97144358444. That said the EgyptAir Plus award chart for partner airlines is relatively generous. Highlights of partner awards include:

• 70,000 miles for a one-way ticket to or from the U.S. to Frankfurt (FRA) in Lufthansa First Class, plus taxes and fees.
• 60,000 miles for a one-way award from Europe to Asia or the Far East in business class, plus taxes and fees.
• 60,000 miles for a round-trip in business class from the U.S. to Hawaii.

Finding EgyptAir Plus Partner Award Space

Unfortunately, you cannot search online for EgyptAir Partner award space. So, when it comes to booking a partner award, you will have to go old school and use some older methods of locating your award space. Your Best option is to lock into the partner award space by searching on United, Air Canada, or ANA. You can then contact EgyptAir to book your award.

Related: How to Find Airline Partner Award Availability

How to Use The EgyptAir Plus Program

The bottom line is that, due to the lack of transfer partners, you will not be able to use EgyptAir Plus like a regular airline program, where you continuously earn and redeem points. Arguably, once you hit Star Alliance Gold, you will only need to credit 40,000 miles to your EgyptAir account every couple of years to maintain your status. The rest of the time, you would probably credit any Star Alliance flights to other programs that are easier to use on the redemption side of things.

Typically, I will accrue around 45,000 miles in my EgyptAir Plus account every few years. This maintains my Gold status, as well as gives me enough miles for the following one-way business class redemptions:

• Europe to Southern Africa and the Persian Gulf, including Dubai
• North America to South America
• North America to Europe

What are the Benefits of Star Alliance Gold Status?

Once you achieve EgyptAir Plus Gold status or above, you'll also get Star Alliance Gold status. With Star Alliance Gold, you'll receive the following benefits whenever you fly on Star Alliance airlines:

• Priority airport check-in: Access to a dedicated check-in counter at the airport for Star Alliance Gold members, where available.
• Priority baggage handling: Your bags will receive priority handling, so they'll be the first on and off the plane, minimizing wait time.
• Airport lounge access: Complimentary entry for you and one guest to more than 1,000 airport lounges worldwide.
• Priority Boarding: Get on the plane faster by boarding with First and Business Class passengers, regardless of your ticket.
• Extra Baggage Allowance: Bring an extra 20 kg (44 pounds) where the weight concept applies or an extra piece of luggage where it doesn't.
• Gold Track: Use dedicated lanes to move through security and immigration more quickly.

Our Take

Chasing elite status when you don’t fly several times a month can be a near impossibility, so any option that allows leisure travelers to earn elite status relatively easily is welcome. The generous habit of crediting tier miles from the whole family to the main account holder’s account makes hitting your Gold status a breeze. Once you have it, the generous 24-month validity makes it much easier to plan your next trip to maintain status!

AwardWallet Tip of The Day

Did you know that you can set an individual goal for each of your loyalty accounts? Progress towards that goal is displayed under your account balance. You can set goals in bulk or individually by selecting the account(s) and clicking Set Account Goals under the Actions menu.
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