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Aegean Airlines — the flagship carrier of Greece — offers an interesting membership program. For travelers that can fly at least a few Aegean flights each year, the Miles+Bonus program might just be the easiest way to earn Star Alliance Gold status. Plus, Miles+Bonus redemption rates can be very reasonable on some routes.
If you're falling a bit short of (re)qualifying for status, Aegean is running a promotion to purchase Aegean tier miles. Let's take a look at this promotion and what it means for your Star Alliance status.
Aegean Tier Miles Purchase Key Terms
Now through May 31, 2023, Aegean Miles+Bonus members can take advantage of this offer to purchase up to 2,000 extra tier miles at up to a 25% discount.
The number of bonus Aegean tier miles that you can purchase is based on your status in the Aegean Miles+Bonus program:
- Blue: Blue members can purchase up to 3,000 tier miles (1,000 + 2,000 additional during this promotion) every 12 months (starting from the date of registration in Miles+Bonus)
- Silver: Silver members can purchase up to 4,000 tier miles (2,000 + 2,000 additional during this promotion) within their membership year (the twelve consecutive month period from the last tier upgrade/retain)
- Gold: Gold members can purchase up to 5,000 miles (3,000 + 2,000 additional during this promotion) within their membership year (the twelve consecutive month period from the last tier upgrade/retain)
Aegean tier miles are sold in sets of 500 at a typical price of 50€ per set. For Blue members like myself, the maximum amount of miles you can purchase is 3,000. The cost of purchasing 3,000 tier miles with the 25% discount would cost 225€. At the time of writing this post, that would equate to roughly $245.
For Silver members, the cost of 4,000 tier miles with this discount would be 300€ ($326). And if you have Gold member status, you can purchase an additional 5,000 miles to help retain your status for 375€ ($408) with 25% off.
How many Aegean tier miles are needed to retain status?
Miles+Bonus Silver elites need as few as 8,000 Aegean tier miles to retain Silver elite status. That means current Silver members can buy half the tier miles needed to retain status for 300€ ($326). Just note that you need to fly at least two flights on Aegean Airlines and/or Olympic to unlock that rate.
Meanwhile, Aegean Gold members need as few as 12,000 Aegean tier miles to retain Gold elite status, plus four Aegean/Olympic flights. That means Gold members can buy almost half the tier miles to retain their status for 375€ ($408).
Miles+Bonus Tier Benefits
Let's take a closer look at some of the benefits of each tier to see if this discount makes sense for upgrading your membership status:
Aegean Blue Status
Aegean Blue Status is the base level in the Miles+Bonus program. As such, the benefits are limited to earning and redeeming miles:
Aegean Benefits
- Miles accrual: Earn tier and award miles when traveling on any Aegean and Olympic Airlines flight.
- Miles redemption: Spend your miles on flight tickets with Aegean and Olympic Airlines.
- Tier miles purchase: Purchase up to 1,000 tier miles per 12 months.
- Award miles purchase: Purchase award miles and boost your account to get your next award.
- Miles+Cash: With the Miles+Cash service, when you book your flights, you can redeem your miles to pay for any amount of your ticket’s value.
Star Alliance Benefits
- Miles accrual: Earn tier and award miles when traveling on any Star Alliance member airline.
- Miles redemption: Spend your miles on flights with any Star Alliance member airline.
Aegean Silver Status
Aegean's first tier of elite status is Aegean Silver Status. However, a lot of the benefits in Silver Status are the same as in Blue. Let's compare some of the key differences between Aegean's Blue and Silver statuses:
Aegean Benefits
- Tier miles purchase: Purchase up to 2,000 tier miles instead of 1,000.
- 10% extra award miles: Earn 10% extra award miles whenever you fly with Aegean and Olympic Air.
- Parental elite status pause: Hold your tier for one year while you welcome your new addition to your family. Learn more about this here.
- Seat upgrades: Get 2 coupons for a complimentary seat upgrade on Aegean and Olympic Airlines-operated flights.
- Access to all Aegean Lounges: Get 4 coupons to access Aegean Lounges in Athens, Thessaloniki, and Larnaka.
- Personalized luggage tag
- Together: Activate a Together account and pool your award miles with up to six people into one single account, letting you make full use of the collective balance, whilst you earn tier miles individually.
Star Alliance Benefits
- Priority reservations waitlist: If there aren't any seats available on your preferred flight, you'll get a higher priority on the waiting list.
- Priority airport standby: If your travel plans change and flights are full, Star Alliance Silver status gets you higher priority when standing by for a flight at the airport.
Aegean Gold Status
Aegean Gold status is where the real benefits kick in. Let's just touch on some of the key differences within the Gold Status benefits:
Aegean Benefits
- 20% extra award miles: Earn 20% bonus award miles whenever you fly with Aegean and Olympic Airlines.
- 50% discount for Up Front seats: Select your preferred Up Front seats on all Aegean and Olympic Air-operated flights and enjoy a 50% exclusive discount.
- Free internet access on board with the Aegean WiFi: Connect to the “AEGEAN WiFi” when onboard with your Miles+Bonus account and enjoy free internet access with the Text & Surf bundle.
- Dedicated call center line: To enjoy priority and high-quality assistance, call the dedicated Gold members’ line, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Guaranteed booking: The benefit of a guaranteed Economy Class cabin seat for Aegean and Olympic Airlines flights.
- Access to all Aegean Lounges: Enjoy more time before your departure, relaxing in any Aegean Lounge.
- Special baggage allowance: 1 extra piece of baggage, free of charge, within the maximum allowed weight limit as per your ticket's booking class.
- Access to security control Fast Lane: Get access to fast and immediate boarding.
Star Alliance Benefits
- Gold Track (Priority Security & Immigration): Gold Status holders get priority at select airport security and passport control.
- Airport lounge access: You and a guest can access over 1,000 airport Star Alliance lounges worldwide, regardless of your class of travel.
- Priority boarding: Be among the first to board any Star Alliance flight.
- Priority baggage handling: Your bags should get priority during unloading.
- Free upgrade to Business First Class on Heathrow Express trains: Star Alliance Gold status holders can now upgrade to Business First Class on Heathrow Express trains.
Other Ways to Earn Aegean Miles
Aegean Miles+Bonus partners with two hotel programs, from which you can convert your hotel points into Aegean miles. Transfer the miles you need whenever you want to complete a redemption, done at the following ratios.
- Marriott Bonvoy points (3:1 transfer ratio plus a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Bonvoy points transferred, transfers typically take three days to process)
- Accor Live Limitless points (2:1 transfer ratio, Accor says transfers can take up to six weeks)
Maximize Your Purchase
These purchases should code as “travel” or “airline” on credit cards where these are bonus categories. Thus, you should make your purchase with one of these cards:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 5X Membership Rewards points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel — up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year, then 1X.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Earn 3X Ultimate Rewards points on anything that codes as travel after exhausting the $300 annual travel credit (which applies automatically to the first eligible purchases).
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Earn 3X Ultimate Rewards points on the first $150,000 of annual spending across bonus categories, one of which is travel; earn 1X after passing this spending limit.
- Citi Premier® Card: Earn 3X ThankYou points on travel and transit purchases.
Related: Which Credit Card Should You Use to Buy Points and Miles?
Bottom Line
Buying tier points does have its benefits when you consider Aegean is connected to Star Alliance. If you are looking to purchase tier points to upgrade your membership level, then this deal could be valuable. It's always important to do your homework before buying tier points to ensure it makes sense for what you're looking to achieve.
If your goal is to achieve elite status with Aegean, keep in mind that it's potentially becoming much harder to maintain as of June 1, 2023.
Having said that, this promotion is not bad if you are looking to get Gold Status with both Aegean and Star Alliance. There are plenty of benefits to holding a Gold Status with Aegean, as the perks start to pile up for any Star Alliance member.
If you plan on flying quite a bit with Aegean or any Star Alliance member, then this might be the right time to boost your tier status earnings while you can get 25% off and purchase 2,000 additional tier miles.
Will you be taking advantage of this 25% discount on Aegean tier miles?
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