{"id":94294,"date":"2023-02-09T13:00:17","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/?p=94294"},"modified":"2026-04-08T13:45:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:45:48","slug":"aegean-updates-elite-status-requirements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/news\/airlines\/aegean-updates-elite-status-requirements\/","title":{"rendered":"Aegean Miles + Bonus Makes It Harder to Qualify, Retain Elite Status"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"custom-blue\"><em>The changes below have taken effect, and this post is no longer being updated. Here is our <a href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/tag\/major-updates\/\" target=\"new\">archive of major updates<\/a> from card issuers and loyalty programs.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Aegean recently announced <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.aegeanair.com\/milesandbonus\/news\/2023\/tier_rules_update\/\" rel=\"noopener\">updated terms and conditions for elite status qualification and retention<\/a>. These negative changes make it much more challenging to retain status for travelers that don't fly enough on Aegean Airlines.<\/p>\n<p>These new changes went into effect on <strong>June 1,<\/strong> <strong>2023<\/strong>. Here's what Aegean elites (or aspiring elites) should know about the program changes.<\/p>\n<p><img data-aspectratio=\"600\/271\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-94596 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Change-in-Tier-retain-upgrade-rules-Agean-300x135.png\" alt=\"Aegean changes elite status tier retain and upgrade rules\" width=\"600\" height=\"271\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Change-in-Tier-retain-upgrade-rules-Agean-300x135.png 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Change-in-Tier-retain-upgrade-rules-Agean-1024x462.png 1024w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Change-in-Tier-retain-upgrade-rules-Agean-768x346.png 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Change-in-Tier-retain-upgrade-rules-Agean-1536x693.png 1536w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Change-in-Tier-retain-upgrade-rules-Agean.png 1774w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"New_Aegean_Miles_Bonus_Elite_Status_Retention_Requirements\">New Aegean Miles + Bonus Elite Status Retention Requirements<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Starting <strong>June 1, 2023<\/strong>, Aegean Miles + Bonus tier upgrades and elite status retentions have the following terms:<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Earn_Aegean_Silver_Tier\">Earn Aegean Silver Tier<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>To upgrade to the Silver tier, you need to do one of the following:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Earn 12,000 tier miles in 12 months <strong>and<\/strong> fly with Aegean and\/or Olympic two times.<\/li>\n<li>Earn 35,000 tier miles with partner airlines.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><span id=\"Retain_Aegean_Silver_Tier\">Retain Aegean Silver Tier<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>To retain Silver status, Miles + Bonus members need to meet one of the following requirements within 12 months of earning Silver status:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Earn 8,000 tier miles <strong>and<\/strong> fly with Aegean and\/or Olympic twice.<\/li>\n<li>Earn 35,000 tier miles with partner airlines.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><span id=\"Upgrade_From_Aegean_Silver_to_Gold_Tier\">Upgrade From Aegean Silver to Gold Tier<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Silver status members can upgrade to Gold \u2014 which critically includes Star Alliance Gold elite status \u2014 by meeting one of the following requirements within 12 months of earning Silver status:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Earn 24,000 tier miles <strong>and<\/strong> fly with Aegean and\/or Olympic four times.<\/li>\n<li>Earn 70,000 tier miles with partner airlines.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><span id=\"Retain_Aegean_Gold_Tier\">Retain Aegean Gold Tier<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>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:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Earn 12,000 tier miles <strong>and<\/strong> fly with Aegean and\/or Olympic four times<\/li>\n<li>Earn 70,000 tier miles with partner airlines.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span id=\"Previous_Aegean_Miles_Bonus_Status_Requirements\">Previous Aegean Miles + Bonus Status Requirements<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The new requirements went into force on <strong>June 1, 2023<\/strong>. Previous requirements were much simpler for earning and retaining status tiers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Silver:<\/strong> Earn 8,000 status miles with two flights with Aegean and\/or Olympic <strong>OR<\/strong> earn 16,000 tier points \u2014 less than half of the new 35,000-mile requirement.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gold:<\/strong> Earn 12,000 status miles, including four flights with Aegean and\/or Olympic <strong>OR<\/strong> earn 24,000 tier points. That means the new 70,000 status mile requirement is a massive, nearly three-fold increase.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Related:<\/strong> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/aegean-airlines-genairation-program\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Aegean Airlines Launches genAIRation Loyalty Program for Travelers Ages 18-25<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Earning_Aegean_Miles_Bonus_Elite_Status\">Earning Aegean Miles + Bonus Elite Status<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Consider this: When flying in United\u2019s most premium cabin, the most you earn is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.aegeanair.com\/milesandbonus\/partners\/airlines\/united_airlines\/\" rel=\"noopener\">100% of miles flown<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related:<\/strong> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/do-aegean-miles-expire\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Do Aegean Airlines Miles + Bonus Miles Expire?<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Our_Take\">Our Take<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This change is disappointing, especially for those who used Aegean as a quick way to reach and maintain Star Alliance Gold status.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><em>With these changes, are you going to switch programs in your quest for Star Alliance Gold? Let us know in the comments below!<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"ftoc\"><div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"toc_light_blue no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Page Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#New_Aegean_Miles_Bonus_Elite_Status_Retention_Requirements\">New Aegean Miles + Bonus Elite Status Retention Requirements<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#Earn_Aegean_Silver_Tier\">Earn Aegean Silver Tier<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Retain_Aegean_Silver_Tier\">Retain Aegean Silver Tier<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Upgrade_From_Aegean_Silver_to_Gold_Tier\">Upgrade From Aegean Silver to Gold Tier<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Retain_Aegean_Gold_Tier\">Retain Aegean Gold Tier<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#Previous_Aegean_Miles_Bonus_Status_Requirements\">Previous Aegean Miles + Bonus Status Requirements<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Earning_Aegean_Miles_Bonus_Elite_Status\">Earning Aegean Miles + Bonus Elite Status<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Our_Take\">Our Take<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the easiest ways to get Star Alliance Gold elite status is about to get much harder \u2014 unless you fly Aegean. Aegean updated its Miles + Bonus terms and conditions to increase the requirements to earn and retain elite status when you only fly partner airlines. Here are the updated requirements as of June 1, 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":94598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12069],"tags":[12742,12622,12672],"coauthors":[36383],"class_list":["post-94294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-aegean-miles-and-bonus","tag-elite-status","tag-star-alliance"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94294"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255824,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94294\/revisions\/255824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94294"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=94294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}