Since March, 2018 I have been on a mission to earn my first ever top tier airline status on Aegean Airlines. Though Aegean itself is a small airline, they are a Star Alliance member which means my status will also earn me benefits when flying with their partner airlines such as United, Lufthansa, Thai, Ethiopian and many more.
Requirements for Aegean Gold Status
Before you can qualify for Gold status, you must first complete the requirements for Silver status. Silver requires you to fly 24,000 miles on any Star Alliance airline or 12,000 miles including 2 flights on Aegean within 12 months (more information on that here).
To upgrade from Silver to Gold, you’ll need to fly 48,000 miles in 12 months or 24,000 miles and 4 segments on Aegean Airlines. Compared to other Star Alliance airlines, 24,000 miles flown is a fairly small requirement for this status. Its important to note that all fares don’t earn full miles flown and many tickets don’t earn miles at all. I strongly recommend checking before you fly at wheretocredit.com. You may also check specifically for earning miles with Aegean through this link.
Benefits
- 4 business class upgrades per year on Aegean Airlines.
- Lounge access when flying any Star Alliance airline in any class.
- Free checked baggage with Aegean (normally 20 Euros) and partner airlines.
- 20% bonus miles when flying Aegean.
- Priority for Aegean operational upgrades (I’ve already been upgraded with Aegean as a Silver member).
- Priority for upgrades on Star Alliance partners, however elites of the respective airline will take priority over Aegean elite members.
- Ability to use the priority check in line for business class and Star Alliance Gold at airport check in.
- Priority baggage handling.
- And more…
The Flights I’ve Taken
Flight 1: TLV – ZRH – JFK (Swiss economy) – 2832 miles – 519.30$
Flight 2: TLV – LCA – TLV (Round Trip Aegean economy) – 880 miles – 102.77$
Flight 3: TLV – LCA – TLV (Round Trip Aegean economy) – 880 miles – 113.61$
Flight 4: CMB – BKK – HKG (Thai Business) – 5092 miles – 522.15$
Flight 5: ATH – TLV (Aegean Business) – 1760 miles – 83.34$
Flight 6: TLV – JNB – TLV (Round Trip Ethiopian economy) – 8240 miles – 472.01$
Flight 7: TLV – JNB (Ethiopian economy) – 4120 miles – 332.85$
Flight 8: CPT – TLV (Ethiopian economy) – 4923 miles – 332.85$
Tip For Earning Aegean Miles Cheap
The key to earning Gold Status were my flights to South Africa with Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopian has some very attractive fares between Tel Aviv and South Africa which allowed me to pick up over 17,000 miles for less than 1100$. Long haul flights on Ethiopian are an excellent way to earn mileage on relatively cheap fares, as most economy fares earn 100% of miles flown with Aegean.
In comparison, many flights between Europe and the USA earn between 0% and 50% of miles flown, even on tickets that cost over 1000$ round trip. You can see exact mileage earning rates by airline here.
Retaining Status
Gold Status is only good for one year after qualifying, meaning you’ll need to keep flying with Aegean Airlines and partners to keep your status in the coming years. The options to requalify are as follows:
- 24,000 miles flown within 12 months on any Star Alliance airline
- 12,000 miles flown within 12 months on any Star Alliance airline, including 4 flights on Aegean Airlines
Bottom Line
It took me just 11 flights (only half of which were longhaul) and 2,478.88$ to qualify for Aegean Airlines Gold Status. I highly value holding Aegean Gold status and am pleased with the relatively few flights and cost it took to qualify. While this isn’t for everyone, elite status is easier to come by than you may think!