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Star Alliance member Aegean Airlines is offering a fantastic bonus for those who sign up for its Miles + Bonus programme this weekend. New members will be immediately credited with 6,000 award miles and 1,000 tier miles.

You have until 29 November, 2021 to sign up.  Click here to jump to the enrollment page.

What Can 6,000 Award Miles Get Me?

6,000 award miles is likely to be the more valuable incentive for the majority of readers.

A domestic flight within Greece can cost as little as 5,000 miles. International award flights in Economy class on Aegean / Olympic cost 8 times the distance (7,000 minimum).

A one-way flight between London and Athens covers 1,510 miles, meaning that it should cost roughly 12,000 Aegean miles (each way).

To fly on a Star Alliance partner, the following award chart applies (return)…

How Can I Top Up my Miles + Bonus Account Then?

Aegean doesn’t partner with American Express Membership Rewards in the UK, so there is no way to directly move credit card points over to Aegean.

The most obvious transfer partner is therefore Marriott Bonvoy. The most efficient transfer is 60,000 Marriott points –> 25,000 miles.

Do Aegean Miles Expire?

Not really… but you must credit a Star Alliance flight to Miles + Bonus once every 5 years to avoid your account being shut down.

How Many Tier Miles do I Need for Elite Status?

Aegean Miles + Bonus is a popular way to pick up Star Alliance Gold status with relatively few miles flown.

To reach Star Alliance Gold status – also called Gold with Miles + Bonus – you must follow a two-stage process. First, you must reach Silver status (which won’t provide any significant benefits on other Star Alliance airlines)

Silver status can be reached two different ways:

• Earn 24,000 Tier miles on ANY Star Alliance airline
• Earn 12,000 Tier miles on any Star Alliance airline AS LONG AS you have flown TWICE on Aegean or Olympic Air

You have a rolling 12-months to collect the required number of miles (so if you sign up today, you would have until November 25, 2022 to upgrade to Silver using your free Tier miles).

Once you have reached Silver status, a new 12-month period will immediately begin. To upgrade your status to Gold, you must:

• Earn 48,000 Tier miles on ANY Star Alliance airline
• Earn 24,000 Tier miles on any Star Alliance airline AS LONG AS you have flown FOUR times on Aegean or Olympic Air

1,000 Tier miles is a great start, but only 4% of the Tier miles needed for Silver, assuming that you don’t fly to Greece in 2022…

Bottom line

To be honest, Black Friday 2021 has been incredibly boring – until I found this promotion offering 6,000 free miles!