Earlier this year, Aegean Airlines (the national Greek airline) rolled out the Aegean Pass – flight passes you could buy that would give you a certain number of flights included. I purchased one of these and am 2/3 of the way through it and have really saved some great money so far. Now, Aegean has added even more destinations to these passes!
Aegean Expands Their Aegean Pass
Link: AEGEAN Pass
Let’s get to it right away – Aegean Airlines will sell you an AEGEAN Pass that comes in 6 flights or 10 flight options. These work for specific routes and you will still need to pay the airport taxes when you actually redeem for a particular flight.
The pricing varies based on how far ahead you are comfortable booking. For example, you can choose a 30 day option, 7 day option or even a 0 day option! That means, with the 0 day option, you could decide that day that you want to fly someplace with your Pass (the “where” depends on the pass you purchased) and off you go! In fact, the AEGEAN Pass comes with last seat features – meaning if there is one seat left in economy, it is yours!
What AEGEAN Pass Options Are There?
Here are the original Pass options you could buy:
- Athens – London, Paris, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Munich, Frankfurt, Geneva, Zurich, Larnaka (select Athens and one of those cities for a Single Route pass)
- Thessaloniki – Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Munich, Frankfurt (select Thessaloniki and one of those cities for a Single Route pass)
- Athens & Thessaloniki – Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Munich, and Frankfurt (fly from Athens or Thessaloniki to any of those cities as the AEGEAN Pass: Germany)
- Athens – Geneva and Zurich (fly from Athens to both cities as part of the AEGEAN Pass: Switzerland)
- Athens – Tirana, Sofia, Bucharest, Belgrade (fly from Athens to all of these cities as part of the AEGEAN Pass: Balkans)
- Athens – Thessaloniki, Santorini, Mykonos, Chania, Heraklion, Rhodes, Corfu, Alexandroupoli, Mitilene (fly from Athens to any one of those cities for a Single Route pass or to all of them as part of the AEGEAN Pass: Greece)
Now, Aegean has added even more options. Below, you will see the new cities only or the new passes for multi-destinations.
- Athens – Milan, Rome, Brussels
- Thessaloniki – Larnaka
The following are domestic destinations from/to either Athens or Thessaloniki:
- Athens – Kavala, Samos, Ioannina, Kefalonia, Chios, Kos
- Thessaloniki – Chania, Heraklion, Kos, Mytilene, Rhodes
- Athens (Greek Pass) – Mykonos , Santorini , Mytilene , Chania , Heraklion , Alexandroupolis , Corfu , Rhodes , Thessaloniki , Kavala , Samos , Ioannina , Kefalonia , Lemnos , Chios , Kos
- Thessaloniki (Greek Pass) – Chania , Heraklion , Kos , Mytilene, Rhodes , Athens
The cost for these passes will start at the lowest price for 6 tickets with 30 day advanced booking and be most expensive for the 10 day 0 day advanced booking. In addition to the cost of the pass, you will also need to pay any airport taxes/fees when you redeem flights from your pass.
Other Benefits of the AEGEAN Pass
In addition to the fact that you have no blackout dates for your flights, you get other benefits with each flight also. If you book the 6 flight AEGEAN Pass, you get free standard seat selection (which would normally cost, the price is dependent on the flight) or 50% off for upfront seat selection.
If you bump up to the 10 flight AEGEAN Pass, you get free standard or upfront seating and 30% off for extra baggage. This could be great if you plan this out for several trips to or around Greece in a year.
Also, every AEGEAN Pass comes with 1 carry on cabin baggage and a personal item.
Changes, Expiration, and Miles
So, you have 12 months to use the pass from the day you purchase (which is part of why this is such a good deal – Aegean knows that some of the passes will go unused). If you need to change a flight date after booking a flight from your pass, you can do that for free. You get unlimited changes for free. But, your change must coincide with your pre-selected advance purchase time. This means that if you purchased the 30 day advanced purchase package, you cannot change a flight so that you depart in 5 days from now.
As for miles, this could be a huge plus for people that still have Aegean Gold or Silver since it lets you earn award and tier miles on each flight. The miles are awarded at the max level for the Economy Class Flex care. So, let’s say you purchase London – Athens for 30 day advance notice and 6 flights. This will cost you €468 (plus any airport taxes). You will earn from 2,242 miles each flight. That would total over 12,000 miles and give you 6 Aegean flights which is more than enough to retain Aegean Gold for another year. So, you could do that just with buying and flying a Pass!
Is the AEGEAN Pass a Good Deal?
For anyone that loves flying to Greece AND if you live in Europe, I think the AEGEAN Pass is a really nice deal for you. The reason is that you do not need to shop cheap price deals but can instead buy something like a 6 flight pass and know you get 3 roundtrips to Greece in the next 12 months. Considering what flights can cost in the summer, this could be a huge deal!
If you are planning on spending some time in Greece, for example, Athens, having the Greek flight option could be a great way to base in Athens and then bounce around to all the various islands. Buying a 10 flight pass would let you have 5 separate trips to various island locations. Again, in the summer, this could be very expensive but you would pay a flat price right now.
For anyone that wants to renew Aegean Gold (which is half the miles needed if you can fly 4 Aegean flights), this is a easy way to grab those flights now. Yes, you still need to fly them but if you do not know when you will be in Greece and you would rather pre-pay now, grab a 6 pack and then bounce around when you are in Greece.
But, remember that airport charges are extra. Depending on the airports you are using, this could be significant so make sure you check it out by booking a dummy booking on Aegean to check what the airport charges are ahead of time. I checked on my pass and the airport taxes out of Thessaloniki are €19 and out of Athens they are €31.
Also remember that the AEGEAN Pass only works for one person. If you are flying as a couple, you will need to each purchase a pass (or the other person could just buy their tickets and no have to purchase a pass – they wouldn’t HAVE to buy a pass just to fly with you).
I highly recommend considering buying an AEGEAN Pass: Greece if you are planning a trip to Greece in the summer. Tickets from Athens to the islands can be very expensive in the summer and this pass will let you get around at a nice discount.
Plus, it gives you a great excuse to check out some other islands you may not have considered before, with these new additions to the Aegean Pass. I will be buying another one soon so excited to check out some of these islands myself!
