I am a huge fan of Aegean Airlines and written about them a lot. Even if you never fly on them (which you should if you want very easy to retain Star Alliance Gold status!), their award chart is one of the best for business class redemptions between the US and Europe, as well as some other sweet spots.
Before last year, the only way you could earn those miles was directly through Aegean by crediting Start Alliance miles to them or shopping through their portal (or using their Greek credit card). But, last year, they partnered with SPG and you can transfer SPG points to them at a 1:1 ratio with the usual 5,000 mile bonus when you transfer 20,000 points.
Also in the last couple of years, they started selling award miles as well. But at a rate of 25€ per 1,000 miles, it is not the best price at all, especially with the current exchange rate to the US dollar. However, today only for Cyber Monday, you can buy Aegean miles and get up to a 40% bonus on them, bringing that per mile price down to 2.12 cents per mile.
Be aware that you can only have one connection on Aegean awards! Read this post for all the info about booking with Aegean.
Great Deal: Up to a 40% Bonus for These Star Alliance Miles
Link: Aegean 40% Mile Bonus
Yes, that is more expensive than what other airlines charge with their buy mile promos but there are a couple of reasons you may want to do this.
- From 1,000 – 2,000 | 20% bonus
- From 3,000 – 10,000 | 25% bonus
- From 11,000 – 20,000 | 30% bonus
- From 21,000 – 50,000 | 40% bonus
- Miles cost 25€ per thousand (before the bonus)
Cheap Award Redemptions
My favorite Aegean award that I have redeemed for many times is business class between the US and Europe for just 45,000 miles (or first class for 60,000 miles). That means you could buy enough miles with this promo to fly on Lufthansa First Class for $1,282 one way (plus taxes and fees). That is not bad at all for what you get! Of course, I am not saying that everyone should do that, especially since Lufthansa only releases their first class space to partners 2 weeks before the flight. But it does show you what is possible!
If you wanted to go the business class route, you could fly something like Turkish for just $955 one way. While it is possible to purchase Turkish business class tickets from certain European cities to the US for a little more than that, this gives you more flexibility.
Read: How to Book Partner Awards with Aegean
Tip: If redeeming for Lufthansa in premium cabins, choose to depart FROM Europe to the US as the surcharges will be much less than starting in the US.
You could also redeem for some incredible award like Trinidad to Tel Aviv for just 45,000 miles in business as well – if you could find the award space!
See This Post for More Award Redemptions
Great Way to Top Up
With the ability to earn 20% bonus miles with even the purchase of 1,000 miles, this is a great way to top up your account at a cheaper price. You can purchase up to 50,000 miles per year (not counting the bonus) so you could buy any amount from 1,000 miles up to 50,000 miles.
Save Your SPG Points
If you would normally transfer SPG points, this allows you to save those points for a different redemption option as opposed to transferring to Aegean. Right now, SPG is the only transfer partner of Aegean so being able to accrue more Aegean miles while saving SPG points can be a great deal.
Earn Bonus Miles
Since Aegean sells the miles directly, you should be able to earn bonus miles or points from a card that gives bonus points for airline travel. That means you could get even more value – especially since most airlines and hotels sell through Points.com
Have questions about booking with Aegean? Let me know!
