Last week, I wrote about how Aegean finally launched their option to purchase award miles and tier miles for your elite status. Since I was writing about (and needed a little extra boost to get my Gold for next year), I went ahead and bought the needed miles right away. Not long after that, I had a quick trip to Athens to take care of some passport issues and that should have put me over the top for Aegean Gold (and thereby, Star Alliance Gold).
Having Problems With Your Miles+Bonus Mile Purchase?
But, of course it was not so easy. Even though the terms said that the miles would post to the account immediately, they never did. I sent a couple of e-mails to them (take my advice – don’t ever try to e-mail them!) but never received any response from them. Finally, with the November 23rd date looming, I called to see what was going on.
Apparently, there may have been a glitch right when the purchase option launched. My credit card was charged but they did not see anything on the account and it did not show that I had purchased miles. When I gave them my credit card, they were able to find the transaction but said it never finished on their end. Translation – I was charged but received nothing for it.
They said they would refund me and I could go ahead and try again. Apparently, they cannot just issue the miles manually. I went ahead and did it again and it went through again – and I received the welcome message that I am qualified for Gold status all the way through 2016!
What To Do
Done and done!
If you have not yet received your miles (if you purchased either Tier or Award miles), do not wait any longer! They should definitely have posted immediately. So, you will need to call them – 855-323-4326 – and press #3. Tell them you need help with Miles+Bonus and they will transfer you. This will be another menu so press #2 for English and then press #2 for Miles+Bonus.
A representative picked up on the first ring and they were very helpful. The whole call was less than 10 minutes. Be ready with the credit card you used to pay for the miles as they will need the numbers to check the transaction. They will refund you (it will take 2-3 business days) and you can go ahead and purchase them again right away. This time, it will go through immediately.
Summary
It is a little bit of a relief to have this behind me! It was supposed to have been easy enough for me to requalify but travel plan changes, award mile use instead of revenue tickets, and some other things made it come down to this. At least I am done for this year! I will again pursue it next year going the easiest route – 4 Aegean flights to drop my qualification number down to 12,000 miles. I should be able to nail that without a problem.
