Elite Status

How It Took Just 12,000 Miles for Me To Requalify for Star Alliance Gold Airline Status

a person standing in an airport with a luggage
Written by Charlie

Star Alliance Gold status can be earned from any of the alliance airlines and offers things like lounge access, priority access, and more. Here is how I retained it with just 12,000 miles.

January 1 is a sad day for many travelers as it is the new start to a new year for elite status – for most status levels, that is. Elite status is what helps our airport experience when flying coach to mirror the business class airport experience. It can really make a big difference!

Retaining My Star Alliance Gold Status (and Lounge Access!) with Just 12,000 Miles

What Is Star Alliance Gold Status?

But, it requires that you fly a lot of miles (or, in the case of US programs, pay a lot for tickets) to earn that elite status. The nice thing is that if you earn status with an airline in one of the alliances, you earn certain alliance status that helps you be treated in similar fashions across the alliance. For the Star Alliance with their almost 30 airlines, that level to hit is Star Alliance Gold.

a screenshot of a flight check-in

Some of the benefits of Star Alliance Gold

Each airline has a different elite level that corresponds to Star Alliance Gold. For United flyers, they must reach Premier Gold to have that level – and that (now) requires 24 flights flown and $8,000 in spending – or just $10,000 in spending on flights and 4 United flights. In the past, it would require 50,000 miles in a year.

Fortunately, there are some airlines in the Star Alliance that make it quite a bit easier to earn, or at least retain, Star Alliance Gold-level status. With Turkish Airlines, the status lasts for 2 years! My airline of choice, Aegean Airlines, makes renewal very easy for anyone that can swing 4 Aegean flights with just 12,000 miles each member year.

Aegean Gold Is My Best Path to Retaining Star Alliance Gold!

For me, this is what works best. In some years, I have managed to qualify for Aegean Gold again in just a couple of weeks after my member year begins (which is November 24 each year). Since I fly a lot of flights on Turkish Airlines, I try to find flights that let me earn 100% of miles flown but even some of the lower priced tickets still let me earn 50% of miles flown.

a man looking at his phone

Aegean Gold is my favorite method to hold on to Star Alliance Gold

A single flight between NY and Istanbul and back is close to 10,000 miles by itself! Throw in 4 Aegean flights and another flight or two and I am at my 12,000 miles while barely breaking a sweat!

Even Buy Elite Miles for Cheap!

a screenshot of a survey

To make it even easier, if you are a Gold member and you think you will come up short, you can purchase up to 3,000 elite miles in 500 mile increments, each 500 miles costing 50€. That means you can purchase 1/4 of the miles you need to requalify for a total of 300€! Not that bad!

Elite Benefits After Just a Couple of Trips!

So, with just one roundtrip flight on Turkish Airlines and a few Aegean flights, I was able to claim Aegean Gold (and thereby Star Alliance Gold) for yet another year. This gives me things like extra baggage allowance, priority check-in, priority security lanes, priority boarding (for that all-too-valuable overhead bin space), and, most importantly, lounge access in Star Alliance lounges around the world.

New Turkish Airlines business lounge

The “Cafe” sitting area | New Turkish Airlines lounge

That even includes United lounges in the US while flying United domestic (something even United top tier elites do not get). Also, I even get the occasional surprise upgrade on partner airlines for having Star Gold access (even though this isn’t a published benefit and is mostly due to overselling situations in the back).

Of course, this is all for requalifying – earning Aegean Gold takes quite a bit more flying. Also, if you cannot visit Greece, you will need to credit 24,000 miles in a member year to get your Aegean Gold renewed.

While I do not like everything that Aegean does, they are an airline that I continue to get my elite status with and I really enjoy having it – especially while having to credit so few miles!

Some of the links on Running with Miles are affiliate links that pay a commission if a purchase is made. Running with Miles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.

4 Comments

  • I do not understand how is possible to use Turkish airline mile to qualify for Aegean. Could you please explain?
    Thank you

    • Hi, Josef – both airlines are in the Star Alliance so you can credit miles from any Star Alliance flight to Aegean. Not all fare classes will earn the same and some will not earn any at all. Some of the super cheap Turkish flights, for example, will not earn any miles or just 25-50% of the distance actually flown.

      • Thank you for you reply. How could I find out the number of miles credited by a certain flight in order to choose the right flight?
        Thank you,
        Josef