Aegean Status Match – Star Alliance Domestic Lounge Access & Free Checked Bags

On Friday, I’m heading out to Colorado Springs on a United flight for the first ever Boarding Area conference of BA (and other popular) bloggers – BAcon. While I have elite status (and won’t be checking any bags), a fellow traveler does not and will need to pack for the next few weeks for a continuing trip. The outbound won’t be a problem as I’ll be there and can check their bag for free, however they’ll be on their own for the return and I’ll be taking my first ever JetBlue flight back to New York (yes, first ever…I like my legacy status and miles but wanted to take advantage of this promo).

Now, the other traveler also has several upcoming flights out west on US Airways and United, but the flights won’t be enough to earn them status in either airline’s program (even via a challenge). This got me thinking about the Aegean Miles&Bonus program as they certainly will have enough flown mileage to pick up Blue status in Aegean’s program, allowing for a free checked bag on either carrier. Aegean has some of the easiest requirements for elite status – 4,000 miles for Blue and 20,000 for Gold…but it gets even better. Upon signing up for the program you receive 1,000 miles, bringing the requirement down to 3,000 for Blue and 19,000 for Gold. Better yet, once you reach Blue you have 12 months to earn the 16,000 miles for Gold – “Once you have collected 16,000 miles within one year from the date which you qualified to the Blue status, you will receive the Gold Card.” Of course, for any business or first itineraries, you’ll be earning bonus miles which count towards qualification. Icing on top…the status does not expire as long as you take one flight (on any Star Alliance carrier) every 36 months.

After checking out Gary’s post on the topic, I felt silly for not taking advantage of the BMI status match that Aegean was running last spring/summer in order to obtain (lifetime) Gold status. Aegean Gold status allows for star alliance lounge access, even on a fully domestic itinerary! Yes, that means entry is granted simply when flying United or US Airways within the US. So, I figured I might be a year late, but why not send the email to customer service and give the match a shot. I found my BMI Diamond Club Gold level membership card (which was a status match as well) and sent in the match request. Within 3 days, I received a response that I had been matched! Now, as Gary points out, Aegean clearly states that they can change the requirements and benefits of the program at any time…but for now I’m excited to test out my domestic lounge access. Unfortunately, while it seems that Aegean is still accepting BMI status match requests, there are no recent positive reports of matches from any other carriers. The have in the past matched status for other Star Alliance carriers who also ceased operations (Spanair). However, even Blue gets you the free checked bag if you’re not a frequent traveler.

Aegean Benefits

Blue:

• One free checked bag on any Star Alliance carrier.
• Priority standby and waitlisting on Star Alliance carriers.

Gold:

• Complimentary lounge access when traveling on any Star Alliance carrier, regardless of your ticketed class, including one guest.
• Extra baggage allowance & handling -Additional weight and/or pieces.
• Priority check-In & Priority Boarding
• Priority standby and waitlisting on Star Alliance carriers.

Full benefits for Blue and Gold here.

Update 9/1 – Aegean no longer matching status 🙁