This coming up weekend nspfiance and I are heading to Tulum, Mexico for a good friend’s wedding. For the first time in a long time, this trip isn’t being booked with miles or points – like whoa! That doesn’t mean there isn’t some travel hacking going on, though. Moving to Cleveland last year, only a 2.5-hour drive away from the rents and ending a 3-year long-distance relationship (the distance part, not the relationship part) resulted in not attaining United Premier status for the first time in years. While no more complimentary upgrades is painful, the most pain comes from the lack of other benefits. Apparently airlines these days charge for checked baggage and don’t give everyone access to special security lines, how rude. Since I cancelled my United card in January to get approved for my Southwest card, I’m really treated like a pleb.
So, what’s the quickest way to get some of these benefits back? Aegean Airlines gives you a 1,000 mile signup bonus when you signup for their loyalty program, Miles and Bonus. I got in on a 2,000 bonus in November. The cool think about Aegean? After only 4,000 miles you gain Star Alliance Silver status. And that signup bonus, yep, it counts toward status. You might be thinking how or why a Greek airline might be beneficial to someone who, say, has never been to Greece and doesn’t have plans to do so for the foreseeable future.
That’s where the power of airline alliances comes in. US Airways flights can be credited to Aegean at a 100% rate. United does too on many fare types. So my 2,800 miles on United are going to my Aegean account, 100% on the way down and 50% on the way back. That totals 2,100 miles. Add that to my signup bonus and I’m a Star Alliance Silver member for only taking one round-trip flight. That gives me access to:
- Priority Reservations Waitlisting
- Priority Airport Standby
- Access to Premier Access Security Lanes at select airports
- Free Checked Baggage on select airlines
And now I have 12 months from March 3, 2013 to earn an additional 16,000 miles and earn Gold Status. Those benefits include:
- Priority Airport Check-in
- Airport Lounge Access
- Priority Boarding
- Extra Baggage Allowance
- Priority Baggage Handling
- Priority Reservations Waitlisting
- Priority Airport Standby
- Access to Premier Access Security Lanes at select airports
Meet-up in a *G Lounge anyone?
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