Aegean sent me a nice blue card with a Star Alliance silver logo on the back, with "12/2014" embossed on the front. It took more than a month for me to receive the card (actually, I received more than one, because I had ordered a replacement by the time the first card arrived). You can earn status miles for Aegean on most Star Alliance flights, not just Lufthansa, although there is a multiplier or discount depending on booking class. See the chart at
http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonu...on/earn-miles/ for details.
I think Continental honored this status for me last year when they gave me an allowance of six free checked bags for the three person group I booked on a domestic US flight (3 for having their credit card + 3 for Star Alliance Silver status, I infer). By the way, I believe that is a perk that Star Alliance actually does not require of its member airlines, but rather something CO does to attract *A silvers.
I have never heard of any airline doing a status match against Aegean.
I had expected the Aegean deal to end with their merger with Olympic Air, which has a less generous program, as I thought the plan was for the new airline to remain in Star Alliance but use the Olympic name. However, in March, European Union authorities blocked the merger, according to
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...72105P20110302 . I have not been following events since then.