Aegean Airlines Miles&Bonus - Please report your Star Alliance award redemption experiences

Oct 2010 Post:

As Aegean is one of the easiest to earn Star Alliance statuses, I am very interested to find out more about redeeming Aegean miles.

Has anyone here redeemed Aegean miles for travel on non LH Star Alliance carriers?

Can you do a one-way on all of Star for 50% the RT award cost?

Does business class always cost 100K miles RT no matter if I am going USA-Europe/Africa/Asia/South America roundtrip?

Does Aegean charge fuel surcharges on redemption tickets on other carriers? Which ones?

Do they have an English speaking call center reachable by phone from the US during US awake hours?

On a RT award, can dates be changed after travel has started?

How many stopovers are allowed?

Is stopover and open jaw permitted?

Do they have hotel/car rental/online shopping/credit card partners that would be useful for a US based person?


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Nov 2011 update: Nice to see my post from more than a year ago finally has a proper forum home! :)

Since then, a lot of questions about redeeming miles have been answered by helpful Flyertalkers. ^

Some key points:

- YQ (fuel surcharge) is added for (almost?) all international itineraries including (almost?) all partner airlines. YQ is the same on award travel as regular paid tickets so can be looked up and compared using search engines like http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ Some airlines such as OZ have lower YQ than others such as LH, so plan accordingly.
No YQ is collected if you redeem Aegean miles to travel on:
* NZ operated routes that depart from New Zealand (hansetang81 - can you confirm if this is all routes)
* Flights within the USA/Canada/Mexico on UA/CO/US/AC - can anyone confirm this?
Please let me know if there are more exceptions.

- One-way Star Alliance bookings for 50% of the miles are allowed! :cool:

- Aegean does not allow any stopovers on Star awards. Only one connection is allowed, with a maximum duration of 24 hours at the connecting city. When going between two cities where there is NO star alliance single stop service, Aegean can make an exception and allow more than one connection.

- Once you finalize your itinerary and Aegean deducts miles from your balance, absolutely NO CHANGES ARE ALLOWED. You CAN CANCEL, but then only HALF of the miles you used are deposited back to into your account.

- Aegean uses Amadeus so you can view/print/confirm your redemption bookings on www.checkmytrip.com

- When redeeming your miles, calling the reservations number may have better results than calling the Miles and Bonus center.

- The award chart has quite a few good values where less Aegean miles are required than the average frequent flyer program. The award chart also has a number of regions where the award level is higher than average.
For example, good for values for those of us based in N. America include:
* 90,000 roundtrip business or 120,000 for first class North America to/from Europe & N Africa
* 42,000 miles roundtrip business class within N. America (use for UA 3 class flights such as PS JFK-LAX/SFO, Air Canada business class, and other flights where a front cabin is sold as business rather than first)
*110,000 for business or 150,000 for First Class N. America to/from Central/South Africa


The Miles & Bonus redemption chart is found here:
http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/program-description/spend-miles/

http://img1.UploadScreenshot.com/images/main/11/32820045064.jpg (http://www.UploadScreenshot.com/image/587457/5492169)


The zones include some places you may not expect.
http://en.aegeanair.com/Themes/1/Default/Media/pdf/RedemptionA3.pdf

NORTH AMERICA: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Clipperton Island, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Navassa Island, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre et Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States, U.S. Virgin Islands
(IAH/EWR-BON/CUR/AUA, CLT-BGI/UVF/ANU/SKB/SXM anyone?)

EUROPE: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, F.Y.R.O.M., Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican City, Turkey

NORTH AFRICA: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara, Egypt, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Israel

MIDDLE EAST: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iran

CENTRAL & SOUTH AFRICA: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d' Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagaskar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, British Indian Ocean Territory, Mayotte, Reunion, St. Helena, Canary Islands, Ceuta, Madeira, Melilla, Socotra, Puntland, Smaliland

CENTRAL ASIA: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia-Siberia, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka

FAR EAST: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam

OCEANIA: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Micronesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Wake Island, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Easter Island, French Polynesia, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna

CENTRAL AMERICA: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama

SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela

HAWAII: Hawaii, Maui, Kaho 'olawe, Lana'i, Moloka'i, O'ahu, Kanua'i, Ni'ihau

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How to find availability:

As a rule, Star Alliance availability is the same for all Star Airline partners (long haul F class on LX, LH, and SQ are the main exceptions to this rule). Each Star carrier accesses Starnet and whatever is loaded to Starnet is available to every carrier (most of the time). We can use other airline's websites/tools to check Star Alliance miles availability and 99% of the time, Aegean will have access to exact same redemption seats. Star carriers only have access to each others "saver" or low level miles seats; the double+ miles type awards with little capacity controls are not available to the alliance.

The best Star Alliance carrier websites to check Star miles availability are:
a) http://www.continental.com - select "Reward Travel"
b) The All Nippon Airways award booking engine (https://aswbe-i.ana.co.jp/p_per/sky_ip_per_jp/preAwdSearchLogin.do?LANG=en)(requires an ANA account)
c) The Air Canada award booking engine (http://www1.aeroplan.com/adr/AirBooking.do)

The best paid tool to speed the process allowing you to simultaneously search all three of the above Star Alliance sites for several different routes or date ranges:
www.AwardNexus.com
If you sign up, I suggest you read their Guide (http://awardnexus.com/page/guide) and Tips (http://awardnexus.com/page/tips).

If a simple search from origin to destination does not show you any available award seats, try this: To maximize your chance of finding all available awards, you need to build your own connections manually and search for each part separately.

For example, suppose you want to fly ORD-SIN (Chicago to Singapore) on Star Alliance. A search on ORD-SIN will not return all possible ways to travel from ORD to SIN.

Instead of searching:

•ORD-SIN

Knowing that Star Alliance have hubs at ICN (Asiana), NRT (ANA, United) and PEK (Air China), you should search:

•ORD-ICN
+
•ICN-SIN

•ORD-NRT
+
•NRT-SIN

•ORD-PEK
+
•PEK-SIN

This is just an example.

AwardNexus members can use Search Builder (http://awardnexus.com/collage/build) to quickly identify all your connection options. If you are not going to sign up for AwardNexus, my favorite free tool to explore airline routing options is the Airline Route Mapper (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Farm.64hosts.com%2F&ei=16nSTofEEubX0QHDos2aAQ&usg=AFQjCNE8xq9tuZJ2q-QF5LgGSrYyPdNmkQ) - a Windows program you install on your computer.

how about award flights on A3?

how about award flights on A3?

How about them?

I recently booked an award itinerary with several legs on A3. I found the availability of award flights very good, and the planes were new and comfortable.

YQ was a bit higher than I'd hoped, I paid about $250 USD for a 6-leg itinerary.

Did you have any specific questions regarding the award flights?

How about them?

I recently booked an award itinerary with several legs on A3. I found the availability of award flights very good, and the planes were new and comfortable.

YQ was a bit higher than I'd hoped, I paid about $250 USD for a 6-leg itinerary.

Did you have any specific questions regarding the award flights?
how did you book the award?
did you book it with *A phone agent, or with A3 phone agent?
how did you search for award flights?

how did you book the award?
did you book it with *A phone agent, or with A3 phone agent?
how did you search for award flights?

I booked the award with ANA miles. At the time, I could check availability using ANA's search engine. I did not use A3 miles for the trip.

Do Aegean Rewards allow stopover/openjaw? I would be booking a Y-Class inter-asia flight.

Bump. Anyone know the answers?

I've been crediting miles to Aegean for *G and was wondering how easy it is to actually redeem these miles. Has anyone tried this?

Do Aegean Rewards allow stopover/openjaw? I would be booking a Y-Class inter-asia flight.

Bump. (I'm intrigued as well)

Bump. (I'm intrigued as well)

+1 I may call to find out.

Does anyone know?

Not sure anyone has yet run up enough miles to have tried this aspect of the program out. But as someone looking for new home for *A earnings at the 200/300% level for J/A (although granted not for all airlines) I had given this program some thought.

But the lack of information about rewards is a problem for making a jump. I guess if you just want *A Gold this program is great, but if you are looking to rack up miles in premium cabins for premium awards, the devil is in the details!

BTW, is there a Gold tier mileage bonus with this program, or do you just earn the flat 200/300% when in premium cabin?

Same questions here.

Thinking of keep UA E+ or Star gold + RCC from Aegean.

Well , I have successfully booked and ticketed an award booking using my Miles and Bonus miles .
Good thing is that they still have the old redemption chart i.e 90K for a business RT TATL flight .

My 90K res was for CO 105 CHQ - ATH - EWR while for the return trip I 've used LX 053 BOS - ZRH - LHR .

They tend to have a lot of availability with LH flights , but they heavily promote CO codeshare flights .

It took me a week with 3 hours daily huggling with the Operator to get my ideal combination .

Catch is that once you finalise your itinerary and deduct miles from your account , there are absolutely NO CHANGES ALLOWED .

And if you decide to cancel it , then only HALF the miles are deposited back to your account .

Fare Booking class is I and tickets are only valid for day of travelling .

Any more questions , give me a shout .

I am an active member of Aegean, it is a quite nice program, Aegean cares more about you than you think; the call center is professional, in Greek or English, great level of English.

Well, It took me a week with 3 hours daily huggling with the Operator to get my ideal combination .

Catch is that once you finalise your itinerary and deduct miles from your account , there are absolutely NO CHANGES ALLOWED .

And if you decide to cancel it , then only HALF the miles are deposited back to your account .

Fare Booking class is I and tickets are only valid for day of travelling .

Any more questions , give me a shout .

These are not good things when compared to other programmes.

These are not good things when compared to other programmes.

Dont forget that for a RT business TATL trip you will ONLY need 90 K instead of 105 K
OR 120K is enough for a FC RT TATL trip .

NEED I SAY MORE ?:p

Intra Far East redemptions are only 42k for a RT in C.

For example, SIN-HND, 21k miles each way for a 7 hour flight in C is worth it IMO.

I am looking at crediting miles to Aegean due to the easy *Gold status requirements.

However, does anyone have experience using Aegean miles to get Continental/United/US Airways reward tickets within the US? How easy/difficult is it?

thanks

I am looking at crediting miles to Aegean due to the easy *Gold status requirements.

However, does anyone have experience using Aegean miles to get Continental/United/US Airways reward tickets within the US? How easy/difficult is it?

thanks

They have the same inventory as any other *A member (no star blocking), and miles reedem at the same levels. The call center speaks decent english too. The only inconvenience is you have to book in conjunction with Greek Time Zone

Just recently switched to A3 after being SK *G for many years. However flying both SK and LX the last two days neither of these *A partners could enter my A3 frequent flyer number using the printed out card from the A3 website. The system denied it.

I've tried both the online checkin and having agents trying it in Zurich.

Anyone have similar experiences and know what to do? I've contacted A3 by email but still haven't received any reply.

Thanks!

Add A3 to the front of the #
like if your number was 123 123 123, you should input A3-123 123 123

Does anyone know that A3 charge YQ when redeeming on Star Alliance ?? THX!

Well , I have successfully booked and ticketed an award booking using my Miles and Bonus miles .
Good thing is that they still have the old redemption chart i.e 90K for a business RT TATL flight .

My 90K res was for CO 105 CHQ - ATH - EWR while for the return trip I 've used LX 053 BOS - ZRH - LHR .

They tend to have a lot of availability with LH flights , but they heavily promote CO codeshare flights .

It took me a week with 3 hours daily huggling with the Operator to get my ideal combination .

Catch is that once you finalise your itinerary and deduct miles from your account , there are absolutely NO CHANGES ALLOWED .

And if you decide to cancel it , then only HALF the miles are deposited back to your account .

Fare Booking class is I and tickets are only valid for day of travelling .

Any more questions , give me a shout .


Do they charge YQ when redeeming for Star Alliance partner tickets?? THX!!

anyone has any experience of redeem A3 miles?
They have the same inventory as any other *A member (no star blocking), and miles reedem at the same levels. The call center speaks decent english too. The only inconvenience is you have to book in conjunction with Greek Time Zone

...The only inconvenience is you have to book in conjunction with Greek Time ZoneWell, I find this extremely convenient! ;)

Yep ;)

also, to clarify my earlier statement, it applies to us domestic itineraries only. I have no clue what happens internationally in terms of availability, and I believe that redemtion levels are a bit different too, although I'd have to check on that one.

Are one-way *A bookings for 50% of the miles allowed?

comparing to CO onepass, aegean allows one stopover in each way while CO only allows one in all. but seems like Aegean charges expensive YQ surcharge, which CO does not.

Well , I have successfully booked and ticketed an award booking using my Miles and Bonus miles .
Good thing is that they still have the old redemption chart i.e 90K for a business RT TATL flight .

My 90K res was for CO 105 CHQ - ATH - EWR while for the return trip I 've used LX 053 BOS - ZRH - LHR .

They tend to have a lot of availability with LH flights , but they heavily promote CO codeshare flights .

It took me a week with 3 hours daily huggling with the Operator to get my ideal combination .

Catch is that once you finalise your itinerary and deduct miles from your account , there are absolutely NO CHANGES ALLOWED .

And if you decide to cancel it , then only HALF the miles are deposited back to your account .

Fare Booking class is I and tickets are only valid for day of travelling .

Any more questions , give me a shout .

What you booked is two open-jaw. so is it possible to book one-way trip or is it possible for me to book RT for 2 Stopover

thanks

Does anyone know if A3 has good award availability? Does anyone have specific examples? If I don't have enough miles with A3 to book an award, but have enough UA miles to complete am I able to combine them? What about vice versatile?

Does anyone know if A3 has good award availability? Does anyone have specific examples? If I don't have enough miles with A3 to book an award, but have enough UA miles to complete am I able to combine them? What about vice versatile?

No, you cannot combine miles between different FFPs, with rare exceptions like COUA, AA, BA, and CX. A3 has decent enough award availability - usually you can get an award on most routes if you are flexible by a day or 2.

Does anyone have an estimate of what a J or F award ticket from North America to Europe would cost? What about a RTW?

Does anyone have an estimate of what a J or F award ticket from North America to Europe would cost? What about a RTW?

Most of the info is on their website....

http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/program-description/spend-miles/

No idea about a RTW, you can always go on www.staralliance.com to calculate an estimate of a RTW ticket with all *A partners.

Does anyone have an estimate of what a J or F award ticket from North America to Europe would cost? What about a RTW?
I reckon it'll be similar to the costs M&M charges (if it is possible with A3 at all):

Fly round the world with your miles. The Star Alliance Round the World Flight Award makes it possible to fly the whole way round the globe.
Class of service Miles
Economy 180,000 miles
Business 325,000 miles
First Class 480,000 miles

Are there any good values on the A3 redemption chart? North America to Europe AND NORTH AFRICA seems to be good deal in C and F :) Anything else?

How about YQ/fuel surcharge on A3 redemptions? I read the T&C but didn't find any clear statement.

I just checked the redemption chart. Flight from north America to Europe ate 90,000 in J, and 120,000 in F. Not bad, seeing as I used 100,000 miles plus $643 in fees for a J ticket on BA.

Are there any good values on the A3 redemption chart? North America to Europe AND NORTH AFRICA seems to be good deal in C and F :) Anything else?

Canada/US to Mexico or the Caribbean for 25K in Y and 42.5K in J is a pretty good deal! (I haven't tried booking it, but according to their definition of "North America" that seems to be the rate). That compares to needing 40K/60K to book through Aeroplan (AC).

What I'm curious about is if you book an Air Canada flight using A3 miles, do they pass on the fuel surcharge as Aeroplan would.

Canada/US to Mexico or the Caribbean for 25K in Y and 42.5K in J is a pretty good deal! (I haven't tried booking it, but according to their definition of "North America" that seems to be the rate). That compares to needing 40K/60K to book through Aeroplan (AC).

What I'm curious about is if you book an Air Canada flight using A3 miles, do they pass on the fuel surcharge as Aeroplan would.

no
YQ is dependent on the ticketing carrier.

That said, A3 can charge whatever YQ they want on the ticket, it just has nothing to do with AC's YQ

comparing to CO onepass, aegean allows one stopover in each way while CO only allows one in all. but seems like Aegean charges expensive YQ surcharge, which CO does not.

hansetang81, did you find out how much A3 charges for fuel surcharge for award tickets? You seem to have discovered something..

Intra Far East redemptions are only 42k for a RT in C.

For example, SIN-HND, 21k miles each way for a 7 hour flight in C is worth it IMO.

Where do you find these intra far east miles redemption charts? Can't seem to find them on A3's website...:confused:


**EDIT** oops sorry, found it

The point that you cannot change a redemption booking and when cancelled only get back 50% of the miles is a clause / rule that will prevent lot's of people to continue crediting more miles than needed just for *G status. I find this highly restrictive rule quite silly and A3 should rather consider slapping a nice processing fee for themselves onto such transactions and allow changes before deprature as well as cancellation with full mileage refund.

Peoples' plans do change so to mee A3 miles are best used for short term notice trips where you are able to still find availability. Meaning I secure a trip using another FFP's miles where I can cancel against a fee and then try a few days before my now more certain departure to get the desired routing (not necessarily the same flight) using my A3 miles to avoid cancellation penalty. Given that in particular premium seats are sometimes released close to departure (within 2-7 days) this could work in a few cases, but make it a pain if you got large stacks of A3 miles that you want to burn.

Just a little update on these FFT number changing at the gate.

It did not work for me. I made the booking and checked-in using my A3 *G status and asked the agent at the gate to change it to SQ. Which she did and said it was all good.

But the miles still got credited to my A3 account. No harm done but that's still 6000+ miles in the "wrong" account :p

For info, it was a ZRH-SIN flight on SQ.

90K is US to North Africa too which is a great deal.

90K is US to North Africa too which is a great deal.

Is CAI considered North Africa or Middle East?

If it's North Africa, then flying to CAI and continuing on using MS' routes could be a great deal.

Is CAI considered North Africa or Middle East?... Your question reminds me of the WHO! For their administrative purposes, the Mediterranean extends to...Afghanistan but Greece is't part of it! Also, Algeria is Africa but Somalia isn't... :D I know, I'm not being helpful, just sarcastic, sorry ;)

I tried to redeem a SIN-DEN return ticket yesterday with my miles but the process is a bit.... strange. You actually submit a request and they come back to you via email? How does it work exactly? It could take days or weeks to land a reward ticket on a *A carrier (in this case, I optimistically picked SQ).

Isn't there an easier way to book a reward ticket using A3 miles?

I tried to redeem a SIN-DEN return ticket yesterday with my miles but the process is a bit.... strange. You actually submit a request and they come back to you via email? How does it work exactly? It could take days or weeks to land a reward ticket on a *A carrier (in this case, I optimistically picked SQ).

Isn't there an easier way to book a reward ticket using A3 miles?

Call their call center @:-)

does anyone know how far out A3 releases inventory into the award calendar?

I just called Aegean this morning and they seemed not understand what the "stopover" means. they told me that I can have one stopover on each way when redeeming a RT tickets, but each stopover should be no more than 24hrs!!? does anyone have similar experience with redeeming from M&B?

I just called Aegean this morning and they seemed not understand what the "stopover" means. they told me that I can have one stopover on each way when redeeming a RT tickets, but each stopover should be no more than 24hrs!!? does anyone have similar experience with redeeming from M&B?

:D

In Indian English (English from India), stopover, layover, and connection are all synonomous. I'd assume that same is true in Greece?

My guess is that if you want a stopover, you have to piece together the itinerary as a combination of one-ways...

I just called Aegean this morning and they seemed not understand what the "stopover" means. they told me that I can have one stopover on each way when redeeming a RT tickets, but each stopover should be no more than 24hrs!!? does anyone have similar experience with redeeming from M&B?

This matches what they state on their website

The above mileage values apply to return flights
For one-way flights, the above-mentioned mileage values apply in half.
An award ticket on Star Alliance flights may include one stopover with duration up to 24 hours

So basically they allow you to route connecting flights, but not real stopovers.

Which is better then their conditions for their own flights:

Miles & Bonus program is sector oriented. The passenger redeems for every flight number the miles corresponding to such flight. Flights with an intermediate stop having one flight number e.g. Rhodes – Rome via Athens, shall be considered as one flight.

This matches what they state on their website

The above mileage values apply to return flights
For one-way flights, the above-mentioned mileage values apply in half.
An award ticket on Star Alliance flights may include one stopover with duration up to 24 hours

So basically they allow you to route connecting flights, but not real stopovers.

Which is better then their conditions for their own flights:

Miles & Bonus program is sector oriented. The passenger redeems for every flight number the miles corresponding to such flight. Flights with an intermediate stop having one flight number e.g. Rhodes – Rome via Athens, shall be considered as one flight.

so, if I am flying to a destination that has to be at least two connectings during the trip, but according to the A3 website that I can only have one "stopover" or connecting, does that mean I cannot book this route on one ticket or have to split it into two tickets and spend more miles?:confused:

so, if I am flying to a destination that has to be at least two connectings during the trip, but according to the A3 website that I can only have one "stopover" or connecting, does that mean I cannot book this route on one ticket or have to split it into two tickets and spend more miles?:confused:
I managed a 2 connection itinerary with A3 a couple months ago PVD-EWR-IAH-ONT...

The interpretation of the rule is kind of fuzzy, but what's clear is that no stopovers of >24 hours are allowed otherwise the award will be broken into two.

The interpretation of the rule is kind of fuzzy, but what's clear is that no stopovers of >24 hours are allowed otherwise the award will be broken into two.

Which is possible now that 1 way tickets have been added. Before that, I have no clue how they would do it...

The interpretation of the rule is kind of fuzzy, but what's clear is that no stopovers of >24 hours are allowed otherwise the award will be broken into two.

thanks! I think I just got the answer.@:-)^

I'm trying to figure out what carriers MB charges YQ for.

Can everyone please post their experiences.

I'm trying to figure out what carriers MB charges YQ for.

Can everyone please post their experiences.
Once we get a forum, we can create a comprehensive list.

I think if we do it now, it'll just get lost, so we might as well wait 2 weeks.

I'm trying to figure out what carriers MB charges YQ for.

Can everyone please post their experiences.

Literally all the carriers. I think the only exception is the NZ operating routes that depart from New Zealand.

Literally all the carriers. I think the only exception is the NZ operating routes that depart from New Zealand.

Ooh that's pretty bad. Have you made any redemptions yet? What was your itin/yq?

Ooh that's pretty bad. Have you made any redemptions yet? What was your itin/yq?

I just made a redemption yesterday by calling aegean, be sure to connect the Reservation dept. rather than the Miles&Bonus dept.! I redeemed a RT within Far East in C. when I talk to the M&B staff, they are really unhelpful and really poor English... And they keep telling me that they don't see any seats(in my case, with all Asiana flights) which I can actually see on the ANA website. so I tried calling several times and it seems that only the same 2 guys working that day, then I called the general reservation center and there was no problem at all! A lady with pretty good English helped me redeem the ticket and also no prob. with finding all the seats. A3 uses the Amadeus system so you can check your itin. on "checkmytrip" site easily and promptly, with all the information including the ref. code for each segment with each carrier. My itin. is PEK-ICN-HAN/ SGN-BKK-CTU. with OZ TK and TG. A3 does charge YQ and the YQ is depending on the carriers. OZ charges less than most of the SA carriers in my opinion and TG,SQ,LH charges alot! anyway you can check the YQ in your case on the ITA site. this itin. charges me 42,000 miles and about 155 euros for tax and fees. No stopovers allowed! only one connecting less than 24hrs on each way allowed!

I just made a redemption yesterday by calling aegean, be sure to connect the Reservation dept. rather than the Miles&Bonus dept.! I redeemed a RT within Far East in C. when I talk to the M&B staff, they are really unhelpful and really poor English... And they keep telling me that they don't see any seats(in my case, with all Asiana flights) which I can actually see on the ANA website. so I tried calling several times and it seems that only the same 2 guys working that day, then I called the general reservation center and there was no problem at all! A lady with pretty good English helped me redeem the ticket and also no prob. with finding all the seats. A3 uses the Amadeus system so you can check your itin. on "checkmytrip" site easily and promptly, with all the information including the ref. code for each segment with each carrier. My itin. is PEK-ICN-HAN/ SGN-BKK-CTU. with OZ TK and TG. A3 does charge YQ and the YQ is depending on the carriers. OZ charges less than most of the SA carriers in my opinion and TG,SQ,LH charges alot! anyway you can check the YQ in your case on the ITA site. this itin. charges me 42,000 miles and about 155 euros for tax and fees. No stopovers allowed! only one connecting less than 24hrs on each way allowed!

Thanks for the info!

No stopovers allowed! only one connecting less than 24hrs on each way allowed!

Thanks for posting! So do you mean in each direction of the RT redemption, you are only allowed a maximum of 2 flights?? :confused: Is this for all redemptions or just intra asia

Thanks for posting! So do you mean in each direction of the RT redemption, you are only allowed a maximum of 2 flights?? :confused: Is this for all redemptions or just intra asia

It is each way. I got this waived when flying from PVD-BUR, because it was impossible to do it with only 1 connection. However, when there is a 1 connection itinerary available (with or without award space available), you must have a max of 1 connection. I assume this is because A3 pays airlines per segment on awards?

It is each way. I got this waived when flying from PVD-BUR, because it was impossible to do it with only 1 connection. However, when there is a 1 connection itinerary available (with or without award space available), you must have a max of 1 connection. I assume this is because A3 pays airlines per segment on awards?

Wow those are pretty stringent restrictions. Do you know about F redemptions? As in, if there is a 1 connection itinerary in J/Y but it requires 2 connections for F.

Wow those are pretty stringent restrictions. Do you know about F redemptions? As in, if there is a 1 connection itinerary in J/Y but it requires 2 connections for F.
Nope, not a clue.

Once we get our forum up and running, I'll try to get a petition up demanding reasonable redemption rules similar to other airlines in the alliance...

Hopefully they will listen - they've been responsive in the past.

Thanks for posting! So do you mean in each direction of the RT redemption, you are only allowed a maximum of 2 flights?? :confused: Is this for all redemptions or just intra asia

I think the agent can see all the possible routings when you give him/her the startpoint and the destination. so the only exception you can have two or more stops is that the minimal connection is more than one.

I just made a redemption yesterday by calling aegean, be sure to connect the Reservation dept. rather than the Miles&Bonus dept.! .... so I tried calling several times and it seems that only the same 2 guys working that day, then I called the general reservation center and there was no problem at all!

Thanks for posting! Great to know that the reservations number reaches people who know how to make mileage redemption bookings.

It is one connection in all classes according to A3 website

If you book a business class TATL award, for example using LH flights, will the domestic USA connections on CO/UA be in FC or coach? I assume the same answer would apply to TPAC awards using for instance SQ or ANA with UA/CO USA domestic connections on two class aircraft offering only FC and coach.

Depends on booking class- so for CO, business = domestic F

Are you able to provide some experiential backup for this statement?

United and US Airways domestic inventory in First typically books in to O class; on CO, they book in to I class. Accordingly, it should be automatic for the domestic leg of a C class TATL to book in to domestic First on CO.

However, on other programmes - bmi for example - they will attempt to charge you F miles if you want an O class segment on UA or US.

However, on other programmes - bmi for example - they will attempt to charge you F miles if you want an O class segment on UA or US.

This is the case with almost all the non-US FF programs so I expect A3 will be the same, not allowing O class (F on US/UA) as part of an I class (business) redemption. So either we will need to accept economy for the domestic portion or we will need to pay more miles or we will need to find I class options. CO and AC use I class on all N America routes and UA does on 3 class routes like PS. UA has also been known to load I class in addition to O class on some 2 class planes on routes with a lot of international connections such as SEA-ORD; if it shows available in I class (business class award inventory) then I would expect A3 can book if for you as part of a business class international redemption.

I'm pretty sure domestic first class in UA now books into I instead of O (and now with the CO flight numbers going away in the next couple of days)- leaving US and CA as the only two two-cabin products domestically that still book into O.

I'm pretty sure domestic first class in UA now books into I instead of O (and now with the CO flight numbers going away in the next couple of days)- leaving US and CA as the only two two-cabin products domestically that still book into O.

UA and US still books into O. AC and CO book into I.

My scenario:

I will reach a bit more than 30k miles on A3 soon and I wanted to get a reward ticket, say SIN-NRT, which, after checking on CO's website, would cost me 30k miles +$21.50 for a one way in Business.

I won't really accrue more miles on A3, which is why I'm trying to redeem them as soon as I can. And an experience in Business is worth more than a return in Y, to me.
But if I do that, will the one way return in Y cost me an arm (mainly because it's a one way ticket)?

I will reach a bit more than 30k miles on A3 soon and I wanted to get a reward ticket, say SIN-NRT, which, after checking on CO's website, would cost me 30k miles +$21.50 for a one way in Business.

CO's site is a good source to find out what flights have Starnet availability and thus will be available for A3 miles redemption.

BUT

Every star airline has its own distict award chart. CO's website will NOT tell you how many A3 miles SIN-NRT will cost. It will also not tell you what the taxes and fees will be when redeeming your A3 miles. A3 (like most EU airlines) charges YQ (fuel surcharges) and CO (like most US airlines) does not on miles redemptions. Use Ita software (see post 1 for link) to determine what the YQ and total taxes and fees will be (much higher than $21.50 because of the YQ). Use the award chart found on the A3 website and also in post 1 of this thread to determine how many A3 miles it will cost you SIN-NRT. I think if you read all the details in post 1 (and reread until you understand) it should be helpful.

I will try to answer any questions you may have - let me know if there is anything I can help clarify. :)

Ooops, just acted like a noob here haha.

Thanks for the reminder Crazy. Obviously using CO or NH only helps in finding out about availabilities...
A3 actually has better rates (but higher YQ) since it's only 42,000 for a return ticket in Business.... 21,000 will be enough for my one way experience then.

Am I right assuming that since US Airways does not charge fuel surcharges on Europe-USA trips, reedeming such an award using A3 miles will result in less fees than using for example UA or another carrier that does charge Fuel surcharges on paid tickets for EU-USA?

Am I right assuming that since US Airways does not charge fuel surcharges on Europe-USA trips, reedeming such an award using A3 miles will result in less fees than using for example UA or another carrier that does charge Fuel surcharges on paid tickets for EU-USA?

Nope, bad assumption.

Don't try to understand the logic behind how YQ is charged. It's a waste of time. Just try everything...

Am I right assuming that since US Airways does not charge fuel surcharges on Europe-USA trips, reedeming such an award using A3 miles will result in less fees than using for example UA or another carrier that does charge Fuel surcharges on paid tickets for EU-USA?

Actually, that might work. Please report back after calling A3. :)

Ticketing carriers often do base the YQ they charge for redemptions on what a carrier charges on a paid ticket.

PVDtoDEL - Have you redeemed A3 miles on US Airways USA<-->Europe or are you just assuming?

Actually, that might work. Please report back after calling A3. :)

Ticketing carriers often do base the YQ they charge for redemptions on what a carrier charges on a paid ticket.

PVDtoDEL - Have you redeemed A3 miles on US Airways USA<-->Europe or are you just assuming?

I've been members of many FFPs, and never have they actually followed any type of logical charging scheme.

A3 was no exception when I booked by US-Egypt ticket (with a revenue tag on to India)

I've been members of many FFPs, and never have they actually followed any type of logical charging scheme.

I have redeemed miles from more than 20 different FF programs and there always is a logical system used to compute YQ. I do not yet have enough experience with A3 to know what logical system A3 uses. With most airlines the YQ charges mirror revenue tickets. For example, before calling BMI to redeem miles for a given itinerary, I have calculated what the total taxes and fees should be on ITA software. If I get a good BMI agent, they will quote me the same amount as I was expecting. If a bad agent gives me a higher amount, I will challenge their calculation until they correct it. The amount charged is not random.


A3 was no exception when I booked by US-Egypt ticket (with a revenue tag on to India)
How much YQ did A3 charge?
What was your routing?
What would the YQ for your routing have been on a revenue ticket?

Just wondering how much lead time is needed to redeem for A3 tickets? some airlines allow almost instant redemption (4 hours, like CX), and some requires to ticket 72 hrs before(JAL and ANA)

I have requested to redeem for a domestic USA trip in August from A3 (using the website). This was done 5 days ago. I still have not heard back from A3...

Probably will have to call.

I have a few questions regarding *A award redemptions using A3 points:

1) At http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/program-description/spend-miles/ , it says that "Miles & Bonus program is sector oriented.", and according to the example you are charged domestic+international miles when flying CHQ-ATH-FCO r/t.

Is this the case for *A awards as well? I.e., if I fly ZRH-BKK-TPE r/t in C, would I be charged 110k+42k? The sentence "An award ticket on Star Alliance flights may include one stopover with duration up to 24 hours" suggests that you might get away with 110k. That would also be reasonable considering the fact that there is an EU-Hawaii column in the redemption table but there aren't any direct flights (that I'm aware of). Any experiences?

A3 was no exception when I booked by US-Egypt ticket (with a revenue tag on to India)

2) Is it possible to book award+revenue flights (both *A, non-A3) on the same ticket by calling the A3 desk? It would be helpful to have the flights on the same ticket in case of misconnects.

Thanks!

I have a few questions regarding *A award redemptions using A3 points:

1) At http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/program-description/spend-miles/ , it says that "Miles & Bonus program is sector oriented.", and according to the example you are charged domestic+international miles when flying CHQ-ATH-FCO r/t.

Is this the case for *A awards as well? I.e., if I fly ZRH-BKK-TPE r/t in C, would I be charged 110k+42k? The sentence "An award ticket on Star Alliance flights may include one stopover with duration up to 24 hours" suggests that you might get away with 110k. That would also be reasonable considering the fact that there is an EU-Hawaii column in the redemption table but there aren't any direct flights (that I'm aware of). Any experiences?

Yes, you get upto 1 stop on star alliance awards. Before, I got 2 when there was no one-stop itinerary, but now that there is a clear policy, I doubt I would get an exception.

2) Is it possible to book award+revenue flights (both *A, non-A3) on the same ticket by calling the A3 desk? It would be helpful to have the flights on the same ticket in case of misconnects.

Thanks!
No, but if the airlines are partners, you can roughly "map" it by "linking the PNRs".

Just tried to redeem 12.5K miles for a one-way economy ticket from Ottawa, Ontario to IND (flying United via ORD). Was quoted 173.83 euros in taxes and fees (1.95AY, 5.45XY, 146.43XT, 20.00 reservation fee), which is around $230. Tried calling back twice to see if another agent would quote a lower XT but no luck. (In comparison, Air Canada's Aeroplan quoted me $73.51 in taxes for the exact same flights).

Just tried to redeem 12.5K miles for a one-way economy ticket from Ottawa, Ontario to IND (flying United via ORD). Was quoted 173.83 euros in taxes and fees (1.95AY, 5.45XY, 146.43XT, 20.00 reservation fee), which is around $230. Tried calling back twice to see if another agent would quote a lower XT but no luck. (In comparison, Air Canada's Aeroplan quoted me $73.51 in taxes for the exact same flights).

Any idea if such high taxes/YQ exist even on UA flights within US?

Any idea if such high taxes/YQ exist even on UA flights within US?

It's not necessarily YQ. It could be RC, which is often miscalculated by agents, who use the value calculated on a full fare ticket instead of 0 -- this happened often with bmi's DC agent for ticket originating in Canada. Without the details of what is lumped into XT, we can't really know what is happening, but I suspect it's the case here.

I submitted the request online in the afternoon. Next day I got a phone call from Athen. Everything went very smoothly.
One way award within Far East for 12,500 Miles, 75 Euro Tax (operating airlines) + 20 Euro fee (A3). It's exactly the amount the operating airlines would charge you if you booked directly.

I booked two inter-Europe business class flights with these folks prior to the merger of the UA-CO systems. 20K + fees for each flight 40K miles total. The Aegean Business product far exceeded my expectations and quite frankly, blew away US domestic business/first for similar duration flights.

Example Rome, Italy - Larneca,Cyprus via Athens
Both segments(no longer than 2-3 hrs) provided a full meal service with desserts and drinks.

...Example Rome, Italy - Larneca,Cyprus via Athens
Both segments(no longer than 2-3 hrs) provided a full meal service with desserts and drinks.To be more precise, each segment about 1.5 hours.

I know we're all finding our way with A3, but for me the most crucial Q's are, and would love to know if someone definitively has had any experience:

1. On one way award, it states stop over sub 24 hours - I assume A3, therefore won't allow say a SIN-BKK (stop for 3 days)-NRT award?

2. On awards which require routing through another region - ie LHR-NRT-HNL, will they charge you a LHR-NRT and NRT-HNL as two distinct redemptions?

3. How have we gone on more exotic redemption - are A3 as strict as say United or more flexible with redemptions like US airways? For example:

SYD-SIN-ADL for an intra-Oceania redemption if this is the only way to Adelaide from Sydney.

I know we're all finding our way with A3, but for me the most crucial Q's are, and would love to know if someone definitively has had any experience:

No experience here, but maybe I can report the latest consensus?


1. On one way award, it states stop over sub 24 hours - I assume A3, therefore won't allow say a SIN-BKK (stop for 3 days)-NRT award?


No they won't, it would be priced as two distinct awards.


2. On awards which require routing through another region - ie LHR-NRT-HNL, will they charge you a LHR-NRT and NRT-HNL as two distinct redemptions?

Tough one. LHR-NRT-HNL is a valid routing and you won't have any direct flight between them anyway. It's as valid as LHR-LAX-HNL in my opinion and it should be allowed at the price of the Europe to Hawaii rate. As there is no non-stop flight between HNL and Europe that I know of, I suppose this entry is designed especially for that. Note that, as you aren't allowed to stay more than 24h at your connection point, creative routings lose most of their appeal.

I know we're all finding our way with A3, but for me the most crucial Q's are, and would love to know if someone definitively has had any experience: No experience, but I do have contacts at A3 and therefore understand the rules pretty well..



1. On one way award, it states stop over sub 24 hours - I assume A3, therefore won't allow say a SIN-BKK (stop for 3 days)-NRT award?
Yes, it would be a SIN-BKK reward, and a seperate BKK-NRT award. It can all be put on 1 PNR though.


2. On awards which require routing through another region - ie LHR-NRT-HNL, will they charge you a LHR-NRT and NRT-HNL as two distinct redemptions? LHR-NRT-HNL is a valid routing

3. How have we gone on more exotic redemption - are A3 as strict as say United or more flexible with redemptions like US airways? For example:

SYD-SIN-ADL for an intra-Oceania redemption if this is the only way to Adelaide from Sydney.

This is not permitted. For an intra-Oceania redemption, you cannot leave Oceania.

Regardless, even if A3 allowed this redemption, SQ would deny you boarding - it's cabotage.

This is not permitted. For an intra-Oceania redemption, you cannot leave Oceania.

There are however many realistic example where you will have to go through another region, like the LHR-NRT-HNL route, but also within the same region awards where there just aren't physically any other routes available. For example if you wanted to go from MLE-DEL, you can only do MLE-SIN-DEL. And SIN would be both backtracking, but also entering into a region which would be 60k rather than 25k round trip Y.

Another example would be Cape Town to Tenerife which are in the same zone. Tenerife should really be in Europe, so if you wanted to go there you may have to go CPT-IST-ZRH-TFS...? and be charged two regions when there is no more direct way than this.

There are however many realistic example where you will have to go through another region, like the LHR-NRT-HNL route, but also within the same region awards where there just aren't physically any other routes available. For example if you wanted to go from MLE-DEL, you can only do MLE-SIN-DEL. And SIN would be both backtracking, but also entering into a region which would be 60k rather than 25k round trip Y.

For MLE-SIN-DEL, my understanding is that you would have to get 2 separate awards - MEL-SIN, and SIN-DEL

Going through a 3rd region between 2 different regions is not a problem.

There are however many realistic example where you will have to go through another region, like the LHR-NRT-HNL route,


LHR and HNL aren't in the same region. What's forbidden is using a "intra-X" zone rate with a connection outside. Not Zone A -> Zone B through zone C if it's unavoidable. So for example, if I need to fly to Japan on the cheap for a meeting, I can't book an intra-Europe award LHR-NRT-FRA.


but also within the same region awards where there just aren't physically any other routes available. For example if you wanted to go from MLE-DEL, you can only do MLE-SIN-DEL. And SIN would be both backtracking, but also entering into a region which would be 60k rather than 25k round trip Y.


You raise an interesting problem, but MLE-SIN-DEL is considerably longer than MLE-DEL... Maybe it's voluntary that they don't allow cheap redemptions on this itinerary.

Went through all the 7 pages on redemptions with A3, found only 2-3 data points of people actually redeeming flights with M&B miles, rest were queries and discussions.

Are the people redeeming with M&B miles so few!

Went through all the 7 pages on redemptions with A3, found only 2-3 data points of people actually redeeming flights with M&B miles, rest were queries and discussions.

Are the people redeeming with M&B miles so few!

A3 joined less than 2 years ago. As with most programme, the sweet spot for redemption is on long-haul premium cabins. That requires 90,000 miles at least (NA reward). I know people can be accruing very quickly, but still... Heavy flyer went to BMI before ;)

If you stand at the finish line of a marathon, prepare for a very boring first hour...

If you stand at the finish line of a marathon, prepare for a very boring first hour...

Nicely stated. ^

Let's just hope A3 is running a true marathon and that the worries in the other (bankruptcy) thread stay just speculative.

I am not crediting to A3 to the extent that I was crediting to BMI, my previous *A main programme, as I am only crediting from flights and the odd hotel booking, and not from credit card spending or shopping. This is going to affect how many flights I can redeem.

On the other hand I am still collecting BMI miles via MBNA credit cards in the UK (ready to divert to Avios, though not sure how long this will be an option), and SPG and MR points via Amex (ready to divert to a waiting FFP, but sadly not A3 at the moment, as A3 does is not a SPG or Amex MR points transfer partner).

My redemptions on A3 are therefore going to be less would be the case if there were more routes to earn miles (especially for non-Greek residents).

Let's hope A3 sign up with SPG and/or Amex and/or credit card issuers in more countries. Maybe if they have large UK membership base they will consider a UK based miles earning credit card (e.g. MBNA, who may soon be in need of a new partner to replace BMI...)

A3 joined less than 2 years ago. As with most programme, the sweet spot for redemption is on long-haul premium cabins. That requires 90,000 miles at least (NA reward). I know people can be accruing very quickly, but still... Heavy flyer went to BMI before ;)

If you stand at the finish line of a marathon, prepare for a very boring first hour...

Well if you're doing 20K a year, that's 4.5 years before one can redeem for a TATL J award. Suggest you check back in 2.5 to 3 years time. :)

Well if you're doing 20K a year, that's 4.5 years before one can redeem for a TATL J award. Suggest you check back in 2.5 to 3 years time. :)

I am pretty sure the rhythm will pick-up quickly, as former BMI heavy flyer will start crediting to A3. It will still be slower as there is no C+M option, which had good value with BMI and helped getting award.

Just redeemed some miles for a business class trip from Europe to the Middle East (a middle section to otherwise redemption through UA).

The first call could not see the flights I was after. Second call minutes later could see the flights. The whole booking process took about 10-15 minutes it is was all done and ticketed. The YQ and the UK taxes are quite a shocker, but it matched up exactly to what was expected through ITA.

All in all, a very pleasant and efficient experience, even if one has to call in.

The first call could not see the flights I was after. [...]
All in all, a very pleasant and efficient experience, even if one has to call in.

In this day and age, we have learnt not to fixate on the work done with a single phone call and judge the results after the proper amount of HUACA. :D

Glad to hear your got the job done!

i dont know if this is a good sign or not, all i know is i will spare A3 my 134 miles of spilled milk.

Since no changes are allowed, i've just ticketed 1.5 days before my trip.
Taxes aren't inflated and is the same as taxes as marketed + 40EUR ticket fee

However, it took me a few hours (3 and counting) to get them to properly ticket it right... they had problems linking the ticket number with the reservation for 2 tickets and it took a few phone calls to fix each ticket right!

I dont know. i wont be crediting them miles anymore and i dont have to use them for *G benefits. YMMV...

It's not necessarily YQ. It could be RC, which is often miscalculated by agents, who use the value calculated on a full fare ticket instead of 0 -- this happened often with bmi's DC agent for ticket originating in Canada. Without the details of what is lumped into XT, we can't really know what is happening, but I suspect it's the case here.

it could also be XQ.

I have just sent my partner to Bangkok with TG in C with my A3 miles.

I first tried calling the Greek number through Skype; but as other members have mentioned; the keypad doesn't seem to work when you have to select a language. I then called their Brussels office, got an answering machine telling me they were closed on Saturday. BUT! I did get transferred to the Greek office automatically and I didn't have to choose a language.

The operator on the other end picked up the phone and said hello in Greek (well kalimera to you as well), but when I asked if he spoke English immediately switched to and actually spoke it quite well. I wanted to book BRU-BKK-SIN but the agent wasn't able to find a ticket in C from BKK to SIN. So I just went for BRU-BKK instead. (I actually forgot to ask if there was any availability in Y, so had to book an Air Asia ticket later).

Booking was quite smooth; the agent (ageant? ;) ) was friendly and helpful. He did have to call me back to confirm my Visa card nr as he misunderstood the nr, but in all the booking didn't even take 15 min. My partner left today, in C. Everybody happy! :)

BRU-BKK instead.... My partner left today, in C. Everybody happy! :)

one way, or return? ;)

I just called Aegean to redeem YVR-YYZ-YQB on AC Y, one way. Beyond ridiculous.

They want 520 Euro ($670). Yes five hundred and twenty EURO + 12500 miles :mad:

The flight freaking cost CA$320 a.i. on AC.com, or CA$89 with Aeroplan miles (of course at 17000 miles), Even with full-fare ticket it's $169 in taxes...

I told her to double-check because there is absolutely no way the taxes add-up to 520 Euro, and the flight sells for $300 online. Was told "why don't you book there then?". Wow. Unbelievable. :td: She also said that is what AC told her to charge.

Can anyone help with this...

Update: Called again, different line, different agent, same answer (The computer shows it from Air Canada so it must be right :rolleyes:). They have to check with ticket dept. and call me back tomorrow. Do they not know award seats are scarce... Can't they check right now? Can't they manually calculate it? It's not that hard when I can ballpark it easily, isn't it? Maybe the airline is new to all these but come on it is illogical for an itinerary like this to price out at 520 Euro in taxes alone one-way. In fact I booked a TPAC return in F and paid $450 in taxes+YQ which I find excessive already.

It's gonna be hard to burn these 30k miles on A3... Maybe a toaster if they have one?

one way, or return? ;)

The award ticket is one way ;) But we did buy a return...


They want 520 Euro ($670). Yes five hundred and twenty EURO + 12500 miles

Weird, I only needed to pay €180 in taxes for the ticket I booked.

deleted

OK I have to admit I have spoken and criticized too soon. A3 service was excellent despite the computer glitch.

The story:

They called me back at 4:30am next day pacific time. I wasn't able to attend the call (call ended before I could climb out of bed :p).

I was very pissed at this moment, since I just found out all the possible flight combinations from YVR to YQB have zeroed out. I decided to call them back that night at 10pm looking for some consolation prize.

The call was picked up, I explained myself (missed the call), surprisingly, the agent responded, "Oh yes, Mr. Joe, I was the one calling you, we have figured out <blah blah>, the total tax would be 98 + 20 fee, so 118 Euro." I have no idea where they got the seat from, and still not quite satisfied with the price, but at least I can get there and burn some of the miles. "A confirmation would be sent to you in about 3 hours." This alerted me since I never had to wait 3 hours for a confirmation, so I decided not to sleep until I get the AC PNR.

I called back after 4 hours, not receiving a confirmation e-mail. The same agent picked up again. I learned that she is the manager and is responsible for my case. "AC has not sent us a confirmation yet," She noted, "I will call you once we get the confirmation." I asked for A3 PNR and was given.

I hit the bed and a few hours later (5am?), she called again, informing me a confirmation was sent to my email. "Also, the total tax for this flight is 39 Euro (check, exactly as shown on Aeroplan website less YQ), not 98. The total will be 59 instead." I thanked her and found my reservation on ac.com without a problem. ^

I am very happy with the result since the total cost is 12500 miles + approx. CAD$78 comparing to Aeroplan at 17000 miles + CAD$89. The A3 service fee roughly matched AC's YQ so the total fee ended up around the same. I am especially pleased that they assigned one designated agent for a case so I do not have to repeat myself over and over.

The only inconvenience is several interrupted sleep, but that's not their fault. :p Wish everyone success redeeming!

Shades of deja vu. Are we sure A3 award tax calculation staff has not been recruited from amongst the staff members previously assigned to the airline that was recently purchased by IAG ? ;) Lolcat, anyone? where's kevincm? :D

Argh! Booking with Aegean is so frustrating!!!!

Managed to find some Air Canada points ticket availability for a one-way domestic flight within Canada around Christmas time (which is usually nearly impossible to find).

Called Aegean, and of course their computers continue to have the aforementioned problem of trying to charge HST tax based on a full-fare Y ticket.

I tried to explain to the agent what the issue was, but he said he could only do what the computer told him. I asked to speak to a supervisor. After putting me on hold for a few minutes, he said he can talk to the department that can recalculate the taxes manually, but they are closed now. So he will call me back tomorrow.

I'm pretty confident that the award availability will be gone by then. He said that there's no way that they can hold the space until tomorrow, since Air Canada will cancel the hold (anyone know if that's really true)?

Update from my previous post.

It's over 24 hours later. Spoke to the agent at Aegean again. He still hasn't heard back from the department that can manually calculate the taxes on the ticket.

And of course, as expected, now the award availability is gone.

There is still space the day before, so he will try to ticket that once he gets confirmation on the taxes. Unfortunately, it's now Friday night, and that department does not reopen until Monday. I don't have my hopes up that the reward availability will remain.

If this were the FIRST time they had experienced this "glitch" I wouldn't be so upset, but from this thread it is obvious that it is systemic. I realize they probably don't issue many domestic Air Canada tickets, but they should still have some sort of notation of this issue and how to solve it.

I plan to write a letter when this is all resoved.

(I will say however that the agent I spoke to was VERY professional and polite, and had no problems communicating in English. So there are certainly no problems there in terms of trying to book through their call centre.)

Update from my previous post.

It's over 24 hours later. Spoke to the agent at Aegean again. He still hasn't heard back from the department that can manually calculate the taxes on the ticket.

And of course, as expected, now the award availability is gone.

There is still space the day before, so he will try to ticket that once he gets confirmation on the taxes. Unfortunately, it's now Friday night, and that department does not reopen until Monday. I don't have my hopes up that the reward availability will remain.

If this were the FIRST time they had experienced this "glitch" I wouldn't be so upset, but from this thread it is obvious that it is systemic. I realize they probably don't issue many domestic Air Canada tickets, but they should still have some sort of notation of this issue and how to solve it.

I plan to write a letter when this is all resoved.

(I will say however that the agent I spoke to was VERY professional and polite, and had no problems communicating in English. So there are certainly no problems there in terms of trying to book through their call centre.)

In cases like this, I find it is often easier to just book the reward and then pursue the airline later for the tax overcharge.

In cases like this, I find it is often easier to just book the reward and then pursue the airline later for the tax overcharge.

The issue here is that we aren't talking a small amount of overcharge. They wanted around 300Euro in taxes, which is about what the ticket would cost if I purchased it as a revenue ticket. I shouldn't have to spend my time fighting to get the charges reversed after the fact (and risk NOT having them reversed, since technically I would have agreed to the charge). Also, since my credit card is in Canadian dollars, I would lose out on the exchange fees if/when the credit did get applied.

Latest update in my story.

The agent from Aegean called me back this morning. He said the taxes on the ticket would now be 69 Euro, plus a 20 Euro booking fee. The 69 Euro is pretty close to what Aeroplan wanted for the same ticket after conversion.

However, in the end I didn't end up purchasing the ticket. As mentioned, the day that I actually wanted to leave was no longer available, and all he could ticket was the day prior. (Side note, he act WAS able to put the reservation on hold with Air Canada without it being cancelled over the weekend. Unfortunately, he only did it with my second request, and not on the first day I called).

I asked him what I should do if I see the availability open up on the day I want, since I didn't want to go through a long wait again to get the taxes right. The only thing he could suggest was to ask for him specifically. Not really the solution I was hoping for -- hopefully he never takes any time off!

So i just got off the phone and i have 2 questions

I am looking to book a one way award from Amsterdam to Linz ( austria)
I did checked the award availability using the united website to get a feel of whats available.

1 The routing I wanted was: AMS MUC FRA LNZ or AMS ZRH FRA LNZ ( seats where all available )
However the agent told me they would charge me 40 000 miles for this to be in business class iso the 20 000 for a oneway award .. is this correct ?
She claimed as it was a double stop they need to charge me twice ?

2 Then we switched to a AMS FRA LNZ option and the total in taxes where over USD200
which i find also quite high.

I am benchmarketing a bit on the united website where I can get my preffered routing in C class for 20 000 miles and only USD80 in taxes
Ofcourse i realize that these are 2 different programs with different rules, but can someone tell me is the agent was correct? ( since I have very little experience redeeming miles)

Thanks

...

1 The routing I wanted was: AMS MUC FRA LNZ or AMS ZRH FRA LNZ ( seats where all available )
However the agent told me they would charge me 40 000 miles for this to be in business class iso the 20 000 for a oneway award .. is this correct ?
...

The redemption chart is here (http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/program-description/spend-miles/). It looks like a europe-europe redemption in C is 42 000 miles.

The quoted 40 000 miles seems to imply she was looking at a redemption on A3 metal?!?

well its a one way award
the chart says:
For one-way flights, the above-mentioned mileage values apply in half.

so iso 42000 it should be 21000 miles

So is aegean correct in saying that if I want AMS MUC FRA LNZ in stead of AMS FRA LNZ they will charge me double the miles

since other airlines would charge me only 20 000 miles for the same star alliance award trip

well its a one way award
the chart says:
For one-way flights, the above-mentioned mileage values apply in half.

so iso 42000 it should be 21000 miles

So is aegean correct in saying that if I want AMS MUC FRA LNZ in stead of AMS FRA LNZ they will charge me double the miles

since other airlines would charge me only 20 000 miles for the same star alliance award trip

I believe it is correct to charge double miles for the two-stopover AMS-MUC-FRA-LNZ itinerary because of the "An award ticket on Star Alliance flights may include one stopover with duration up to 24 hours" wording at http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/program-description/spend-miles/.

You might be exempted from the single stopover rule if there are no connection with a single stopover, but I may be mistaken. In your case this does not apply, since you could fly AMS-FRA-LNZ.

You might be exempted from the single stopover rule if there are no connection with a single stopover, but I may be mistaken. In your case this does not apply, since you could fly AMS-FRA-LNZ.

Any experience with this?
If I want to fly within Asia and only a 2 stop itinerary is available on the Star schedule, this would be ok?

ok thanks

final question :)

The USD200 tax, one my one way ams fra lnz .. does that sound reasonable?
( as UA would only charge me USD70 )

UA don't charge YQ (fuel surcharge).
YQ for your flight is $110

European airlines, throughout all alliances, have outrageously expensive "taxes and fees" that, as stated, include fuel surcharge. This is in contrast to US airlines that offer the same awards much, much cheaper: One item (the only one? ;) ) where the latter are better than the former.

I FINALLY successfully was able to book a domestic Air Canada flight using my Aegean Miles. I've been checking the Aeroplan site daily hoping for a YYZ-YVR one-way flight to show up again for the week before Christmas.

One did this morning, so I called Aegean ASAP. The agent knew immediately that something was wrong when she saw the 300+ Euro taxes coming up. She placed the reservation on hold, and said she would call me back. Within an hour she called me back, and confirmed the correct taxes of 61 Euro + 20 Euro booking fee, and 12,500 miles. Given that Air Canada wanted $728CDN for this ticket (I kid you not!), I'm really glad I was able to snag this!

I gave her my credit card number, and within an hour an e-mail came through confirming the reservation. The agent even called me soon after to confirm that I had gotten the e-mail.

The agent in question was by far the best I have dealt with at an airline call-center in a long time. I'm tempted to post her name here, but I don't think that's Kosher. But I may send a note off to Aegean to let them know the good service she provided.

I

The agent in question was by far the best I have dealt with at an airline call-center in a long time. I'm tempted to post her name here, but I don't think that's Kosher. But I may send a note off to Aegean to let them know the good service she provided.

Send the note , if she gets something for it great, but it might get others at Aegean to do the same great serice

I FINALLY successfully was able to book a domestic Air Canada flight using my Aegean Miles. I've been checking the Aeroplan site daily hoping for a YYZ-YVR one-way flight to show up again for the week before Christmas.

One did this morning, so I called Aegean ASAP. The agent knew immediately that something was wrong when she saw the 300+ Euro taxes coming up. She placed the reservation on hold, and said she would call me back. Within an hour she called me back, and confirmed the correct taxes of 61 Euro + 20 Euro booking fee, and 12,500 miles. Given that Air Canada wanted $728CDN for this ticket (I kid you not!), I'm really glad I was able to snag this!

I gave her my credit card number, and within an hour an e-mail came through confirming the reservation. The agent even called me soon after to confirm that I had gotten the e-mail.

The agent in question was by far the best I have dealt with at an airline call-center in a long time. I'm tempted to post her name here, but I don't think that's Kosher. But I may send a note off to Aegean to let them know the good service she provided.

I would certainly send an email in as it's always nice to be noticed for good service I'm sure she will appreciate it. ^

Just tried to book EWR-IAH-LAX on United, availability wasn't coming up for EWR-IAH-LAX (I=0) but was separately (EWR-IAH I=1, IAH-LAX I=3) and got them to force a ticket. But the taxes were 128€! I asked the rep to double-check, she said they were correct. Ended up dropping that itinerary. UA doesn't have YQ, and taxes should only be $5 within the USA. I could live with maybe 25€ of charges (with the phone fee), but not 5x that!

Edit: okay I've read through the thread, I guess I will try another agent. The one I had was good about getting the segments separately but wouldn't budge on taxes. I guess I will try from LGA since there are no nonstops to LAX so IAH is a valid award connection point. Kind of sucks for me as I may be in Philadelphia or New York that morning, and wanted to fly from EWR since it is between the two.

Has anyone tried doing a cancellation/change since that policy went into effect? I want to book a one-way NYC to LAX but the day I want isn't available now. I'm thinking of booking a day earlier (which would cost 20€ + taxes), then if the airport/day I'm looking for opens up, I'm guessing it will cost only 20€ for the change an no additional fee for calling in again?


Also, it seems that for the same flight, A3 wants 30€ in tax/fees for economy class and 160€ in business (for domestic North America on United) ... I thought it should be the same for each! Something is up with their system ...

Also, it seems that for the same flight, A3 wants 30€ in tax/fees for economy class and 160€ in business (for domestic North America on United) ... I thought it should be the same for each! Something is up with their system ...Nothing new! Make a forum search. That's because there are taxes based on percentage of the fare paid. As Business is more expensive, taxes are higher. But as it is an award ticket, this tax does not to be charged (or only a percentage of zero fare value...)...

Nothing new! Make a forum search. That's because there are taxes based on percentage of the fare paid. As Business is more expensive, taxes are higher. But as it is an award ticket, this tax does not to be charged (or only a percentage of zero fare value...)...

I have searched. No one has offered a solution to how to get them to price it correctly, other than HUACA (which I have done 3 times). If you have such a solution found by searching, maybe you can guide me there ...

I had to "waste" most of my A3 miles on an LX flight for my girlfriend. A3's taxes were nearly half the current cash price (actually more than the cash price 2 months ago, but we weren't sure at that time), so it works out as 50% off... which is fine. Agent was ok, English was good enough to get the job done, though perhaps they should learn the NATO phonetic alphabet :D

However, her title has come up as MRS instead of MISS. I was not asked for the title. The agent said she would have asked me if it was an option, but they book all women as MRS... sounded a bit dubious to me, but I couldn't do anything on the phone anyway. Has anyone else experienced this? Will there be problems with checking in?

Will there be problems with checking in?

to make sure there are no problems, you should marry her immediately! @:-)


seriously tho, there will be no problems, I've even been a Miss on a ticket before, and I'd make one ugly woman.



btw, has anyone been successful in booking anything with more than one connection, where there are no possibilities of doing so?

Half a lifetime ago when I was living in Germany, we were told by our employer (State) that, in written correspondence, we had to address females as "Frau", rather than "Fräulein''. At any rate, I've never heard anybody having been asked for a marriage license when checking in (which you can do electronically, anyway) or at the gate.

to make sure there are no problems, you should marry her immediately! @:-)

That will definitely create a problem as she will have to change her surname!

I have just checked her passport and there is no title anyway, so I can't see how there would be a problem, but perhaps the ground agents will think we are having an affair :D

As for "Frau", I thought it does not have any connotations of being married or not (in current usage at least)

...As for "Frau", I thought it does not have any connotations of being married or not (in current usage at least)Exactly, because it is now being used for both. The title Fräulein is now restricted ?!) to waitresses...

I had to "waste" most of my A3 miles on an LX flight for my girlfriend. A3's taxes were nearly half the current cash price (actually more than the cash price 2 months ago, but we weren't sure at that time), so it works out as 50% off... which is fine. Agent was ok, English was good enough to get the job done, though perhaps they should learn the NATO phonetic alphabet :D

However, her title has come up as MRS instead of MISS. I was not asked for the title. The agent said she would have asked me if it was an option, but they book all women as MRS... sounded a bit dubious to me, but I couldn't do anything on the phone anyway. Has anyone else experienced this? Will there be problems with checking in?
In some countries/cultures/languages, the local equivalent of "Mrs." is used as the title for all women beyond about high school age or in any responsible/professional position. Germany is one such example of this.

OTOH, we would rarely use "Miss" in the USA any more, except possibly for very young or extremely old females. The preferred title would be "Ms." which carries no connotations of marital status.

OTOH, we would rarely use "Miss" in the USA any more, except possibly for very young or extremely old females. The preferred title would be "Ms." which carries no connotations of marital status.

Yeah, there was an American student at one of my university classes and on the class list she went by Ms. while all the locals went by Miss.

I really hope they can find another way to book redemption tickets... I tried twice and twice they tried to call me at bad hours (I'm not complaining, I am aware that their call center is in Greece and that we are on another time zone) but it would be so much easier to do this all online...

Or they should have a system where we can send our contact details as well as preferred time of being contacted? ^

I have two questions:
I've had my mind for a premium US award seat from STX-TLV for a while now.

1) I want to fly the flat-bed envoy seats, so I would be asking for a business award ticket. However, for the Caribbean-US leg(s), would I be put in first or economy since US only flies 2 class flights?

2) This trip would not be possible without connections in CLT and PHL. Would I need to book two separate award tickets?

Thank you.

I'm a bit confused as to whether A3 charges YQ for redemptions on UA? I'm thinking of redeeming an SFO to NYC area flight. Some say no YQ is charged on UA, whereas in the last 1-2 pages of this thread some have reported 30EUR being charged for Y and 160EUR for J?

Can someone report some more recent experiences or give a more definitive answer to this? TIA.

I'm a bit confused as to whether A3 charges YQ for redemptions on UA? I'm thinking of redeeming an SFO to NYC area flight. Some say no YQ is charged on UA, whereas in the last 1-2 pages of this thread some have reported 30EUR being charged for Y and 160EUR for J?

Can someone report some more recent experiences or give a more definitive answer to this? TIA.

There's no YQ, the problem is that A3 is calculating taxes on full fare Y/J tickets and labeling that as taxes that must be paid on award tickets. You and I both know that these taxes aren't valid on award tickets ... they are percentage taxes as based on the fare being paid. The fare is $0 + a set number of miles, so x% of $0 should be $0 taxes. A3 can't seem to grasp their minds around that.

The only "tax" that should be put on domestic tickets is the $2.50-$5.00 security fee that must be paid on all award tickets.

I ended up using UA miles for my one-way NYC-LAX redemption, which was fine because I needed 3 segments to get the 787 in J cross-country, something I couldn't have done with A3. But I still have 2 A3 accounts with 23K each in them yearning for a transcon J redemption each, and I cannot deal with the taxes they miscalculate.

It'd be one thing if UA DID have YQ and A3 charged it ... however crappy that is, I'd accept it. But the taxes they calculate for UA award tickets are wrong and I haven't yet found an agent who is willing to fix it.

Submitted an online request for two oneway award bookings. One Napier to Perth via Auckland and then a Perth to Hamilton also via Auckland (all in the Oceania region). Heard nothing for over a week and then found availability for a business award from Perth to Rarotonga so decided I wanted that instead. Phoned Aegean. First wanted to clarify why my first requests had not progressed. The agent said they had not been ticketed as I had insufficient miles. I made it clear I was certain I did have sufficient miles for my two one way bookings (academic at this point because I had a new option in mind) so she double checked and then had to apologise as yes, I did indeed have enough miles to cover the award bookings I had asked for. Thought it pretty poor that in over a week, no one had attempted contact over this issue which could have been quickly resolved.

Asked the agent to wipe my previous requests anyway and ticket a business award from Perth to Rarotonga (21,000 miles) which she promptly did and emailed the e-ticket through soon after. The agent I dealt with was good (even wished me happy birthday during the call when she noticed my birthdate on my record) but others in the airline clearly need a lesson on double checking and following up.

but others in the airline clearly need a lesson on double checking and following up.
Think about,
maybe it's you that need a lesson how things and life are going on in Greece...

;)

I never redeem miles for air ticket. Is it possible to do it online without phone call? I don't want to make international call and i am not sure if my english will be understood by the call center.

Easy: Look in M&B's site after logging in, one of the choices is exactly that.

PS Sorry, I tried to include the link, but if you haven't logged in it will just re-route you to the home page, and if I log-in first it brings one into my own account with all of my miles. etc.

Easy: Look in M&B's site after logging in, one of the choices is exactly that.

PS Sorry, I tried to include the link, but if you haven't logged in it will just re-route you to the home page, and if I log-in first it brings one into my own account with all of my miles. etc.

Thank you for your reply.

I see it but I just ask to know if anyone has experiences in redeeming air ticket online without phone call.

Did anyone have to pay the 20 euro fee to book a ticket through the call centre?

Did anyone have to pay the 20 euro fee to book a ticket through the call centre?

Yes, me!

I had a few posts earlier in the thread describing my experiences, but here's a blog post where I summed everything up:

http://www.guyswhotravel.com/entry/redeeming-aegean-air-miles

The takeaways of the blog post are:

- Aegean Air agents are extremely professional and friendly
- Aegean Air computer systems date back to the first Olympics
- Aegean Air does not fix their computer systems when an error is pointed out
- Know what the taxes on your ticket should be before you call
- If an agent says they can’t put the award on hold, YES THEY CAN

Thanks for the report - That's very helpful information.

I just tried to book CGK-xSIN-BKK flight with them but they wouldn't let me depart ex-SIN the next day even though the total layover time is less than 24 hours.

Anyone has any experience with this? Going to call again later and see if I get a friendlier (though this one was already very friendly) agent.

EDIT: Nevermind. Found an old post discussing the finer points between layover/stopover and right on the M&B page actually says:

An award ticket on Star Alliance flights may include one stopover with duration up to 24 hours. Got put on hold and was explained that the 24 hours starts from the departure of the first flight ... :| Seriously. So I moved the second flight forward .. got put on hold again ... then got told it's fine. Sheesh.

I was able to book and sq and was happy about that .

I was able to book and sq and was happy about that .

Can you give the route, class and taxes?

Booked 1 way PEK-HKG on CA nonstop in I class. Total taxes/fees turned out to be EUR54.

So I just got off the phone trying to book a YYZ-SFO ticket. Agent was very friendly and spoke very good English, but she did quote me 271 euros in taxes. I said I'd call her back. So, after going through this thread, I'm still not too sure what I should tell them how to get the taxes right. Any tips anybody?

So I just got off the phone trying to book a YYZ-SFO ticket. Agent was very friendly and spoke very good English, but she did quote me 271 euros in taxes. I said I'd call her back. So, after going through this thread, I'm still not too sure what I should tell them how to get the taxes right. Any tips anybody?

Scroll up. Read the post by Toronto1970. Hopefully that does it.

Anyways, how do I calculate what the proper amount of taxes I have to pay should be?

Anyways, how do I calculate what the proper amount of taxes I have to pay should be?
That's something I'd also like to know. Is there some website where you can calculate that?

If not, you just have to ask to forward the request to the Rate Desk of Aegean every time you want to book an award (at least, if the amount of taxes seem to high).
Thats inevitable anyway, I think you can't just tell the agent "Your amount of taxes is wrong, but thankfully for you I know the right amount..."
So, it's nice to know the amount of taxes I have to pay. But I still have to ask the agent to contact the rate desk, because the agent can't change anything, and apparently, they always quote the wrong amount of taxes first (I'm assuming that because of Toronto1970's blog, I haven't tried it yet.)

That's something I'd also like to know. Is there some website where you can calculate that?

If not, you just have to ask to forward the request to the Rate Desk of Aegean every time you want to book an award (at least, if the amount of taxes seem to high).
Thats inevitable anyway, I think you can't just tell the agent "Your amount of taxes is wrong, but thankfully for you I know the right amount..."
So, it's nice to know the amount of taxes I have to pay. But I still have to ask the agent to contact the rate desk, because the agent can't change anything, and apparently, they always quote the wrong amount of taxes first (I'm assuming that because of Toronto1970's blog, I haven't tried it yet.)

Not always. If there is no YQ component, it should price out just fine the first time. For example, I recently had no pricing issues for a PEK-HKG CA ticket, because there was no YQ or fare-based taxes.

They will not waive YR unfortunately.

Today, I redeemed 4 tickets using miles from 4 accounts on the same itinerary. The agent was able to combine miles from all 4 accounts for use on 1 PNR ^^

Very easy process, took 15 minutes from "Hello" to ticket issue.

Not always. If there is no YQ component, it should price out just fine the first time. For example, I recently had no pricing issues for a PEK-HKG CA ticket, because there was no YQ or fare-based taxes.

They will not waive YR unfortunately.

Thanks for the information.
In this case, I'm probably going to use these M&B Miles for similar flights.
I have to call them sometime soon, to try it.
Just another question, does CA generally charge no YQ (on awards) or is it just on that one flight/route?

Today, I redeemed 4 tickets using miles from 4 accounts on the same itinerary. The agent was able to combine miles from all 4 accounts for use on 1 PNR ^^

Very easy process, took 15 minutes from "Hello" to ticket issue.

I do find this amazing! I've tried on three occasions (twice last year and once two months ago), to merge into the same PNR independently bought tickets (a>b and b>c) for same day flights, and I was told that this was impossible. Although your case is different, it may be that they're improving their IT system.

Just booked an award for JFK-VIE with Aegean. Agent was very competent and nice and the taxes were also the right amount ! There only was some confusion about the difference of EWR and JFK.

Aegean agents are very good at the ICAO alphabet. If you use it, there is no scope for confusion...

i.e: "I want to fly Oscar Sierra 123 from Juliet Foxtrot Kilo to Victor India Echo"

I do find this amazing! I've tried on three occasions (twice last year and once two months ago), to merge into the same PNR independently bought tickets (a>b and b>c) for same day flights, and I was told that this was impossible. Although your case is different, it may be that they're improving their IT system.

This is different - all it means is that the agent created only 1 PNR, and deducted miles from each account seperately.

Combining PNRs is not possible on any airline that I have heard of.

I am an active member of Aegean, it is a quite nice program, Aegean cares more about you than you think; the call center is professional, in Greek or English, great level of English.

I felt the same when I booked an award C ticket from LHR to BUD via FRA on LH. The lady at the call center was very nice, friendly and spoke good english. Took a nice seat for me, and arranged the time and route schedule very quickly. Would be nice if A3 could offer Star A Upgrds in the future.

Aegean agents are very good at the ICAO alphabet. If you use it, there is no scope for confusion...

i.e: "I want to fly Oscar Sierra 123 from Juliet Foxtrot Kilo to Victor India Echo"

Same experience :p

I just requested a redemption award ticket on the M&B website.

10 minutes later, their call center called me to confirm. However, the taxes seem to be way overboard... or maybe I'm just over thinking it?

I basically tried to redeem:

SIN-TPE return ticket for 25,000 miles.
But they want to charge me 232.75 EUR for taxes and service fees.

My question is: what matters when it comes to surcharges: the carrier operating the flight or the carrier through which I'm booking the award ticket?

If I look it up on UA's website, it shows me 30,000 miles + $37.30 USD

If I look it up on SQ's website, it shows me 30,000 miles + $351.10 SGD

I thought that, by booking through A3 (or UA), I would not have to pay the "Carrier surcharge"?
The $37.30 USD charged by UA corresponds to the "Airport/Gov taxes" of $47.3 SGD.

Shouldn't A3 charge me exactly the same (or its equivalent in EUR) + service charge?

Confused...


EDIT:
Went up a few pages on this thread and it seems that taxes should be closer to what UA would charge me. What's the best way to do it now? Call A3's reservation line rather than their M&B line, correct? And insist until someone gives me a more realistic tax fee?

Have anybody tried to redeem miles on Turkish Airlines? From what I've heard they don't charge YQ on awards, regardless of which airline you use the miles from. Is this true?

Have anybody tried to redeem miles on Turkish Airlines? From what I've heard they don't charge YQ on awards, regardless of which airline you use the miles from. Is this true?

def not true. BD awards charged YQ on TK.

Went up a few pages on this thread and it seems that taxes should be closer to what UA would charge me. What's the best way to do it now? Call A3's reservation line rather than their M&B line, correct? And insist until someone gives me a more realistic tax fee?

Ask to speak to the rate desk. Then point out that other carriers are pricing it out differently. Give them the breakdown of taxes/fees that UA is charging.

They might agree that they were miscalculating taxes/fees. They also might not, in which case you have to pay what they ask...

A3 does charge YR and YQ, but they do overprice taxes frequently since they use full fare to calculate.

Ask to speak to the rate desk. Then point out that other carriers are pricing it out differently. Give them the breakdown of taxes/fees that UA is charging.

They might agree that they were miscalculating taxes/fees. They also might not, in which case you have to pay what they ask...

A3 does charge YR and YQ, but they do overprice taxes frequently since they use full fare to calculate.

OK thanks. I'll call them directly I guess.

OK thanks. I'll call them directly I guess.

I think if you consult ITA and price the trip taxes will be close to what SQ quotes (operating carrier I guess) and I would be surprised if A3 will budge from that. I checked some quotes through LH M&M in the past for SIN-Japan flights on SQ and their charges where in line with SQs. That UA charges less is a different story and probably one of the only advantages of UA MP.

Booked three tickets on Aegean for June. 2 in business and sonny boy will be flying in coach. It seems that only 2 tickets per flight are open for rewards. No problem since the flight from ATH - RHO is only an hour.

Anyone have experience redeeming intra europe?

Which European carriers have lower surcharges?

I was just on the phone with Aegean and priced out a BCN-IST-TLV roundtrip with Turkish and the taxes came to 255 euros...

Edit: the same revenue ticket booked on Turkish.com comes to 296.

Anyone have experience redeeming intra europe?

Which European carriers have lower surcharges?

I was just on the phone with Aegean and priced out a BCN-IST-TLV roundtrip with Turkish and the taxes came to 255 euros...

Edit: the same revenue ticket booked on Turkish.com comes to 296.

You can see the YQ when you search for your flights on ITA Matrix.
Basically your A3 points will just cover the base fare.

LO generally has lower YQ intra Europe than the others, as does *shockingly* A3

BCN-ATH-TLV has only about €45 in taxes+surcharges each way

Others for comparison for one-way itineraries:
TP via LIS: €125
LX via ZRH/GVA: €117
LH via MUC/FRA: €121
LO via WAW: €78

You can see the YQ when you search for your flights on ITA Matrix.
Basically your A3 points will just cover the base fare.

LO generally has lower YQ intra Europe than the others, as does *shockingly* A3

BCN-ATH-TLV has only about €45 in taxes+surcharges each way

Others for comparison for one-way itineraries:
TP via LIS: €125
LX via ZRH/GVA: €117
LH via MUC/FRA: €121
LO via WAW: €78

You're right, A3 is significantly lower. TK ended up being the highest of all charging a mere €30 base fare.

Thanks for the help!^

I think Aeroplan had me trained to instinctively go for TK :p

Booked a one way intra-europe. 12.5K miles
20 EUR service fee for booking, taxes match what I found on ITA

pretty painless except that I had to call 3 times - the first two times I was hung up on while on hold after 10 minutes (each time).

Redeemed one-way award in business class for TXL - IST.

Turkish Airlines had no availability, so asked Aegean to check Lufthansa Group airlines.

Managed to redeem for TXL-FRA-IST for 21K miles and 150 euro fee. Not exactly a particularly efficient use of miles, but was significantly better than buying the ticket outright.

Service was great, didn't take any time at all to make the booking.