Aegean Airlines Miles&Bonus - Where would you like the M&B to go in 2012?

Happy New Year to all.

The A3 programme has seen some great changes in 2011. On reflection of a my first year's membership, I'd like to suggest some changes which could improve the programme still further.

1. Introduce ability to change or cancel award bookings without forfeiting the miles (up to 24 hours before is standard on many other airlines, with/without a small fee in miles or cash, often waived for status members).

2. Introduce a miles earning credit card for those who live outside Greece - and/or as a minimum, introduce points for miles transfers from Amex Membership Rewards and/or Amex Starwood Preferred Guest.

3. Allow connections in redemption bookings with some form of distance table/allowable routings so that the cost of redeeming is clear. As part of this, introduce RTW award bookings.

4. Introduce family membership miles transfer - ideally a simple system allowing for a wide range of household members and without redemption restrictions, as on BMI and not as on BA.

5. Participate in Star Alliance Upgrade Awards (upgrade any eligible *A fare on any participating *A airline with your M&B miles).

6. Participate in Star Alliance Company Plus (points scheme for companies which runs alongside the airline's FFP - great for SME and freelancers).

7. Introduce online award booking and upgrades (ideally including *A partners).

1 and 2 are the two things that most likely to stop people using M&B as their main programme (and 3 for those whose location means they will be often needing a connection). 4 to 6 are potentially relatively easy things to introduce that many other airlines do and would give added value to the FFP and airline.

What do other members think?

Happy New Year to all.

The A3 programme has seen some great changes in 2011. On reflection of a my first year's membership, I'd like to suggest some changes which could improve the programme still further.

1. Introduce ability to change or cancel award bookings without forfeiting the miles (up to 24 hours before is standard on many other airlines, with/without a small fee in miles or cash, often waived for status members).

2. Introduce a miles earning credit card for those who live outside Greece - and/or as a minimum, introduce points for miles transfers from Amex Membership Rewards and/or Amex Starwood Preferred Guest.

+1

- Cash and Miles. This is a great DC feature to stretch the miles. I'd like to see it here.

GBM

And maybe for A3 to have better agents.

I mostly care about 3 and 5, but 1 and 7 would be nice also. Given that the miles required for *A award tickets are not lower than other carriers, elites should get bonus redeemable miles also.

I think some features of the program reflect that Aegean is a Greek airline and there seems to be some presumption that their FFs will generally be Greek residents. Examples include the Greek bank credit card and the restriction on locations for using miles for Hertz rentals.

I mostly care about 3 and 5, but 1 and 7 would be nice also. Given that the miles required for *A award tickets are not lower than other carriers, elites should get bonus redeemable miles also.

I think some features of the program reflect that Aegean is a Greek airline and there seems to be some presumption that their FFs will generally be Greek residents. Examples include the Greek bank credit card and the restriction on locations for using miles for Hertz rentals.

If they bothered to look at the addresses of their members, they would quickly find that their presumption is false.

If they bothered to look at the addresses of their members, they would quickly find that their presumption is false.
True, but remember that they started as a privately held local airline offering service between ATH and some of the Greek islands. Few people outside of Greece had heard of them when they joined Star A after period of affiliations first with Hertz and then with LH. Their typical passenger is probably still a Greek citizen or resident, although on flights one has the impression that Aegean carries less local traffic of islanders going to the mainland than Olympic does. They might also have fewer budget travelers and backpackers, although such passengers might be more likely to use ferries than fly.

For me, Number 7 is most important... It's just not convenient at this time to call or email them, trying to book an award ticket...

And of course point 1...

If they bothered to look at the addresses of their members, they would quickly find that their presumption is false.

Exactly. Even some of my UA 1K friends have never heard about it.
Now they are A3 Gold just for RCC access on UA and still 1K on UA for UDU.

I'm pretty happy with M&B, at least for the time being. Simplicity has its virtues. That said, I like this idea:

Given that the miles required for *A award tickets are not lower than other carriers, elites should get bonus redeemable miles also.

That's an important one, I think. Something like a 15% mileage bonus when flying *A for Blue and a 75% bonus for Gold would be reasonable.

I'd also like to see Aegean add a few airline partners outside *A for mileage earning (probably not status earning/benefits), notably Emirates if possible. That should help Aegean get some better financial results from M&B, allowing them to grant bonus miles to elites.

Another thing I think Aegean should do is send Gold cards via air mail, or at least hire a mail house that'll send them from the lowest cost mailing points in each region around the world.

Sending Gold cards via a contracted mail house might be less expensive than what they're doing now, but to reduce costs even further they really shouldn't bother mailing Blue cards. Or, at least, let Blue elites affirmatively request their cards if they really want them (and improve the print-from-Web option a bit).

I also think they should put their IATA airline code (A3) somewhere on their cards, in smaller type and well separated from the number. In fact, every airline ought to do that.

I'm pretty happy with M&B, at least for the time being. Simplicity has its virtues. That said, I like this idea:



That's an important one, I think. Something like a 15% mileage bonus when flying *A for Blue and a 75% bonus for Gold would be reasonable.

I'd also like to see Aegean add a few airline partners outside *A for mileage earning (probably not status earning/benefits), notably Emirates if possible. That should help Aegean get some better financial results from M&B, allowing them to grant bonus miles to elites.

A 15% bonus is not "reasonable" in any way. Why should A3 give away free miles? What do they gain out of it? (The answer is nothing)

A 15% bonus is not "reasonable" in any way. Why should A3 give away free miles? What do they gain out of it? (The answer is nothing)

What do they gain by awarding any miles?

A small bonus -- "about 15%" is small -- would be consistent with the lowest tier level in many loyalty programs. IHG's Priority Club Gold, for example, awards a 10% bonus. (And you can get PC Gold if you can breathe, practically.) Marriott Silver Elite is 20%. That sort of bonus is in place to encourage occasional and moderate travelers to dedicate more of their limited funds to the company sponsoring the program. (Or, in this case, to Star Alliance, of which Aegean is a member.) In other words, Aegean could conceivably get more net financial benefit if it awards "reasonable" elite tier bonuses.

Now, whether Aegean realizes a net gain or not is an open question. However, given the existence of tier bonuses in practically every other loyalty program, including programs with easy qualification for elite levels, there's probably at least some merit and they shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

One could say that the low tier qualifications for *A Silver and Gold in Aegean's programs are elite tier bonuses. Indeed they are. However, I still think that there should still be "reasonable" elite bonuses. Note that I didn't say "market-leading" or even "competitive," but "reasonable."

Another way to implement elite bonuses is this way.... In every calendar year, Aegean could award Blues a year-end 15% bonus if they hit 8,000 or more in creditable miles (double their tier qualification) and Golds a 75% bonus if they hit 40,000 or more creditable miles. Something like that would likely spur more people to credit more miles (and fly more with Star Alliance/Aegean) than they otherwise would. How much more? "It depends," but obviously incentives do work, at least to some degree.

What do they gain by awarding any miles?

A small bonus -- "about 15%" is small -- would be consistent with the lowest tier level in many loyalty programs. IHG's Priority Club Gold, for example, awards a 10% bonus. (And you can get PC Gold if you can breathe, practically.) Marriott Silver Elite is 20%. That sort of bonus is in place to encourage occasional and moderate travelers to dedicate more of their limited funds to the company sponsoring the program. (Or, in this case, to Star Alliance, of which Aegean is a member.) In other words, Aegean could conceivably get more net financial benefit if it awards "reasonable" elite tier bonuses.

Now, whether Aegean realizes a net gain or not is an open question. However, given the existence of tier bonuses in practically every other loyalty program, including programs with easy qualification for elite levels, there's probably at least some merit and they shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

One could say that the low tier qualifications for *A Silver and Gold in Aegean's programs are elite tier bonuses. Indeed they are. However, I still think that there should still be "reasonable" elite bonuses. Note that I didn't say "market-leading" or even "competitive," but "reasonable."

Another way to implement elite bonuses is this way.... In every calendar year, Aegean could award Blues a year-end 15% bonus if they hit 8,000 or more in creditable miles (double their tier qualification) and Golds a 75% bonus if they hit 40,000 or more creditable miles. Something like that would likely spur more people to credit more miles (and fly more with Star Alliance/Aegean) than they otherwise would. How much more? "It depends," but obviously incentives do work, at least to some degree.

So your reasoning is that while it isn't likely to be for any advantage to A3, they should do it because other carriers do? :confused: By that logic, they should have elite qualification at 100k miles because other airlines do.

So your reasoning is that while it isn't likely to be for any advantage to A3, they should do it because other carriers do? :confused: By that logic, they should have elite qualification at 100k miles because other airlines do.
First of all, all (or nearly all) of the suggestions that started this thread would cost Aegean something to implement, although some of them may be net money-makers. I suggested at least one that would save Aegean money even with a simple first-order analysis.

Secondly, perhaps you would recognize that there are more than binary dimensions to frequent flyer programs. As I wrote, my view (and it's not only my view) is that Aegean should implement some kind of mileage bonuses for their elites. Nearly every (or every) program has elite tiers with qualification requirements, some higher than others. Aegean's are lower than many others, but they have tiers and qualification requirements, just like other programs. Likewise, nearly every program provides point/mileage bonuses to their elites. As I wrote, I think Aegean ought to have such bonuses (which are in place for good business reasons in those other programs). But since Aegean's elite qualification levels are lower than other programs (i.e. more generous), those mileage bonuses ought to be "reasonable." Not market-leading, not even competitive, but reasonable. In my view, zero bonus is unreasonable.

Your view may differ.

1. Introduce ability to change or cancel award bookings without forfeiting the miles.


This has been introduced, and I'm sure that nearly all of us must agree that it's a great improvement to the programme.

How would we like to see M&B further improve its competitiveness?

This has been introduced, and I'm sure that nearly all of us must agree that it's a great improvement to the programme.

How would we like to see M&B further improve its competitiveness?
Just a few random points that I think should be improved:

Send the cards out quicker
Give feedback via email when processing retro claims (both positive and negative)
Improve the award booking engine to handle more scenarios and *A awards

Improve the award booking engine to handle more scenarios and *A awards


I'd like to see this happen, but I guess it involves some fairly major IT work. Though if Avianca/Taca LifeMiles, a more recently re-launched scheme can achieve this, maybe A3 could join the select group of *A airlines who offer online redemption booking across *A to their loyalty scheme members...

I'd like to see this happen, but I guess it involves some fairly major IT work. Though if Avianca/Taca LifeMiles, a more recently re-launched scheme can achieve this, maybe A3 could join the select group of *A airlines who offer online redemption booking across *A to their loyalty scheme members...

But dealing with A3 calk center is better than AV, and this was with experiences on the English and Portuguese lines.

With regards to elite level bonuses, I think it would not be unreasonable to assume that there are a larger proportion of *G or Blue members than other programs. Also, a large number of *Gs will probably have never flown or intend to fly A3.** So an elite bonus would probably not generate any extra business for A3 or even *A.

If they were to introduce this, they might as well just increase the mileage awarded across the board. Alternatively, it would be reasonable to give an elite bonus when flying A3.

**Personally I do hope to fly them one day but their LHR-LCA schedule is not very convenient, I'll have to wait until I am able to take a full week off otherwise I waste 2 days


I would also like A3 to join the *A upgrade award, mainly because I can redeem miles more quickly. Is this a very costly part of *A membership, hence some of the smaller airlines are reluctant to participate in this?

Upgrade awards are also helpful when one is on the threshold for elite requalification, as full redemptions earn no miles. If A3 was to introduce a requirement of 20k miles per year for gold then upgrade awards could potentially become more useful.

I would like to see 4 free upgrade certs per year when you have reached 30K and 4 A3 sectors. I think that would be fair to award those who do use A3.

I think it is reasonable for any elite bonus to be only on A3 flights. But I'm not that fussed about elite boni or getting the cards out quicker.

I'd like to see A3 revamp the redemption table to allow for connecting journeys to be made with the mileage assessed on the whole flight rather than each sector. This is perhaps the biggest drawback to the programme now - it's only any use if you live and travel on routes served by *A member airlines' point-to-point journeys. And since *A's great plus is that you can get most places by flying connections even if you can't get there directly, this is where M&B really falls down, given that A3 is as a *A member airline.

I'd also like to see a credit card miles earning or transfer option, such as MBNA in the UK and US, and/or Amex MR and/or Starwood points transfers (in the case of MR, from multiple countries' MR schemes). I'd like to see some UK, US, European and Australian options to send credit card earned miles/points to A3.

I'd like to see A3 join *A upgrade awards. I don't see why this cannot be an alliance wide thing - it would be simpler for flyers. Does anyone know if it is an overly complicated or expensive process for a *A member airline to join - or why some airlines participate in this and other do not?

Lastly I'd like to see A3 remove the bar to under 12s joining (not that it is really a bar, but the rules technically prohibit, it which is pointless really) and introduce a family miles transfer and pooling scheme combining the best of BMI and VA's schemes (BMI had good benefits including permitting points transfer from domestic staff; VA's scheme allows the equivalent of status miles to be transferred between family members).