Aegean Airlines Miles&Bonus - Op-Ups on *A

Hi folks,

Just curious about the op-up experiences of M&B *G's on other *A carriers. I have been Gold since December 2010, but am batting 0 for upgrades after 60+ segments on AC, LH, LX, JJ, UA, and US. Anyone out there having any luck?

Cheers

Why should you get any op-up's to begin with ?

Being *G does not give you any entitlement for op-ups especially when you're not a member (especially elite) of the operating airline.

AC does not bother with other airlines' *G members. Neither do the LH group.

Don't get your hopes up. *G are not treated any better than non status pax on other airlines (except for published benefits)

Valid points. Nevertheless, what status flyer does not hold out a glimmer of hope for an op-up on an overbooked flight? As a Delta Platinum Medallion, I used to get op-ups roughly 50% of the time flying AF. And I would expect that a moderator would possess more insight than to respond with "Why should you get op-up's to begin with?"

Alright.. since I'm not a Moderator...

"Why should you get op-ups to begin with?" ;)

Killuminati nailed it I reckon...

Do DL/AF have a closer relationship than is "usual" on ST? Seems likely given your experience..

My experience OTOH:

I'm on the top level of the NZ program (Gold Elite.. but of course just *Gold to all the other *A airlines) .. never had an op-up on NZ..

Never had an op-up on SQ/OZ/UA/US/AC or NH (which are the other *A airlines I fly...)..

Had ONE from J>F on CX with zero status...... go figure.

I have no complaint about the published benefits... just look at the other alliances lack of a system wide baggage benefit...:eek:

Airlines such as UA are often willing to allocate available E+ seats and exit rows to *G flyers on regular economy bookings. It's certainly not a published benefit, and your mileage may vary, but it's worth asking at check in, and at the gate. I have about 75% success on United in this regard.

Have never had a sniff of any more than this, though

Exit rows/bulkheads/extra legroom seat certainly are an unpublished benifit that you can get at the airport as a *G. Op-ups to Premium economy or business class are rarer, but they do happen very occasionally.

OP Ups do happen. If Y is overbooked and the airlines own FF's have been upgraded then next in line are Star Alliance Gold members. So never say never. I have had Op UP's o TG and LX both only when Y was overbooked.

Why should you get any op-up's to begin with ?

Being *G does not give you any entitlement for op-ups especially when you're not a member (especially elite) of the operating airline.

AC does not bother with other airlines' *G members. Neither do the LH group.

Don't get your hopes up. *G are not treated any better than non status pax on other airlines (except for published benefits)


Ouch, that's hard... Is this the factual situation throughout *A?

I am asking, because in OW it is not this way. Sure, airline's own elites are higher ranked than alliance-elites, but you will still have some status recognition. As a matter of fact I had more op-ups on OW partner airlines than on my home airline.

I use to be TG *G and often received upgrades on LH, TG and UA. :p

Ouch, that's hard... Is this the factual situation throughout *A?

I am asking, because in OW it is not this way. Sure, airline's own elites are higher ranked than alliance-elites, but you will still have some status recognition. As a matter of fact I had more op-ups on OW partner airlines than on my home airline.

You rank higher than non status pax...but that doesn't really result in any non published benefits. Of course in an oversold Y situation, after all the operating carriers elites have been upgraded *G will be next in line. But that isn't going to happen that often. Sure every once in a while but it's not something I would ever get my hopes up for.

Even as an AC STARSilver years ago I got an opup on LH because they'd gone through all their own elites and worked the way down other STAR carrier elites. That's the standard practice once an airline exhausts its own elite list, it moves on to remaining elites from other alliance carriers. Ticket price and check in become the next criteria to sort out among competing same tier elites.

Why should you get any op-up's to begin with ?

Being *G does not give you any entitlement for op-ups especially when you're not a member (especially elite) of the operating airline.

AC does not bother with other airlines' *G members. Neither do the LH group.

That's been disproven by thousands of posts on FT and personal experience. Opups are now regularized by this process of acknowledging status passengers ahead of discretionary upgrades by gate staff.

Don't get your hopes up. *G are not treated any better than non status pax on other airlines (except for published benefits)

Absolutely untrue. Access to fast track security or passport control are not published benefits of STARGold but A3 gives this same benefit of business class customers to all STARGolds. Can you please provide support for your statement?

How about we all stop challenging each other and just accept that not everything written on the internet is true or reliable? ;)

GoldCircle
A3 forum Mod

i got opup as a *S on CA on HKG - PEK!
nothing is impossible!

True... and there will always be the "ONCE I got.." stories..

..but given the OP was coming from a 50% op-up experience I think it entirely appropriate to try to get him to some realistic expectation level regarding op-ups across the *A..

Out of the 6+years so far as both a *G (UA 1K) and a OW E (BA gold) and hundreds of flights, I got 3 op-ups
one was a hr long flight and 2 were tatl from C to F (summer time travel, Y oversold and so was C)

Absolutely untrue. Access to fast track security or passport control are not published benefits of STARGold but A3 gives this same benefit of business class customers to all STARGolds. Can you please provide support for your statement?

Easy. On SK no passengers are given access to fasttrack unless they are holding a c ticket. Only SK G* is accepted in Scandinavia to enter fast track.
It is also stated in every single Star Alliance airlines terms and conditions that their own passengers are first in line.

Those Aegean benefits might be just for Aegean card holders....

http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/program-description/benefits/gold-card-privileges/

It doesn't show a *A logo but a Aegean logo.

But yeah some realistic expectations. That is if a plane goes smoothly, not oversold, not delayed etc etc ...

Access to Security Control Fast Lane. Speed up the process of security control and access immediately to your boarding gate simply by displaying your Gold Miles&Bonus card (Fast Lane access available at: Athens International Airport, Heraklion, Thessaloniki, London-Heathrow, Brussels, Rome-Fiumicino, Dusseldorf, Madrid, Milan-Malpensa, Stuttgart Airports and Tel Aviv).

Access to Passport control fast track. Exclusively for Gold Miles&Bonus members, direct access to the Passport Control 1 ("TAV Passport") fast track at the departure's level in Istanbul – Ataturk Airport.

(Fast Lane access available at:Tel Aviv).




is there a fast lane in TLV?

Easy. On SK no passengers are given access to fasttrack unless they are holding a c ticket. Only SK G* is accepted in Scandinavia to enter fast track.
It is also stated in every single Star Alliance airlines terms and conditions that their own passengers are first in line.

There is fast track at ARL for SENs...

There is fast track at ARL for SENs...

ARL is the code for Arly in Burkina Faso. I doubt they have a fast track for SENs... :D

If you mean ARN (Stockholm Arlanda), then yes, there is a fast track for SEN, but only if you're flying on Lufthansa, Austrian or Swiss. A SEN flying economy on SAS does not have access to fast track, and a SEN flying LOT won't have access even if he's in business class.

Access to Security Control Fast Lane. Speed up the process of security control and access immediately to your boarding gate simply by displaying your Gold Miles&Bonus card (Fast Lane access available at: Athens International Airport, Heraklion, Thessaloniki, London-Heathrow, Brussels, Rome-Fiumicino, Dusseldorf, Madrid, Milan-Malpensa, Stuttgart Airports and Tel Aviv).

Would anyone know if you have to be departing on A3 to enjoy access to the Fast Lane?

Would anyone know if you have to be departing on A3 to enjoy access to the Fast Lane?

Technically yes, but other FTers have gotten away with it even on other airlines.

Technically yes, but other FTers have gotten away with it even on other airlines.

I am a former getter-away-of-it. Was allowed through Fast Lane at LHR T3 as an A3*G. It was a bit embarrassing though, and I only suspect he let me in because there was a queue forming behind me.

I checked with A3 and I was completely not entitled to use the Fast Track - the payment they have arranged only covers elites travelling on A3 metal (and C class of course). In my defence, I thought the website reads like an A3*G could use the Fast track no matter what the airline you are flying (the M&B website is a little vague on most things really). Apparently, *G other than A3 are also covered when travelling on A3 - I think someone said they get an invitation on check-in, which is very nice of them.

Now I know the rules - I won't be trying this again. It gives very little advantage in this case (other than avoiding a longer walk through the LHR T3 shopping mall departures lounge. :)

Incidentally, I also used the fast track in LHR T1 when flying C on Asiana. Was waved through without a problem, though Asiana don't even pay for access for their premium pax (found this out later - just assumed they did) - so it seems I am a serial pushy rule breaker :eek:. It also appear then that the pass checkers don't really care if you are entitled or not and I'm sure anyone could push through if they really wanted to.

Success. Got the bump last week from Y -> J on LX from YUL-ZRH.

As a Delta Platinum Medallion, I used to get op-ups roughly 50% of the time flying AF.

Lucky you, as a DL Plat I've never gotten an op-up on AF or KLM..

*Gs can be rest assured that you will not be op up'd on SQ flights ! :p

I have been able to get past SE security lines in YVR.

i got opup as a *S on CA on HKG - PEK!
nothing is impossible!

This was on 2 cabin F right?
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Success. Got the bump last week from Y -> J on LX from YUL-ZRH.

Nice. Out of curiosity what fare class were you originally in?

Nice. Out of curiosity what fare class were you originally in?

It would have to be V or higher, right?

It would have to be V or higher, right?

Actually, I was booked in lowly L.

My op-up rate on AF was definitely out of the ordinary, but keep in mind that YUL is a not a major business destination (at least compared to YYZ) and AF have a huge J-section on their 77W which gives a relatively low Y to J seat ratio. I tried to stick to those flights as much as possible and it was usually worth it.