They tax evade. There's a reason why I'm not putting their names.

I've really had ENOUGH! :mad: Please, please stop bashing at Greeks, it's getting ridiculous. People evade taxes everywhere in the world and, for example, a list of prominent tax evaders includes two previous finance ministers of Germany!

I'm not saying all of them do.
It's just the ones that I know do.

This side-line of argument is neither welcome, nor on topic, so let's drop it an move on, shall we? Or we can lose some posts permanently and posters temporarily, as an alternative?

Thanks folks,

GoldCircle
Aegean Forum Moderator

Can this be true?
 

I had an unexpected trip come up yesterday that will see me going to South Africa for 2 weeks in about a month. Wasn't planning on going for *G after the AP increase but if the following is true then I'm going for it!

Can someone confirm that if I fly the following route I will acquire *Gold on A3?

YYZ-FRA AC K-class (3941 x 2=7882)
FRA-JNB SA Q-class (5380 x 1.5 [Accrual Factor] x 2=16140)
JNB-ELS SA not sure of class (but I'm hoping it doesn't matter)

If the above is true, then the round trip (without JNB-ELS) should give 24022 miles...and most importantly *G :D

The ticket will be more expensive as I will have to break it into two tickets (AC YYZ-FRA and FRA-JNB-ELS) but worth it if I can get *G.

This will be a return trip in Feb-Mar 2012.

Am I also correct in assuming I will get *G for 3 years as long a I credit some miles to A3 at least once every 12 months?

Lastly, when would I actually get the *G card? Does A3 have early recognition or will I have wait until 2013?

Just seems too good to be true...

Thanks!

Your calculations seem to be correct and you should reach Gold after you're back from South Africa.

Since it seems that the M&B cards are processed at the end of each month it will probably take two month after you achieved gold to actually get your card. But your status will be updated shortly after the trip and you can directly start using *G benefits (maybe you need a printout of your updated account page four lounge access etc.).

Sounds right, but why do you need to do this with two separate tickets? Even if there are not codeshares, you should be able to ticket various *A partners on a single ticket, even with different fare classes.

I'm not sure why but that is what the AC agent said. Something about AC can't combine their ticket with SA Q class...only W or G, which only earn 50% miles. I believe it can be all on 1 ticket so I'll be protected if something goes wrong. I may have to book through a travel agent though.

Thanks for the info.

Just to follow up. Had to buy to separate tickets as the fare classes were not combineable no matter what airline was issuing the tickets. Both AC & SA couldn't do it due to tariff rules. Even my TA couldn't do it. Total cost difference was less than $300 so much cheaper than a MR to make *G.

One question: Since I'm putting my A3 FFP# on the ticket can I still get the "Elite" area seating? Do I just call AC to request a seat change?

Once my trip is completed I'll follow up again