Miles Purchase [available from 8th October 2015]
 

I couldn't find a thread specifically about this aspect of the program...which, of course, is not due to happen until October 2015 anyways.

I am specifically interested in the Tier Miles Purchase option...as the decision on whether to renew Gold this year will likely hinge on the Tier Miles purchase options.

I don't want to invite speculation, but does anyone have any firm details on what may happen? I, for one, hope that this is implemented in (very) early October, rather than keeping us all waiting for much longer...

I read that you should be able to "buy" miles like this (@6cpm).

No, that's not what I'm talking about.

The purchase of Award Miles is a feature of the "new" Miles + Bonus, which will be open to all members - but it hasn't been implemented yet.

The purchase of Tier Miles if a feature of the "new" Miles + Bonus programme, which will be open to Silver and Gold members only - but it hasn't been implemented yet.

http://i59.tinypic.com/2m34c4k.jpg

End of October .

Are you sure about that, DELLAS?

i called customer service and they did say end of Oct. I guess just in time for a lot of us who would be needing to top-up to re-qualify for *G this nov

Did they specify the year? :-)

It will be before the new proposed Terminal 2 opens at ATH thats for sure ;)

Anyone got points for this? I "flew" this 2 weeks ago and still no points.

Oooops, got it! Forget this...

avermat, somewhat off-topic so let's not let the discussion drift too much, but did you actually check-in and print a ticket (boarding pass) for your train trip? My understanding is that you need to do this on the LH site for the miles to credit.

Do you guys reckon purchasing miles will be expensive?

I have no experience with it whatsoever.

How is it on other airlines on Star Alliance or similar to Aegean?

It is likely to depend on whether you want Status or Award miles.

Award ones, outside an offer, have traditionally been somewhere around 1.5 to 2 Eurocents per mile, likely plus a flat transaction fee (maybe 20 Euros, based on the cost of booking a flight through the call centre). However, this was in the days of much better earning for flying with almost all Y fares earning at 100%, so this may well now be anything up to double that or more to encourage people to fly rather than just buy-up.

Status miles, frankly, are anyone's guess - it's difficult to imagine someone who needed 2,000 miles to re-qualify (which is the buying cap we're expecting) being able to buy that number for as little as 80 Euros plus fee (which would be the cost if Award and Status were priced the same). I would expect it to be something like 5 to 10 times that amount given the benefits.

I'm not aware of any other Star Alliance carrier allowing you to buy status miles.

Lufthansa's Miles & More programme has an annual scheme (in place since at least 2008, judging from a quick search on FlyerTalk) whereby people who failed to maintain their Senator status can renew that status for an additional year for a payment of €2,000. They also offer Frequent Traveller renewal for a payment of €500.

The only other scheme I am aware of that allows you to "extend" your status by means other than pure flying is Aer Lingus' Gold Circle club, which will allow you to exchange a fixed number of your accumulated points for an extra year of (basic) status should you have come to the end of the year and not managed to renew.

That's not to say that there are not other Frequent Flyer programmes with similar quirks, or even which do (as M+B will) allow you to buy status miles.

Do you mind me asking where this discussion (if you mean Flyer Talk) was held?

While I fully agree that there will be a cap, I think that 2,000 miles is far too low an amount. I suspect there may be a different cap for Silver members (perhaps 4,000 miles) and for Gold members (perhaps 6,000 miles). Presumably, they won't just allow you to buy your status outright [although Lufthansa does allow this - so who know?], or even to buy up to the a higher status.

A cap of 2,000 miles would be of little use to a Gold who (for whatever reason) failed to accumulate the necessary 4 A3/OA segments but yet has a substantial balance but is short of 22,000 status miles (the obvious route to retention for such passengers would be to take an A3 biz class trip), or even for a Gold with the necessary sectors but still languishing below 10,000 miles.

Surely, the idea is to monetise the programme, and in the cases where 2,000 miles is all that is needed, such people would surely have sewn-up their retention with a strategic booking (of course, last minute changes and cancellations can get in the way). But restricting the number of miles buyable so drastically would really limit the potential market to a tiny number of people.