AAbruflyer

Background; I am mostly flying with AA in out of MIA / EZE/ GRU and Europe.
In Europe I get myself more and more on Swiss / Lufti / Austrian / Brussels as their light fares are pretty attractive especially one way fares on Brussels when you skip the last leg :-)
So in order to get better lounge access , better seating, priority boarding and security but most important the extra cabin luggage allowance told myself Aegean is the easiest to hit star gold. Shifted some premium economy flights to GIG with Lufti and Bam. Quick and painless.

Just did my four mandatory flights in a day; SKG/ATH/SKG/ATH/BUD and boom here we are Gold.

What I am shocked although not going to fly Agean anymore as the requal is very easy on star.
I cannot understand how as Gold flying on your airline you do not get exit rows are front row seats free of charge.
What is the value of the program for Aegean local flyers except for priority security / lounge access and priority boarding?

Knobbgb

I agree. It's very annoying and there is a long thread about it somewhere. It would cost them nothing to at least release those seats at check-in time (t-48hrs), even if not at the time of booking. There are almost always empty seats in the forward section and I have twice been re-seated into an exit row at the gate (due to it being empty) and seen this happen to others.

Just a couple of points you might not have noticed about your shiny-new Gold status: You mention extra cabin luggage allowance, but I'm guessing you meant checked baggage allowance. Be aware that you do NOT get a free checked bag with all *A airlines as an A3 Gold. Lufthansa certainly don't give that and I suspect there are others that don't either (probably the LH group ones - LX, SN, LO etc.). Also, those Light SN, OS, LX, LH fares you mention generally earn nothing with Miles&Bonus.

All in all, the program gives some quite good benefits (and, as you noticed, is stingy on others). As Gold you get 4 free business class upgrades per year, if you ever do decide to fly A3 again. That, along with the lounge access makes it worthwhile for me. You also get other (less useful) vouchers for free parking at ATH and even access to a Spa in Athens.There's also 20% additional award miles earned on Aegean flights. The award redemptions have some sweet-spots (inter-Asia business class) and some very poor conditions (maximum two legs, no stopovers and no mixed-class bookings). That about sums it up but feel free to ask if you have more questions. And welcome to the M&B thread, by the way.

AAbruflyer

with Lufti / Austrian / Brussels / Swiss on light fares they allow you an extra carry on and that is gold to me :-)

malmostoso

As *G? That is news to me.

unusualtravelblog

This is wrong. All cheap fares, known as e.g. Check & Go at Brussels airlines doesn't allow luggage, not even *G.

bearchemist

For Lufthansa group, +1 baggage benefit for *G on Light economic fare doesn't apply except on selected long-haul flights.

blackball

Just to add that A3 Gold can be thought of as relatively stingy, but at the same time is very easy to obtain and maintain.

Though I am based in Germany, I will never, ever go for M&M, since it is basically impossible to get the same perks with the amount of flying I do (most of my flights are within Europe, but I do have 3-4 trips to US/Asia every year). My boss is M&M silver, and I basically have more benefits than him even when flying LH. For example, I can check in at LH first class counters, which is a *huge* bonus when flying from a crappy airport like Tegel, while I get into the Senator lounges (+ a guest), while he's always forced to use the busier business lounges.

hugolover

Your boss should check Ethiopian status. 40 segments, in Economy, lowest is L for LH (only K excluded), everything for LX and LO and you have Gold. Perhaps easier than A3 for real Y segment flyers.

AlicorporateUK

I guess, as ever, it is all down to personal circumstances, travel patterns (meaning also airports) and the likes. I'm *G through SAS and, as my status is done-and-dusted for another year, I thought to reconfirm my Frequent Traveller status for another couple of years.

Here are a couple of data points:

• I always travel with a tiny hand luggage hence I'm not really bothered when flying Y and not being able to board for 'first';
• My weekly travel pattern mostly involves transfers at Munich/Vienna/Frankfurt/Zurich and often 'touches' Heathrow and Warsaw, meaning lounge access guaranteed (incidentally, in a couple of recent visits to the H Senator Lounge in Munich as *G, I had to 'shift' to the other side due to lack of seats; indeed, the Business Lounge was nearly empty and, trust me, it did happen in the past during my bi-weekly visits; probably the only airport where I've found the Business Lounges to get extremely crowded is Zurich, again personal experience). Plus, Warsaw airport allows FTL to access fast track.
• IROPS: as I recently reported through this thread, no problems whatsoever.

All-in-all, if I was to lose *G (unlikely with my job, but...), the only thing I would miss is 'lounge access+1' and that basically says it all but, again, it all depends on personal circumstances, which means that if you mainly travel through Star Alliance hubs, then FTL would smoothly fit the bill.

G

TPJ

If you are a oneWorld guy, it is a cultural difference you need to accept (or stick with OW).

OWE will give you free premium seating, *G (officially) will not.

Once you fly more with *A (or read FT ) you will learn how airlines operate and e.g. how to get an emergency exit seat with airlines like LH or LO at OLCI for free.

mobilemario

Before changes I always got good seats and many time middle seat was empty for golds but now its rubbish

AAbruflyer

You are right about the written rule on the carry on but I would say everytime I went through boarding with colleagues they had carryons on cheapest fares and as gold they waived them through. I got there with my carry on and back pack and got hitched to pay. Every single time I was told when you hit *gold you are good. I am talking easy twenty flights with the low fares although I admit that half the time the agent did not care and let me through.

djjaguar64

I love A3 Gold. I am not complaining. If you feel you're being shortchanged then simply move on to another program.

Chiller3333

Same. Since I'm flying across many different *A carriers, I don't need any special perks.
Just having the basic Star Alliance Gold perks is enough
And I think for that A3 *G is amazing.

unusualtravelblog

Exactly this. And as soon as you get Gold with A3, it is much easier to keep the status than any other *A FFP.