Jma12

When I was in ATH last year, the agent was nice enough to waive my baggage fee as a A3*S, not sure if it is an unpublished perks for A3 elites. But YMMV.

LTN Phobia

I came up with a wonderfully simple solution to this.

I have two other Star Alliance gold memberships (SQ and LH, to be specific). However, as I fly OA often enough on routes without business class and I'd like to have lounge access (not many other places at ATH where I can have a table and chair to comfortably work on my laptop), and I also appreciate the extra baggage etc., I also keep Aegean Gold.

Problems solved!

NWIFlyer

Only on FT could flying enough to maintain LH Senator, SQ Gold/PPS and A3 Gold be considered simple!

Dover2Golf

Remember that you can get SQ PPS (like I did) by banking the miles in another programme also - you get no usable miles in Krisflyer just the status which on SQ counts for everything.

SFO777

It's just a lounge.

Why not use your Priority Pass (free with many US Amex cards) for the Goldair lounge?
https://www.prioritypass.com/en/loun...ing-cip-lounge

giorginho

I used to have lounge access with my mastercard at some point (there is, or at least there used to be, a mastercard lounge at ATH). But then my issuing bank fled from the country, my card was transferred to a different bank, who "downgraded" it from platinum to gold (because... they didn't and still don't have the right to issue platinum!) and that was it.

Manospeed

I'm not arguing that what Aegean is doing is illegal or against the rules. I'm stating that by keeping the Aegean (international flights) and assigning OA flight numbers on almost all domestic flights arrangement, they're able to skirt their Star Alliance obligations entirely and the sole reason they're doing this is to collect money from fees. Now you can argue till kingdom come that its within their rights to do whatever they want etc., but I'm arguing this is anti-ethical and a losing business practice in the long run.

I already contacted United about this and they informed me they're aware of the practice, but there is nothing they can do about it. Given this, it doesn't make any sense to book with Aegean at all for the exact same reason it doesn't make sense to book with a non-Star alliance airline (no miles, no points, no lounge access, baggage fees etc.). At the end of the day, if Aegean wants to look at you with a straight face and tell you "You're flying Olympic Air", when the only thing "Olympic" about the flight are 2 letters on your ticket stub, that's their right to do so, but all things being equal (no Star Alliance option), there is no point in booking Aegean and rewarding their behavior. I will be seeking alternative carriers from now on.

giorginho

Just book with whatever airline provides you with the cheapest fare, all costs included, which obviously implies you have to search in advance for all those "little details" such as baggage fees, excess baggage fees (you won't believe your eyes if you see what surcharges some airlines impose in Europe for the 23kg-32kg part!) and even seat reservation/selection fees (and if you must visit a lounge then add the entrance fee to the grand total as well). It's more work on your end, but you'll definitely avoid that awkward and stressful situation you unfortunately experienced (most of us have, at some point, come across a similar situation as well, flying some airline we don't usually fly, so, as with others, you have my sympathy). Sadly, no one will specifically and directly inform you in advance about such things that can cost you money if you haven't done your own research, I hate it too, but it's a live-and-learn (or pay-and-learn) world, where the consumer is being treated as a figure and not as a person.

PS. Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of judging, but 3x75 pounds for presumably a couple of weeks worth of holiday? (I mean I would be scared to do that to those poor little turbo-props ). Best I've managed was a near-maxed-out business class allowance on their A320, which was 2x30kg+2x8kg and that on both my own and my wife's ticket (a total of about 150kg!), but that was a one-time-thing and during our relocation abroad. I get so tired dragging luggage around, that I just don't do it (but that's just me).
PS2. I too have called Aegean out on some not only highly unethical, but also illegal actions of theirs (in your case unethical but legal, so I got you beat there ). Like for instance, this year I had booked some go-light tickets, on which I usually add baggage later on.,according to my needs (still a lot cheaper than booking flex). At the time of booking the TOS clearly stated that the baggage fee (for a 23kg bag) for the specific flight I had booked was 20€. That was then changed to 27€, with no prior notification, just because they changed all their "baggage" prices in general. Why would/should an existing booking be affected by such a change? The "contract" was made under the (older) existing conditions/prices! I got on the phone with some extremely incompetent agents, with zero knowledge of the law, claiming they knew everything and they were right and I was wrong etc.. I never got an "official" written response, anywhere.

lhrpete

How do you know that? Perhaps you could quote your source?

It may be more to do with lounge access and capacity at ATH. The lounge at the B gates is often very busy and near capacity or over at peak times and there's no where for it to expand to. A3 need to limit access in some way so perhaps the option to use OA flight numbers on domestic services is they way they do it.

irishguy28

Are you similarly exercised by Delta's failure to force Virgin Atlantic to join Skyteam?

Or for IAG's failure to force Aer Lingus to join oneworld?

Or Lufthansa's increasing use of non-ST Eurowings?

I totally get that being forced to pay for checked luggage, and being denied lounge access, is clearly a big deal for you as a United (?) flyer. But Star Alliance travellers using Olympic Airlines is not a big deal for A3/OA. Rolling Olympic into Star Alliance isn't just a simple thing, denied only to make money off you (and whatever other Star Alliance may end up travelling on Olympic). It likely would come at significant costs, and for little benefit to the airline.


And yet clearly no-one in Olympic or Aegean seem to consider that this "losing business practice" is worth the expense of having Olympic join Star Alliance.

Note that just having an A3 codeshare on a non-ST member is not enough for the benefits you seek.


Have you asked United to start service to your desired Greek island(s)?

Your statements are a little confusing. If you say "it doesn't make sense to book with a non-Star alliance airline (no miles, no points, no lounge access, baggage fees etc)" why are you even travelling to the Greek islands?

Most people travel with the airline that best suits their destination - not just to destinations where they don't get charged baggage fees, etc.

ISTFlyer

Just a quick note that if you are connecting from an A3 marketed flight to an OA marketed flight in the same ticket on 390- stock, you would have been eligible for lounge access in ATH. This was the case back last year when I flew IST-ATH-CHQ. I wasn't *G at that time but the *G ( not M&B ) member in our party had an invitation to the Aegean Business Lounge in ATH on his boarding pass and was able to guest one person traveling on the same OA flight at the lounge.

I assume that the OP travelled USA-ATH and ATH-CHQ in separate tickets.

Also, I completely agree with lhrpete. In addition to this I could tell you that;

United does not offer extra-legroom seats for free for non-UA *G but they offer it for their own Silver members.
United does not give free domestic upgrades for non-UA*G ( gate upgrade ) but they add their MileagePlus Silver members to the list. In addition, while *G should be in top of MileagePlus Premier Silver in operational upgrades and standby list ( according to *A rules ), MileagePlus Silver members are more likely to clear standby, operational upgrades.

United *G pax get 2x32 kg or 3x32 kg of baggage allowance on domestic flights while non-UA*G gets 1x23kg of baggage allowance.

So why should Aegean Airlines give benefits on their subsidiary to non-A3*G pax which they give to their own elites?

justforfun

I don't think this is true. Never has Aegean cited this exception when questioned about this issue.

MSPeconomist

However, unlike Aegean, none of these are major full service carriers.

justforfun

It's a deceptive, customer-unfriendly practice, plain and simple. Can Aegean technically do it, and still play within the rules of Star Alliance? Yes. But no one should be defending this. When you're boarding an Aegean plane staffed by Aegean crew, booked on aegean.com, with an Aegean logo by the flight number(while the flights actually operated by Olympic have the Olympic logo), and told Star Alliance Gold members can pre-board, it's really not a stretch to expect lounge access as a *G. And I'm saying all of this as an Aegean Gold member, so none of this even applies to me. But it's so obvious that this is total bs.

freed0m

It is laughable to accuse A3 of such practice when the larger founding members of *A namely United and Lufthansa have exactly the same practice.

*A is toothless.