Aegean’s Miles+Bonus program has historically been one of the most lucrative Star Alliance award programs in terms of the ease with which you can earn elite status, and also in terms of their redemption costs.
Well, Aegean has just rolled out their latest promotion on purchased miles. Go figure it comes just days after they devalued their award chart without notice.
Buy Aegean Miles With 100% Bonus
Through Saturday, November 30, 2019, Aegean is offering a 100% bonus when you purchase miles (you have to log into your Miles+Bonus account to see this offer). You qualify for this bonus as long as you buy at least 1,000 miles in one transaction (pre-bonus).
A 100% bonus is in line with the best promotions we’ve seen on purchased Aegean miles, as the last time we saw a 100% bonus was last year.
The number of Aegean miles you can buy per year ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 pre-bonus. If you haven’t had any activity on your account in the past year you’re limited to 30,000, while otherwise you can buy up to 50,000 pre-bonus.
Ordinarily Aegean charges 25EUR per 1,000 miles that you purchase. That means that if you had some activity and maxed out this promotion you could buy a total of 100,000 miles (including the 50,000 bonus miles) at a cost of 1,250EUR (~1,375USD), which is a cost of about ~1.375 cents (in USD) per mile.
I believe Aegean processes mileage purchases directly, meaning that buying miles with them should qualify as airfare spend. Therefore you’ll want to consider using one of the following cards for your purchase, since they offer the following bonus points for airfare spend:
The Platinum Card® from American Express
American Express® Gold Card
So while the cost to purchase Aegean miles with this promotion is ~1.98 cents per mile, you can potentially get an even better value if you pay with a card like The Platinum Card® from American Express, since you’d earn 5x Membership Rewards points. I value those points at 1.7 cents each, so to me that’s the equivalent of an additional 8.5% return.
Should You Buy Aegean Miles?
Let me once again emphasize that Aegean just devalued their Star Alliance award chart a few days ago, and the redemption rates are now as follows for roundtrip flights (you can fly one-way for half the cost of a roundtrip):
There are still some great deals to be had. For example, you can redeem just 75,000 miles for a one-way first class ticket between Africa and the US on Lufthansa, so it could make sense to buy miles. Do note that Aegean charges the standard carrier imposed surcharges, though.
Redeeming Aegean miles for Lufthansa first class is a great deal
Bottom Line
Aegean Miles+Bonus is an excellent frequent flyer program. For the first time in 2019 they’re offering a 100% bonus on purchased miles, though at the same time they also just devalued their award chart.
However, some of the best sweet spots — like first class between the US and South Africa — haven’t changed.
I absolutely wouldn’t purchase Aegean miles without a specific use in mind, but with a redemption in mind, this promo could make sense. Aegean added online Star Alliance award redemptions a couple of years back, so you can always search availability online and then buy miles.
Does anyone plan on taking advantage of this Aegean promotion?
(Tip of the hat to Running With Miles)
I bought at 100% last year, I’ve gotten excellent value redeeming for various EU to Athens business class trips. I’m on it.
Are there any airlines outside the *A stable Aegean has you can take advantage of?
@Lucky, you should include a reminder that restrictions on purchased miles (tier and award) are based on a membership year and NOT a calendar year. It sucks that the sale started *after* the 11/23 membership renewal dates so that legacy Golds can't take advantage of it twice. :-(
Of course, the award chart devaluation is another matter... :-\
I bought at 100% last year, I’ve gotten excellent value redeeming for various EU to Athens business class trips. I’m on it.
Those wacky kids at Aegean! Don't they know that they're supposed to have a big miles sale, THEN do a devaluation without notice, not the other way around? I'm sure that they'll get it right next time.
@ Ben -- Only an idiot would buy miles from these people after their devaluation. I hope they go bankrupt.
First of all, it is better that they did the devaluation before.
Second of all, this is still better rates than lifemiles with more availability t
Agree they should have given notice to the devaluation. But when was the last one?
Days after their no-notice devaluation?
Adbolute left swipe.