Aegean Miles+Bonus extended member tiers by 6 months back in March 2020 (read more here) and lowered tier qualification requirements by 25% in October (read more here).
The airline has extended member tiers of some members who have not qualified – very few have under the current situation in Europe, by full 12 months.
You can access Aegean Miles+Bonus here.
Here’s the information that Aegean has sent out:
In-Text Format:
We secured your tier for 12 more months! We are glad to inform you that we have scheduled the extension of your tier for 12 months!
We stay always close to you by adapting our procedures to the changes that current conditions bring to our everyday life. So, despite any reduction in your flight activity, you will continue to enjoy your Gold tier benefits. The day of your tier renewal, you will receive an email informing you about your new tier expiration date.
Stay Gold, fly again soon as a Gold!
Thank you for your trust and loyalty!
I managed to qualify for Gold by crediting partner flights into the program.
Here are the previous steps that Aegean has taken:
Aegean Miles+Bonus Extends Status & Tier Qualification By Six Months
Aegean Miles+Bonus Lowers Tier Qualification Requirement By 25% + Tier Miles On Sale At 25% Off
Conclusion
Airlines don’t have any other choice than to extend member tiers by a year or two because many markets have not allowed leisure travel.
Greece hopes, however, to start welcoming foreign tourists from April, first from Europe and then on May 14, 2021, from elsewhere (read more here).
Aegean extended some accounts’s elite status by only a mere 6 months in total during this pandemic; and many or most of those accounts have not even being eligible for any reduced status retention qualification criteria even up to this point.
Aegean has been dragging its feet on giving status extensions during this pandemic and even still it’s been the most miserly with status extensions of all the airline programs of significant relevance on my side.
It’s too bad the Airlines haven’t caught onto Marriott’s strategy of allowing you to purchase flights for status/points credit even though you have no intention of checking in. I checked into a Marriott last week and the Front Desk Clerk told me many people were checking in by phone and were saying they weren’t physically coming to the hotel as they were doing it for Bonvoy Nights/Points.
With the 6 month extension, my status expires in July. I won’t be able to fly and renew by then. Has anyone actually been downgraded to silver yet? The way aegean handled this is very disappointing- especially after being a star gold member for so many years