Changing Aegean Miles & Bonus

I've mentioned a few times about our obscure family goal of getting "lifetime" Gold status with Aegean Airlines, a Star Alliance partner of United Airlines.

So far, my mother earned it in 2013, and I earned it in 2014. My father was already 14,000 towards the 20,000 mile goal, when Aegean announced changes to their frequent flyer loyalty program a week ago.

Instead of needing only 1 flight credited to Aegean every 3 years to maintain Gold status forever, each of us will now require 24,000 miles every year.

While it's still better than United's MileagePlus requirement of 50,000 miles PLUS $5,000 of airfare spending, we're likely going to put away our Aegean frequent flyer number and just stick with our United accounts.

So it's still a bit unclear, but I think my mother and I will get to keep our Aegean status through end of 2015. Flashing our Aegean gold cards, we'll still be able to get complimentary access United airport lounges domestically. My father can still come in as well since both my mother and I can bring 1 guest each.