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✈️ Earn some easy free Star Alliance miles
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Don't you just love free stuff? I thought Christmas wasn't for a couple more weeks, but apparently, Aegean Airlines (the largest airline in Greece), thinks differently.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of their Miles+Bonus points program, they are giving anyone and everyone a free chunk of miles, up to 2,000,000 miles per person. 😮
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If you think that sounds crazy, it's probably because it's absolutely crazy.
And if you think this won't apply to you because you don't live in Greece or have never flown on Aegean, think again. This could win you free flights no matter where in the world you live without you ever needing to set foot on an Aegean plane.
Before I get into that, here's how you can get your free miles:
- Create an Aegean Miles+Bonus account
- On your profile page, click the "20 Years" promo (or use this link)
- Choose a "milestone journey" and "dream destination"
- Free miles (ranging from 1,000 to 2 million) will be instantly deposited into your account
Regarding these "milestone journeys," I don't think it matters which one you select.
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From all of the data points I've seen, the amount of awarded miles seems to be pretty random. I know people who have won 20k and 30k miles and have heard of people winning as much as 50k miles, so this is very legit.
Personally, I walked away with a measly 1,500 miles. I cried a little, but I'm totally over it now. Okay, I cried a lot.
Anyway, here's where things get interesting...
Aegean lets you use their miles to book flights on tons of partner airlines, mainly Star Alliance, all over the world - and at pretty solid rates.
For example, if you win as few as 12,500 miles (far lower than many prizes we've seen), you could book a flight from New York to Cancun. Even though you book the flight through Aegean, you'll actually fly on Avianca, a member of Star Alliance.
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As I said, these miles are valuable regardless of where you live. If you live in Europe, you can book short regional flights for as little as 7,500 miles.
Here's where things get even MORE interesting...
If you get everyone in your household to create an account and win free miles, you can pool them together because Aegean lets you transfer up to 50,000 miles per year to any other account.
There is a flat transaction fee of €15, but if paying that fee buys you a flight to Cancun (or beyond), it's probably worth it.
Here's the bottom line, people; Take 5 minutes, make an account, and roll the dice. 1,000 miles probably won't be very useful. But two million miles (or a very small fraction of that) could pay off in spades. What do you have to lose?
Make sure you sign up and collect your points before December 23rd.
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😭 Boeing delivers its last 747
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I'm a huge av-geek.
I spent a lot of time learning about airlines' business models, routings, plane types, service offerings, and more in my younger years.
So yeah - You could say I was one of the "cool kids" in school.
I've literally had dreams about flying on the last 737-200 passenger plane (currently operated by Air Zimbabwe). That's how severe my geekiness is.
So you can imagine my devastation when I heard that Boeing has just delivered its last ever Boeing 747 after over 50 years of building them.
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Even if you've never flown on one, you've almost certainly seen a 747.
Nicknamed the "queen of the skies," this plane kickstarted the concept of a widebody plane and was the first to feature an upper level of the cabin. Its massive size and four engines allowed it to transport hundreds of passengers long distances in a time when such a thing was unheard of.
Since production began in 1967, Boeing has delivered 1,574 of these beautiful birds.
Sadly, the halt in production is because airlines have been scrapping their 747s for years now. Newer planes like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner are more compact, have fewer engines, and are far more fuel efficient than the gas-guzzling 747.
Just look how the 747 stacks up against the 777x, a far more lightweight plane that can transport the same number of passengers as the 747.
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Although the 747 will no longer be rolling off the assembly line, it will be years before we see her disappear from the skies altogether.
There are still hundreds of 747s flying, some of which are over 40 years old. I doubt any 747s will be flying 40 years from now, but we definitely still have time to appreciate the queen of the skies and maybe hop on a few more flights before it's too late.
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🗺️ 100 unique ways to look at the world
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I found this article that features 100 maps that offer some really cool perspectives on the world. And if you think maps are boring, just give it a try - there are some pretty mind-blowing ones in there.
Like this map that shows where more than 50% of the entire human population lives 👇
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Some others that I found fascinating were:
- What Antarctica looks like under the ice
- Heat map of the most photographed places in the world
- When countries were introduced to TV
- Viking invasions throughout history
Anyway, I think this has a little something for everyone. If you get bored over the weekend (or today at work while counting down the minutes to happy hour), check it out.
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That concludes another week of travel fun times. I'll be heading off on my next trip on Monday, which I'm very much looking forward to. It feels like I haven't flown in forever. I mean, it's been almost a whole week and a half.
How many Aegean miles did you win? Which one of those maps did you enjoy the most? Have you ever flown on a Boeing 747? Let me know by replying to this email or reaching out on social media.
Have a great weekend 💜
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