Would you run 26 miles to get 4,200 miles?
Listen: People have quirky ways for earning points and miles. From watching shows on Broadway to mailing flowers to your significant other, points and miles enthusiasts are innovative when it comes to earning and burning.
But did you know you can run for miles, literally?
If you're running in the Authentic Athens Marathon in Greece on Nov. 9-10 you have the chance to earn a decent amount of Aegean miles — just for participating!
Here's what you need to know.
You'll just enter your registration or bib number in the form. After completing the race, you'll earn miles depending on which run you took part in:
- Marathon Race – 4,200 award miles
- 10 km Road Race – 1,000 award miles
- 5 km Road Race – 500 award miles
That means that if you were running the Marathon race (for the non-runners out there, that's 26 miles) you'd earn 160 redeemable miles for each mile you run. While I love fun ways to earn points and miles, unfortunately, I will not be participating because the only time I run anywhere is to catch the subway.
Of course, there are some fine-print details you should know about. The promotion is valid from Oct. 7– Nov. 30 and runners may not claim their miles retroactively. Runners can only sign up for one Athens Authentic Marathon race. The miles granted are award miles and not tier miles towards Aegean status. You must be a Miles+Bonus member to participate.
Related: Book this, not that: Star Alliance award tickets
If you're not familiar, Aegean Airlines is Greece's largest airline by passenger count and fleet size. We've written before about Aegean, which is a Star Alliance member. The airline used to offer lifetime Star Alliance status, but unfortunately, that ended in 2014.
Its award chart has some spectacular values, but note the fuel surcharges on some awards. Of particular note are round-trip business-class awards within North America (which includes the Caribbean) for just 42,000 miles, and from North America to Europe and Central or South America in business class for just 90,000 miles round-trip.
TPG featured card
at Capital One's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 2X miles | Earn 2X miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere |
| 5X miles | Earn 5X miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Pros
- Simple earning structure
- Bonus categories
- Annual credits
- No foreign transaction fees
- Flexible redemption options, including transfer partners
Cons
- Has an annual fee
- Fewer bonus categories than some competitors
- Lacks premium perks
- Limited-time offer: Earn up to 150,000 bonus miles—75,000 miles once you spend $7,500 in the first 3 months, and an additional 75,000 miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles per dollar on every purchase, everywhere, no limits or category restrictions, and miles won't expire for the life of the account
- Receive up to $220 in credits: Receive an annual $50 travel credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel, up to an annual $50 statement credit for purchases at qualifying advertising or software merchants, plus up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® every four years. Terms and conditions apply
- Unlimited 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel
- Transfer your miles to 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Redeem your miles instantly for any travel-related purchases, from flights and hotels to ride-sharing services
- $95 annual fee
- Free employee cards which also earn unlimited 2X miles from their purchases
- Top rated mobile app