annabelle2

Planning a trip next summer, mid-June until about mid-July to several Greek islands with friends. I normally don't look at tickets this far in advance but since I don't usually travel in such high season, decided to start researching ticket prices. (The other travelers can't change the dates.)

From looking through this site and on expedia, orbitz etc I am realizing that tickets to Athens from West Coast US are around $1200-1600 that time of year...yikes!

I can fly from SF, LA, Sacramento or Reno NV. I am willing to fly to another city, say London, and take a budget airline on to Athens if it will save me $, but coudn't seem to get next summer prices yet on easy jet and whichbudget sites (checked last week).

Any help appreciated! I am in a bit of a panic over the airfare.

annabelle2

any takers? thanks!

starrsville

Sometimes it is cheaper to book the roundrip into Italy and then booking separate flights into and out of Greece. It requires a layover in Italy. Oh, darn!

poutine

Maybe take a look at farecompare.com to see if they dropped at all in the past 12 months on any of your possible routings. At least you will have a history of the highest and lowest airfares.

You may get lucky and see a sale fare, you never know.

brotherleelove2004

Starting in late-January be on the lookout for deeply discounted tickets by Aegean Airlines. They fly from Athens to Rome, Milan, Munich, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart and Sophia as well as to many of the islands. You might be able to get a cheap flight from the U.S. to one of these European airports then find a cheap flight into Athens and then on to one of the islands. http://www.aegean-air.gr/aegeanen/home/

milliebz

A friend who just back from doing my trip, into Athens and out of Istanbul said he purchased when the fares went down in December. However, I think it is traveling during the summer. I was suprised to see that the open jaw ticket is just as expensive as going into and out of one city. I have some FF tickets booked but will not purchase my tickets until the fares go done even if that means traveling separately.

Several years ago I monitored flights religiously every day on Travelocity for a flight into London and out of Madrid. The fare went down drastically one day and I bought them. By the time I actually hit send the fare had changed. Travelocity honored the intial price. I think you have to be vigilent.

annabelle2

wow, thanks for some ideas.

Had thought about flying into someplace else in Europe anyway, so good tips about Italy (yes, darn!) and Aegean, thanks.

I haven't used farecompare, will check it out.

I had figured I'd really start to look in Dec.Jan, but maybe I also have to face up to the sticker shock of traveling more into the summer season than I have done before...but once I start to seriously look (as in make decision/but ticket!), I will check religiously!

mjs

There are alot of ways to fly to Greece in the summer and none of them will likely be very inexpensive. Fares from California to Athens tend to be pricey in the summer and fares between $1200 and $1600 seem about right. If you just want to get to Athens, you just need the least expensive fare to Europe and hopefully a budget airline to Athens. I would especially check SFO or LAX to major European hubs such as London, Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam, Dublin, Paris, Zurich, Geneva and Rome. LAX will probably be your best bet, but there may be odd low fares from other places in California to someplace in Europe.
You may be able to connect in someplace like England, Italy or Germany directly to some of the islands like Crete, Kos, or Rhodes during the summer and bypass Athens. I still think it will be very difficult to fly RT from California to Greece in the summer for less than $1000 so if you can get a flight for $1200 RT I might consider keeping your flight plans simple and go for $1200. Would start checking transatlantic fares in January. Sometimes there can be a great sale for the summer like on Virgin to London this year. Lastly sometimes you can get great fares to Greece by checking travel agencies which deal with the Greek community in the US for group rates.

annabelle2

Thanks msj for additional tips. I think this reality check is helping me realize what I am looking at for summer prices.

hotnphoenix

I also live west coast and found the same issue. Ended up on Swiss Air from LAX to Zurich this summer.
One suggestion, put several european cities listed in other postings on the farewatcher alert on travelocity so when it goes on sale you can respond. As others mentioned, the good deals go quickly.

brotherleelove2004

I just discovered that the 19 Euro (+ taxes) tickets from Athens to the islands for next summer are available for booking. Just be sure to check back for schedule changes and don't rely on Aegean to notify you. You notify them of your preference if your flight is changed. This happened to me last year and they complied without charging me anything extra even though the new flights were more expensive.

Dukey

Check www.skyscanner.net for the most up-to-date budget airline (within Europe) information. I find it somewhat more useful than www.whichbudget.com. You could also input Athens as the departure city and see where flights go TO and that would tell you which airports you could leave FROM to get there Eastbound

We used EasyJet last Summer to fly N/S Athens-Gatwick and paid about 60 Euros (including taxes).

annabelle2

ooohhh, thanks, you guys are the best. More useful tips I can really use, thanks!