cchamp

Hi there,

I'm planning a trip next summer to Greece after getting a great deal with SAS!

We land in Athens at 8:25pm. I would really like to transfer to Santorini that night rather than getting a hotel just to sleep. Is a 9:50pm flight cutting it too close? We will have already cleared immigration in Stockholm.

Also, just realizing later flights might be added...does anyone know if there are later connecting flights from Athens to Santorini?

Thanks so much!

travelerjan

Clearing immigration will speed things up, but you still have to claim your bag & get to the Check-in line. And domestic flights say you must check in 45 minutes before departurre time ... sothat means 9:05 -- just 30 minutes after your supposed arrival (and in my experience when you have a connection in Europ during the day there are always delays in the take-off. (A delayed take-off from N America doesn't matter as much because there's all that time over the ocean to make it up -- nonstops from US always arrive on time. But if you have a 1- hour delay on a 3 hr flight in Europe, you cannot make it up in the 3 hrs). So I don't think you should count on making that 9:50 flight. There are a couple of moderate (75-85E) b & Bs, 10 minutes from airport, and then you could get the early (7 am or 8 am) flight next day to santorini, at a bargain fare.

JUst for your next inquiry -- realize that answers may vary greatly depending on what you mean by "next summer" I talking May or early june, the crowds will not be clogging the airports just yet .... and if you are landing on M - Th, there won't be as many flights arriving. Why not give us the exact date? Is this a test? July & August on F-S-S can be a zoo at the airport.

travelerjan

Sorry, no edit function 9:05 - FORTY minutes from your 8:25 arrival ... IF it's on time. IMO, 75 minutes would be the minimum, and that would be May or early June, or after September, on a weekday.

cchamp

It's July 19, which is a Wednesday.

But thanks for the info. I figured it would be cutting it too close.

Thanks!

cchamp

It looks like this summer there is an 11:15 pm Ryanair flight. I will keep an eye out for that when summer flights are released.

Heimdall

I agree you would be cutting it a little too close to make the 9:50 pm flight, but I wouldn't take the 11:15 pm Ryanair flight either. That would mean arriving at Santorini around midnight, and an hour or more after that before you reach your hotel. What are you going to do on Santorini that late at night except go to bed?

Instead, why not check into the Sofitel right across the street from the terminal, have a nice dinner, and take an early Aegean Airlines flight to Santorini the next morning? That's where I stay before early morning flights from Athens. It's only a five minute walk from hotel reception to the airline check-in desk.

My logic in this suggestion is: you will arrive on Santorini rested and fresh before you would even be out of bed had you taken the late flight the night before.

The early morning Aegean/Olympic flights are usually cheaper as well, which will go some way toward offsetting the Sofitel hotel bill. It's too early to look for fares for next July, but a random check for this September showed €57 GoLight for a 5:15 am flight, and €78 for one at 7:15 am, the same as the 21:50 pm flight.

Heimdall

After my last post I did check for fares in July 2018, which showed €77.94 for both early morning flights. There will probably be a seat sale before then, so you could well get them cheaper.

Btw, my calendar shows July 19, 2018 as a Thursday.