I need help! I arrive in Athens on May 13 at 9:10am. I only see two flight options to Santorini that day-- 10:00 and 19:45. I know I can't make the 10:00 flight and I hate to waste the day waiting for the 19:45 flight. Do you think there will be more flight options added or is this it? The ferries scedules are not out yet but I was hoping to fly straight on the Santorini after a long flight from Charlotte, NC rather than spend the day on a ferry. I am going on to Naxos from Santorini but there don't seem to be any better options if I were to reverse the two. Any ideas or have I missed something?

I see a flight on Olympic Air at 16:00 if that helps any.

Typically both Aegean and Olympic offer 3 flights each day once the tourist season gets under way. Just keep an eye out on their website. I'm sure there will be a mid-day flight, sometime around 1:30pm.

I'm in the same boat you are, cathy52. There was a flight around noon to Santorini as I was about to book and waited TOO LONG (a week) and it was gone. I teetered back and forth on starting in Santorini or Naxos and lost the best flight choices and prices.

I didn't want to miss out on a same-day flight so I bought the 4pm to Santorini and I can change for 15 euros in case the noon flight shows up again. I'm hoping brotherleelove is right and an earlier time will show up again.

Sorry, I mean to add that it was on Olympic Air.

If you book the 19:45 flight it doesn't necessarily mean wasting the entire day. Aegean and Olympic check-in counters are open all day, so you can drop off your bags and get your boarding pass, then take the metro into central Athens for the day. I have done that myself, and it's very easy. If you don't wish to travel into Athens, the port of Rafina is only 20 minutes away from the airport by bus or taxi. Rafina is very small compared with Piraeus, and has lots of nice tavernas overlooking the harbor.

Whether to wait for the chance of an earlier flight or book now is a difficult decision. Both airlines are currently showing an early morning flight, a mid-morning flight, and an evening flight. Perhaps they will add another flight, but then again if you wait too long the 19:45 flight may be sold out as well. I think BeachGirl has the best idea — book a fully flexible ticket now, and make a change if an early afternoon flight shows up. Fully flex tickets on the 19:45 Aegean flight are currently listed at €128.64 including taxes.

Regarding ferries, last year Hellenic Seaways had a highspeed leaving Piraeus at 17:00 on the corresponding Friday, March 14th, but it didn't arrive on Santorini until 21:50. It may run again this year, but there will be no other ferries to get you there earlier.

Cathy - we're in the same situation only we arrive May 2 at 9am. Finally decided to just stay in Athens the first night since from experience we know we'll just want to crash for a couple of hours once we get to our hotel. The thought of "hanging around" anywhere until the late flight was just too crueling for us to think about. We just today booked a 10am flight to SAntorini for May 3 for 11 Euros!! I was super excited until I saw the taxes still made it work out to 60 dollars each but still WAY better than the fares had been. Good luck with your decision

There should be a flt later than at ten a.m. At least there was last year when we caught one. We arrived in ATH around 9 and had a couple hr layover for the Aegean flt, which was ultimately delayed a good hour. Bags in ATH came out very quickly and we could have made a connection within 60 mins, though not sure I would recommend that.

Yet, I recall that even many months out the Aegean flight schedule looked complete, in other words its not as if there were fewer flts and then more added weeks later.