111op

I thought that I could and went ahead to book my flights. Now I'm not so sure. I fly to London/Heathrow from NYC, then London to Athens on Olympic. I've an hour and forty minutes before my flight on Aegean to Mykonos.

Trouble, though, is that the Olympic flight seems to be always late whenever I check on Heathrow's website. Today it's about forty-five minutes late. Also I've forgotten that I'll need to clear immigration in Athens.

Is there something I can do now? I'm not sure if the Aegean flight is refundable. Or perhaps I should just not worry about it.

joe4212

Olympic out of London tends to always run a little late although there's a chance that time will be made up on the flight.

When I last flew to Athens with them from Heathrow we left about 25 minutes late but arrived as scheduled.

We too were using Aegean to Mykonos from Athens and had about 90 minutes to collect baggage, have our tickets issued at the Aegean desk (if you booked online don't forget to take their email with you) and board the aircraft. If it's any comfort, we made it with about 10 minutes to spare. Maybe we were lucky.

If you still feel uncomfortable it may be worthwhile checking out refund options from Aegean and if succesful re-book with Olympic from Athens to the island.

I am not sure about this (especially as you now have two sets of Olympic tickets) but it may be that Olympic in London will let you check in there straight to the island.

I think perhaps your luggage may not then need to be collected at Athens. Should you miss the connection, Olympic will hopefully get you on their next service.

Lastly, if you feel like punishing yourself even more, there is a real-time flight arrivals service on the Athens Airport website. Unfortunately, it is down for maintenance but can usually be found at:-

http://www.aia.gr/EN/real_time/real_time.htm

j.

111op

Hey, thanks joe. Actually I've been checking both the Heathrow and the Athens airport websites. The flight to Athens today got in about 45 minutes late, but it was airborne more than an hour after the scheduled departure in Heathrow. Definitely this doesn't seem like an unusual occurrence -- it's happened a couple of times already in the days I've looked. The flight is usually slightly late, and occasionally, quite late, like today.

How was immigration in Athens when you went? Was your wait long? What about check in at Aegean? Do you remember how far in advance you arrived at the checkin counter? I wonder if check in will close half an hour prior to departure or something.

I'll only have carry-ons, so that should help me. At least I won't have to wait for luggage. I should probably start some sprinting lessons.

I really should have booked myself on the last flight to Mykonos on Olympic (with the London segment, the additional segment would have cost $60). But I didn't feel like waiting for a couple of hours and so decided to book on Aegean. Probably a mistake. Oh well. Of course rebooking the separate segment to Mykonos on Olympic would now be $100. Maybe I should just take a chance and see what happens when I arrive in Athens.

joe4212

Are you getting the Athens Airport site to work? I've had no luck at all with it today.

Immigration was fast and without a problem. Over the years I have been amazed at how little time is spent at immigration there. At the old airport, Hellenikon, the lads and lassies checking us through just looked as if they didn't care. These days and particularly since the new airport opened they are much more professional and thorough. That said, I can still get through quicker there than almost any other airport I've arrived at.

The Aegean desk from where you will collect your tickets (if you booked online and chose an airport pick-up)is on the departures level. When you come through arrivals, departures is well signposted. Just walk to the nearest escalator and go up one level. The Aegean desk is a bit away from the main check-in area (Olympic) but is still easy to find. It is situated on the door-side not the check-in side of the main departures hall. Check-in was again fast but to be truthfull I cannot rememeber how much in advance we were.

Have you been to Mykonos before? If not, there are usually taxis available outside the terminal building. If not, just hang around and more will arrive.

The cab drivers there know exactly when flights come in. Also, you will be expected to share the taxi with others heading in the same direction.

If I can give you one piece of advice, it is not to book a taxi/courier service in advance. The charge for the airport to the town for a taxi not booked in advance is about 7 euro. The pre-arranged company we read about this past winter is charging 65 euro! Unbelievable as the distance is short at only about 1.5 kilometres to the town.

We travel to the island regularly so if you have any questions etc just let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.

j.

111op

Hi, the website looks fine. I've been looking at http://www.aia.gr/EN/real_time/real_time.htm

I usually change the "Range" to "All" and select just "Olympic Airways." I click on "Cancel" when I'm asked if I want to install Greek fonts.

Thanks for the encouraging report regarding immigration. I did buy online and have looked at maps of the airport. Olympic from Heathrow uses the Satellite Terminal, I think. It's a bit far from the Aegean checkin area -- you're right. I'm still hoping that everything will be ok, of course. But we'll see.

Thanks for that taxi tip too! It's my first time to Mykonos. I'm actually spending just two nights and one full day there (which is why I wanted to try to make a tight connection, which, in retrospect, was probably a mistake, to spend more time on the island). I'm doing a couple of online searches on the island. But if you've any recommendations for restaurants, hotels, things to do, beaches, etc., I'd love to hear them.

After Mykonos, I'm off to Crete to go to a wedding. Then off to Brussels and Amsterdam. All in a week. It's really insane.

Thanks again!

111op

By the way, joe, do you remember seeing transfer counters at the airport? I was thinking that if time is really tight, then stopping by a transfer counter could help in that I could tell them that I'm on my way. Perhaps they could try to wait for me or something. Many airports usually have a service like this for passengers who've connections.

Thanks again.

joe4212

You are not going to have too much time on the island so it may be better looking at one of the organised half day tours. It takes you by mini-coach around Mykonos, gives you the chance to visit some of the more remote beaches and also takes you to the second town on the island, Tourlos. Here, you are taken on an additional short tour of the small cathedral. Your hotel should be able to arrange this trip for you.

Another option is to take one of the small boats to Delos. The trip is short (about 20 mins) and if I recall correctly, you are given about 4 hours to explore the ancient ruins. The boats leave at around 8am returning about 1pm.

Hotels? There are many. We usually stay with friends so I'm not up on what to recommend. One of the best sites though is this one for a large number of choices:-

http://mykonos-accommodation.com/

Two restaurants I can recommend are Passaggio (in the town close to Rochari district) and Kostas Bros, close to the harbour front. Believe me though, there are very many places to dine so you won't be spoiled for choice.

I don't recall a transfers desk at Athens International Airport although I am sure there is one. Perhaps someone here can help?

Hoping you have a wonderful trip,

j.

111op

Great, thanks again, joe! I'm definitely planning to go to Delos -- if all goes well I should be there on a Sunday, which is fortunate as I hear the site is closed on Mondays.