henryhenry

Hi, I'm flying from NYC to Athens on 9/30, arriving at 5 AM. This is my first trip to Greece. I'd like to fly directly to Santorini and I see that many small airlines offer a short flight. I'm not sure how to time this. Is it safe to assume my flight will be on time? How much time should I allow to go through customs and navigate the Athens airport to find say, the Olympic or Volotea departure gates? Would I be able to make a flight that leaves at 6 or would 7 be a safer bet? What happens if I miss my flight? Do I completely lose the cost of the ticket? Also, I notice these flights are more expensive than they were a few weeks ago, am I correct in assuming I should buy a ticket now as the price will only rise the closer we get to my arrival date? I appreciate any advice you have as this is my first trip to Greece and it is difficult to coordinate without having any experience. Thanks!

Traveler_Nick

The safe way is to do it one ticket. In other words a single airline from home all the way.

Very little chance of making a 7am flight if you're scheduled to land at 5am from the US. Especially if you need to collected checked luggage. Remember 7am is departure not boarding time. The plane will be boarded and away from the terminal well before that. You need to clear immigration,collect bags and potentially check in. Then you'll need to clear security for your next flight and find the boarding gate.

If you can't find a single airline to do this fly into Athens the day before. This is safer but you're still risking a flight change by either airline messing you up.

When is this? Way too early to worry about booking for next summer and it's late for this one.

kja

I would have thought the issue isn't whether it's literally the same airline, but whether a single entity controls the ticketing -- but maybe I'm wrong! For example, I would think that if Airline X booked you all the way from your home airport through to Santorini on the same ticket, even if the legs were operated by different (if, perhaps, affiliated) airlines, then that ticketing airline is indicating that it believes it is giving you sufficient time between flights and that it will take responsibility for getting you to your final destination if there is a problem. But I'm not an expert. If I'm mistaken, I do hope others will jump in to correct me, because I've been approaching the issue this way (successfully) for years. In fact, that's why I always allow flight search engines to choose my intermediate destinations, rather than assuming that I must fly through a specific city (in this case, Athens).

Traveler_Nick

No you're right but to the buyer even if the operators are different the ticket looks like it's from one airline.

kja

Thanks for clarifying, Traveler_Nick! I must admit that when I search for tickets through search engines, tickets that end up being controlled by a single airline often appear to me as though they are different airlines, because affiliations aren't always clearly stated -- or at least, that's how it has seemed to me.

So it sounds like the OP should consider trying to buy tickets to where they actually want to go, instead of trying to go to the (likely) first stop and then, from there, to where they actually want to go. If the OP's searches are anything like mine, the searches will indicate all the relevant times, including the times of any layovers, and the OP can assume that the layover is what is considered reasonable. That would let the OP select a flight knowing the initial departure, any layover time (including whether its short or prolonged, but with some assurance that the time is sufficient) and the scheduled arrival time.

Right?

Traveler_Nick

If they're searching on the airline website then yes.

If they're looking on some third party you never know. They have a habit of bundling two tickets not caring if you make them or not.

kja

Thanks again, Traveler_Nick! So if one searches through a third party, one should check for affiliations (and if stated, perhaps do a quick check to confirm and then assume the ticketing is OK?) and if not stated, determine whether the "primary" airline is taking responsibility for any secondary flights, for example, by calling the "primary" airline?

neckervd

May be you try skyexpress, ATH dp 8.30

Heimdall

Agree that buying both flights on the same ticket is preferable, but sometimes that limits your options and adds to expense. Most people book the international flight to Greece when they can get a good price, and check later for the best deal on a flight from Athens to Santorini. Some European cities have direct flights to Santorini, so check those too. If the European city is within Schengen/EU there is no additional passport control or customs checks when arriving in Greece.

When flying to Greece from outside the Schengen/EU region you must go through passport control and collect and recheck your bags at Athens, since that is your first entry to Schengen/EU. Passport control can take a little time if there are several flights arriving at the same time. Customs is just walking through the green door when you have nothing to declare, but you still need to wait for the bags to appear on the carousel in Arrivals.

A small correction to Traveler_Nick's statement about departure time: Departure time is always departure from the gate at the terminal, not when the plane leaves the runway. Having taken many domestic flights from Athens Airport I know this to be true. When boarding is called for domestic flights, you go through the gate, and buses will be waiting to take you to the aircraft, which will be parked a few minutes away from the terminal building. Boarding is usually quicker than with international flights, because the aircraft are smaller with fewer people to seat.

Normally two hours layover is sufficient for domestic flights at Athens Airport, but I prefer three hours to be safer. Volotea and other budget airlines (e.g. Ryanair) use the satellite terminal, which is 15 minutes walk from the main terminal building. Olympic, Aegean, and Sky Express airlines all use the main terminal building. If you book with Olympic or Aegean you can print out your boarding passes up to 48 hours in advance to avoid going to the check-in counter. All you have to do is leave your bags at the Aegean/Olympic drop-off point, where your bags will be tagged for Santorini and you will get a receipt. Then proceed through security to the departure gate for your flight.

Athens Airport is small by international standards, and the walk from Arrivals to the departure level will take only a few minutes. Time to get from the baggage drop-off point varies according to how far the departure gate is, and how busy security will be.

kja

Forgive me for pursuing the issue, but I admit confusion and appreciate the input that our wonderful Fodorite experts are providing.

I can understand that booking on the same ticket can add to expense, as it would likely rule out some low cost operators. (But IME, the international baggage limits apply to ALL flight segments, so for anyone who doesn't meet the more limited local flight baggage limits, there can be a dollar savings for booking through.) And I could see that it could limit one's options -- but not necessarily (I would think) in comparison to trying to force a routing through Athens. Still, the chief advantage, as I see it, of booking a ticket that goes through to one's destination is the guarantee of actually getting one to one's destination without additional expense if the originally planned connections don't work. Maybe that doesn't matter to some people (e.g., those who are willing to spend a night or so in Athens en route, even if it wouldn't otherwise be necessary to do so), but for others, it could -- I think! -- be an important consideration.

From my perspective, emotional costs (stress, anxiety) and opportunity costs (missed options) would factor into any decisions I would make, but perhaps not the decisions of others....

But again, maybe I've misunderstood.

Heimdall

No, I think you understand correctly, kja. As I get older the extra security of booking straight through becomes more attractive. I used to go to Greece twice a year, and timed my early morning arrivals so there was a choice of flights or ferries to the island, so probably saved lots of money over the years. I never missed a flight or ferry to the islands that way. Sometimes you can get a good deal on an Aegean/Olympic flight if you wait for the seat sales, and can sign up with the airline to get emails alerting you to the sales.

You are correct that international weight allowances apply to the domestic flights when you book on the same ticket with the international flight. I always book Flex with Aegean or Olympic, and find the 23 kg limit more than sufficient, even with all the electronics I pack in my bags.

Southam

Booking straight through on a complete itinerary increases your choices, as Athens is not the only gateway to Santorini. Trying to piece the flights together yourself almost inevitably will miss some of the alternatives and in the long run is unlikely to be cheaper. It certainly will be more stressful. For trans-Atlantic routes I look at matrix.itasoftware.com to find data to follow up. In Europe I rely on www.skyscanner.com

travelerjan

If Henry is arriving at 5 am, he ALREADY has had to make a connection in Europe, because there are no nonstops to Athens OR Santorini from N. America that arrive at 5 am. The only nonstops from N. America are Air Canada, Delta, American, UAE from Newark and now I think ? United? during Summer. All leave somewhere in Eastern US in late afternoon and arrive in Athens between 9 & 10:30 AM, depending on which of the above one takes. THese flight are virtually always on time, even if a flight is delayed, even for an hour or more, in departing from N America -- that's because there's all that time over the ocean to recover the time.

People looking for a ticket bargain usually end up having to make a connection in Europe, and that is where delays can occur. However, it's mainly if your connection is mid-morning in Europe that delays begin.

I agree with Heimdall about the luggage thing -- the weight allowance on a flight from a European Airport to Santorini, or Athens to Santorini, is no issue if you don't foolishly jump at the lowest price, usually called "fly-light" or some such... which only allows you a smallish carry-on. The next fare up (such as Aegean "Flex") will take your ordinary bag of up to about 45 lbs, no extra charge.

neckervd

Norwegian from JFK is sheduled to arrive at ATH at 5am.
Yesterday they arrived at 6.25 (80 min late).

isabel

Hi Henry - It sounds like you already have the flight into AThens booked. If so all the discussion about getting flights on one ticket all the way through to Santorini are not going to be relevant to you. So if you have the ticket into AThens then the question is, is it a good idea to book a flight to Santorini (separate ticket) that departs at 7:00. I would say no. That's cutting it too close. While a flight delay leaving the US might make up much of the time en route, you don't know how much of a delay. But even if it were on time I think 2 hours to land, deplane, go through immigration, find the next flights gate, check in, go through security, and get to the gate before boarding - which will be at least a half hour before flight time - is not a comfortable cushion. And that's assuming you have carry on only luggage.

And yes, if you miss the flight you are out the cost of that ticket. Plus then you have to find another flight with available seats (no guarantees for that day) and that one would be at last minute pricing. I wouldn't do it.

If the cost of the flight from Athens to Santorini is low, I would maybe book the 7:00 and hope everything worked out, but I'd also book one much later in the day, knowing that one of them would be wasted. If the cost was too high to want to do that you could book a flight much later in the day but then you'll be stuck sitting around the airport for hours if your first flight is on time.

How much time have you planned for Athens itself. If you want a few days I'd book the first night in Athens, then you'd have the first day for sightseeing. But assuming you are flying home from Athens, you should also book at least the last night before that flight in Athens. The down side to this of course is you have to check in and out of the hotel an extra time, and get to/from the airport an extra time. There are going to be downsides no matter what you do. What else are you planning for your trip, that might help inform the decision.

Heimdall

While I agree with isabel, the cost of domestic flights in Greece has gone up recently, and I would be reluctant to book a backup flight. Aegean Airlines has generous terms for changing flights when you book Flex, but if you miss your flight and the next ones are full you won't get on.

Sometimes early in the morning domestic departures is a madhouse, because flights to all over Greece, both mainland and islands, are leaving around the same time. Safest bet would be to book a flight leaving for Santorini around mid-day, but these are also the most expensive. Personally I find a 3 hour layover to be sufficient.

henryhenry

Hi, you are correct, my flight to Athens is already booked. We have since decided to start our trip with two days in Santorini. I have booked a hotel there (which I can still cancel if I have to). I thought we could get a jump on the day by flying to Santorini rather than taking a ferry. We will be doing other islands after and circling back to end our trip with a few days in Athens so there will be lots more time for ferries. We don't plan on seeing Athens at all until the end of the trip.

henryhenry

It's September 30th. We already have our tickets from NY to Athens so it's too late to do it all in one ticket unfortunately. I haven't booked anything for Athens to Santorini, I was just guessing at 7 AM-there are other flights throughout the day. We want to start our trip with islands and do Athens at the end and I thought, since we're already at the airport, why not fly instead of ferry to our first location? Everyone here has been so helpful since now I think for sure anything before an 8 am flight to Santorini is too risky.

neckervd

... 2 days ago, even a fllight starting at 8am would have too risky. Have a look at my post 14 above.

Heimdall