Sheryl

Flying from Rome to Heraklion on 5/7 costs approx. $400, and flying back from Chania to Athens on 5/11 costs approx. $200 - $600 total for two people. I checked both Aegean and Olympic with the former being cheaper (the prices listed). I know that airfare isn't cheap in Greece from my research, but is this typical? Thanks in advance.

Sheryl

Sorry, I need to proofread my messages. I meant, "ARE these airfare prices typical for Greece?"

rex

Too lazy to check for you - - but I wonder if any of these routes are covered by the flat fee of $99 on www.europebyair.com

Best wishes,

Rex

brotherleelove2004

$600 total for 2 people from Rome-Heraklion/Chania-Athens sounds like a good price. You're covering a lot of ground for $300 each.

Are you returning to Rome? If so, have you considered looking into Charter flights? You might be able to find something cheaper flying from Rome to Athens, then take a domestic flight or ferry to Chania or Heraklion for your stay on Crete then another flight or ferry back to Athens for your return to Rome.

rex

Now I am confused - - since the first part of the sentence says nothing about $400 being the price for TWO people - - I interpreted the latter part to mean $600 each "total" ( to mean the total for each person) - - for two people.

If it is $200 (per person) for Rome to Heraklion and $100 (per person) for Chania to Athens - - then you may have already found the best fare (though still couldnt hurt to check europebyair).

Sheryl

Thanks for the info, Rex and Brotherleelove2004. I did mean $300 for each person - $600 total for both. I checked www.europebyair.com, but the flight prices were the same. We would not be returning to Rome since we are flying back to the US from Athens, so I guess this is the best we can do.

111op

I believe that airport taxes are separate on Europebyair. But Aegean is a carrier in their network if I remember right. Europebyair tickets can be changed fairly easily (or they used to be changeable easily -- not sure if that's still the case now).

By the way, if you checked the fares online at Aegean (or maybe Olympic as well), the initial fare quoted doesn't include taxes -- at least that was the case last year. That's frequently the case for a lot of websites anyway.

And with the Euro still high, I think that Europebyair will give competitive fares, but you should do the math and make sure that you've included the taxes.

ira

Hi Sheryl

Did you check www.whichbudget.com?

Sheryl

Thanks for the info, 111op and Ira. 111op, the totals I listed did include the taxes (for Aegean, anyway). I didn't check the europebyair airfare to see if they included taxes, but it would be more than $600 if it didn't.

Ira, I actually did check www.whichbudget.com , and it listed Aegean for all flights. Wish we didn't have to shell out so much, but Crete sounds pretty amazing from my research, and I look forward to going there.

111op

Now that I've read this carefully, I've to agree with you that Aegean will be cheaper than Europebyair. Basically Rome to Heraklion will use to two segments (2 x $99) -- as you've to go through Athens. So each of you will need three segments, and the taxes will put this over $300 each. The only advantage to Europebyair is that you may get a more liberal change policy compared to Aegean.

Now, what about Olympic? A lot of people say it's horrible.... But....

I flew Olympic from London to Mykonos last year. If I recall, it was cheaper than buying LHR -> Athens and Athens -> Mykonos separately (because you get a discount for the Athens -> Mykonos leg).

Maybe this isn't the case for Olympic, but if you've time to kill on your hands, I'd check one last thing -- see how much the ticket is for Rome to Heraklion on Olympic. If it's less than $200, combine it with Aegean for Chania to Athens (or some combination like this). I had a similar itinerary last year as I also had to fly to Heraklion (from Mykonos) and then to Athens form Chania and I used a mix of Olympic and Aegean, depending on my preferred flight times and what I thought would be cheaper.

Last year, Olympic's website also gave lower fares compared to what's quoted on the phone. But you could always check this. Similarly you could repeat the exercise for Aegean (you'd have to call Aegean's number in Greece).

Anyway, my guess would be you could save maybe up to $50 per person, and if that's not worth the effort, then just forget about it.

111op

And by the way, just to reassure you even further, I tried to see if a travel agent in Greece could help me get cheaper prices. A friend recommended an agent on Chania and that didn't help.

Another thought -- investigate ferry/hydrofoil options between Athens and Heraklion. This might be slightly cheaper, but might not be worth the effort. If you decide to try this, there're some knowledgeable people who can help you (I don't know enough about this as I flew throughout).

yipper

Hi,
I think the $100.per person from Crete to Athens is typical. Also $200 per person from Rome to Crete does not seem out of line. It is a long way. When you add it up $600 is a lot of extra money to spend, but the alternative is a lot of travel on trains and boats and not worth it. Have you tried to purchase a multiple city ticket starting from your home town. For example NYC to Rome to Crete to Athens to NYC? You will have a wonderful time.

Sheryl

Thanks for the info, Yipper, and once again, 111op. The Rome-Heraklion flight on Olympic was similar to Aegean, and the Chania-Athens flight was more expensive. I never checked into the ferries or hydrofoils since we have such a limited amount of time on Crete. Thanks to everyone for their help and input!

brotherleelove2004

Depending on the weather and your timetable, there's a night ferry from Chania back to Athens that will save you daylight hours and money.

http://www.gtp.gr/RoutesResults.asp?...70PIRTZE,166,8