olympic airlines and layover question
 

What does everyone think of Olympic airlines?

Also, do you think a 90min layover at JFK on the way from Dulles to Athens is long enough? Should I find a longer layover in case there are delays? 90min should definitely be long enough to change terminals, at least.

It's long enough as long as your originating airlines will pass off your luggage to Olympic and issues you your Olympic boarding passes. Otherwise it's a risk, but if they at least transfer your luggage you'll have a chance.

You may want to choose a different airline to Athens, or get a longer layover.

I think 90 mins is a risk at JFK. There are too many unpredicatable factors.

By the way, if it helps at all, I just read that CONTINENTAL is waiting for clearance to inaugurate nonstop flights starting in June from either Newark or JFK to Athens.

The topic of Olympic Airlines is one that has been hotly debated on this and other sites. Some people hate it, others say it's fine. You might want to search for Olympic on this site to read some of these posts.

From my point of view, Olympic is fine and I fly it when it is the cheapest route for me. I've never had a signficant problem, but I know others have. Their planes are old, however, and usually not very clean.

As to the length of the layover, assuming your baggage is checked through at Dulles, you should be fine, depending, of course, on the timely arrival record of the airlines you are flying from Dulles to JFK.

Correct. Continental will start EWR-ATH non-stop in June. If you're going on or after 6/7, wait a few days when they start selling tickets. They most likely will have some specials, and will likely bring down the prices on the Olympic and Delta non-stops, and perhaps other fares to ATH too.

Thanks everyone. That was really helpful. I'll be going to Athens in September. Can anyone venture a guess as to how long it'll take for the government to approve these flights? A better question might be: How long in advance should I book this flight (in case govt approval doesn't happen soon)? Thanks again.

rkkwan,

I am in the middle of planning a trip to Greece/Turkey in July. When do you think Continental will start selling tix for EWR-ATH? Thanks!

To get back to the original question, I just wanted to add that we've sometimes sat on the tarmac for a good 30-40 min at JFK before being allowed to taxi to the arrival gate. That would certainly point to looking for a longer layover time, just in case!

I think it should only be a few days, two weeks tops, before CO start selling tickets on their ATH flight.

When an airline announces a route, they almost always say "subject to government approval". Vast majority of the time, that's just some minor stuff to be finished. They won't announce a route unless they already get things approved.

Thanks a lot, rkkwan. Do you think specials will show up on the aggregators or should I go to the Continental website?

Thanks, Weadles. I'll find a longer layover.

CO tend to sell few tickets to the consolidators, so if they have a sale, it'll be via their website.

BTW, I'm not saying they will have a sale. In the last 2 years, when CO started routes to Bristol, Belfast, Cologne and Beijing, they have deep sales. But to Buenos Aires, Delhi or other European destinations, no sale.

CO's loaded ATH flights onto their reservation system now.

I checked for some dates in July and August, and the "B" fares (discount economy, not deep-discount) are around $1,200 all in. "R" fares in BusinessFirst is about $3,300.