Hi everyone -

I have a flight from NYC to Athens on Olympic Airlines that is scheduled to arrive in Athens at 9:00 a.m. I want to book an Aegean Airlines flight from Athens to Santorini that would depart Athens at 12:40 p.m. Ordinarily I would think that 3 hours, 40 minutes would be sufficient time for the connection, but Olympic flights on this route (and Olympic in general) seem to have pretty frequent delays. (I've personally experienced 1-2 hour delays.)

On the dates I'm traveling (in the fall), Aegean's 19 Euro fares are still available. Would it be crazy to book my Aegean roundtrip ticket, using the 12:40 flight, and then also purchase a one-way ticket on the next available Aegean flight out that day as a back-up (the next one flies out around 7 or 8:00 that evening)?

If I make the 12:40 flight, will not taking the evening flight affect my roundtrip return? If I miss the 12:40 and take the evening flight, will they still honor my return? I'm just not sure how all this would work. It seems like a good idea, but I'm afraid I'm missing something.


I know that the 100% safest option is to just purchase the evening flight to begin with, but I just hate the thought of an 11-hour layover, if my international flight is actually on time.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

That is not a bad strategy to buy yourself a little "insurance".

As for the return trip, you need to go to Aegean right away if you miss the early plane and explain to them. They should be able to restore your return flight without problem if you have a good enough reason.

As far as I know, the cost of two one-way tickets for domestic flights with Aegean is the same as a roundtrip, so that might be a safer way to book. A 3hr 40min layover should be enough time to meet your ongoing flight, even if there is a 1-2 hour delay in arrival. If you can buy a second ticket for only €19, I suppose it would be worth the money for peace of mind alone.

Even if your Olympic flight is delayed 2 hours that still gives you almost two hours to make the 12:40 flight to Santorini. That's still plenty of time.

You've created a backup strategy that's more difficult than it needs to be. You can just buy each flight separately as one-way tickets instead of buying a one-way and a roundtrip ticket. The price will still be the same, 19 Euro plus taxes for each flight. Personally I don't think this is necessary, but I understand your concerns.

I am doing the same thing, sweetie darling, except I am flying Aegean to Chania after my flight arrives (Olypmic) in Athens from JFK at 9 AM. My flight to Chania leaves around 12:45 PM. I think I will have more than enough time to make the flight; if I miss the flight they will just have to put me on a later flight. I am certainly not going to worry about it or buy another ticket. That would be DAFT!

I have bigger problem right now. My traveling companion, Muffy, wants to take her Louis Vuitton steamer trunk with her. I just know it will never fit on the Aegean airplane. She is being so difficult. I told her to call the airline directly to see if they could accomodate her luggage. Now, we all have to wait until Muffy's personal asst. or personal shopper calls the airline. Blimey.

This is why I live in the Valley of the Dolls. Booze and pills are how I get through the day.......

Thanks everyone for the responses. I'm actually relieved to see that the consensus seems to be that I'm being too paranoid and that the connection time is probably fine.

I'm also embarrassed to admit that my mind was so set on buying my initial roundtrip ticket that it didn't even occur to me to buy all 3 tickets as one-way (assuming I go forward with this daft plan). Duh. Thanks for suggesting that.