UAFlyer

OK, flew to Athens last week and will answer my own questions here. The check-in kiosks open 24 hours, so you can check in anytime. However, if you need to check in luggage, the counter does not open till 3:30am. You start to see people leaving the McDonald's or other restaurants around 3:15am to line up in the counter.

After I dropped off the luggage, the agent wrote on the boarding pass that the Aegean lounge opens around 4:15am. I waited outside the lounge, and was allowed to go in as the first customer at 4:00am.

jacisme

I'm taking a ferry from Santorini to Piraeus (main port of Athens). Ferry arrives at Piraeus at 11:15pm on a Tuesday night, and our Iberia flight to Madrid departs ATH at 4:55am Wednesday morning.

Any suggestions on what to do during that time?

It doesn't look like any of the lounges in the airport will be open for more than a few minutes before our flight's departure time, and the Sofitel airport hotel is $240 USD, which is way too much considering we'd only be there for 2-3 hours.


Also - here's an updated list I put together of all the ATH airport lounges and opening times I can find:

Aegean lounge - opens at 3a according to Aegean site, opens at 4a according to Lufthansa.

Lufthansa Business - opens at 415a

Goldair Handling CIP Lounge - opens at 430a

Skyserv Aristotel Onasis Lounge - opens at 5a on wednesdays (different on different days)

Swissport Lounge - opens at 6a according to opens at 530a according to Priority Pass

BA Terraces Lounge - opens at 6a

Skyserv Melina Merkouri Lounge - opens at 6a

DELLAS

Not really too much other than maybe stop by Grigoris Cafe get a coffee and some pastries. Use the free wifi and take a stroll around.

Knobbgb

I make that same journey quite regularly (I assume you will be on the Blue Star Delos). It's not nice hanging around the airport but I just wanted to say that the bus connections ARE reliable at least. The ferry probably won't dock until 23:30 anyway so you'll probably be on a bus after midnight and not at the airport until 01:15 at the earliest. I tend to buy a coffee in Piraues first to kill time. There is a McDonalds (I know!) on the upper floor of the airport and that is open 24hrs so that's always another option of where to sit and get a "coffee" if the other places are closed but in summer the airport will probably be quite busy all night. The Aegean lounge does indeed open at 3am and is usually not too busy but you won't be able to get in there if flying IB. Shame - they have very comfortable couches you can fall asleep on.

Do ask me if you want any advice about the ferries etc. as they are my regular commute!

jacisme

Thanks Knobbgb! It's annoying timing but your guidance is comforting.

jacisme

UPDATE AFTER TAKING THE TRIP AND TALKING TO SKYSERV LOUNGE REP:

Skyserv Melina Merkouri Lounge - opens at 6a by default, but opens earlier depending on the first Iberia or Iberia Express flight of the day. Iberia doesn't have their own lounges at ATH, so they outsource business class passenger lounge access to Skyserv. Times are sure to vary even further, but the rep told me the lounge opens at 1am when there is an early Iberia flight with Business class passengers, and it opens at 3am where there is an early morning Iberia Express flight. (e.g. - I was flying Iberia Express IB3783 ATH-MAD business class, departing at 4:55am, and the lounge opened at 3am).

Skyserv Aristotel Onasis Lounge - opens at 3am everyday except Wednesday and Friday when it opens at 5am. The Melina rep told me that on the Wednesday I was there the Aristotel lounge had opened at 3am to host business class passengers of an Air Serbia flight. So clearly the situation is similar to the Melina lounge where specific carriers are contracting them out to open earlier to accommodate their passengers.

NOTES:

When a Skyserv lounge opens early on behalf of an airline, all eligible lounge members are allowed in, not just those flying on the contracted carrier's flight.

The Melina lounge was completely empty when I was there.

Iberia checkin counter opens two hours before the first flight.

McDonalds on the upper level of the airport is modern, clean, and huge. There were probably 30 people there when I was, but it never felt crowded. Good and free airport wifi was strong at McDonalds.

DELLAS

Thanks for the update. Most useful as I might be doing that route this Winter. ^

LHR*G

Hello

We are on this itinerary:

A3609 2215 LHR-ATH 0350+1
A3902 0820 ATH-LCA 1005 (LCA=Larnaca, Cyprus, non-Schengen)

A3 Gold, on a coupon-upgraded business class ticket.

Are we out of luck with lounges at 4am at Athens? There seems to be varying info online on the Swissport lounge opening hours. Are we going to have to sleep in Athens airport from 4-6am-ish?

Thanks

LHR*G

DELLAS

I often use the A3 lounge in the Schengen zone when flying to Non Schengen. Approach the security control and just tell them you are going to the A3 lounge. An easier way to avoid having to bluff your way past is to use Mobile boarding passes as they dont bother to read them much you just pro actively scan it under the scanner for them and it beeps and you walk on. So if you can get MBP .

:D!

Is this just a BP check or security?

When the flight is boarding, how do you get back to the non-Schengen area and how long does it take?

Why does a non-Schengen BP let you access the Schengen area - shouldn't it be a passport check?

KLouis

BP only

Simply walk from the B gates area (Schengen) to the Immigration Police booths at the entrance of the A area and on to security check and your gate. Transfer should take about 15 minutes plus security (another 5 minutes?)

No, the Schengen area is "domestic" area, no passport needed.

:D!

Thanks, KLouis

I can discover the answer for myself when I finally fly A3 for the first time next month, but I'll just ask again as I'm still a bit confused:

I get that if flying LHR-ATH-LCA then to visit the A3 / LH lounges I would need to enter Schengen. This is no problem - I entered Schengen for 10 minutes the other day to save money on BA flights.

The map on aia.gr says the B gates are "all passengers area". I guess what I don't understand is why DELLAS said that you have to "bluff your way past" the BP check to get to the A3 lounge. If the B gate area is for passengers departing B only, then why would a mobile BP for A gates work anyway? Is there a way for non-Schengen passengers to avoid entering the B area?

KLouis

An educated guess: Security agents doing the BP check are not necessarily very "flexible"/open minded. They may start arguing about your going to the wrong side of the airport and, as a rule, you never ever win an argument with those people, even if you're right.

realgoose

Earlier this week there was a lady coming back out of the B side and loudly announcing to the screener she went in the wrong side since she was flying Air Canada just as we were about to enter. So as we presented our Air Canada BP the guard told us we were going the wrong way. I told him we were going to the lounge and we were waved through. No problems and no discussion.

DELLAS

^^