off-shore

Hi, folks,

I am gold-card holder on Aegean and do a lot of traveling to the UK from Germany. Where would I have to look if I wanted to go through Greece on grey-market or discounted tickets?

I am using airline-direct and flugladen to book, but they never offer Aegean flights, but more often than not I get excellent deals (for example through ZRH or CPH).

No dice with the Aegean site, prices are much higher if I look in the sites mentioned. Is anyone doing similar trips and touches on Greece and can recommend a source?

Thanks for any pointer!

irishguy28

Aegean does not file any fares for FRA-LHR or v.v. - which is unsurprising, as it is not a routing that would make much sense for the overwhelming majority of fliers.

As such, you would end up having to piece an LHR-ATH fare together with an ATH-FRA fare.

Somehow, I don't think you are going to find any really competitively priced tickets for such an itinerary.

kanor

Nice try getting the 4 A3 segments ...

off-shore

That trip would be nice. Routing through "Salonique" would be equally nice, or even better. Just not at a multiple of the fare I would have to pay FRA-CPH-LHR and back. Suggestions?

off-shore

You have been reading my mind.

irishguy28

Airlines do not just randomly file fares for every possible random routing.

Aegean, as I pointed out above, do not file any fares for travel from Frankfurt to Heathrow and v.v. As such, the only way to travel on this itinerary would be to use a travel agent, or the multi-stop booking facility offered by most good OTAs, to book each sector separately - LHR-ATH; ATH-FRA; FRA-ATH; ATH-LHR, which should have the effect of combining a suitable published fare for LHR-ATH-LHR with a suitable published fare for ATH-FRA-ATH, and issuing all flights for the combined price on a single ticket.

Otherwise, you'll be paying the IATA YY fare for the route!

off-shore

I am still hoping to find a source for grey-market tickets or similar fares, as I can typically find for SAS or LX. These are not necessarily offered by the airlines directly, but through other channels that buy in bulk and sell off if not sellable otherwise.

Yes, stacking two different return-tickets could be an option. I like the itinerary, can go through ATH, willing very much to stay over, or another location that Aegean/Olympics fly to, e.g. Thessaloniki, looking for sites offering better prices e.g. grey-market-tickets, that have been part of bulk deals.

If nobody knows other sources, then I have to bite the bullet and pay up. Not so bad after all anyways –.I found a round trip, 4 segments, all A3, end of Oct for 703€. Swiss is typically around 450€ for that - not such a big difference, but I thought, it is worth asking the group.

irishguy28

You have stated above that you already have an A3*G card. Therefore, the taking 4 A3 segments prior to 24 November 2014 will in no way assist you in maintaining status under the new rules.

For what reason are you insisting on flying A3 prior to 24 November 2014? Any flights/status miles/Aegean segments you accumulate between now and the new scheme will count for nothing as of 24 November 2014. Anyone who is Gold at the termination of the current scheme will start afresh in the new programme - and any flights taken under the old system will not assist you in requalifying under the new rules.

KLouis

The A3 site has a routine that lists, for months ahead, the cheapest fare for a given itinerary for all days. Unfortunately, I forgot where they have "hidden" it. Perhaps some other FTer remembers.

Air Rarotonga

That won't work either... You can't route a IATA Fare FRA-LHR through ATH as this routing is exceeding MPM...

Hello...
Wake up and read what the folks are telling you!
You won't find any fare with A3 from the UK to Germany. The detour via Greece is much to big. You can only fly this routing when splitting up the fares.

There will also be no gray market tickets for such a routing... Or did you ever see any fare with i.ex. South African Airlines from LHR via JNB to FRA ???

jbfield

If the aim is four segments, surely routing FRA-ATH-SKG SKG-ATH-FRA as one return journey would suffice?

off-shore

I have to be back in the UK around Oct. 30th. The "perks" start kicking in after Nov 24th, after the time-warp. I arrived at Gold this month in A3, still holding status in Miles & More, so just in time and no sweat.

I have to be over in the UK around three times a month, before and after Nov 24th. I have a (business-)life beyond upgrades and miles.

I appreciate any useful information you might be able to share with regards to the topic.

On a different note, Aegean sells A31610 & A31606 (FRA-LHR-FRA), which are codeshared LH flights. It might be interesting to see if the upgrade-vouchers work if booked as A3 flights. I will have a look into the info from Aegean.

off-shore

Hi, jbfield

Sure it would, and would take me to the nice places plus give me the Aegean segments when requalifying after the time-warp, but the tricky bit is to go FRA-XXX-LON with XXX being some nice place in Greece, and the price not breaking the bank so I can convince my customer to cover the cost without much ado.

cheers!

Xandrios

I do not expect the upgrade vouchers to work on LH operated flights, nor do I expect codeshares to count for the '4-flights on A3 discount'.

Perhaps an affordable way of doing FRA-LHR with Aegean is folding in two rountrips:

FRA-ATH-FRA
ATH-LHR-ATH

However be aware that if you miss one of the connections in Athens, the rest of that itinerary will be canceled due to no-show.

off-shore

Thank you, KLouis! It would be great to find that.