KLouis

1) All boats to all ports, domestic and international Monday and Tuesday (2 & 3 Nov.).

2) Rail, metro and tramways: Tuesday 3 Nov.. Only bus and taxi available from ATH into town.

3) General strike on 12 Nov. Not clear yet how/whether air traffic will be affected.

benberg2013

What's this all in aid of?

KLouis

?

benberg2013

In other words why are there strikes?

Xandrios

Thanks for sharing; you gave me quite a scare reading this on the way to Athens

Thankfully no problems with public transport yet today. Let's hope for the best tomorrow..

Knobbgb

I believe it's just the seamen today. The 12th might be worse as it's supposed to be a general strike. I'm flying out of ATH on the afternoon of 12th so lets hope I can get to the airport. In the past I remember that the express airport buses usually kept running during the strikes although once they didn't. I can't justify a taxi as that would cost more than the flights themselves. Does anybody fancy giving me a lift from Piraeus to the airport next Thursday ?

KLouis

Well, this is a question that nobody asks in Greece because there simply is no logical answer. Supposedly they're protesting the government's actions or no actions, but never has a Greek government reacted to such a strike. So...

NWIFlyer

KLouis, are you running an alternative ferry service from Crete? Sounds like a business opportunity

Doc Savage

Striking to get all that extra money the government has...

KLouis

With the weather we've had for the last couple of weeks, I don't even go out fishing!

gcashin

Does Aegean typically implement a flexible rebooking policy during events like this where they allow for complimentary changes for around the affected dates? I've got a couple flights with Aegean that week, and am worried about a connection to an overseas flight that would really mess up my itinerary.

KLouis

Yes they do, but...

Since a strike may be called off (happened very often with air controllers over the last few years) the evening before, A3 won't change their schedule/rebook until it's too late for some pax. If you have a flight planned for Nov. 12 and want to be certain you get to your connection, I'd re-book it now.

grenouille

That is what I did and they charged me a change fee as well as a fare class change. When mentioning the strike, they answered "What strike?"

NWIFlyer

A3's stance is probably consistent with most European airlines given the prevailing local conditions - as has been said, many strikes simply don't happen, and it would be madness from the airline's viewpoint to allow free changes to later dates a fair way in advance and then see the original aircraft go out relatively empty when the strikes are called off.

The US airlines, ime, are better at managing disruption and more sympathetic to changes - although these are normally due to weather-related delays, which are a little more certain to happen! For strike issues, they will normally not allow changes until a (rolling) handful of days beforehand when they are more certain that the industrial action will go ahead. It's also in their interests to try and manage potential disruption as far in advance as possible, particularly for passengers in higher cabins - if you suffer IrOps in North America you can generally expect to be accommodated in Y reasonably quickly, but it might be several days before a J/F seat becomes available. That's much less of an issue for European carriers, so they can make the 'free change' window far tighter.

Knobbgb

Does anybody (maybe the native Greek speakers) have any info as to what sort of bus/train service might run to the airport during the 12th November strike? My flight is around 3pm and I am staying in the city or Piraeus the night before. It's not too late for me to change my flight and go a day later, but I want to avoid that if possible and I can't afford the Sofitel. Maybe somebody could be kind enough to call the bus company information line. I've tried once before but really struggled with the language.