xliioper

Poster was referring to the Article 9 "right to care" provisions of EU261 which generally applies even in the presence of "extraordinary circumstances" (such as weather).

WineCountryUA

As follow-up issues on new flights or compensation with be AE issues, will move this to that forum.

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator

NWIFlyer

I imagine the OP's sister may well, thankfully, be on her way by now but - for future reference and potential reinbursement claim - the airline is most certainly on the hook for overnight hotel accommodation here under the duty of care provisions in EC261.

That accommodation should be reasonable, so on a Y ticket I would say the Sofitel (as a 5* hotel) would not be refunded. Something more realistic and commensurate to the class of travel, such as a Holiday Inn (either close to the airport or downtown) would be more sensible. The cost of getting from and to the airport the following morning is also covered. This would include a taxi.

Lounge access would certainly not be given, and in any case the A3 lounge does not have any showers.

A3 is generally very good at paying out on its legal obligations. This is a very clear-cut case and I wouldn't foresee any issues.

Noting the alternative option suggested above of taking a ferry, it's certainly a possibility - but, assuming this is a return on one ticket, first of all ensure that the return portion is protected given a no-show on the flight the next morning will lead to the rest of the segments being cancelled.

KLouis

Unless you stand in front of the smoking section's door the whole time, that certainly isn't true.

catocony

I smelled it the second I walked in the front door. If you don't smoke and/or rarely smell cigarettes anymore (like a lot of the US), you tend to notice any smoke smell immediately.

DJ Bitterbarn

The HI shuttle (in my limited experience) stops running in the evening around... I want to say 10pm? At least when we arrived in ATH at 23:50 there was no shuttle and we ended up getting a taxi for around €30. Which I feel was only worth it because the taxi was showing every single warning message that a car could be showing and we were about 40km/h over the speed limit by the time we left the airport. It was fantastic. But I digress.

On the way back we did find the HI shuttle and it did go roughly on time (they claimed there was no space at the hour we wanted and so we booked for the next shuttle, but we wandered down to check the first shuttle and in the end they did have room for us anyway. Win!)

Alternatively I did discover later that both the X93 and X95 stop at the HI, according to google maps at ΣΕΑ bus station. But someone else can probably confirm that.

KLouis

True! On the way to ATH you'd have to "cross" the highway (bridge) but confirm at the hotel. The shuttle also starts late, therefore if you have an early flight it's either a cab or the bus that runs o/n.

LTN Phobia

I think X95 runs all through the night (I'm just not sure about X93). I have caught X95 at around 3 am.

NWIFlyer

Athens taxi fares must be expensive! The last taxi I took in Greece was from the centre of SKG to the airport - a slightly shorter distance and about half the time, so less waiting - and it was less than 20 Euros. Mind you, it was considerably less entertaining ...

In the OP's sister's case, of course, under EC261 A3 is responsible for the cost of transporting her from the airport to a hotel and back. It would not be reasonable to expect her to know about the Athens transport system, so if A3 did not arrange transport a taxi (whatever the cost) would certainly be refunded.

LTN Phobia

I usually pay around €40 between Syntagma and the airport. It's quite a long way so it seems fairly normal.

I suspect DJ Bitterbarn may have been ripped off, assuming HI isn't very far from the airport (I have no idea where it is).

On the other hand, CFU taxis are expensive (most drivers don't run the metre and charge you a lot if you don't negotiate in advance).

KLouis

There is a flat rate for Athens-ATH, which is higher during the night. I think it costs 30/40 €. There are also several taxi companies that you can book telephonically. They all charge about the same, prices shown here are certainly higher than those you pay for a cab at the curb or taken at a taxi stand, which should be around 10-15% cheaper.

The bus is 6 € (3 € for those of us lucky to be older than 65), while train and metro have been striking since weeks, so forget them...

jousis

Syntagma (in general central/inner ring Athens) to ATH at day (05:00-23:59) is exactly 38euros (was 35). Not a single euro more. Don't even let them ask you for tolls or luggage surcharges (some do even to locals, be firm).
Night fixed (again) rate is 54euros.

https://www.aia.gr/traveler/access-a...-and-limousine

tancredi

I was at ATH a couple of weeks ago, and I was quoted a flat rate of 35/50 € (day/night) for a taxi ride from the airport to Syntagma square.

NWIFlyer

The HI is about halfway between the airport and Syntagma, without any road tolls. It's about 15-18km from the airport depending on exact route, so 30 Euros does seem excessive.

Probably a very good reason, to return to the actual subject of the thread, to get A3 to arrange and pay for the transport in any EC261 claim if at all possible ... then there's absolutely no argument.

DJ Bitterbarn

I recall seeing the X93/X95 signs from the HI shuttle on the way back, across the bridge. But it was easy enough to find, well signposted IIRC. I'll certainly try it next March if I end up overnighting in ATH again.

And at the risk of derailing the conversation again (although I hope not) I probably did get ripped off a bit, but that's what I get for not confirming prices in advance and also because we really didn't have that many options at the time. But if OP's sister (although, let's face it, she's probably long gone from ATH, so anyone else who may be reading this later) needs to know, there's a data point for non-greek-speaking travellers going to the HI after 11pm.