Aegean Airlines Miles&Bonus - Really good experiences on Aegean - Same for you?

We spent two weeks in Greece this summer and flew Aegean from Madrid to ATH, ATH to Thira, Crete to ATH and then to Corfu, and back to ATH - all on Aegean A320's. Everybody with Aegean from the check-in, to gate crew, and flight crews were really professional - very classy operation that matches almost anything in the U.S. in our experience. Was this an anomoly?

We spent two weeks in Greece this summer and flew Aegean from Madrid to ATH, ATH to Thira, Crete to ATH and then to Corfu, and back to ATH - all on Aegean A320's. Everybody with Aegean from the check-in, to gate crew, and flight crews were really professional - very classy operation that matches almost anything in the U.S. in our experience. Was this an anomoly?
Saying that it "matches anything in the U.S" is a bit of an insult in my opinion :p

...Was this an anomoly?Strange question! No, it's normal and not an anomaly. I don't see why you necessarily expect all Greeks to be unprofessional. PVDtoDEL's comment is 100% correct!

Aegean > all US carriers

""very classy operation that matches almost anything in the U.S. in our experience. Was this an anomoly?""

The quality of service on most US carries both on the ground and in the air is pretty dreadful. I'm pretty sure when A3 were planning their service model they would have looked at the US carriers as a "how not to do it" example :)

Strange question! No, it's normal and not an anomaly. I don't see why you necessarily expect all Greeks to be unprofessional. PVDtoDEL's comment is 100% correct!

I never said anything about the professionalism of the Greek people. You made that up. I happen to love Greece and the Greek people very much. I lived on Paros for a long time. My point was that every flight we had on A3 was perfect in every respect - on time every time, never lost bags, immaculate airplanes, flawlessly courteous gate agents and flight crews, and more. I was simply asking whether this perfection is normal on A3 in other people's experiences with them.

I never said anything about the professionalism of the Greek people. You made that up. I happen to love Greece and the Greek people very much. I lived on Paros for a long time. My point was that every flight we had on A3 was perfect in every respect - on time every time, never lost bags, immaculate airplanes, flawlessly courteous gate agents and flight crews, and more. I was simply asking whether this perfection is normal on A3 in other people's experiences with them.Apologies if I got you wrong but it was your question that triggered this (anomaly: deviation from the common rule). You see, especially over the last couple of years we've had enough of people calling all Greeks different names and attributing any kind of bad behaviour. At any rate, sorry for the misunderstanding.

I never said anything about the professionalism of the Greek people. You made that up. I happen to love Greece and the Greek people very much. I lived on Paros for a long time. My point was that every flight we had on A3 was perfect in every respect - on time every time, never lost bags, immaculate airplanes, flawlessly courteous gate agents and flight crews, and more. I was simply asking whether this perfection is normal on A3 in other people's experiences with them.

Exactly. When was the last time you flew in the US and there were no lost bags, immaculate airplanes, flawlessly courteous gate agents and flight crews and more?

I can't remember the last time I had an experience like that. Staff members invariably bark at you, no courteousness at all. The planes are often dirty, and I haven't checked a bag on a domestic flight in years but I can tell you that they lose my bags when I'm flying to India all the time...

A3 really have a good product. I had the worst flight ever with BA ATH-LHR a few weeks back and wished I had booked A3 instead. For me the only way to fly between Greece and the UK is A3 from now on. For other routes I choose Olympic as they also have a great product. I flew OA IST-ATH last week and it was the same standard as A3 . Great to have two Greek carriers offering a decent product.

I have had great experiences on Aegean and horrible ones on Olympic.

Keep in mind that OA has changed quite a bit in recent years :)

I have had great experiences on Aegean and horrible ones on Olympic.

Olympic as you knew it does not exist anymore. The state controlled company has been gone for two years. The new private company run by MIG is winning awards and has the best on time performance of any airline operating out of ATH. I flew with OA a few weeks ago and the product is top quality on par with A3 and any decent European competitor. I find OA crew have the edge over A3 also.

""very classy operation that matches almost anything in the U.S. in our experience. Was this an anomoly?""

The quality of service on most US carries both on the ground and in the air is pretty dreadful. I'm pretty sure when A3 were planning their service model they would have looked at the US carriers as a "how not to do it" example :) ^

Just had my first experience with A3 from IST-ATH and was most impressed and agree if they did look at the US as an example, it was HOW NOT TO DO IT! Though not A3 STARGold, I am top tier elite with AC and was acknowledged as such at check in with a Fast Track card for Passport Control (security done at the gate at ATH, so no FT for security) and a pass to the lounge A3 uses...though I went to the TK lounge which cannot be matched by any airline in the STAR system.

Boarding was sequenced properly with Business and STARGolds called first. The A320 flight had a pretty light load so had a row to myself, though must say seat pitch is as tight as most European carriers (here they could take a page from UA's E+ or just AC's regular economy at about 32"). Liked the air display map graphics, very informative. Was shocked to be offered a full meal on this one-hour flight, though disappointed the only beer on hand was Heinniken or Amstel and not a local Greek offering, so opted for Greek wine instead (quite acceptable by economy standards).

Crew was pleasant and more attentive than I have found on TK to draw a regional comparison. But what really surprised me was finding my checked bag with the STAR Priority tag on the carousel with three others well before all the others arrived. In fact, when I got to the carousel from Passport Control I thought I saw it just disappearing behind the wall having made a full circuit! (Recalls the days of Ansett when bags were always on the carousel before one made it down there from the plane.)

Only down side to all this was we were an hour late getting off the ground because of the backup at IST, not A3's fault but quite annoying. Still made it to my hotel before the Club lounge closed its evening drinks and food, so all in all a good first arrival into Athens (and Greece). Looking forward to seeing how A3 does on the return in its home territory. However, first, a couple of days exploring Athens!

Aegean > all US carriers

+1 Hope they start a TATL to New York soon!!

+1 Hope they start a TATL to New York soon!!

Under the current financial situation in Greece I highly doubt they can take on such long haul service. One must cross the border and fly TK for such inflight service.

Return inflight service was just as good as the inbound. Only issue I had was the rather disinterested -- though efficient -- service I received at check-in. Agent didn't really have much enthusiasm though did give me boarding pass with Fast Track security sticker and invitation card to the Onassis lounge without my having to ask. These appear to be standard STARGold benefits for both the A3 program and other STAR programs. Being new to ATH, I was a bit perplexed as to which boarding/gate area I had to go to as the agent informed me that the gate had not yet been assigned. My only hint was to look at the airport map to find the Onassis lounge (operated by Olympic Airways) and head in that direction. I did realize I would not be flying from the domestic or even EU areas, so pretty much assumed it would be from the international wing.

Both my flights were pretty empty so I had a whole row to myself. On the return I was in the row behind the curtained off C cabin, row 3. It seemed as if I had a bit more leg room over the earlier seat, so am curious if the first several rows of economy do have an extra couple of inches pitch? I was defaulted into the first row of economy when I went to OLCI based on my STARGold status, or so I assumed.

Under the current financial situation in Greece I highly doubt they can take on such long haul service. One must cross the border and fly TK for such inflight service.

(operated by Olympic Airways) and head in that direction. .

Indeed having flown it myself last month YYZ-IST-ATH in Business Class TK offer the best Longhaul product in the region. TK also have some advertising campaigns in Greece to pick up traffic and some very attractive fares.

A3 have no USA ambitions and very unlikely to in the near future.

The lounge is actually operated by Olympic Handling as Olympic Airways does not exist.

http://www.olympic-handling.com/Default.aspx?a_id=1324

...TK offer the best Longhaul product in the region. TK also have some advertising campaigns in Greece to pick up traffic and some very attractive fares...I flew with them twice last year to ORD: Indeed, very good and very good price in business! Only disadvantage was that with a very late departure from Chicago you'd miss the connection to ATH and, thus, you'd wait for several hours in IST for the last flight of the day: result, no way to connect to anywhere with an arrival in Athens around midnight. In May I was told by the TK station manager at Chicago, though, that due to the high interest among the Greeks in that city, they were thinking of rescheduling their departure to an earlier time. I have no idea whether they did...

Hah! Checked their present schedule from ORD and they do arrive in IST ~1.5 hours earlier, allowing a connection to the afternoon flight to Athens! ^

The lounge is actually operated by Olympic Handling as Olympic Airways does not exist.

http://www.olympic-handling.com/Default.aspx?a_id=1324

Appreciate the clarification though the lounge had all the logos of Olympic the airline and copies of its inflight magazine all over the place. Also saw Olmpic airplanes on the Tarmac so how can you say the airline doesn't exist?

Appreciate the clarification though the lounge had all the logos of Olympic the airline and copies of its inflight magazine all over the place. Also saw Olmpic airplanes on the Tarmac so how can you say the airline doesn't exist?Simple: the company, nowadays called Olympic Air (i.e. no -ways, no -lines), bought the old OA logo and some more (e.g. slots). It's now a completely private airline that belongs to a large financial corporation.

Hah! Checked their present schedule from ORD and they do arrive in IST ~1.5 hours earlier, allowing a connection to the afternoon flight to Athens! ^

Yes it made sense for them as like me alot of people would rather do the long flight to IST then the short 55mins hop to ATH. Works out really well. Im booking USA-IST-ATH for my next vacation this Winter as I was so happy with the product and route. ^