My son (A3 Gold) was booked ZRH-ATH-HER last Sunday, flying with two separate tickets (the first leg was an Aegean Pass one). He had checked in early since he was supposed to meet his mother, who was connecting at ZRH, flying a different airline. While waiting with her in the lounge, he found out that his first flight was very late and that he would miss the one to Crete (the last flight of the day). Having seen that there was a non-stop ZRH-HER A3 flight later that evening, he went to the CI counters to see whether they could put him on that one. He was told that his Pass ticket would not allow them to do this, even if he paid the price difference. Moreover, it would be a “hassle” if they had to “search” for his checked piece of luggage and bring it to another cart to be loaded onto the “new” plane (the non-stop one), which was due to arrive 40 minutes later. But they also told him not to worry, as they would rebook him on the first flight out of Athens at 6:30 am, upgrade to business on both flights for free, and arrange (and assume the cost) for a hotel and a taxi!

So, he arrived in Crete 6 hours later (at 7:30) after having gone to sleep at the Nea Makri hotel (~20 km from ATH) at 1 am and taken the reserved taxi back at 4:30. In other words instead of zero cost to A3, the delay cost the airline about 100€ for the hotel and 2x40€ for the cab (no cost for dinner and breakfast as he ate at the lounges in ZRH and ATH). The interesting part is that they did not have to pay anything since he was on different tickets and there was no “duty of care” involved. It was just a very nice thing that they did for him…

I know from the times I was a frequent flyer myself that airlines would try everything possible to save money, and Aegean often bent the rules if it would be profitable for them (and the passenger). In this case, their cost was higher than what my son had paid, simply because they refused to put him on another one of their flights (seats were available).

Anyway, no big deal after all, but just an example of a combination of good service and sheer stupidity.