headingwest

In September I'm flying Aegean from LUX to ATH and then connecting on to KWI (Kuwait) - arriving at 2:25 am on the Wednesday. I've upgraded both flights using upgrade coupons. The connection time is exactly one hour, and it's on one ticket.

Since making the booking I've decided to make a big trip of it and I've also booked redemption flights with BAEC departing from KWI at 23:20 on the Thursday. That takes me on to HKG via DOH, and back via BKK to AUH - then another booking AUH-VIE (now connecting somewhere - still not known - along the way!). So it's going to be quite a trip, and should give me almost 2 days in Kuwait, 4 days in Hong Kong, and 2 days in Bangkok.

It's recently dawned on me that the first connection is not going to be at a particularly busy airport and if, for whatever reason, I miss that LUX-ATH-KWI connection, it could make things very difficult indeed as Aegean will only fly to KWI on T̶h̶u̶r̶s̶d̶a̶y̶s̶ Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Particularly I'd like to ask 3 questions.

1. If I missed this connection due to a delay with the LUX-ATH flight would Aegean provide accommodation for the night?

2. Would it be likely that they'd book me onto another airline to get me to KWI in time for my next flights?

3. If one of the Aegean flights gets cancelled do I have to go home and cry!?

I'm not exactly sure, I think EC261 would ensure that they did both 1 and 2, but I'd be most grateful for any thoughts or comments.

I'm not panicking because in the worst case I would still have time to cancel my BAEC booking before T-24, thus get my Avios and cash back.

I imagine that one of the advantages of Athens being a smaller airport is that it's less likely that there would be a delay anyway. After all it's not like Heathrow where you can spend a good half hour circling London before landing and then waiting another half hour to get parked up.

NWIFlyer

1. Yes, adherence to the basic parts of EC261 is another of A3's plus points. This is under the duty of care provisions.

2. More debatable. My inclination, based on previous reports, is to say that A3 would probably not re-route you on another carrier (particularly if outside Star), and would put you on the Thursday flight. Your two days in KWI may turn into two in ATH ...

EC261 does not force airlines to re-route on other carriers - the "earliest available opportunity" clause has never been legally tested - and I'd have thought a judge would consider a two day delay to be within reasonable limits if ever it did come to court. If there was one flight a week, that might produce a different result.

3. Watching a grown-up cry is never a pretty sight. I would not recommend this course of action .

All that said, I'd be confident of making my next flight even with a 30-40 minute connection, ATH is not at all capacity constrained, so I doubt you'll have any problem whatsoever.

headingwest

Thanks very much for the reply NWIFlyer ^

I just realised that I incorrectly wrote that A3 will only fly on Thursdays and Saturdays, it's actually on Tuesdays and Saturdays. So the Tuesday flight could potentially be the one I'd miss, meaning a 4 day wait in Athens...consequently the rest of the trip would have to be cancelled. This is all hyperthetical of course, but I need to bear it in mind. However, a few days in Athens may be consolation in that event, so perhaps there won't be tears after all.

I assumed that A3 would have to book me on another airline, so you have enlightened me there.

I'm quietly confident that the connection will go well, but I must admit I'm a bit apprehensive that one of the 2 flights (once only on those days, on both routes I might add!) may get cancelled. Oh the excitement and fun of it all.

:D!

I would like to know whether A3 would really provide accommodation for 4 nights at ATH until their next KWI flight, but I don't wish anyone to have to test this out!

I usually self-insure so if it were me, it would depend how skippable the Kuwait bit is. I would have an alternative plan to get to KWI (whether paid by myself or by A3). If I could go to Kuwait at some later time, I would also have a plan to rebook the QR(?) flights to ATH-HKG, and then decide on the day.

I've never really suffered any problems with risky schedules, but I self-insure, so I make sure that I know exactly what I would do if any part of an itinerary goes wrong. I have just booked a night trip to Portugal and it involves a lot of connections between trains and planes. Most people would probably expect it to go just fine but I've already checked all the alternatives for each leg of the trip.

NWIFlyer

They wouldn't have any choice in the matter if they made the decision not to pay for the OP to fly on a different carrier! EC261 governs them in this case.

However, the OP's clarification that actually there is a considerable number of days between flights would most likely change the way A3 acts here (it would be cheaper to endorse onto another carrier rather than pay for an extended hotel stay), and there would be a very good case to press for that anyway under the provisions in the legislation. With effectively most of the holiday lost, it would be a very cold-hearted judge that sided with the airline if ever it came to court, and there is absolutely no way whatsoever that the airline industry wants to see that part of the law tested.

KLouis

Vivere pericolosamente!

headingwest

I usually do have an alternative plan, such as making sure that reward flights are available or looking at other airlines. The problem I discovered here is that there aren't many flights from Athens to Kuwait...in fact, apart from Aegean's 2 weekly, there aren't any!

My only feasible back up plan will be to cancel the two BAEC bookings and the hotels in HKG and BKK.

NWIFlyer

Logical re-route options would be TK via IST or EK (where A3 has a codeshare relationship) via AUH. Complex, but still preferable from A3's viewpoint compared to paying for a hotel for 3-4 days ...

headingwest

Interesting, I didn't know about the EK codeshare relationship. And for some reason I completely forgot about TK!

DELLAS

I think you all mean EY Usually for IRROPS heading East A3 re route onto TK where available unless the customer does not want that option. It is the most logical hub with decent frequency and just 50-60 mins away.

NWIFlyer

Sorry, yes - I must have Emirates on the brain today! Etihad is indeed the codeshare partner. I guess it might depend on how much available codeshare seats the A3 has available, but TK is a more obvious choice given their route map more closely matches A3's in the event of needing to endorse a ticket over.

headingwest

Oh crumbs, this is starting to go pear shaped on me. I noticed a couple of days ago that one of these flights has been cancelled. I haven't heard anything yet from the OTA or Aegean and my options seem very limited.

I booked 2 tickets in economy via online travel agents and then upgraded all flights using A3's coupons - PRG-ATH-LUX plus (back-to-back!) LUX-ATH-KWI.

The ATH-KWI flight (arrival time 02:25 on 13th Sept) has now been cancelled and I need to get to Kuwait for a BAEC redemption booking (departing 23:30 on 14th Sept).

In an ideal world Aegean would rebook me onto TK for ATH-IST-KWI or LUX-IST-KWI but I think that is very unlikely to happen.

Any thoughts!?

NWIFlyer

Ouch! You're obviously outside the EC261 timescale here for cancellations. What's the impact of taking a refund and building another itinerary? I'm thinking for a destination such as KWI which is relatively obscure your options are going to be pretty limited ...

headingwest

I just got off the phone with Aegean and the agent said they won't rebook onto TK as he said it has to be Aegean flights. He told me I need to speak with the travel agent to try and get it changed (not much hope there then) or get a refund. I guess I've lost the 2 upgrade coupons.

For the TK flights which would fill the gap, when I asked for a redemption quote it was quite hefty....20,000 miles + 140 EUR in economy.

I don't want to cancel the BAEC redemption because it's very beneficial to me (I think they miscalculated Avios!), therefore, I need to get to KWI really. Might have to bite the bullet and book another BAEC redemption LUX-LHR-KWI.

Xandrios

You could consider only moving ATH-KWI to a later date, and still use LUX-ATH. Of course you would still need to book ATH-KWI, but at least you'll be able to use one voucher.