Fast Track Worth It?
 

Hi All,

I have a tight connection on separate tickets when landing at ATH (American to A3) with no luggage, only carry on.

I see the 4 Euro charge to purchase Fast Track, but is this worth it, would it help me?

Many thanks,

Andrew

I would say yes, for a small charge, go for it. Will save you in the event there is a lot of pax going through the airport security/etc at the time.

It depends somewhat on your final destination too. Generally, I find the security for the Domestic/Schengen area faster than that for non-Schengen. At non-Schengen fast-track can sometimes even be slower as there is just the one lane and you might just get behind an 'idiot' as I did last time, who'd obviously never been to an airport before!

How tight is 'tight'?

Assuming our PHL - ATH AA flight is on time we would have 60 minutes (Arrival is 9:15am). However, after tracking this flight for most of 2017 it had a mixed on time performance. Our connection is ATH - JTR (10:10am). Since the tickets were $45.00 we purchased the 10:10am departure and the 11:55am as a back up.

So if we miss the 10:10am we have an alternate option. Some times the arriving AA flight made it in early, some on time, and others landed an hour late. I see the Fast Track as a possible help ONLY if we land early or on time, but anything later than 9:15am and we are likely not going to make it. Therefore, I would likely wait to purchase at check in, when I can made a better determination on the AA flight departure time, assuming we are not held up with weather or other delays.

Thank you for the assistance. I wasn't sure how helpful this would be or more of a money gimmick at 4 euros.

-Andrew

The €4 charge for fasttrack will be of little use if your inbound flight is delayed.

A better option would be to book a later flight from ATH - perhaps the next day (though given that you are arriving in the morning, it is almost certain that there must be a later flight to your intended destination).

When travelling on separate tickets, you should be looking for opportunities to build "slack" into your plans, rather than going for tight schedules.

[QUOTE=CoHiba Gent;29312712Therefore, I would likely wait to purchase at check in, when I can made a better determination on the AA flight departure time, assuming we are not held up with weather or other delays.

-Andrew[/QUOTE]
Will you actually need to check in? You have only hand baggage and the Aegean OLCI opens 48hrs before departure. If you actually need to purchase anything from them at the airport, it will be at the ticket counter, not check-in. That can be VERY busy at times and would negate the benefit of fastlane. It would have made sense just to go with the 11:45 and not have to worry. It's not exactly long to wait! You realise that security here is nothing like as bad as in the US. I've never had to wait more than 5 minutes at ATH, even before I had fastlane access.

EDIT: Do AA have inflight wifi? Maybe you could buy it during the flight, if needed, or at least on the ground while you're queuing for immigration.

The seasonal PHL-ATH service is scheduled to be operated by A330-300 aircraft. The only longhaul aircraft in AA's fleet to offer wifi so far are all Boeing aircraft - so no go with inflight wifi.

Thank you again. Yes, had the tickets not been so cheap, I wouldn't purchase the 10:10am. But, for $90.00 I might as well roll the dice. We are in business class, seated next to the door, and expert travelers so I think we might have a chance, but ONLY if on time or early. Otherwise, I don't think there's much of a chance for anything inside 60 minutes.

I plan to check in as soon as possible and make the decision then. Assuming I can retrieve our boarding passes online and not have to go to the ticket counter, the fast track seems to make sense.

Appreciate all of your help!

-Andrew

For EUR4 I would buy it. 90% of the time I have Fast Track for most airports I use via status and sometimes I get to the airport and all security points are flowing quickly or no one there so I use the standard one. Other times I have seen terrible long lines and thank god I had Fast Track. For EUR4 I would have it as a back up just in case. Very very tight connection on two tickets so 5 mins faster could be make or break if you run into problems. If everything goes to plan and the check points are all clear then you only lost EUR4 not really big money.

TATL flights always dock at a skybridge. Count a maximum of 10 min. walking from clearing immigration and another 5 min. after security to be at your departure gate. In other words doable if on time (even if somewhat "stressy"). Still, I also wonder why you chose this very tight connection when the next flight was less than 2 hours later. By the way, just to show you the worst case scenario, you arrive with a delay of about 30 min., get to the ticket office with a long line in front of you and then find out that there are no more seats available for the 11:50 flight (could easily be the case during the peak season)...

If I understand the OP correctly he/she has already purchased both flights, and will throw away one in any case.

Buying fast track at the airport would take more time than what it saves. You could buy for the first Aegean flight if your AA flight seems to be on time. Buy for the second if it seems to be heavily delayed. I’d make the decision just before take off in PHL.

You can’t also check flightstats for similar flights around the same time (eg to FCO or IST), to see if the winds (and therefore flight times) are favorably that day. That’s a bit of a tricky play, and in no way a guarantee, but it could give some indications.

True, that's what the OP seems to have done, but hard to believe: spending additional €90.00 (for the 2x early flights) + €8.00 (for 2x fast track) to, perhaps, get to Santorini 1 hour and 45 minutes earlier... :rolleyes:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...eb06a0ad89.jpg

It doesn't look to work for me. I have chosen the ATH-MJT (Lesbos island) flight I have in February. When I chose to add the "fast security track" I am prompted with the screen/result above. Am I doing something wrong ?

Are you M+B Gold? In that case it's already included, so you get it for free.

Is Aegean now selling the fast track for $4? Way to devalue A3 Gold even more, first you can't use the upgrades on cheap flights, then every body can use the benefits for a couple of dollars each, nice...