jlampert

I am looking to book an itinerary from Paros to Milos via Athens. Before you say something, yes, there is a single direct ferry the date I'm looking for, but the timing is awful and would take the same amount of time.

When I searched on Google Flights, it priced it out for me, but when I went to the Aegean and Olympic Air websites, it was not able to accept that routing unless I booked two separate one-way flights.

Before calling the airline, I thought I'd ask here and see:

• Has anyone been able to successfully book a similar itinerary (island > ATH > island) under one booking before?
• If I book two separate one-ways, would Aegean/Olympic (1) check my bags through and/or (2) protect me in case the first flight is delayed/cancelled?

(SkyExpress will route me my desired itinerary as one ticket, but the timing isn't much better than the ferry...)

Knobbgb

1) Yes, but not that route or any close-together islands. I've done Paros to Samos and Rhodes and seen others available.
2) Check-through - Yes, never had a problem. Protected - No. That might be one of the reasons they're reluctant to book these itineraries - delays this summer are RIFE to the islands served by ATR, Paros being the one I notice most. Actually, check out the average delays before you book. The afternoon evening flights have been consistently 30 to 90 minutes late - and that was only in June! When they switched from Q400 to ATR they re-calculated all the schedules and added just 5 minutes here and there. This might (just) take into account the extra flight time but the ATRs take so much longer to board and disembark due to the single rear door. Nobody seemed to think of that so the delays build gradually through the day. Also, I've had a lot of clients arriving from Athens without their luggage this year - far more than usual. IF you book two individual flights, I'd allow at least 2.5 hrs in ATH.

giorginho

Many flights appear sold out, so not all dates will be available, but I simply tried the multi-city option and it doesn't seem to be a problem to book that route on a single ticket... There's even a 15:50 connection in case you want to be absolutely sure you'll make it.

Don't know if I'd pay that price though...

jlampert

Thank you both! If I book a multi-city flight on one itinerary, am I protected for the second flight in case the first is delayed missed? I've never booked a multi-city itinerary that way before...

irishguy28

Yes; when you are dealing with sectors that all appear on the same ticket, you are always protected in case of misconnects.

Note, however, that booking a tight connection could see you come a-cropper anyway; there needs to be space on the later flight, and in high season and with the current level of demand for travel/risk of flights being cancelled, it's at least possible that there will be no seat available on any later flight(s) should you misconnect. I would advise you to plan pessimistically.

nk15

I assume that these flights will deplane you airside in the departures area, is this the concept here?

Are any of these arrivals bused to the gates? That will take some extra time, too.

What are the chances this itinerary will work, 20%?

giorginho

I already noted it's tight and therefore already suggested taking the later connection. Depending on the availability on each day, you can have multiple options at not-so-inconvenient hours, but since I don't have the time to check the entire schedule for the OP (I could possibly provide more precise itineraries if I had any clue about the date(s) in question), I'll stick with the 13th and give you the following options:



So with options including 3-, 5- and 7-hour-long layovers (the longest layover possible is actually over 10 hours) you can even go hard-core lounging and have breakfast as well as lunch (not to mention the drinks) for free at ATH if you have gold status with Aegean ​​​​​​.
Now if you don't like to get up too early and the 13:30 flight to Milos is available on your date(s), even better .

jlampert

Thanks all for your input. We looking at mid-September so have a little more flexibility. If we end up deciding to go the flights route, we will book the following itinerary:

PAS 9:35AM > ATH 10:20AM
ATH 1:30PM > MLO 2:10PM

That gives us a 3 hour, 10 min layover, which we feel comfortable with and may even be able to stop by for lunch in the lounge