any creative ideas to get from ATH to NAS without going through the US?
 

Hi all, I am currently in ATH and need to get back to Nassau (NAS) where I usually fly through US, Canada, or Panama.

I can not fly through the US unless if I find a place outside of the EU to spend 14 days in (as per https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...countries.html )

Can anyone think of any creative routes that would get me in NAS without going through the US?

Canada would normally be an option, but they seem to also have also suspended flights to the Caribbean. Panama (Copa airlines) seems to also have stopped flights to Nassau till June 1st.

I feel I am out of options, but if there's any place that can make it happen, FlyerTalk would be it :)

Would really appreciate any ideas anyone may have for me to get there. Apologies if this is posted in the wrong section
Thank you

I’m interested in it too.

Hi,

Depending on when you want to travel , you could try british airways from Athens to London then to Kingston Jamaica then a Caribbean airlines flight to the Bahamas.

However flights do appear to be very limited so you may have long layovers

Regards

Tbs

Thank you @the_Banking_Scot

Based on what I see in https://www.bahamas.com/getting-here/flying , there seem to be flights from:

Cuba - airports (HOG) or (HAV) or (SNU) to Nassau - (BahamasAir) - Cuba ; Covid very high: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices...ronavirus-cuba
Kingston, Jamaica (KIN) - Caribbean Airlines ; Also Covid very high: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destina...r/none/jamaica
Panama City, PA (PTY) - Copa Airlines. this is not flying until June 1st based on the copa website

Seems like Cuba or Jamaica are the only options and need to get a flight through ATH and possibly hotel in Jamaica. will check quarantine requirements as I do not have the vaccine yet.

getting to London is no issue, and from Jamaica to Nassau is no issue, but any ideas which airline to book from anywhere in Europe, to get to anywhere in Jamaica, without going through US?

BA (that's the point of going via London).

Thank you- getting old and didn't read this carefully.

no luck finding any BA flights to Jamaica. researching if they fly anywhere else in the Caribbean right now.. with luck I should be able to get a flight from anywhere in the Caribbean to Jamaica, and from there , to Nassau

Hi,

When do you want to travel as at the moment ba services are very limited if they are running at all but may increase in late may once the restriction on uk pax travelling on holidays may expire. Services may only be once weekly at present

Other European airlines to consider going via their hubs

Air France via paris
Lufthansa via Frankfurt or Munich
Iberia via Madrid

Regards

Tbs

Thank you I am looking to find something for next week.

Iberia seems to have good pricing on flights from LHR to BGI in Barbados (operated by BA), but according to https://www.visitbarbados.org/covid-...uidelines-2020 there's still a 5 day hotel quarantine once in BGI, in order to wait for a mandatory second PCR test after arrival there.

This would be my least favorite option as I'd be paying 5 nights at the hotel + separate flight from BGI to NAS, either via Jamaica (KIN) or Turks & Caicos Providenciales (PLS) - there's no direct options from BGI to NAS.

Ideal solution would be anywhere in Europe -> Jamaica (no quarantine) -> Nassau

Getting closer to a solution thanks to your help. really appreciate it.

The only thing I see is to KLM and Copa combo. KLM from Athens to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to Panama City, then Copa to Panama City. In June. I don't see much of either Kingston or Bridgetown to Nassau without routing through the US.

If you could get to the US - I have no idea what your citizenship is - the quarantines here are not enforced in any way.

thank you catocony I have EU citizenship and I have been in EU for past 14 day so I can't enter the US unfortunately not even for transit

so far the best option I can find is

start in ath
ath-mad (madrid)
mad-sdq (dominican republic)
sdq-pls (turks and caicos), overnight stay
pls-nas (nassau)
as far as I can tell this won't have any quarantine requirements

go to google.com/flights

pick ATH -> NAS one way, pick any date

then pick Connection Airports -> (deselect any USA airports)

you may see zero availability. then go back to the date and see the month view.

eg: you'll see that BA has ATH-LHR (12 hr)-NAS on May 16th onwards (M/W/F only), though unknown if flights get cancelled

early may, you can find ATH-FRA-YYZ-KIN (mixture of Lufthansa and Air Canada)



copy & paste the same URL, change destination (to one of your "approved" waypoints), see if you can stitch together your own itinerary

BA usually had a 2x weekly LGW-PLS. Is that operating? Would make it easier to get to PLS if so.

thank you for the tip, that would've been great.. unfortunately doesn't seem to be available over the next couple of weeks. will keep searching.

gatrwick to kingston

April 19th. BA2263.