Transit through Greece
 

Anyone have much experience with this?Here's my itinerary:
September 11, 2021
6:10pm—Depart Seattle, USA via Qatar Airways

September 12, 2021
6:05pm—Arrive Doha, Qatar
**Layover 13 hours**

September 13
7:35am—Depart Doha, Qatar
12:30pm—Arrive Athens, Greece
4:30pm—Depart Athens, Greece via Agean
5:05pm—Arrive Dubrovnik, Croatia
For the itinerary, got two main questions:
1. I'm transiting through ATH, however not on the same reservation (Qatar then Agean), although 4 hours seems reasonable? Do you know if ATH allows for sterile transit or has ticketing for transit passengers? Or will I have to leave the terminal, get tickets, and go through security again?
2. For the passenger locator form (PLF), would you count the layover in Athens as an actual visit to Athens, or consider it a transit (like above)? We'll be visiting Athens on the way back, but transiting through on our way to croatia dubrovnik/istanbul. (although the safety concerns are real secondary to covid/delta)

Thanks tons in advance!

You'll be entering the EU (specifically Schengen) in Athens, so in theory, this means that you'll have to pass immigration and, thus, go out and get your "ticket" (see below). Mind you, Croatia (a member of the EU) is in the process of entering the Schengen agreement and it is not clear to me whether it is already treated as a member of that group of countries. If not, you could go straight to the non-Schengen area (A gates) without passing through immigration, provided you have a boarding card.

* When you say "get tickets" do you mean actually buying them or getting the BCs? If the former is true, I would certainly buy the tickets before that, you don't want any surprises such as no seats being available on the flight. If the latter is the case, well, I'd definitely check-in online (no need to outline the advantages). Wth Aegean you can do this 48 hours before departure.

* I hope that somebody else will be in a position to say whether Croatia is considered Schengen or not, but according to the Airport's (AIA=ATH) site, it is not. meaning that the last sentence in the first paragraph is true. Another reason why you should buy your tickets and check-in before you start your trip.

I’ve found the ReopenEU site handy for this. Here’s what they currently say.

Are you checking luggage? Will QR check it all the way through to Croatia though it’s a separate ticket? If not, you’ll have to pick up your luggage and check in again. I’d expect 4 hours is more than enough time.

Those are exactly the key questions:
if you have luggage and it's not checked through, you need to get it in ATH and recheck it with Aegean.
However, that means you need to enter Schengen zone and hence need a visa for it and fill in the Greek PLF (I assume you are vaccinated or have a negative test).

If not, you can stay in the non-Schengen zone (as it seems that the flight will leave from the A gates which are non Schengen) and would need to indicate "transit" on the PLF.

Guys, thank you so much for your replies! This is super helpful. I need to ask my folks if they want to check a bag or not. We'll see, haha. But this was incredibly helpful and really dumbs it all down.

Croatia is not in Schengen. 2024 is the target for joining Schengen club.

So if we don't have luggage checked, is it possible to transit airside, assuming we have online boarding passes on Aegean?
Also, do you think I should fill out a PLF regardless? Does Greece look badly on someone who filled a PLF but never ended up using it?

you won’t be allowed to board a flight to Greece if you don’t have filled a PLF.