Award Flights to Santorini
Jan 4, 2017, 8:08 am
#3
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whenever Mrs CALMSP and I book via points to JTR, we only book to ATH, then purchase a separate ticket on A3 ATH-JTR. Cheap tickets as it is, so hopefully that would work for you.
*added*of course now that LH is flying in, possible finding an award through MUC?
*added*of course now that LH is flying in, possible finding an award through MUC?
Jan 4, 2017, 9:13 am
#4
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Good luck - I'm going this May and found zero availability to JTR on any day on virtually any alliance (I saw one or two odd LHR - JTR - LHR flights on BA but then you are dealing with BA $cam charges which are about the same as just buying XYZ European City - JTR flight).
We have a wedding in Cambridge first so our award ticket over is to LHR. We then separately bought a cheap LHR - ATH - JTR A3 flight (using OTA were even able to make that into a 20 hour layover in ATH since the girlfriend has never been and wants to see Acropolis) - cost $118/person + 30euro bag fee. There are a ton of flights between ATH - JTR, most on Olympic Air Q400s but a couple on A3 mainline A320/A321s (we're on an A320).
To get home the only feasible thing with an award was to buy a cheap (72 euro/person with checked bag included) Vueling flight JTR - FCO and then we pick up our award flight home from FCO. I would recommend doing something similar - award flight to major European city (including ATH if available) connecting to cheap LCC (or Aegean) for the a paid ticket to JTR.
Aegean flights for the most part are cheap but the schedule release is annoying so you have to sit on it a bit. Vueling and easyJet also have a number of cheap direct flights to big European cities. Thomas Cook and Condor also fly direct from a few cities as well so don't overlook those options (in addition to the legacy options).
FWIW, my award flights for our trip ended up being booked on all DL metal with DL/FB miles due to better saver availability than UA/*A.
We have a wedding in Cambridge first so our award ticket over is to LHR. We then separately bought a cheap LHR - ATH - JTR A3 flight (using OTA were even able to make that into a 20 hour layover in ATH since the girlfriend has never been and wants to see Acropolis) - cost $118/person + 30euro bag fee. There are a ton of flights between ATH - JTR, most on Olympic Air Q400s but a couple on A3 mainline A320/A321s (we're on an A320).
To get home the only feasible thing with an award was to buy a cheap (72 euro/person with checked bag included) Vueling flight JTR - FCO and then we pick up our award flight home from FCO. I would recommend doing something similar - award flight to major European city (including ATH if available) connecting to cheap LCC (or Aegean) for the a paid ticket to JTR.
Aegean flights for the most part are cheap but the schedule release is annoying so you have to sit on it a bit. Vueling and easyJet also have a number of cheap direct flights to big European cities. Thomas Cook and Condor also fly direct from a few cities as well so don't overlook those options (in addition to the legacy options).
FWIW, my award flights for our trip ended up being booked on all DL metal with DL/FB miles due to better saver availability than UA/*A.
Last edited by Duke787; Jan 4, 2017 at 9:19 am
Jan 20, 2017, 9:51 am
#5
Join Date: Jun 2001
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All flights leaving ATH to the Greek Islands are operated under an Olympic Airways flight number, hence they'll never show up on any *A search tools, as OA is not part of the *A. They are flown on A3 A/C, but not under A3 flight number.
If you go to A3 website, you'll find plenty of cheap flights to the islands.
If you go to A3 website, you'll find plenty of cheap flights to the islands.
Jan 31, 2017, 2:02 pm
#6
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we went to Santorini in summer of 2015 as a family of 10 on an open jaw mileage award tickets EWR-GVA-ATH and BOS-MUC-ATH returning JTR-ATH-YUL-EWR on Air Canada. On the way out, we overnighted in ATH (to see the Acropolis) and the next morning took Blue Line Ferry to Naxos for a few days and then on to Santorini. Flying back, as others have said, JTR didn't open their FF flights until a few months before....so we booked everything else and added JTR-ATH in later. That could be a problem with a revenue ticket though. And to procure enough seats JTR-ATH, we flew out on three different late afternoon flights.
Jan 31, 2017, 4:30 pm
#7
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All flights leaving ATH to the Greek Islands are operated under an Olympic Airways flight number, hence they'll never show up on any *A search tools, as OA is not part of the *A. They are flown on A3 A/C, but not under A3 flight number.
If you go to A3 website, you'll find plenty of cheap flights to the islands.
If you go to A3 website, you'll find plenty of cheap flights to the islands.
Jan 31, 2017, 8:19 pm
#8
Join Date: Jan 2004
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we went to Santorini in summer of 2015 as a family of 10 on an open jaw mileage award tickets EWR-GVA-ATH and BOS-MUC-ATH returning JTR-ATH-YUL-EWR on Air Canada. On the way out, we overnighted in ATH (to see the Acropolis) and the next morning took Blue Line Ferry to Naxos for a few days and then on to Santorini. Flying back, as others have said, JTR didn't open their FF flights until a few months before....so we booked everything else and added JTR-ATH in later. That could be a problem with a revenue ticket though. And to procure enough seats JTR-ATH, we flew out on three different late afternoon flights.
Mar 12, 2018, 8:24 pm
#9
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: points traveller
Posts: 329
has anyone been able to book JTR-ATH using united miles? website seems to hang, but Aegean fly that route so presume it is possible - do i need to call?
would JTR-(ATH)-LHR be the same cost as an ATH-LHR using miles?
TIA
would JTR-(ATH)-LHR be the same cost as an ATH-LHR using miles?
TIA
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Mar 12, 2018 at 11:04 pm Reason: moved to existing thread
Mar 12, 2018, 9:28 pm
#10
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Mar 12, 2018, 10:58 pm
#11
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Mar 13, 2018, 5:55 am
#12
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A few years ago I flew EWR-MXP-JMK with the MXP-JMK on EasyJet - I think they have a mini hub there. I think they might have flights to Santorini when I last checked. Also flying ATH to the islands in high season is still pretty inexpensive, so if you know your dates I would check out Aegean. Enjoy your trip!
Mar 13, 2018, 9:37 am
#13
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Flying into FCO is also an option. Vueling flies FCO-JTR every day except Friday (I believe). Obviously can’t get it all on one award/ticket, so I’m spending 2 nights in Rome. ATH is another (obvious) stoping point.
Mar 13, 2018, 12:24 pm
#15
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: NYC
Posts: 9,120
There are many seasonal options from Europe to Santorini - Just find the cheapest and most convenient. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santor...tional_Airport
The shortest is not always the cheapest - especially when you include fees.
The shortest is not always the cheapest - especially when you include fees.