Cheap Flights to Athens

Flying to Greece can be expensive, but even from the West Coast of the United States I rarely pay more than $1000 - and I often book at the last minute.

Finding the Cheap Flights to Greece

• Book early, 60-90 days in advance.
• Have nerves of steel? Book late, for last minute deals.
• Concentrate on getting a great price to London, Paris, Rome, or Munich; then find a flight to Greece on a smaller European airline.
• Be willing to travel any day of the week. If your schedule permits, check a day or two before your optimal arrival and departure dates.
• Check who is flying to Athens International Airport near your departure date; you may notice a "new" airline which will be offering promotional fares. You may also find a European regional airline that you never thought of taking before.
• If you're thinking of taking a tour or cruise, see what airfare deals they offer and find out if you can extend your trip to allow time for independent travel.
• Consider flying directly to Kerkyra (Corfu), Thessaloniki, Rhodes, or through Chania or Heraklion on the island of Crete. Airlines flying out of Britain and Germany have many direct flights to these locations.
• Try an open-jaw flight - go into Athens but fly home out of Heraklion, Rhodes, Thessaloniki or Kerkyra.
• Check 3-5 different resources before clicking that "Pay" button anywhere. Recent test searches on a half-dozen sites brought me "lowest" price listings from $953 to $1842 - for a trip being booked four months in advance. Results constantly change, but for my test trip departing from San Diego to Heraklion, Crete on May 8th and returning on June 5th, done within minutes of each other, these were the results when I searched in mid-January 2007:
  Expedia - $1832
  Priceline - $1842
  Kayak - $1430 (quoting Cheaptickets)
  Orbitz - $1035
  Smartfares - $1004
  Cheaptickets - $953 (accessed directly)

  Other services, not searched at that time, include Travelocity.

  Important Warning about Searching for Flights to Greece
  Many of the search engines may give you the option of searching for flights to an alternate airport "near" Athens or other locations. There aren't any! I've seen a search for Athens suggest I look for flights to the island of Mykonos - it's only 94 miles away from Athens, but that's all water, requiring either a slow ferry, a more-expensive hydrofoil, or another flight over to Athens. I've also had searches suggest flying to the island of Santorini in order to get to the island of Crete, "only" 70 miles away.

  The sole exception for airport substitutions is for flights to Crete - there, flying into Chania Airport rather than Heraklion could work - you're at least on the same island.

• Find a great price on a particular airline using a travel search? Call the airline directly and ask if there are any other special promotions to that destination. Most of the time, the price posted on the internet will be the lowest - but not always.
• Similarly, if you've searched out a good price, and talked to the airline, compare both results to a direct search on the airline's own website. You may be surprised.
• Search in the middle of the night. Supposedly, many new prices go into effect at midnight or thereabouts - though time differences may make this magic moment a little obscure. You may find a discount that applies to only a few seats that will be long gone by morning.
• Check to see if "taxes and fees" are included and if a fuel surcharge is mentioned. All of these can make a rock-bottom price instantly jump up by hundreds of dollars.

Resources for Finding Cheap Flights to Greece

Bootsnall Travel Athens Flight Deals
This page shows consistently low fares on flights to Greece.

Booking Wiz.
This website, also affiliated with Bootsnall, allows you to check most of the "big name" travel providers with just one entry of your flight information. Still don't like what you find? Run another search at the individual providers and you may get additional results.

Aegean Airlines
Aegean operates only in Europe and is somewhat hampered by the number of cities it flies from, but its prices are frequently less than Olympic Airlines.

Olympic Airlines Bargain Page. Greece's flagship carrier sometimes offers discounts, and these can be very good deals. Find them on the website and ask about them when you call.

Delta Airlines
This airline frequently promotes flights to Athens.

KLM
Another airline often offering low fares to Athens.

WeFlyHome.com
This website within Lufthansa offers special rates for flights to Greece. Lufthansa is actively trying to tie up more of the Athens' flight marketplace, so their prices are often very good.

Kayak.com
Kayak is an About partner which checks dozens of different airlines, flights, other comparison sites, and flight combinations.

Cheap Flights from Traditional Travel Agents

Almost forgotten in the Internet shuffle are traditional travel agents. Often, they will have access to flight deals from consolidators that can meet or beat posted prices elsewhere, and sometimes it's nice to have a real human to help with your trip details. Most of them charge a ticketing fee in addition to the ticket price, usually $10 - $35 per ticket. After comparing my U.S. travel agent to the search services, I now check with her first and then see what's offered online. So far, she hasn't lost my business.

More Advice on Cheap Flights

• Remember the adage - you can save time but not money, or you can save money but not time. After a certain point, the chance of saving $100 may not be worth another day of surfing or phoning.
• Have to save those last few dollars? Give it up - and instead of taking a taxi from Athens Airport to your hotel for 30-45 Euro, take the 3 Euro Airport Bus or the Metro instead. Then take a taxi. You'll haul your luggage a little more, but you'll save $40-$70 dollars over taking a cab.

More Cheap Flights to Greece Resources

Searching on your own? These may help.

• Airlines Flying to Greece - and where they fly from, making it easier to find cheap, unusual connection opportunities.
• Airports and Main Airport Codes in Greece
• More Greek Airport Codes

Compare airfares to Greece here: Find Greek Airfares

Find and compare hotel rates at many locations in Greece: Hotels in Greece