Will I make my flight from Athens port

[mikem1977]

So long story short, Delta has changed our flight time from Athens to JFK four times in the past three months. Originally we were supposed to depart at Noon on the 29th of April, but now our flight is at 10:20 am.

 

By the itinerary, it shows that we will arrive in Athens at 4 am on the 29th, but Princess rep said disembarkation will not be till 7:30 am (not sure why 3.5 hours is needed). 

 

If disembarkation is truly at 7:30 am and our flight is at 10:20 am, what is the likelihood that we will make our flight? 

[princeton123211]

2 hours ago, mikem1977 said:

So long story short, Delta has changed our flight time from Athens to JFK four times in the past three months. Originally we were supposed to depart at Noon on the 29th of April, but now our flight is at 10:20 am.

Our Delta flight from Athens to JFK didn't even show up at all due to a last minute mechanical-- had to be rebooked on Air Canada through Montreal-- not fun. 

 

2 hours ago, mikem1977 said:

By the itinerary, it shows that we will arrive in Athens at 4 am on the 29th, but Princess rep said disembarkation will not be till 7:30 am (not sure why 3.5 hours is needed). 

 

If disembarkation is truly at 7:30 am and our flight is at 10:20 am, what is the likelihood that we will make our flight? 

The cruise line is padding time a bit-- in all likelihood you'll arrive early to Athens but they don't want to commit to it in case there is an unforeseen delay which can happen.

 

It's about a 45 minute slog to the airport, possibly more with morning traffic-- unless the ship is cleared and you can self disembark around 730-8am at the latest this is going to be very tight.  

[Lois R]

6 hours ago, mikem1977 said:

So long story short, Delta has changed our flight time from Athens to JFK four times in the past three months. Originally we were supposed to depart at Noon on the 29th of April, but now our flight is at 10:20 am.

 

By the itinerary, it shows that we will arrive in Athens at 4 am on the 29th, but Princess rep said disembarkation will not be till 7:30 am (not sure why 3.5 hours is needed). 

 

If disembarkation is truly at 7:30 am and our flight is at 10:20 am, what is the likelihood that we will make our flight? 

I would not do it. Actually, my flight home was originally 10:30 (for April as well) and my cruise rep said no way.....  they were able to find another one leaving at 1:30pm. Yes, I have to stop in Europe but I am ok with that....gets me back to JFK at 8:00pm.  I would look for a later flight. 

[pdmlynek]

On 2/14/2023 at 10:57 AM, mikem1977 said:

If disembarkation is truly at 7:30 am and our flight is at 10:20 am, what is the likelihood that we will make our flight? 

I agree with others: this would be tough to do.  

 

It is likely that if everything works smoothly, you'll be able to make it.  The problem is that you are traveling in Greece; things go wrong much more frequently than what you may be used to.  You simply have no safety margin.  

[Hlitner]

I do not understand why it will take over 3 hours to begin debarkation, but we would certainly not dismiss the info from Princess.  If you are booking through Princess EZAIR, and they permit the booking, then we might gamble.  But if doing our own air, and Princess sticks to their 7:30 debarkation, there is no way.  That would likely get you to the airport less than 2 hours before the flight, which is just not acceptable for an International flight.  Too risky,

 

Hank

[princeton123211]

19 hours ago, Hlitner said:

hat would likely get you to the airport less than 2 hours before the flight, which is just not acceptable for an International flight.

It is acceptable-- I've checked in for an international flight 1hr and 1min before departure which is the actual cutoff to fly.

 

But in this particular case there are too many outside forces that can conspire and it would most likely not work out. 

[Hlitner]

43 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

It is acceptable-- I've checked in for an international flight 1hr and 1min before departure which is the actual cutoff to fly.

 

But in this particular case there are too many outside forces that can conspire and it would most likely not work out. 

I assume you have a lot of experience at ATH and other European airports  🙂We are mere newbies with only about 55 years of international travel.  What you call "acceptable" regarding an airline's check-in requirements is far different than the time needed to get through security, Passport Control, and to one's gate.  The road to missed flights is paved with folks who said "I checked-in on time."  That being said, we have found that things move along faster at ATH than at many other European airports.  

 

So, the old saying applies:  "Are you feeling lucky?"

 

Hank

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

I assume you have a lot of experience at ATH and other European airports

I do. In Europe nearly monthly for work. Plenty of times in Athens. 

 

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

What you call "acceptable" regarding an airline's check-in requirements is far different than the time needed to get through security, Passport Control, and to one's gate.

Not necessarily. In the example of my checkin, I was escorted through security and passport control directly to the aircraft. Made it with plenty of time. Obviously this isn't everyone's experience every time they fly. 

 

What I took issue with was the assertion when you said that anything under 2 hours wasn't acceptable for an international check in-- that is not true. It is usually a 1 hour cutoff. 

 

Again, in this scenario the chances of making that flight are slim and the OP should make alternate plans, but if they arrived at the airport in less than 2 hours, they could certainly try to make it and wouldn't be prevented from doing so by any rules. 

[mikem1977]

Thank you all for your input and feedback. This has been an extremely frustrating experience with Delta not just on the Athens flight back from Europe but also on the front side when we are flying from JFK to Barcelona on the 13th. That one went from an 8:50 pm departure, to a 10 pm departure on a totally different plane so we lost our premium select seats, to they changed the plane again and rebooked us to fly out the next day (14th) so we had to call and get our seats back for the 13th flight... so needless to say, it has been very frustrating.

 

I honestly think after reading all of your feedback we are going to shift to a later flight. Even if there is a slim chance of making the 10:20 am flight, if we miss that then we could potentially be stuck in a whole other world of problems. It is better to just take the 2:50 pm flight that will connect in Paris and then to JFK. It will mean spending the night in JFK and flying back to Austin the next day, but will be the safest route vs trying to roll the dice.

[Lois R]

On 2/18/2023 at 12:57 PM, mikem1977 said:

Thank you all for your input and feedback. This has been an extremely frustrating experience with Delta not just on the Athens flight back from Europe but also on the front side when we are flying from JFK to Barcelona on the 13th. That one went from an 8:50 pm departure, to a 10 pm departure on a totally different plane so we lost our premium select seats, to they changed the plane again and rebooked us to fly out the next day (14th) so we had to call and get our seats back for the 13th flight... so needless to say, it has been very frustrating.

 

I honestly think after reading all of your feedback we are going to shift to a later flight. Even if there is a slim chance of making the 10:20 am flight, if we miss that then we could potentially be stuck in a whole other world of problems. It is better to just take the 2:50 pm flight that will connect in Paris and then to JFK. It will mean spending the night in JFK and flying back to Austin the next day, but will be the safest route vs trying to roll the dice.

Hi, I am doing the same thing......my flight from Athens via Vienna arrives at JFK at 8:00pm in the evening. I am staying overnight at the airport and taking a flight home the next morning. There were no late flights home anyway and no need to stress whether you would make it (even if there was). 

Personally, I think you are doing the right thing.......😀

[princeton123211]

On 2/18/2023 at 12:57 PM, mikem1977 said:

It is better to just take the 2:50 pm flight that will connect in Paris and then to JFK. It will mean spending the night in JFK and flying back to Austin the next day, but will be the safest route vs trying to roll the dice.

If you're going to overnight in JFK anyway, why not just spend the night in Athens and get an extra day to tour around? Then just take the Delta flight the next morning. 

[mikem1977]

56 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

If you're going to overnight in JFK anyway, why not just spend the night in Athens and get an extra day to tour around? Then just take the Delta flight the next morning. 

We honestly thought about that as well, but didn't want to take the risk of something happening that Sunday to our Athens flight and then won't get back to Texas till Monday. Both the wife and I are taking 14 days PTO for the cruise so trying to avoid last minute requests for more time off (I would love it, but not sure our employers would 🙂 )