Critique my flight plans for Athens and Rome

[Dancer Bob]

I agree with the open-jaw solution but you're leaving out the ATH-ROM leg.

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, Dancer Bob said:

I agree with the open-jaw solution but you're leaving out the ATH-ROM leg.

 

No.

 

What you want to do is purchase an open-jaw USA-ATH with FCO-USA.  Then, purchase a completely separate ticket for the ATH-FCO segment.  Don't put ATH-FCO on the ticket to/from the USA.

[waterbug123]

13 hours ago, Dancer Bob said:

I agree with the open-jaw solution but you're leaving out the ATH-ROM leg.

 

That is easily booked on a separate ticket on Aegean.  Or possibly ITA

[scottbee]

20 hours ago, Dancer Bob said:

I agree with the open-jaw solution but you're leaving out the ATH-ROM leg.

Easy to find a one-way flight in Europe for next to nothing

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by scottbee

[tscoffey]

On 4/24/2023 at 8:06 PM, Dancer Bob said:

I agree with the open-jaw solution but you're leaving out the ATH-ROM leg.

If I add in the ATH-ROM flight to a multi-city search, the price jumps from around $900 person to $1500.

($600 extra for what is maybe an $80-140 one-way flight)

 

Not sure if I am adding the flight incorrectly, or if 3-flight multi-city itineraries just work that way. I searched using similar weekdays in February, 2024, , and flight intervals, since flights in early April, 2024 are not yet available.

Edited April 26, 2023 by tscoffey

[Globaliser]

3 hours ago, tscoffey said:

If I add in the ATH-ROM flight to a multi-city search, the price jumps from around $900 person to $1500.

($600 extra for what is maybe an $80-140 one-way flight)

 

Not sure if I am adding the flight incorrectly, or if 3-flight multi-city itineraries just work that way. I searched using similar weekdays in February, 2024, , and flight intervals, since flights in early April, 2024 are not yet available.

 

I haven't researched this exhaustively for your situation, but the likely reason is the rules for different possible fares, along these lines.

 

If you price USA-Athens//Athens-Rome//Rome-USA in a single itinerary, a price will be returned that is fared in one of the following ways:

 

1. 50% of USA-Athens-USA with no stopover needed (fare A) plus 50% of USA-Athens-USA with a stopover in Rome (fare B). Fare A must be combinable with fare B. If you're lucky, fare A could be the same as fare B - in other words, the rules of the cheapest fare allow the stopover. However, sometimes the cheapest fare does not allow stopovers, so fare B is more expensive than fare A and the combined price goes up. Also, sometimes the cheapest fare cannot combine with fare B, so a more expensive fare must be used for both fare A and fare B.

 

2. 50% of USA-Athens-USA with no stopover needed (fare C) plus 50% of USA-Rome-USA (fare D) plus 100% of Athens-Rome (fare E). Fare C, fare D and fare E must all be combinable with each other. In this situation, you don't need fare D to allow a stopover. However, it may be that the cheapest fares cannot combine with fare E (especially if fare E is a different airline's fare), so more expensive fares must be used for both fare C and fare D.

 

If you price USA-Athens//Rome-USA alone, then the price is 50% of USA-Athens-USA with no stopover needed (fare C) plus 50% of USA-Rome-USA with no stopover needed (fare D). The only real restriction here is that fare C and fare D must be combinable with each other, but because it isn't difficult to find a single airline (or airline group) that offers both USA-Athens-USA and USA-Rome-USA fares, this tends not to be a problem. That is why open-jaw pricing for itineraries like USA-Athens//Rome-USA can work so well. And in your particular situation, it really doesn't matter that Athens-Rome is on a separate ticket.

[Dancer Bob]

scottbee's solution left the OP sitting in Athens after the cruise, the cost quoted didn't include the ATH-ROM flight. It should have been clearly stated to the OP that ATH-ROM is an entirely separate flight, almost certainly one-way on a different carrier, that it doesn't matter which airport he flies to, and the pitfalls of European low-cost carriers.

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, Dancer Bob said:

scottbee's solution left the OP sitting in Athens after the cruise, the cost quoted didn't include the ATH-ROM flight. It should have been clearly stated to the OP that ATH-ROM is an entirely separate flight, almost certainly one-way on a different carrier, that it doesn't matter which airport he flies to, and the pitfalls of European low-cost carriers.

 

As I read it, scottbee's post seemed to be addressing exactly the same thing that I've just posted about above: the significant increase in price if trying to add Athens-Rome in to the same itinerary as the inter-continental flights. The answer is to leave the Athens-Rome flight out of the search.

 

I think that everyone (including the OP) already understood that Athens-Rome would then be bought separately. I doubt that any of us thinks that walking or swimming that part of the trip is a feasible option.

[scottbee]

5 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

As I read it, scottbee's post seemed to be addressing exactly the same thing that I've just posted about above: the significant increase in price if trying to add Athens-Rome in to the same itinerary as the inter-continental flights. The answer is to leave the Athens-Rome flight out of the search.

 

I think that everyone (including the OP) already understood that Athens-Rome would then be bought separately. I doubt that any of us thinks that walking or swimming that part of the trip is a feasible option.

 

Sorry if I didn't make this clear enough

Ticket1:

  Ohio-ATH

  FCO-Ohio

Ticket 2
  ATH-FCO (there are a lot of carriers, ITA, Agean, SkyExpress, RyanAir)

  This ticket should be around US$150 w/ luggage fees

 

 

[Haljo1935]

On 4/21/2023 at 6:41 PM, tscoffey said:

Is there any possibility of skipping that initial hop to Rome first, which I do so that Ohio<-->Rome is a roundtrip, and go straight to Athens, then return to Ohio from Rome? Whenever I price that as 2 one-way flights it is almost double.

 

Can a TA get me a better deal on those 2 one-way trips? 

This was my question/suggestion as well. But do it as a multi-city rather than 2-one way tickets; that's usually less expensive. 

Let us know your final outcome and enjoy your trip!

[tscoffey]

I ended up reserving a multi-city, Ohio to Athens, Rome to Ohio with Celebrity at just over $1000 per person.today,  I booked the Aegean Air one-way from Athens to Rome for $62 per person (on the first day that flight from Aegean became available - I’ve been checking every day for 3 weeks). I had been hoping for a cheaper multi-city itinerary, but it seems that early April is the start of the tourist season in Italy, so prices jump quite a bit compared to early March.

 

All in all, I am quite satisfied with the end result. We’ll have 2 1/2 days in Athens pre-cruise, and a wonderful almost 5 days in Rome post-cruise. (Oh, and the cruise has 3 days in Israel, and 2 days in Egypt - with once-in-a-lifetime visits to classic sites of antiquity).

Edited June 8, 2023 by tscoffey