Flights December - January

[Guy M]

Has anyone got any tips on flights at non silly prices from the U.K. to Crete just before Christmas,returning to the U.K. in early New Year? Thanks.

[Kilkis]

That's the time when a large percentage of Greek students studying in the UK come back to Greece for Christmas so I wouldn't bank on getting anything cheap. Probably £400 plus per person. Supply and demand. There are no direct flights so you will have at least one stop. You could try Easyjet/Ryanair to Athens and then Sky Express Athens to Crete. I think Norwegian fly direct from Oslo to Crete in the winter so you could fly Gatwick to Crete via Oslo still with only one stop. Otherwise it is pretty much Aegean all the way via Athens or possibly Thessaloniki I think. There is a BA flight London to Athens but I wouldn't expect it to be cheap.

You can probably knock €100 off the total price by flying via an intermediate airport on the London Athens leg, i.e. two stops in total, but you might be in for a 24 hour plus flight in at least one direction or around 14 hours in both directions just for that leg.

Warwick

[Jeffstclair]

Only advice I can offer, crash around on all the web sites and book it as early as you can...as Warwick says it's a busy time so seat availability is scarce.

[Guy M]

Thanks both - that’s what I thought. Via Athens it is - and a deep breath before looking at the price.

[Kilkis]

No harm in trying a few of the comparison web sites such as Expedia, Kayak, Skyscanne, Cheapflights etc. as well as going directly to the airlines.

Warwick

[Jean]

"just before Christmas,returning to the U.K. in early New Year" is peak season. Just as expensive as peak season in summer except that you don't have the option of using charters. If you can start your journey before the 20th of December and return after the 6th of January it should be substantially cheaper.

[Kilkis]

While I agree with Jean's post in principle you would have to extend the holiday quite a lot to make a significant difference. For example making it 14 December to 15 January could get the price down to around £160 per person from over £400. Shifting it a few days only makes a small difference.

It is also worth noting that the cheapest fares might involve using different airports, e.g. Luton flying out and Gatwick flying back. Not so good if you intend to drive to the airport.

Warwick

[BrizoH71]

I managed to get flights for me and the wife from Heraklion to Edinburgh via Athens 19 Dec - 2 Jan with Olympus/Easyjet/Volotea for pennies over £400 total.

Thought that wasn't bad at all.

[filippos]

What's the travel time, start to finish in each direction?

[BrizoH71]

What's the travel time, start to finish in each direction?

For me?

Outward, we leave Heraklion 19/12/18 via Olympus/Aegean @ 0835, arriving in Athens @ 0925. We have a few hours' wait in Athens until Easyjet take us to Edinburgh @ 1405, arriving in Edinburgh @ 1630.

Inward, we leave Edinburgh 2/1/18 via Easyjet @ 0730, arriving in Athens @ 1325. We have another wait in Athens until Volotea fly us back to Heraklion @ 1550, arriving back in Heraklion @ 1645.

[Jeffstclair]

Yeah I have done similar trips to Manchester to work on a panto in the old days ..I would take the metro in to Athens for a trip around the Museum or Lunch with some Athenian mates ....not a bad way to start a trip to the UK ....

[filippos]

What's the travel time, start to finish in each direction?

For me?

Yes, thanks. Wouldn't do for me. Despite being healthy and fairly fit for my age I'd flake out and need min. 24 hrs recovery, especially on the outbound journey.
Assuming my calculations are right, allowing for the 2hrs time difference, getting up in the early hours to get to the airport for check-in time, the hassle of security, twice (baggage claim, check-in and security at Athens), hanging about the airport for 4½ hrs, another 4+hrs on ATH-EDI flight, collecting baggage, getting through Passport control would be too much. I reckon from crawling out of bed to tottering out of EDI terminal would, with luck, take 13+hrs, conservatively (allowing only 1 hour check-in time at HER). Then there's still EDI airport to final destination. Returning is about 2-4 hrs less. Much rather you than me; you must have a strong constitution and body. I'd have to go on different dates.

[Kilkis]

It's difficult to do it in much less outside direct flight season, Filippos.

Warwick

[scooby]

Seems a decent price to me.

[filippos]

Seems a decent price to me.

It's not the price but the hours of travelling that would deter me. Thankfully, if I needed to go to the UK I wouldn't need to go to Edinburgh but only as far as Bristol. Out of season, I'd say bugger the cost and go Xania/Athens/Heathrow. Hopefully, I won't ever need to make that journey in winter, if ever. In season, I'd hope some airline flies HER or CHQ to Bristol.