Messages

1

Plakias / Aegean moving from Stansted

« on: January 15, 2010, 05:13:50 PM »

A rather belated follow-up to my 10th September posting - I hope it answers some queries and uncertainties.

The cost was about two-thirds of Easyjet, but the service certainly wasn't!  It felt like a civilised airline - as expected, no fighting at the departure gate;  a decent baggage allowance which didn't cost extra;  a decent (by airline standards anyway) meal which also didn't cost extra - quite a contrast with EJ's expensive egg-and-cress sandwiches and the foul burnt tarry liquid they serve in cups marked "Starbucks".  

Aegean fly from Terminal 1, and contrary to Noopsy's fears, the distance from departure lounge to departure gate was perhaps a quarter to a third of the distance to the EJ departure gate at Gatwick.  (But I agree Heathrow is a rambling sort of monster nowadays! A far cry from the first time I flew from there over 50 years ago!)

The stopover in Athens was a little over one hour - a very minor inconvenience; anyway Athens airport is quite a pleasant place as airports go.  It was altogether outweighed by the greater convenience all round of both Heathrow and Hania over Gatwick and Heraklion, and the very much pleasanter experience at the airports and on the flights.

The fact that Aegean can cost less than EasyJet, and certainly costs less than Olympic or the Hania charters, only being fairly reliably beaten on cost by Heraklion charters from major UK airports, is just extra icing on the cake!  Very strongly recommended on all counts.

Hope this helps!    George H

2

Plakias / Aegean moving from Stansted

« on: September 10, 2009, 06:47:00 PM »

Looking at late October when we plan to come, Aegean Heathrow to Chania and back (via Athens of course) is about two-thirds the price of Easjet from Gatwick to Iraklion and back. Amazing! Like Rowena and Carl, Heathrow is better placed for us than either Gatwick or Stanstead, and as for the choice between Chania and Iraklion... for me it's no contest, Chania wins on every count!! Admittedly we shall be based in the Apokoronas, but I think the distance to Plakias is about the same from Chania or Iraklion.
I'm also hoping Aegean won't have a 10-15 minute walk to the Heathrow boarding gate as EJ do at Gatwick, and I shall enjoy the luxury of choosing my seats at check-in, rather than having to elbow my way through the crowds of non-Speedy Boarders. There's just a chance the journey might become quite enjoyable again!
Αll in all, this seems pretty good news to me!

3

Holiday Companies / Escape the airport and live a little

« on: June 23, 2009, 08:57:42 PM »

An option we found particularly enjoyable - we had several hours to kill in Athens - was to take the Metro from the airport to Monastiraki, stow our luggage in the left-luggage lockers there (it's one of only 2 or 3 Metro stations that has these lockers) and walk up to the Acropolis: an easy climb through some very attractive corners of old Athens. Then the Metro again from Monastiraki to Piraeus. You have to change trains anyway at Monastiraki.

A word of warning however: the cheapest way to do this appears to be to get a ticket from the Airport to Piraeus and just break your journey at Monastiraki (a ticket for 2 people costs €10).  DON'T!  The Metro tickets have to be validated by sticking them in a time-stamping machine before you board the train: they are then valid for travel for all of 90 minutes.  Even if you're simply changing trains at Monastiraki, rather than actually breaking the journey there, you may well only just about complete the trip in 90 minutes.  And if you're caught with an "expired" ticket the fine is €40 per person.  You can appeal by email (tricky, because the Inspectors will give you the wrong email address) when you get home, and if you do so nicely, the fines office *may* let you off.  But the whole procedure takes a lot of time and leaves a rather unpleasant flavour.  As you may have guessed, I speak from experience!  Get one ticket to Monastiraki; then when you get back there after your wanderings, get a new ticket to complete the journey.

Flying to Athens.  For those who haven't tried it, it's much easier and cheaper than flying to Crete!! You don't have to travel with dear old Olympic if you don't like them: BA go from Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester; EasyJet from Gatwick, Luton and Manchester; Aegean (haven't seen many mentions of them on this forum but perhaps I'm going blind) - "Airline of the Year 2008" - from Stanstead, and they're better all round as well as cheaper than Olympic.

If the fast ferry is the only option to Rethymno when you're going and it doesn't appeal, some *very* plush Anek ferries go overnight to Haniá and, I believe, to Iraklion.  IMHO it's MUCH the best way of getting to Crete....

Sorry this has been so long - hope it gives someone some help/ideas.