Information on finding a budget flight to Greece

Greece is one of the top holiday destinations but finding a cheap flight to get there, especially to Athens Greece, can be a bit tricky and there are some good reasons why this is so.

One of the main factors that affects the price of a flight ticket is the departure date you require, specifically whether your booking request is in or out of season. A second factor is the country from which you are departing and finally, which airline you are using to fly to Greece.

There are some very good reasons why the flights in peak season are not quite as cheap as advertised on the web from the many travel websites.

Firstly, Greece is a popular holiday destination and, secondly, there are also more than around 4 million Greeks, who live abroad and wish to return for the major holiday periods, namely, Christmas, Easter and the summer months.

What to do then?

It is important to make a search of prices, comparing one company with another, using independent travel agents as well as websites. Today I made a quick search to see what flights were available to Athens from London Heathrow. With a departure date of June a web search gave me prices ranging from £169-£715. 

These ex-pats. plus the tourists all add up to a lot of flight bookings which is a factor that pushes up the ticket prices during peak times.

Often people use this method of travel and book into the hotel for the whole period but only stay there for the first and last nights of their holiday, spending the rest of their trip island hopping and staying in reasonably priced studios on the islands that they decide to visit.

This kind of air booking can sometimes work completely in reverse of the above advice. Often the best bargains for cheap package holidays in Greece as well as cheap accommodation are the last-minute deals to Greece.

So if your decision to visit Greece is an impulsive one, this might be one way to choose to have secure hotel accommodation near your point of arrival and departure.

Are flights to Greece direct ?

Many of these flights to Athens were not direct ones. However, for the same date you can find much better value with a direct flight to Greece leaving from Luton Airport straight through to Athens for only £60, you can also try other smaller airports near London like Stansted and Gatwick airport.

Luton is almost the same distance from central London as Heathrow but is east rather than west. The point to make then is that it needs some knowledge about certain airlines, airports and patience during your web search to winkle out the best flight deals.

For some years now there have been several good airlines that do this route. From England is Easy jet which offers flights to Athens on a very low budget, especially if you book well ahead.

Low cost flights to Greece from Europe

Looking at some other European countries, Germany offers low cost flights to Athens, Thessaloniki and other airports in Greece through budget airlines like Air Berlin , German wings, and charters like LTU, TUY fly and others.

Looking at Greek airlines, Olympic Airlines cover a range of international flights to and from Greece but, as mentioned above, it is important to book well in advance to be sure to get the cheapest deal.

Another way to get a good deal is by looking at charter flights to Greece and the Greek islands.

These are the kind of cheap flights that include hotel accommodation as well. What we might call package deals. They can be especially good if you are looking for only a week or two and so cheap that you can ignore your hotel booking for all or part of your holiday and still be quids in!

How to book a budget flight to the Greek islands

Alternatively you could book a flight to a Greek island. All of the larger islands and many of the smaller ones have a small domestic airport served by Olympic or Aegean Airlines.

Many Greek islands that belong to the zone of package tourism during the summer season (which begins as early as the end of March and continues until the end of October) have direct flight connections with most European countries and airports.

However, if you want to fly to one of the smaller islands, that do not have direct European flights, you will have to go via Athens airport and change flights there onto the domestic lines of Olympic or Aegean airlines.

One last point, if you are intending to fly from Athens to a smaller island using Olympic flights be sure to pre-book your flight – and if your intended holiday dates are during the peak season, you should book several months in advance to ensure you get a seat.

Because the planes are often small, they get booked up very quickly and, remember, you will be competing for seats not only with other tourists or with Greeks who are returning to their roots from other countries , but also with local Greeks who are visiting friends or family on the islands or, having a relaxing island holiday of their own