TIA!!
Experiencing a little sticker shock with regards to flights!
For anyone who has a learning curve for me to glean on:
Is it cheaper to fly into athens and out of heraklion back to US thereby booking as 2 separate one way flights?
OR......
Ferry/fly back to Athens and book as round trip?
SO grateful for this forum!
You shouldn't just look at the cheaper.
Athens (Piraeus) ↔ Heraklion by ferry is 9 hours and around €40 in economy. When arriving in Athens you will have to go to the port of Piraeus. Since you probably won't arrive early enough to catch a morning ferry, you'll need to take a night ferry and you'll be in Crete the next morning.
Athens ↔ Heraklion by flight is 50 minutes and around 70 to 120€ depending on the company, the season and if there is checked baggage. At the airport you will only have to go up to the departure level to take your flight to Crete. There are at least 10 flights per day to Heraklion (depending on the season) with Olympic or Sky Express
Assuming you are flying from USA to Athens to start your trip. Then ending your trip in Crete to go home.
Normally, folks get a roundtrip ticket to Athens. You should start your trip in Crete and end it in Athens, as getting back to Athens can have problems in Greece (strikes, weather). If you arrive in Athens on an overnight flight, you could book a separate afternoon flight to Crete. Touring Athens at the end of your trip gives you a cushion before your flight home.
Edited to add: Flights within Europe are cheap. I normally fly to or out of Greece from another country (where I have my roundtrip flights from the US), but I have the ability to visit friends before or after that flight, so I'm not worried about missing connecting flights on separate tickets. Otherwise, you may want to spend an overnight between those flights as a cushion, which won't work for you if you have limited vacation time.
I use www.skyscanner.com for searching intra-Europe flights.
I thank you Both for all your help!
