Greece 2016 Trip Report: Day 16 (Aegean Sea)

This morning my worst (travel) nightmare happened. I received an email from Aegean Airlines saying that our flight for Sunday morning at 6:40 am was canceled due to an air traffic control strike. I leaped out of bed. We have to be in Athens to get on our Delta flight at noon back to NYC. I raced to reception of our hotel without washing my face or even combing my hair. I asked what should we do. They said our best option was to get on the next ferry to Santorini right away. The next one would be leaving at 3:30 pm and take about 8 hours to reach Athens. I would need to go to a travel agency to pick up tickets when the office opens at 9 am. I raced back to my room to get ready.

The Unglamorous Side of Travel

When I returned to the reception desk in a more presentable manner, the woman there gently told me that if my flight to Santorini to Athens was canceled, than most likely my flight with Delta was as well. That thought had not crossed my mind at all during the frenzy of recalibrating my thought process of forgoing the other hotel we had booked tonight on the other side of Santorini and getting a refund from Aegean. But deep down the news sunk in and I checked my Email and had no communications from Delta. I went on the Delta website and it said my flight was still on.

Confused, I tried to call Delta but because I'm in Greece, you cannot make toll free calls to the US. Ok. Let me trying calling a Delta office in Greece. I checked online only to find those offices are only open Monday to Friday. Of course. Given that it was 9 am on a Saturday in Greece, I wasn't sure who I could text in NY to put me thru. Luckily I have a night owl friend in Florida and I saw on facebook messenger she was just active 6 minutes ago.

I texted to see if she was still awake (must have been 2 am her time). She wrote back yes immediately and asked what was up. I told her I needed to call her so she could connect me to Delta. Done. She helped put me thru.

The woman I spoke with at Delta insisted the flight was still scheduled to leave. I asked if she was sure. She said yes. An hour later, Delta even sent me an email asking me to check in online. By then I had gotten the tickets to Santorini with Blue Star Ferry. I gotta say the staff at Santorini Princess Spa was kind. They saw how upset I was and did whatever they could to help. You would think I'd be thrilled to have an extended vacation but that's not how I saw it. I saw this as a mess I would have to untangle later with refunds and rebooking and new bookings. Also I have so much work waiting for me in NYC, I do feel bad being out of the office for any more time.

Anyway I tried to find more news about the strikes. Finally the Athens International Airport spelled it out loud and clear. Two strikes are to happen. Sunday and Monday and then Wednesday and Thursday. A glimmer of hope. That means the airports should run on Tuesday. And they obviously planned it this way to annoy travelers and promote their cause but not have too much disruption.

I was really upset by the news. Moreso because I remember when I was booking this trip, I was going to leave Saturday instead of Sunday. Had I left today, I wouldn't have to deal with the stress and extra expenses. I also remember reading about the strikes from the around the same time as last year. And I remember thinking what are the chances it'll happen again on my exact travel dates?

Anyway I tried to call Delta again, by way of another friend who woke up in the middle of night who saw my text (Florida friend was asleep). I spoke to a man and he also said my flight was still on not to worry. I asked anyway if there were any seats for Tuesday and could I rebook just in case. He said there was nothing available for Tuesday (Delta seems to have just one flight a day to JFK from Athens). I insisted it didn't make sense. I told him about the Athens airport website and how other guests at my hotel definitely had canceled flight notifications too. He finally seemed to check into it and put me on hold to talk to supervisors or another support area. I was on hold for maybe ten minutes. Finally he confirmed yes. The flight would be canceled due to the strikes. I don't know why Delta didn't have this information sooner. I had spoken to guests from Canada earlier that morning who said their Airlines had told them and the receptionist also had told me other American flights had said it too (but she didn't remember which ones).

He then said he could get me out next Saturday! On a flight that would connect via Rome. It would be of no extra charge. He said I could rebook before the 17th and try to take a train to another city in another country and fly out if there's availability with Delta or one of their partner airlines (Air France, Alitalia, KLM). Since I was about to board my 8 hour ferry, I told him I would think about it then and call Delta back later when I got to Athens.

I hate wasting time so I was annoyed to take the ferry to Athens. But honestly it's not too bad at all. Economy tickets are cheap (40 euros) and it's a huge ferry and no assigned seating. But the way the seats are seem more comfortable. There's tables and chair settings to choose from like at a restaurant rather than lined seats like it is on planes. They have those for business class but I honestly think Econ is more roomier because you can rearrange your chairs around.

Also there is wifi on board (3 euros for 2 hours) and places to charge your electronics. And phone carrier service works well too. Before we left Santorini I did manage to book a hotel in Athens for tonight. We were initially going to sleep at the airport but once we knew there are no flights there was no point. Also I wasn't sure if we could get on the ferry tomorrow and didn't want to risk it so gave up our last day in Santorini to get to Athens as soon as possible.

Because we don't get into Athens until close to midnight, I asked the hotel to arrange a pickup for us at the port. Athens Status Suites was very helpful and so we have a transfer to the hotel for 25 euros. I like arranging with the hotel just in case because I don't feel you can trust the taxi driver you run into especially late at night. Also I had done no research on how to get from the Athens port to Athens and didn't have time to either so having the hotel arrange it was easier.

So 30 min. into our ferry ride, the boat made an announcement that it was returning to Santorini due to a sick passenger. I thought, wow could this day get any better. Luckily they also said the boat would still continue at least.

I forgot to mention if you ever take Blue Star Ferry from Santorini, the check in is at Gate 4 and best to get there an hour early to get in line. The ferry is coming from other islands first so there is as rush/horde to get on after other passengers depart. Otherwise boarding wasn't too bad and unlike Hellenic Seaways where we had to put our luggage downstairs, we could bring everything up. I think because this ferry holds automobiles down below.

Finally another hour later, I got an email from Delta. They had rebooked us on a new flight at 10 am to JFK to depart Tuesday. I'm not sure if this is a brand new flight in addition to their usual 12:30 pm one. I had checked before that there was only one Tuesday flight at 12:30 and not sure if this is moved to 10 am or they are having one flight at 10 and another at 12:30. In any event, my fleeting dream of one extra week of vacation in Rome faded and it looks like I just need to figure out a hotel for Sunday and Monday.

I know there are bigger issues in the world and this travel inconvenience is really nothing in the grand scheme of things but I just didn't want to stress about making more bookings or dealing with refund requests. And I do feel bad not being at work because it is a busy period for us this week. Lastly I'm sad I missed out on a final beach day! But I'll get over it. I'm also not thrilled about having to be in Athens again but will make do...

The ferry ride has been beautiful though.

My love for the Aegean Sea remains though

Whoops didn't realize this is blurry and don't know to delete from the blogging app