CreteForYou.com
Travel to Crete
Dedicated to travel between the UK and Crete
Back to top
Click icons below for flight search pages.
The following paragraph appears (in almost identical wording) in every charter airline’s Terms and Conditions.
“It is a strict condition of booking that you confirm your inbound flight details with the local office noted on your itinerary (not the airport authorities) not more than 48 hours and not less than 18 hours prior to the previously notified flight time.
The company cannot accept any liability if you fail to comply with this condition and, due to a flight change, you miss your return flight.”
It is more important for independent travellers to observe this condition than package holiday travellers who will have company representatives to keep them informed.
Charter airlines sometimes offer very low ONE WAY fares for first and last flights of the season. That is, the first flight from the UK will have no tourists to collect in Crete so cheap seats may be offered FROM Crete back to the UK as the plane would otherwise be empty (except for crew). Similarly, at the end of the season, there may be cheap seats available on the empty plane coming from the UK to collect the last holiday passengers. Some of the charter companies publish prices for these flights but others do not.
In addition to taxes and charges there is a special levy on all flights from Athens, currently €12 per ticket for EU destinations and €22 for destinations outside the EU. This is the Athens Airport Development Fund.
It does not apply to transfer passengers so, if you change airlines (or have booked flights separately with the same airline) in Athens you can reclaim this charge.
How to reclaim the levy.
Direct flights to Crete are available only during the summer season, April to October. There are year-round flights to Athens and from there to Crete
Those starting their journey from Crete, either direct or via Athens to London Heathrow, and wishing to rent a vehicle may find the Heathrow Airport Guide useful.
If there are no flights to Crete from your local airport or flight days are unsuitable you could consider flying to another airport, especially if the cost the flight is offset by cheaper fares to Crete, as is sometimes the case.
Example: There are no flights from Edinburgh direct to Crete but all charter companies and easyJet have flights to Crete from Gatwick, usually with lower fares than from more distant airports. BA and easyJet both offer competitive fares from Edinburgh to Gatwick.
On 02/12/2011 a Thomas Cook flight Glasgow/Heraklion return for 5 - 19 June 2011 was available for £350. For the same dates easyJet Edinburgh/Gatwick + Gatwick/Heraklion return could have been booked for £289.
The table below is not a complete list but shows some useful routes.
Other routes may be found on airports’ web sites under “Destinations”.
Instead of flying, there are overnight ferries between Athens (Piraeus) and Chania and Heraklion using modern ferries with comfortable cabins, restaurants and other excellent facilities. Transport between the airport, central Athens and ferry port is frequent and good.
ALTERNATIVE
FLIGHTS
Fares shown at the start of the on-line booking process are, usually, so called “headline” prices. These include mandatory charges, e.g. airport fees and taxes but not “optional” extras - hold baggage, in-flight meals, booking fees, etc. This makes price comparison more complicated.
For the top twenty-four airlines (based on number of flights) the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has published a table of these extras that can be viewed here or downloaded here.
All airlines flying between the UK and Crete are included, except FlyTorAir and Aegean.
FlyTorAir charges can be viewed here.
The only extra charge added by Aegean is a service fee of £2/€2 per person.
AVRO/MONARCH
FAQs
Terms and Conditions
Contact
EASYJET
FAQs
Terms and Conditions
Customer service
Phone Contact
e-mail
FLYTHOMASCOOK
FAQs
Terms and Conditions
Contact
FLYTORAIR
FAQs
Conditions of carriage
Terms of business
Contact
JET2.COM
FAQs
Terms and Conditions
Customer service
OLYMPIC HOLIDAYS
FAQs
Terms and Conditions
Contact
RYANAIR
FAQs
Terms and Conditions
Contact
THOMSONFLY
