Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

There appears to be a potential fare war brewing on flights to Athens.  It started with a fare sale by Emirates (h/t Running With Miles) on their direct Newark to Athens fifth-freedom flight (EWR-ATH).    That fare sale is for $433 roundtrip, but you get a discount for multiple passengers

a screenshot of a plane

If you fly with 2 people, you’re looking at about $770 total ($375 per person).  The direct Emirates EWR-ATH flights are blocked as follows

  • EWR-ATH 11:50pm – 4:10pm (+1) (9hr 15m)
  • ATH-EWR 5:25pm – 9:30pm (11hr 5m)

which is a fairly late arrival into Athens and not a super convenient return time for connections on the way back to Newark.

United and the Star Alliance strike back?

While I was messing around on those fares this morning (my son wants to go to Athens next year), I noticed that the Star Alliance was matching those fares out of New York, connecting in Zurich, Munich or Frankfurt usually.  I saw multiple dates into the spring as low as $463

a screenshot of a phone

The dates are much more wide open than the Emirates deal as well – check Google Flights for full information

(SEE ALSO: 6 reasons Google Flights is the best flight search engine out there)

Long layovers also an option

Using Google Flights and the multi city tool, I also found a few options where you could have an entire day in Zurich or a couple of different European cities

a screenshot of a flight schedule

That priced out at $468 with a full day in Zurich on the outbound.

Other cities?

I did not see any comparable deals from any other US cities – though there are decently cheap fares from all of the big places (Chicago, Washington, etc)

If you book the Emirates deal, I’d imagine you’d need to book directly through Emirates as I’m not sure OTAs would correctly capture the multi-passenger discount (but maybe they would).  For the Star Alliance sale, you can book through OrbitzInvalid request error occurred., ExpediaInvalid request error occurred., PricelineInvalid request error occurred. or any other OTA.

Good luck and happy booking!


This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them

User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.

BoardingArea