Getting from here to there.

The itinerary that Expedia came up with to get me to Athens is odd. I leave DFW at 7:55 AM to take an Air Canada flight to Denver. Denver? That is northwest of Dallas – Athens is east. They’ll want me at DFW 5:55 AM which means leaving home at 4:25 AM! At Denver I’ll take another Air Canada flight to Montreal. I suppose that will mean that in Denver I will have to claim my checked baggage and go through security again as I am changing from a domestic flight to an international flight.

At Montreal I suspect I’ll again have to claim my checked baggage and go through security again before boarding a third Air Canada flight, this time to Athens. I’m wondering. In Montreal will I also have to go through Canadian customs and immigration? But once I’m on the plane to Athens I’ll not have to mess with that checked bag and security again until I get to Athens, reclaim my bag for the third time and go through Greek immigration and customs.

Once through all that, I have to get from the Athens airport to my hotel. I’m currently debating. The least expensive way would be to take the train that connects to the Athens subway, take the subway to downtown Athens, transfer to another subway to get within a few blocks of the hotel and then walk to the hotel – lugging my luggage all the way. The easiest and most expensive way would be to take a taxi.

And back again.

To return I am booked on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfort, Germany. That flight leaves at 6:15 AM! That means checking in at 4:15 AM!! Rather than leaving my Athens hotel at 3:15 AM I decided to spend an expensive few hours at the airport hotel that night. I’m guessing these red-eye flights were scheduled so as to be cheaper.

I imagine that I’ll have to claim my bag and go through security again at Frankfort. At least I shouldn’t need to go through customs and immigration, as Athens and Frankfort are European Union countries. At Frankfort I’ll take another Lufthansa flight to DFW.