5 Reasons to Fly Emirates From the US to Greece

Once summertime approaches, several airlines from the US start flying non-stop from the US to Athens, Greece. Greece is a beautiful tourist destination and becomes extremely popular from June – September. Thanks to the massive amount of beaches and islands, tourists from all over the world stop in for a visit to enjoy some culture, great food, history, and beautiful sand and sunshine.

5 Reasons to Fly Emirates From the US to Greece

5 Non-Stop Options to Greece – Why Emirates?

For people visiting Greece from the US, there are 5 non-stop options. I prefer the non-stop flights as it is only a bit longer than flights from, say, Germany to the US and you don’t have to deal with those connecting flights. Not only that, but the flight schedules tend to sync up pretty nicely with many other flights from Athens to destinations around Greece.

So, if you are planning on heading to Greece this summer and you have not yet bought your ticket, you may be leaning towards American Airlines, Delta, or United for that trip. There are a couple of good reasons to do that – connecting flights and… Sorry, guess that is really the only good reason to do that! 🙂

Forget Award Tickets on US Carriers!

See, chances are very good that you will not find an award seat on those carriers for the US to Athens flights – not even in economy! Forget trying to fly business class on awards! So, we can strike the award flight as an option. Instead, let’s focus on the reasons to fly the other non-stop to Greece – the foreign carrier Emirates.

Review: Emirates Economy Class from Athens to Newark – Business Class Without the Seat

1. Baggage

While the US carriers will only give you 1 bag for this overseas adventure, Emirates will give you 2 bags at 50lbs each for your flight to Greece! That is great for all the tourists (or people visiting family) that want to pack for various excursions or maybe cruises. It also gives you a lot of space to bring back some great Greek delicacies or gifts for family members.

Yes, Emirates did lose one of my bags on a flight but they did find it eventually and reimbursed me for the contents of it. They also kept in touch with me throughout the weeks it was gone so I certainly do not fault them for how they handled it.

2. Food

Emirates did a very nice job – in economy – of providing very tasty dishes. For anyone that flies US carriers abroad, you may think that getting good food in economy is a myth. It is not! Emirates does a good job of it and even gives you real metal cutlery!

3. Service & Entertainment

Again, if you normally fly US carriers, you may not realize how great service on other carriers can be. Emirates did a great job of giving real and polite service to all passengers on board – whether you were in economy class or one of the upper classes. They came by often to check on drink needs and to look after passengers with smaller children or elderly.

Emirates is known for having an impressive offering of entertainment on their planes in the system they call ice. The screen is decent quality for economy and the selection of shows and movies is really extensive. I went through all of the options to see just how many things were available and found something I never really see on other airlines – complete (or mostly complete) TV seasons.

Also, they gave a pretty nice amenity kit – again, in economy class! This is not something you would get on US carriers and is a nice touch for the 11 hour flight.

4. Price

Emirates often runs sales for flights from NYC to their two European destinations (available as non-stops from NYC) – Milan and Athens. When these sales run, you can often get a roundtrip ticket from the US to Greece for right around (or under) $400 per person! For a flight that has comfort on board and 2 bags for coach passengers, that is a great deal!

If you can plan ahead, take advantage of the next time a sale like that comes up as it will save you a lot of money over the prices offered by American, Delta, and United.

Even deals on business class exist with tickets costing around $2,000 or less. Yes, I know, still steep for many but compared to what the US carriers charge. That is not that bad. Or, you could just try to sneak into business class like this guy…

5. Year Round

While the US carriers end their non-stop flights to Athens around the end of October, Emirates is the only airline to fly year round to Greece from the US – non-stop. Again, the summer period is hugely popular with tourists (with some islands seeing over 1/2 million visitors over the course of the summer – while only having 50,000 residents during the off-season!). But, Greece should not be ignored the rest of the year!

There is a lot of beauty and history to enjoy throughout Greece in the “off-months” – and that includes some cheaper trips as well! The islands can still be just as beautiful and you may even be able to pick up a reservation at an ultra-high end resort for about 15% of what it was just 2 weeks before!

If you want to fly non-stop to Greece from November to May, Emirates is your only option

Bonus – First Class!

Not everyone will use this one so I did not count it as one of the 5 reasons. But, Emirates is the only carrier flying between the US and Greece that offers first class cabins. These seats are the same ones as on their A380 – but you don’t get the onboard shower. Still, if you wanted to enjoy first class to/from Europe, this flight would have to be the best way to do it for 2 reasons – Emirates’ First Class is amazing and it will give you the most time onboard from Europe to the East Coast in a first class cabin.

Emirates does have connecting flights that they offer with Aegean which brings you the whole Greek flight network at your fingertips when planning your flights. If you do plan on visiting Greece, definitely take a look at Emirates as the carrier to get you there!