Olympic Airlines - The Final Screw

So we all know I hate Olympic right? Nothing new there except why do we always fly with them. I suppose it’s because it’s one of the only non stop flights from
Toronto to Athens and because they allow us somewhat more luggage than other carriers. I’ve come to realize that it’s a low cost carrier and made allowances. I always bring my own blanket and earphones just in case and lots of snacks for when I get hungry in the middle of the night. I know from experience that the flight attendants are nowhere to be found; they are usually snoozing in first class.

This time though I was more hesitant to book with them knowing that they had been sold to a private investment group called Mafin. The deal was closing September 30th and our return trip is October 29th. I asked the most important question of our travel agent when booking, will anything change. The answer was a definite no, all flights would remain the same. NOT…

It came as a shock to find out about three weeks ago that many overseas routes were being abandoned by Marfin including Montreal, Toronto and New York. For three weeks there was no news other than what I was able to get from Greek bloggers. I received a text message from a friend who heard that Olympic would code share with another airline and honor all tickets so I didn’t worry too much. Two emails to our travel agent have remained unanswered thus far but I have received one email directly from Olympic. It states the following;

Dear sir/madam,

we kindly inform you that due to Olympic Airlines closure and change of ownership, for any information, bookings, change of reservation or refund you should either refer to the closest Olympic Airlines office or call directly the Athens reservation department at +30 210 966 66 66. The latter will be active by september 30th.

I have phoned this number a few times to no avail. It is not possible to speak to a person and I can’t stay on hold forever. I have a pay as you use phone card for a cell phone that is incredibly expensive so I could run through a 20 euro card very quickly and never get to talk to anyone.

So today Steve made the long trip into Athens to see about the tickets. He came back with bad news. The Olympic Airlines office in Athens is closed with no information as to where the new Olympic Air office can be found. There is no easy way to get this information either. Steve is going to make the trip to the airport on Monday and hope to find an Olympic Air representative who will have a solution for us. There are no easy resolutions for anything here… It is estimated that there are between 3000 and 5000 stranded passengers and I suppose we are just collateral damage.