Travel date: 19.01.2023, A3806 Athens to Munich, Business Class
This review is part of my travel with Aegean Airlines from Paphos to Munich via Athens. I only review the second part of this journey, because I placed a bid for an upgrade to Business Class and it was successful. The original booking class was in Economy Comfort Flex. Aegean Airlines offers you the opportunity to bid for an upgrade to Business Class for each journey. Aegean uses Plusgrade, where you have a minimum and a maximum bid for your offer and a scale shows you how strong your bid is. I placed the minimum bid of 85 Euro and it was successful. Therefore, my ticket was upgraded to Business Class, and gave me the following benefits:
- 2 pieces of luggage with a maximum of 32 kg each and 13 kg carry-on luggage (this was given for the whole journey from Paphos, even though I only upgraded the last flight segment) with a priority luggage tag
- fast track security access in Athens airport and priority boarding
- access to the Aegean Business Class Lounge in Athen’s Airport
Important! If you place a bid to upgrade your Economy Class Ticket to Business, you will keep your original booking class. Your miles will be credited according to this booking class. In my case, I received the miles according to the Economy Flex fare. Overall, 85 Euro was still a very good value for a flight with a duration of 2 hours and 40 minutes including lounge access. It can be definitively worth considering bidding for an upgrade if you do not hold any status within the Star Alliance.
Seat and Aircraft
Aegean Airlines uses an Airbus 320 aircraft on this route, but also Airbus 320/1 Neo. The standard seat configuration is 3-3-3, with an empty middle seat in Business Class. On this route, the first four rows were used for Business Class with an overall 16 seats, and the cabin was almost fully booked on this flight. The seats are comfortable enough and offer enough legroom. The main difference is, if you are flying on a newer A320/1 Neo aircraft, the seats are newer and modern plus every seat gets a USB plug to charge devices. Below you find some pictures of the standard A320 leather seats. The picture was taken in Economy Class, but the seats are the same with the middle seats blocked with a storage table.
Wi-Fi and Entertainment
On this flight, there was no Wi-Fi or entertainment stream available. Aegean Airlines offers Wi-Fi on selected flights, mainly on their A 320/21 Neo aircraft. Sometimes, Wi-Fi is not available, but you can connect to the inflight network to watch movies and enjoy entertainment. Predicting which flight offers Wi-Fi is not always an easy task. On several occasions, it was advertised that Wi-Fi would be available, but I could only connect to the inflight entertainment network. So, it is always better to bring something to read or download your entertainment before the flight. I hope that I will be able to try out the Wi-Fi on one of my future flights so I can write a review about the speed and reliability.
Crew and Service
The crew on this flight was very friendly and welcoming during the whole flight. Once you board the aircraft and take your seat, a crew member will offer you a welcome drink. There were three choices: water, orange juice, or sparkling wine. Unfortunately, there were no hot towels offered or any snacks with the welcome drink. Just before departure, a crew member collects the empty glasses and hands out the menu to every passenger. Around 45-50 minutes after departures, the crew started serving the meals and drinks.
The quality and the possibility of choices is very good for a Business Class product within Europe. Compared to the Lufthansa Group, Aegean Airlines offers you a menu with two choices and their drink selection is extensive. Of course, it is always possible that your choice of food runs out, but I do find that Aegean usually handles that well. I was able to get the sea bass fillet, which was served very hot and had an excellent taste. The prawns with the salad were crispy, fresh, and delicious. It was accompanied by two bread rolls, butter and cheese, and some crackers. Overall, the food and service was excellent.
Here is a summary of the food and drinks that were on offer on this flight:
- Appetizer: Prawns Saganaki with Salad and Virgin Olive Oil Dressing
- Main Dish: Choice of either: (1) Chicken in Tomato Sauce with Traditional Greek Pasta or (2) Sea Bass Fillet with green beans, herbs, and caper sauce with lemon and Agourida (unripe grape juice)
- Cheese: Graviera Cheese from the Island of Crete and Kefalotiri Cheese from the Island of Naxos
- Dessert: Baklava with Pistachio
- White Wine: Robola of Kefalonia 2022 or Malagousia 2022
- Red Wine: Single Block M Grenache 2020/21 or Nemea 2019
- Spirits/Aperitifs: Whiskey (Johnnie Walker), Gin (Mataroa Gin), Vodka (Smirnoff), Ouzo (Plomari), Tsipouro (Idoniko), Sparkling Wine (Amalia), Coppa Cocktail Negroni and Coppa Cocktail Fruit Martini
- Beers: Assortment of Lager Beers and FIX Hellas or Mythos
- Soft Drinks: Orange Juice, Tomato Juice, Apple Juice, Tonic Water (Schweppes), Coca-Cola/Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite, Natural Mineral Water (Avra), Sparkling Natural Mineral Water (Souroti)
- Coffees: Greek Coffee (Instant), Filter Coffee (Puro Fairtrade), Espresso (Dimello), Decaf Espresso (Dimello) and Cappuccino (Dimello)
- Beverages: Organic Mountain Tea (Anassa), Green Tea/Black Tea and Organic Lemon Verbena (Anassa)
Final Rating 9/10
Overall, Aegean Airlines provides a very good Business Class product within Europe compared to other competitors like Lufthansa. The food quality is very good, and their beverage offering is extensive. The service on this flight has been excellent, with a very friendly and attentive crew. Generally, I would not advise booking Business Class as Aegean Airlines usually charges very high prices for that product. However, sometimes you can find decent rates for routes from around 200-250 € in Business Class. If you would like to experience the Business Class product and try their new lounge in Athens, it might be worth it to bid for an upgrade or use your complimentary seat upgrade coupon if you hold a Silver Tier with Aegean Airlines. The only thing that could be improved, is the offering of hot towels in Business Class and offering a small snack (like nuts or crackers) together with your welcome drink. Besides that, Aegean Airlines Business Class product is an excellent choice within Europe and probably one of the best Business Class products offered on the market in Europe.
To book and search for flights you can use the following links below which lead you to Aegean Airlines:
Aegean Airlines (English)
Aegean Airlines (Greek)
