Alright, the final tally was $551.49, on Air Canada via Toronto, but when I saw the breakdown of the charges, I laughed at the $99 each way "basic" charge. The rest is taxes, fees, and a significant fuel "surcharge". But even with all of that, the fare is AMAZING. Everywhere else in Europe in late March seems to be hovering around $1000, and Istanbul is considerably farther away than most of those destinations. There must be some practical reasons why this is so because three other airlines (using Kayak.com) offer similar fares, so this isn't just a fortuitous "glitch", but the pricing rationale eludes me. Never-the-less, I'll be greedily reading up on Istanbul for the next few months. In any case, this should serve as further proof that airfare pricing makes little sense, and that bargains can still be had...
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Turkey wants people to come, so no landing fees and cheap fuel.
Turk Air is subsidized. Unless the other carriers want to give Turk a monopoly, they've got to try to match Turk's prices.
They make up for it a little bit by buying more fuel than they need for the next segment. This part gets tricky since it costs gas to haul gas.
Posted by
Richmond, VA, 23233
9 posts
Yes you can get some amazing deals on flights to Istanbul. Last winter we got a flight from DC to Istanbul for $440 round trip. We went for a week and had an incredible time! I have been to Istanbul many times, and traveling off season was great - the hotel prices were much lower, there were no crowds, it wasn't hot, etc. Istanbul is an incredible city with so much to do - the more I go the more I realize all there is to do. Happy reading!!
Posted by
Centennial, CO, US
2167 posts
Randy, if your kids are old enough for a hot air balloon ride, you could splurge with some of that money you saved and take them to Cappadocia. We used Butterfly Balloons in Goreme, and stayed at the Kelebek Hotel, which gave us an additional discount on the balloon ride, plus you can save more by paying cash. Even with those discounts it's a little pricey, but they might give you a deal for a family in March. It will be an unforgettable experience for all of you.
In my opinion, the second most amazing thing to do in Turkey is Ephesus. It's the most well-preserved archeological site in Turkey. The ancient communal bathroom will make your kids giggle.
Turkey is such a big country, with everything so far apart, that making a triangle of Istanbul-Cappadocia-Ephesus would involve long bus rides (or some short plane rides) (or maybe you'd want to rent a car?). But it would be a memorable adventure.
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis, MN, USA
1525 posts
Charlene;
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm on my own for this trip. It's spring break at my school and our own children have a different spring break. Last year I hiked New Zealand thanks to a free flight across the Pacific using FF miles. This year I was planning on just driving somewhere South in the US for some hiking and photography, but then I stumbled upon this deal while looking on Kayak for other things. It was a complete accident. I'll be looking into the practicalities of locations outside of Istanbul, but I might just spend most of my time in the city doing urban photography.
Posted by
2081 posts
Randy,
That is waaay cool. If i could get rates that cheap, i would be there already.
maybe i will look at making Turkey as my hub for my next trip.
have fun and happy trails.