Aeroflot or Turkish airlines

You've got nonstop options on those flights...at least from Madrid - do you not want them due to price?

I'd still fly Turkish these days, but you have other one-stop options...have you looked at Norwegian? They are a budget carrier and their prices are really low - seat selection, baggage etc are added fees.

I would choose Turkish in a heartbeat.

No question in my mind, Turkish Air.

Thanks all. In December I didn't see non-stop option from Madrid to NYC, but I'll look again. Price is a deciding factor here as the first week I'll be in Vienna.

Did you look at Norwegian?

You can't find a non-stop from Madrid to JFK? Hmm. From Madrid, I know that American, United and Iberian fly non-stop to the New York area (with United having abandoned JFK and flying to Europe out of Newark). For Venice, United, AlItalia, Delta and probably others fly non stop to the New York area. Flying to Istanbul or Moscow from Madrid or Venice to get to New York would have to be a major bargain for this to make sense, especially when you factor in the cost of spending the night in either of those cities. There are reasonably priced and logical connections on a bunch of airlines for both cities that are maybe $100 more than Aeroflot and Turkish Air. But all of that being said, Turkish airlines is great and Istanbul is a fascinating city. Aeroflot is horrible and Moscow is an interesting city. So, I'd go with Turkish because that routing has two positives.

We checked Norwegian. With all the add on's, it's not cheaper in the long run. I did check Madrid to JFK, it's doable without a layover. We've decided to do Venice, going with the overnight layover in Istanbul. A little nervous about it though. The cheapest non stop from Madrid to JFK was over $1400. Too pricey!

Candi,
I've done a few Istanbul layovers and enjoyed every one of them (as a solo female traveler). If I had to fly tomorrow, I'd pick Turkish Air and I'd have no issues with a layover. The food on Turkish is delicious - I always opt for a special meal and it's always good. You do have to get a Turkish e-Visa online (it's about $20 and very quick) to exit the airport. Istanbul is a fascinating city, although a bit sensory overload. Enjoy your trip! Hopefully you have enough time for the layover to be able to do some touring. Some layovers are just short enough to not be worthwhile (e.g. getting in late in the evening and having a 1pm flight the day after - that's just too tight...it's nice to have a full day to spend if possible).

By the way, I have a friend who has flown Aeroflot at least twice to Moscow direct from LAX (Los Angeles). She had no problems whatsoever with Aeroflot - I'm not sure why it gets such a bad rap. She said the international planes and service are very up to par with international plane standards, but the internal flights are much less nice (and she said she would avoid those). Anyhow, look at Skytrax for reviews. I think either city could be intimidating for a first time visitor, but the Turks are very nice and I've never had any problems even with the language barrier.

I flew Aeroflot on a 3-stop flight in 1972. I still twitch at the memory. Hard to get past that, plus the years with comparatively high accident rates. It may be fine now, but I just can't.

I flew Turkish to Chicago and back this summer. I went through IST the day before the coup attempt and had a few uneasy days wondering how I'd get home, but found out that Turkish was dealing very well with the problems, routing US passengers through Toronto while the FAA ban was in place. (BTW the US was the only country that didn't allow the resumption of flights in/out of Turkey right away.) I flew home about 3 weeks ago and the flights were great and IST was "same as usual." I'd have no hesitation in staying overnight. Does the airline give you that or do you have to pay?

Last year, a friend from LA flew here in the spring on Aeroflot to take advantage of the low prices and he was very satisfied. He took the opportunity to visit Moscow and St Petersburg.

I am friends with many pilots, both governmental and private. Stay away from Aeroflot.

Turkish has a nice service compared to many of the US airlines, however I would hesitate to stay in Istanbul overnight. I fly Turkish when traveling for business to the Middle East but always feel extremely uncomfortable in the Ataturk airport, especially now after the terrorist incident. Ataturk also is filthy and extremely crowded.