Flying in and out of Turkey

Here is a web page for the international airport at Izmir, about 60 miles from Kusadasi. Is this your departure point to return home? You will see that no US airlines operate from this airport so you will be making a connection somewhere to reach New York. Istanbul is certainly possible, especially if flying on Turkish Airlines. Really, the best source of info is the tour operator who you are paying to take care of matters such as this.

We have taken this tour and you need to fly from Izmir to Istanbul to catch your flight home. The tour bus leaves for the airport shortly after breakfast and gets you there in plenty of time to catch a flight to Istanbul. We flew Turkish Airways which has almost hourly flights to IST but there are other airlines.
I would of course call the tour office first to see that the bus will transport you to the airport.

Check the schedules from Kusadasi to JFK via Istanbul. I have flown Turkish Airline both domestic and international and the have quality service and good food. This will be your best schedule without another connection somewhere in
Europe (Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Heathrow).

United does have a daily nonstop to Istanbul out of Newark. It started a few months ago and I don't think it's a temporary route. Check where you can easily fly to from Izmir that has a nonstop connection for you. Or just do a round trip to Istanbul and one of the cheap flights from Izmir to Istanbul.

I just checked and the flight from Newark is still going next May. Right now round trip EWR to IST is showing as $656 for mid-May.

Thank you everyone, this information is very helpful. Great to know that Newark now has non-stop flights to Istanbul!!

Check EWR-IST//ADB-SAW/IST-EWR. As mentioned, United flies to IST direct from EWR, and on the way back TK will get you to SAW from ADB. You'll have to transfer from SAW to IST, but that connect has a long layover and should not be an issue.

There is a significant risk to booking two separate tickets for your return leg, Izmir to Istanbul + Istanbul to NY: Flight schedules change and if your two flights no longer connect, you are S-O-L. You'll need to have the return flight ticketed from Izmir, even if you connect in Istanbul and have two carriers. It will be much less stressful if a schedule change occurs between now and then. Whomever tickets the flight from Izmir to NY for you (whatever the connection or carriers) inherits the responsibility of making the flight segments connect for you. With United, a schedule change is almost guaranteed... And with two tickets, no one assumes that responsibility - it's entirely on your shoulders. Your very best bet is to have only one carrier all the way through and that would be Turkish Airlines. As others have said, it's a great airline and it would be my first choice if I were to fly again to Turkey. I really liked the service. Also, they have the most interest in making sure that their connections into Istanbul, for the direct connection to JFK, work for their clientele. Turkish Airlines doesn't want to mess with that route. United does not have the same vested interest. If the route ends up to not be as profitable as they had hoped, it can easily be cancelled. Your return flight would then be re-routed with an additional connection and re-ticketed. Should that happen, you're not only dealing with a schedule change, but also a double-connection for a return home that has no wiggle-room! If what they provide you with as an alternative doesn't work well for you, at best, they will refund you your whole ticket and you would be back to square one. Also, factor in possible delays... plan on being at work on your return-from-vacation date, but don't pencil in anything for which your presence would be critical.

I took the Best of Turkey tour in 2010 and looked at some of the same options you're considering. Since you prefer to return home the last day of the tour (tour over after breakfast), I think your best option would be to book all 3 segments of your trip on one airline. When I researched my flights, one good option was Turkish Airways JFK-IST and then Izmir-IST connecting to IST-JFK. There was no similar option through Newark at the time. I wound up using a different option due to the headache and expense of getting to JFK, but the Turkish Airways price was very tempting (a little over $800 for all 3 segments). The tour guide assists everyone with their end-of-tour arrangements. The tour bus will take you to the Izmir airport, but that doesn't work well if your flight is earlier than about 10:30. If you have an earlier flight, the guide will help you arrange a taxi to the airport. Cost is pretty reasonable considering the distance (about 100 Turkish Lira), and you may be able to share the ride and split the cost with other tour members. One person on my tour had a 6:30am flight from Izmir, and their early taxi connection worked smoothly. If you decide to book a separate Izmir-IST flight, you'll need to book an early flight. Otherwise, it will be difficult to arrive in time for your connection back to New York and I'd suggest planning for an overnight near the airport. In case you do decide to book your Izmir flight separately, Atlas Jet is a good airline with inexpensive flights. Several people on my tour (including me) took a midday Atlas Jet flight to Istanbul and flew home the next day.