Job Discussion Forums

kotobuki · Joined: 17 Feb 2011 Posts: 27

I just ran into a glitch in my plans. I had no idea a flight to Istanbul has gone up to nearly $2,000, for June, from the US. Any suggestions? That's about $1,000 more than I expected. Please help! Thanks.

holoholo girl · Joined: 16 Jun 2010 Posts: 58 Location: Mesopotamia

I suspect that not only is it high season then but with the cost of oil ready to hit $110/barrel on the world market I think that there is not much hope for cheap flights this summer- anywhere. Here in Hawaii gas has just hit $5/gallon... With all the unrest in the MENA region, the prices will just continue to go up so you might want to snatch that $2000 flight right now before it goes up to $2100...

Good luck in your search though

kotobuki · Joined: 17 Feb 2011 Posts: 27

Yike! Don't know if I can. I wonder if it will be worth the life change in the end. That's a huge investment when you add it all up. I wonder if I train hard enough for a month, if I could just flap my wings to get there; maybe hitch a ride on some Canadian geese. Thanks though. You're right about oil prices. Any excuse to raise them and still use oil...I probably shouldn't go on about my political/green views on this blog. Cheers holoholo girl.

Dedicated · Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 972 Location: UK

Kotobuki,

It might be worth investigating flights from the US to London, then from London to Istanbul using one of the cheap airlines such as EasyJet. London to Istanbul return for about �100.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

I was going to suggest the same. You could also investigate using Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels, or Amsterdam as a hub. Check flights from Toronto, too - I will fly Frankfurt-Toronto and back for only about 800 CAD roundtrip May and December. It's cheap enough to get to Toronto from most of the US and from Paris, Frankfurt or Brussels or Amsterdam to Istanbul.

A little creativity and patience in research and routing options can pay off big-time.

kotobuki · Joined: 17 Feb 2011 Posts: 27

Thanks Dedicated,

I'm on it, though a quickie search shows I can't save much. I think my biggest problem is that once in London, I'll never want to leave. Wink

I bet I could find a special to London though if I spend some time on it. I wonder if the Turkish are interested in learning American English. I see that most of the teachers are from the UK, but that might just be because it's so much easier to get there and back. The more I talk about it, the better it sounds. Thanks again.

kotobuki · Joined: 17 Feb 2011 Posts: 27

Spiral,

Another great idea. I'm west coast and Toronto is east, and that is an awful lot of airport jumping, but could pay off. Even if I go from here, I'd probably have to stop in SF, then somewhere in Europe anyway. The last time I flew, I went from a bigger airport in a bigger city and the stop was in NY. Of course, I had tons of mileage back in those days and stuff was just cheaper. I may have enough mileage to get to Toronto--can't find out until Monday. Tnx!

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

This one advertises NY to Prague for 257 Euro.

Prague - Istanbul should be easy enough...

http://www.edreams.com/flights/new+york-prague/

I have also flown Airtransat from Canada; they are pretty cheap and quite good as well.

Anyway, good luck! It's always a bit of hassle to put together a reasonable itinerary, but patience usually pays off.

Otterman Ollie · Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 8:31 am Post subject:

well well, we have a bucket shop here, so as we are in flight mode, where do I get the cheapest flights to Oz from Turkey? Any recommendations?

Kirkpatrick · Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 205 Location: China

Cheap filghts to Bangkok anyone??

Dedicated · Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 972 Location: UK

Again, check out the possibilities from a major hub such as London. I don't know what they are offering in Turkey, but from London, you can get a return to Australia from �624 (Perth), Melbourne (�634) and Sydney (�695). Bangkok is �408 return.

Check out www.cheapflights.co.uk

holoholo girl · Joined: 16 Jun 2010 Posts: 58 Location: Mesopotamia

I bought a r/t Maui/Istanbul for $1630- ouch... but it was necessary to keep on the same airline as I will have a lot of luggage, likely overweight, so to keep the fees at a basic ridiculous level, I had to stay on the Delta/Air France scheme of things... Has anyone shipped stuff to Ist? Is it recommended? Will I have to pay an import tax (iMac ), or should I just air cargo it?

gloomyGumi · Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 353

expedia.com

Englishteach · Joined: 01 Oct 2010 Posts: 33

www.cheaptickets.com

and

yahoo travel

Mike_B · Joined: 13 Oct 2010 Posts: 5 Location: Bursa, Turkey

kotobuki,
I have traveled back and forth to Turkey for years. I've also sent my Turkish wife for many visits to Turkey from the USA. I suggest expedia.com. However, you need to play around with the dates, the departure city, and the arrival city.

I found I could usually reduce ticket costs significantly by departing from one of the main US hubs. We lived three hours from Atlanta and ticket prices were almost double to leave from our city rather than drive to Atlanta.

For example, I just checked on a one way flight from central Alabama to Istanbul, connecting through Atlanta for June 8. From my home city costs $1921. A ticket from Atlanta costs $1131.

Maybe you can find a friend or relative to drop you off at a convenient hub and save several hundred dollars.

Good luck!

Mike