Air and hotel planning
 

We are planning a trip to Greece and Turkey this summer. I can find decent round trips from Athens, but prices go way up flying to Greece and home from Istanbul. Does anyone have a suggestions?

I would like to keep our stay a bit open and get reserve hotels for only a few nights for when we arrive. That has worked fine in England, France and Spain. Will this work in Greece (especially for the islands) and Turkey?

Thanks.

I don't think you can avoid the extra cost unless you're willing to take the time to backtrack to Athens after Turkey. How much time will you have altogether? There are ferries and/or domestic Greek flights from Athens to 5 islands close to Turkey. For example, if you plan to visit Ephesus you can ferry or fly to Samos and enter Turkey at Kusadasi before continuing on to Istanbul. Same applies to a few other Greek Island/Turkish mainland combination destinations.

Arriving without reservations is always possible as long as you stay flexible as to what's available when you arrive, but unless you're willing to do some walking with your bags in hand it can be quite exhausting. I assume you don't have a problem with this since you mentioned doing it before.

Are you booking 'open jaw' with one airline site? or are you pricing two one-way trips? that could make a difference in the fares.

It may be something peculiar with where you live or the dates you choose, as there isn't any reason that should be the case (airfare costing a lot more to return from Istanbul). Unless you are pricing two one-way trips, of course.

I just checked random dates in July from where I live (Wash DC), and there was no difference in price for the open-jaw vs. Athens RT. In fact, it was a little cheaper to return from Istanbul as it appears flights to/from Istanbul are a little cheaper than Athens, which surprised me. Best fares were on Virgin Atlantic. If they don't serve your route, it may differ, of course. I think the RT Athens was $1550, but returning from Istanbul made it only $1481 on the dates I chose. RT to/from Istanbul was much cheaper, only around $1000-1100 on Turkish air and Iberia. On VA that also was around $1450.

Have you tried flipping the locations? For instance, flying into Turkey and out of Greece. I have done tons of airfare searches and have seen prices go up/down many times just by flopping the locations. May be worth a try.

Tracy