Airfare within Turkey?
 

Hi, all,

I'm just beginning to research a trip to Turkey and have a question about domestic airfare within Turkey. About how much should I expect to pay roundtrip from Istanbul to Cappadocia (Kayseri) in May? Right now, all I'm finding is about $369 on Turkish Air - I'm not sure if that's normal, but it seems high to me.

Any advice on budget airlines I should check into? I know Atlas Jet and Onur Air are two options, but I'm not having much luck with them right now either.

Thanks!
Meredith

Hi Meredith,
Istanbul to Kayseri: THY you should expect to pay max. 100 Usd per leg of the flight. Onur is about 50-70 Usd range. Depending on the reservation period you can get even cheaper options on THY (Turkish Airlines)
Let me know if I can assist you on flights bookings.
Happy travelling,
Murat

Dear Meredith
THere isalso Pegasusairlines flying From istanbul to Nevsehir to fcenter of Caooadocia plussun Express from Izmir to Kayseri.
As early as you want to buy the ticket is cheaper around 200 usd RT.
To tell you excat rate If you tell me the exact date May quote you the best possible.
regards
nejat incedogan

When I was in Turkey last September we went through a agency called RoadRunner who were fabulous. We flew from Istanbul to Cappadocia (which incidentally is amazing!) and I'm sure the flights were only slighter more expensive than the bus. I would try to find that agency on the net and email them to sort it out for you. They were very professional and reliable - everything went perfectly.

Are you using their website or something else like Kayak or Orbitz? I bought tickets for June a couple of weeks ago for about $65. If you have not gone directly to their site for fares try this.
http://www.thy.com/en-INT/

You can do it for 71 Turkish lira in a one-passenger sleeping car.

If you search under Man in Seat 61 Turkey, then click on travel within Turkey, you will find that trains leave the Asian side of Istanbul daily except Wednesday at 2005 and reach Kayseri at 1428. They have single and double sleepers, and restaurant cars. The fare in a single bed sleeper is a little under 51 US dollars or 71 Turkish lira. The pages on Turkey rightly say that the trains are good. If you took a morning plane from Istanbul you might leave central Istanbul at 0700, leave Yesilkoy airport at 0900, reach Kayseri airport at 1000, and reach central Kayseri at 1100. You would pay for a hotel night for your stay in Istanbul, till the plane flew next morning. The sleeper is convenient and gives good views of the country, the train is secure you lock your own cabin), and so long as you bring on board your own peanuts and wine the restaurant car is good, and cheap (it serves beer). The pages on Turkey list agents with whom you can book, but also you can go to Istanbul Sirkeci and book at the window: the clerks use English.

Few people on this forum know Turkish sleepers, so please write again if I can help further.

Ben Haines, London
[email protected]

Thanks to everyone for the advice! I have a few more specific questions, if you don't mind helping me out a bit more...

I've been playing around on the websites of both Pegasus and Onur - I'm typing in a range of different May dates, and every single time, both sites have told me there are no flights available for that day. I've tried every single day of the week, with no luck. Is it too early to shop for May on these sites? Or do these airlines not actually fly from IST to ASR (Kayseri)?

I just went to Turkish Air's site and found some flights for about US$126 roundtrip. That's the best I've seen so far. Milliebz, how did you find $65 flights? What airline are you flying? I've searched on Kayak, ITA Software, and Orbitz and am only finding flights for $368 or more.

Lozzi - where is that travel agency located? I googled RoadRunner and found about a thousand different possibilities!

And Ben, thanks for the train info. We'd rather fly, but if the price isn't right, then I'll keep the train in mind!

Thanks again to everyone for your help!

Meredith,
I have been planning this trip for quite some time because I wanted to use FF miles. I always plan my own trips but consulted a travel agent by e-mail because I could not access the Onur site. She told me that schedules wouldn't be available until the Spring. That is why you are getting those messages. Today was the first time I have ever heard of the other airline.

Anyway, I visited the Turkish website very, very frequently. For quite awhile all of the really cheap fares 69TYL and 79TYL were greyed but the other much higher fares of 149TYL etc. were available. One day the cheaper fares just opened up and I bought them right away (I needed four). I would imagine that the cheapest you will get at this point on Turkish is the $126 but I may be wrong. Kayak, Orbitz etc. were giving me fares of $186 before taxes at the same time I got the cheap fare on the Turkish website.

I did not snap up one of my domestic Greece flights right away and had to pay much more so I learned my lesson.