Help with flights to, from and within Turkey
 

We are planning to travel from JFK to Istanbul either late Sept. or early Oct. and I have a few questions.

1. I'd like to use miles to upgrade to business class and I'd like to fly to Istanbul and home from either Nice or Paris. (I know Delta flies nonstop) Is there a way to get to Istanbul and somehow go to Paris and eventually fly home from Paris or Nice on one fare? I know fodorites have been able to stopover in a country for sometime and then travel on for one fare.

2. I can't seem to find flights that go from Istanbul to Cappadocia (Kayseri) that are not late at night or very early in the morning. Would a travel agent in Turkey get better results?

3. Approximately how long will it take to get from Istanbul to airport to Kayseri to hotel in Urgup or Goreme?

Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

Barb

We flew to Paris, took the TGV in the afternoon two days later to Basel and caught a EasyJet flight to Istanbul that evening, arriving in Istanbul around 4:30 a.m. You could land in Paris in the morning, catch the afternoon TGV to Basel and find yourself in Istanbul the next morning. We returned to Basel, arriving around 6 a.m., which means that you could be in Paris by the same afternoon.

Within Turkey, we flew Onurair from Istanbul to Izmir and Pegasus Air from Kayseri to Istanbul. We drove between Izmir and Kayseri.

All the airlines mentioned are low cost airlines, especially if you order non-refundable tickets far in advance of your scheduled departure.

You can totally buy an open Jaw air ticket flying into Istabul and out of Paris.

As a note, if you use miles for the whole ticket, Delta should fly you to Istanbul and then from Istanbul to Paris with a stop over and then home for the miles of round trip to Europe.

I did, SF to Prague, then Prague to Istanbul, then Antalya (southern Turkey) to SF for 90,000 miles and flew first class.

It has always been my understanding that only American allows stop-overs when using miles. Does Delta also? I almost never use miles w/o going two places, this is a wonderful advantage w/ American.

Barb,

Ck out THY.com, it is much cheaper than booking thru a US Airline.

Thanks to all for prompt replies.

I just booked with Delta from JFK to IST and NCE to JFK using miles to upgrade to business class. In order to get from Istabul to Paris, I had to book with Air France (through Delta) and pay an additional fare.

Bridget - I will use THY.com for my flight to and from Istanbul to Neveshir. Thanks.

2. Check all of the other low-cost carriers in addition to Turkish Airlines (find a list on the Turkey Travel Planner website: http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com
/trans/Air/index.html
Note that info on that site is not all up to date, so you need to check each airline individually).
*Did you know you can also fly into Nevsehir airport (and even do open jaw into one and out the other if that works better)--and you can check flights out of the other airport in Istanbul as well. These flights can be somewhat seasonal, so maybe something will turn up.

3. We got to the airport about an hour in advance (used a kiosk to check in with TA and had carry-on only). The ride from Kayseri to Goreme took about an hour including the wait time for all the passengers in our transfer van (arranged by the hotel) and the other drop-offs. The flight was quite short. So, you're looking at maybe 4-5 hours door to door?

<<It has always been my understanding that only American allows stop-overs when using miles. Does Delta also?>.

Yes, Delta does allow stopovers. I've done it twice with FF miles.