I'm going to be spending the month of August in Turkey, and I have a question about plane travel within the country. I understand that plane tickets are substantially cheaper if you buy them in Turkey, rather than in Canada in advance. I will be arriving in Istanbul on August 4th, and will need to buy a total of 4 tickets for the month, starting with Istanbul-Ephesus on the 7th. Will I be pretty much guaranteed a seat if I buy the ticket only three days before the departure, or should I be buying the ticket in Canada, prior to leaving for Turkey? (the same question applies to Ephesus-Istanbul-Kayseri on the 10th; 6 days after my arrival).

You can do what I'm doing for my trip in June, I am dealing via e-mail with a travel agency in Turkey. They are getting me good rates for my domestic flights in Turkey. I picked an agency from the list of suggested ones on turkeytravelplanner.com

For some reason, for one of my flights, my preferred time has a waiting list. I'm not sure if this is indicative of it being full or what.

We booked internal flights with the agent we used in Australia, the prices we paid were more expensive but not extortioniately and because we were travelling with kids it was nice to know we had the flights !!

I'm going to follow your lead and book through an agent recommended at turkeytravelplanner.com. Thanks for the idea. (I actually booked my blue cruise through a company that Brosnahan recommends at the site as well.) I just hope I can get better rates than those advertised at Turkish Air's website!

Yes, it's best if you find a way to book in advance. If you don't you probably won't find any available seating in August since it's the very busiest time of the year and airlines are booked solid then.

I will be paying about $100 US for each ticket one for Istanbul to Dalaman, and one Izmir to Istanbul.

August is very busy, I certainly wouldn't wait till I was in-country. Either use a tour operator as listed on the site above or thru your Canadian tour operator. And you can figure that each of the flights you plan run on average $100+/-

Well, I think you will do just fine by booking when you get there (assuming you are using Turkish Airlines). It costs less to book it once you are there than to book it from the States or Canada. They don't use assigned seating...first in the door, gets first choice of a seat.

Flying from Istanbul to Izmir and picking up a car there is a fine way to go, and it's maybe only an hour (possibly 45 minutes) to Ephesus by car. You can call the airlines from your hotel, when they answer say "English" and then you can book your flight and then pay at the window at the airport the day of your flight, or go to a Turkish Airlines shop (in various cities).

Have fun. You will enjoy your trip immensely.

We can't wait to go again!

Jean