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-   -   Turkey - Please Help w/internal flights! (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/turkey-please-help-w-internal-flights-933454/)

kidfriendly Apr 30th, 2012 01:22 PM

Turkey - Please Help w/internal flights!
 
I really need some help with domestic flights in Turkey!

My family needs to take 3 one-way flights in August within Turkey:

1. Istanbul to Izmir
2. Izmir to Kayseri
3. Kayseri to Istanbul

I tried to book the first flight on Pegasus Airlines' website. I found a flight, entered all of our information, and entered my credit card information. But when I pressed enter, it took me to a webpage that said "Error" without giving me the ability to refresh the page.
I promptly wrote an e-mail to customer service and have not received a response.
I then called my credit card company and sure enough, the Airlines is trying to make the charge. I have not received any flight confirmation or anything - not one peep!
Has anyone else had this problem with Pegasus, and if so, how did it get resolved?
Is Pegasus a trustworthy, reliable airlines? I should add that I just now tried to use an Agent who told me their search engine doesn't show any flights on Pegasus, only on Turkish Airlines.
Turkish Airlines is exorbitantly expensive. What are my recommended options? Please, any advice is appreciated. Our dates in each region are firm; we only need internal flights. Thank you!

Michael Apr 30th, 2012 01:26 PM

Pegasus is trustworthy. When I booked, I made a mistake, and although the ticket was clearly non-refundable and non-transferable, it allowed me to change it--I was aware of the error within 5 minutes.

bardo1 Apr 30th, 2012 01:48 PM

So, to be clear, you called your credit card company and they knew you would be making international charges before you attempted to buy Pegasus ticket? Correct? If you had done that before trying, then you might just try again with a different web browser. You want Pegasus - NOT Turkish for internal flights.

tedgale Apr 30th, 2012 05:13 PM

We flew Atlas from Istanbul to Izmir 2 weeks ago.

We flew Turkish from Izmir to Istanbul last week.

Both were satisfactory, though I preferred Atlas (bigger, newer plane). Both were dirt cheap, IMO. About 30 or 35 USD each way.

Cannot comment on your Pegasus problem, only suggesting there are viable alternatives.

Michael Apr 30th, 2012 05:29 PM

We flew Onur Air from Istanbul to Izmir and Pegasus from Kayseri to Istanbul. Both were low cost airlines.

kidfriendly Apr 30th, 2012 05:29 PM

To clarify, I called my credit card company AFTER the Error message appeared because I wanted to see if Pegasus would try to charge me. They did. Still no word from th em.

Michael - did you know about the error because you received a confirmation e-mail from Pegasus, or because you realized you had made a mistake right after the fact? Did you use their website?

Tedgale - how did you purchase your tickets? Did you use the carriers' websites, or did you go through an agent?

Also, I'm really surprised that Turkish Airlines would have been that inexpensive. I checked out their website and also spoke with an agent. One of our thre flights alone would have been several thousands of dollars for 5 people.

If you used Atlas, then please let me know if you used their website.

tedgale Apr 30th, 2012 05:49 PM

We booked both Atlas and Turkish airlines on their websites and printed off our own tickets. No problem at check-in with either airline.

kidfriendly Apr 30th, 2012 06:33 PM

I think I have this figured out. Instead of trying to do 3 one-ways, I'll do 2 round trips. Right now, the Turkish Airlines website has relatively reasonable fares, which is odd because if you check through a search engine or through an agent, the cost is hundreds of dollars more per ticket (e.g. $600/person for IST-Kayseri versus $192/person on Turkish A website). Do not understand why, but at least now it is a viable option. Thank you for your response!

Michael Apr 30th, 2012 10:35 PM

I realized that I had booked the wrong itinerary, perhaps even before I printed the ticket.

propertravel May 10th, 2012 06:36 AM

Using a Turkish travel company may save you significant amount of dollars for domestic flights! They can reserve and get an option, cant tell you why but for a date further than few months their prices are high, if you buy it it is a done deal. However if a tentative booking is made and wait a while 99% prices drops and the very tentative reservation also get the discounted price applied. Happen to me millions of times.
For Pegasus and Sun Express there is no chance to book for ahead without purchasing the ticekt but unlike Turkish Airlines you buy earlier it is cheaper and even cheaper with non-refundable tickets.

Happy flying,
Murat

wandergirlCO May 12th, 2012 06:49 AM

Kidfriendly,
I hope you don't mind if I also ask a few questions about internal flights.
My sister and I will be traveling in Sept and based on the flights I could find the following routing seems best.
1. Instanbul to Antalya
2. Izmir to Kayseri- will be Sun so can use the Sunexpress direct flight which is why this is the best routing for us.
3. Kayseri to Instanbul

Onur airlines and Atlas both have some good values on the other legs. Sounds like Atlas is a good airline , any comments on Onur?
Should I go ahead and book the flights now or wait a bit? Are the prices likely to go up or down?
Murat, you say that it might be best to book through a travel agency for lower price. Are you referring to all airlines or just Turkish airlines? Any recommendations for a travel agency?

Thanks all and have a good day.


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