Hi - I'm trying to figure out how & when I can go see my folks
in the US.... does anyone have any tips or tricks to find good
fares out of Istanbul? Is it easier to find good fares online or
should I make a trip to a travel agent?

Thanks!

Not good news, I'm afraid. I was looking for some friends for fares to Chicao and NY on all the normal sites that normally provide good fares.

There appears to be a severe shortage of flight availablity and the fare prives reflected this; one trip would have cost them $17k! However it has to be said that they had no flexibility on their schedule and were trying to leave and come back on the busiest days.

With flexibility I found a fare for £550 ea but to them even that was too expensive!

Amongst the sites that I looked were;-

expedia.com
lastminute.com
traveljungle.co.uk
skyscanner.co.uk
ebookers.com

If you walk down Cumhuriyet Caddesi, the street connecting Sisli/Nisantasi with Taksim, or around Sultanahmet, you can see postings in the street for cheap fares. There was one agency on Cumhuriyet Cd. that had fares to NY for 300 euro. Not great, but not bad for peak season either. Also, if you do a search on travelocity.com and click "my dates are flexible," you may have some luck there. Last summer when I decided to come here, I found a one-way ticket from O'Hare to Istanbul a week before the fact for $708.

okay, as an oldtimer in istanbul, i have had some experience with tickets back to the states...first place i'd go is BackPackers in sultan ahmet..
be sure to find the boss...Fatih...and tell him that ARLENE sent you. but you need to say 'ARLEEEEEEEEENA' (that's 'e' as in 'eh' not eeeeee).
we're old friends...he knows me well...for the Bosphorus University days.
don't bother talking to anyone else there if possible at first...Fatih is THE boss. Nebahat is helpful but she won't cut you any deals...not that Fatih will either...but maybe...Nebahat is a definite Not.

then there was Viking Travel off of Taksim. Used to be a really neat guy there, Omer...he was a jazz musician but needed to suppliment his income by having a 'real' job...i would imagine that Viking is still a good place to check out...the other 'cheap fare' places might be rip offs...so i'd be careful.

i'm needing some info myself these days. i want to buy my daughter an 'open ticket' (but travel would be off-season, not during summer/vacation times). she's here now...we got her here on a one-way from NYC...i want to give her a return ticket so she can come back and we don't have to worry about money then...

i'm wondering how to do this...she's planning to return to the states in October or November and maybe return in March next year...if i buy a ticket now, i'm wondering if i can get a good deal...anybody have any idea?

and if you happen to find the phone number for Viking, would you pass it on to me?...i have a new phone book and never thought i'd need to use a travel agent again!!

do you think THY might be able to offer a return ticket this early at off-season fares?

too many questions, i know... i'll shut up now.

contact me at
arlene.carol@gmail.com

if you have any ideas.

thanks.....

a/g

Well, it's around that time of year when some of us are making Christmas travel plans, and I'm happy to say that I found a round-trip ticket on travelocity.com for Istanbul to Honolulu over the holidays for $734, plus tax! Be persistent and Santa will be good to you, regardless of whether or not you've been naughty or nice (most of us are the former, of course! )