Other European Frequent Flyer Programs - Any experiences with Pegasus or Sunexpress?

I will be doing some internal travel in Turkey and from what I have found these two airlines offer some of the best fares. Both have BOB catering and seem to operate on a LCC model. For those who have flown them before, are both equally the same or is one better than the other? Are these carriers very strict when it comes to hand luggage? I plan to bring a regular size carry on in addition to a messanger bag.

Thanks.

Sunexpress is a 50/50 JV between TK & LH, decent record.

But we can't collect or spend Miles & More miles with them, can we? Maybe it will come, like it did with germanwings.

My wife and I flew Peg. back in 2010. It was a wonderful and safe airline- very modern 737. Wonderful crew etc etc. We fly from Istanbul to Central Turkey. If we ever find ourselves back to Turkey (and we hope we do we loved our trip) we would not hesitate for a second to fly Peg.

One tip...make sure you know what Istanbul airport as there are two. IST is the main one- the 2nd one is quite far from city center- not sure if that plays into your planning but wanted to share. have fun!

Thanks everyone.

gogate99 - unfortunately I will use the second airport, Sabiha Gokcen (SWA) which is less convenient but has more "budget" flights. According to Pegasus' site, they suggest passengers to show up 2 hrs. before dept. Do you happen to know how strict are they with this? My flight is at 8:00A something so that means waking up really early to catch the bus from Taksim to the airport.

According to Pegasus' site, they suggest passengers to show up 2 hrs. before dept. Do you happen to know how strict are they with this? My flight is at 8:00A something so that means waking up really early to catch the bus from Taksim to the airport.

The 2 hours is just a recommendation. Their actual check-in cut-off times are 30/45 minutes:

http://www.FlyPGS.com/en/information/general-rules.aspx

How did I miss that? Thanks for pointing it out KVS.

My wife and I flew Peg. back in 2010. It was a wonderful and safe airline- very modern 737. Wonderful crew etc etc. We fly from Istanbul to Central Turkey. If we ever find ourselves back to Turkey (and we hope we do we loved our trip) we would not hesitate for a second to fly Peg.

One tip...make sure you know what Istanbul airport as there are two. IST is the main one- the 2nd one is quite far from city center- not sure if that plays into your planning but wanted to share. have fun!

I flew Pegasus a few years ago, STN-SAW-xxx. Both flights were on newish 738s and quite pleasant. Food and drink were BOB, but we had our own provisions. I also would gladly fly Pegasus again.

i used pegasus several times, i did not experince SunExpress, however i can say Both airlines are operated quite well, Pegasus is fastest growing LCC in Turkey, so their planes are new and they open so many abroad destination recently. SAW airport is reachable from Taksim (city center) by bus and yes SAW flights are generally cheaper than Istanbul Ataturk Airport. i prefer SAW because of that.

As was already mentioned SunExpress is a 50:50 daughter of TK+LH.
What has not yet been mentioned is that Pegasus or their holding company are the second biggest shareholder in Air Berlin (now oneworld-member and Etihad-daughter). Pegasus and Air Berlin together own and run Air Berlin Turkey and some Pegasus flights are available as AB-codeshares. Although I doubt this will entitle oneworld frequent flyers to status points, this may be a possibility to earn bonus points.