pandoraone

Haha I am in a similar boat my friend! If it is significantly cheaper and overnight (plus reliable) this is the way I plan to go!

Romelle

Click here for a lot of interesting info on ATH-IST.

It almost tempted me to set up a trip for myself.

Triple check everything though, and have Plans B, C, D etc..

Romelle

EmailKid

Not mentioned in Romelle's link is Pegasus Air, discussed in a thread or two here at BT. Random dates in February show $71 from IST and $43 from ATH, so with advance purchase not too bad at all.

Aegean, part of *A, also flies, alas is not an LCC, so looks like it costs more.

pandoraone

I checked Pegasus air for the day we are planning to fly - it is for $71 for the economy option. Have any of you flown Pegasus air? Any reviews? Also, it flies into SAW instead of IST.

If this is what we end up going, our $980-1000 ticket goes to $750+71=$825. This will be a solid $130 savings


I am now looking at flights from IST to Cappadocia or maybe even Athens to Santorini

Looked up Cappadocia - $30! Great deals!!!

I could not find flights from Athens to Santorini though - do you guys know a carrier for that?

EmailKid

At least one, if now two threads on Pegasus right here in BT @:-)

Sometimes you gotta do your own search (yes, FT search suckes, which is why Google has advanced search that narrows it down by domain, i.e. Flyertalk.com).

Romelle

You are making great progress planning this trip. It really sounds like a winner.

It is time you learned http://matrix.itasoftware.com. One of the major tools for flight planning here. A more steep learning curve, but wonderfully powerful when you master it.

It is referred to around here as either ITA or matrix.

I tried it for Athens to Santorini. It acted like it didn't know Santorini, so I searched the web "cityA airport code" for that airport 3-character code. JTR.

Using ATH-JTR I learned Aegean Airlines flies there from ATH, and fares start at 122 Euro for dates in May.

An alternate technique for finding flights to more obscure places is searching on "cityA cityB flight".

Romelle

pandoraone

Wow thank you! I am going to start playing with this. Another update!

Ticket from NYC to Athens, flight back from IST: $730!!!
Ferry from Athens to Santorini (This part is uncertain, not sure if I did this right - $70 each way?)
Flight from Athens to Kayari (Cappadocia - $117).
Flight back from Cappadocia to IST - $17

I am using/trying to figure out Hotwire and Priceline to choose hotels. Still working on that part

------------

Also quick question - I was looking at flights on Kayak.com - the airline is with Swiss airlines. These are the details:

SWISS – Flight 1805 3h 05m
Take-off Sat 5:40p IST Istanbul, Turkey
Landing Sat 7:45p ZRH Zurich, Switzerland
Airbus A320-100/200 (Narrow-body Jet) | 3h 05m | 9+ seats remain

Change planes
ZRH Zurich, Switzerland
17h 15m


SWISS – Flight 14
Operated by Edelweiss Air 8h 50m
Take-off Sun 1:00p ZRH Zurich, Switzerland
Landing Sun 3:50p JFK New York, NY
Airbus A330-300 (Wide-body Jet) | 8h 50m | 9+ seats remain


Am I allowed to leave the airport and explore Zurich? Is the airport open 24/7 or what? My layover is at night and wondering it is possible to see the city a little but

Romelle

I don't know about the ferries. Usually all I do on such a trip is to make sure there is at least a way, or a few ways ("Plan B,C, ..."). When actually there, there usually are more options than one can see on the web.

That $17 fare seems low. Typo?

Yes, you are allowed to leave the airport. The penalty is having to go back through security again. It is open 24/7. A particularly nice airport. Outside security there is even a full supermarket with prices equal to other areas. A Starbucks and a whole lot of shopping. Trams run from the airport downtown, although I think it takes about an hour. Buses, cabs.

On another trip I bid the Zurich Airport zone and got:
Renaissance Zurich Hotel
Thurgauerstrasse 101
Zurich-Glattbrugg, 8152

You also can sleep at the airport - www.sleepinginairports.net.

It is only a 10 minute tram ride from the airport, in the direction of downtown.

With all this transportation, I like to pick the earliest in the day, and make sure there are some later options if something goes awry.

I'd strongly suggest you take only carry-on luggage, and light carry-on luggage at that. Some of the smaller European carries limit one to 10 kilos, or about 22 pounds. With carry-on, you have your stuff upon arrival so can hop out and get going quickly. Also, you don't have to worry about checked luggage if you need to switch plans.

Romelle

pandoraone

Thanks for the awesome rundown - yep the fare is $17!

Will definitely do the Zurich plan - looking up things to do after 7PM there. Want to see some sights and call it a night.

I may open the citi AA executive card for lounge access to AA lounges (and use that in Zurich to access the Oneworld alliance lounge there [this should be allowed according to my research] and) and sleep there. Reasonable?

As for the ferry, debating that but seems like we may just bite the bullet and fly in to save on time. How long do you think it would take to 'do all' of Santorini? I was thinking 1 night two full days or 2 nights and 3 full days - thoughts?

I am also doing some research on a day trip to Sparta. Then I will have seen both!

Thanks for all your help! Betterbidding is superuseful for finding hotels too! It seems like we will be staying at 5* hotels in two cities and unsure about Cappadocia and Santorini

Romelle

Check the hours on that ZRH AA lounge. Most of them close up at night.

Can't help you on Santorini - I only had the cruise ship short day there, and am not sure what else I missed.

Romelle

pandoraone

24hrs! Checked it :-)

Gotcha - do you wish you had more time in Santorini or was the short day enough?

Daawgon

I would say you're rushing too much in Istanbul - one of the world's most fascinating cities. I was totally surprised just how interesting and wonderful it was. I stayed in an apartment near Galata Tower (Airbnb) and it was the perfect centralized location - I could walk everywhere in both old and new cities. The food in Turkey is awesome, and you'll eat very well in Istanbul. I took a walking food tour of the new city and loved it - Istanbuleats.com. This is a very large city - you will need the time because it is so large and so interesting.

Instead of Cairo, you might consider Tbilisi, Georgia - a wonderful place often overlooked by Westerners. Fly there on Pegasus out of Istanbul SAW.

pandoraone

How long would you say is enough for IST?

Also: I found some places to eat! http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug...bul-20130804/2

http://www.elitetraveler.com/finest-...ts-in-istanbul

http://travel.cnn.com/best-restaurants-istanbul-526756

And your walking tour

Romelle

Double-check that 24 hours for ZRH AA lounge. After I read your note, I actually looked it up. The source I found said a 10pm closure and a 5-6am opening (they were exact ... I just can't quite remember what I saw).

Santorini - Since I was on the cruise and that was all the time possible, I actually didn't think about having more time. When I don't have a choice in things, I'm not into frustrating myself.

However, I've gotten in the habit of searching on "top 10 tourist attractions city name" when I'm headed somewhere. Some good possibilities always show up.

Romelle

pandoraone

I will double check that Romelle, thanks.

Here is the *final* tentative plan. Looking good? Is the price a good deal for 2 people? Any criticism?

Plan:
May 7th: arrive in Athens at 1:25PM
Transfer to Hotel for 1 night and explore Athens (4hrs)
May 8th: Depart from Athens at 5:15AM and arrive at Santorini at 6:00.
Spend all day exploring Santorini, see sunset, dinner
May 9th: Depart from Santorini at 8:25PM and arrive at 9:10PM in Athens,
Check into hotel
May 10th: see all major sites in Athens
May 11th: Day trip to Sparta or Delphi
May 12th: Depart Athens for Cappadocia at 12:15, arrive 8PM – Check into a hotel for 1 night
May 13th: Spend day touring Cappadocia and hot air balloon
May 14th: Spend day touring Cappadocia and fly back at 8:25PM, arriving in Istanbul at 9:45PM.
Check into hotel
May 15th: Early wakeup, see major sites in Istanbul
May 16th: Explore Istanbul
May 17th (IST): Explore Istanbul half-day, 5:40PM Flight to Zurich
Check out from Hotel
Arrive in Zurich at 7:40PM, explore Zurich for a few hours – return to airport on May 18th AM – Fly out at 1PM from Zurich to JFK, landing at 3:50PM

Hotel list:
- May 7th – Athens (1 night)
- May 8th – Santorini Hotel (1 night)
- May 9th – 12th - Athens Hotel (4 nights)
- May 12th – Cappadocia Hotel (1 night)
- May 14th – May 17th – Istanbul Hotel (4 nights)

Running cost list:
- $1460 for tickets to Europe
- Santorini flights: $235
- Cappadocia flight from Athens: $258
- Cappadocia to Istanbul: $48
- 11 nights of hotels = roughly $1100
- Day trip to Delphi or Sparta: $75
o $3176 of ‘hard costs’
Not included: Food costs, public transportation, museum entrance, airport shuttles.