Narrowing down my options
Hello again,
Having decided to not do this trip with miles/points, and not to consider a charter between IST and TLV, I have been playing around with the ITA search engine, and found flights on Turkish Airlines as follows:
JFK to IST on August 22
IST to TLV on Sept. 1
TLV to PDX on Sept. 15
at a cost of $1183. The times are very good and the first two are nonstop; the last stops once. For another hundred bucks we could go on days that meet our needs better. We'd do the PDX-NY-PDX piece using the US Airways companion pass that came with the US Airways CC, paying for one ticket and getting the second for $99. That will add another $325 or $330 to the fare, unless I can find something cheaper (haven't looked yet). It also offers the possibility of a stop in NYC.
Considering that we are flying at peak time (summer plus Jewish holidays) is a fare of @$1500 that bad to go PDX-NYC-IST-TLV-NYC-PDX ??
Also, what is the best way to book a paid ticket on Turkish Airways?
Thanks much!
BTW - I did check Aqaba and it was a lot more expensive.