Originally Posted by
carlost
Taking flights like this to avoid fuel surcharges is false economy. First, the flight is much longer. A TK flight with take 14-16 hours as opposed to an 8 hour nonstop or even an 11 hour one stop through western European gateway. I don't know about you, but my time is worth something to me. Second, you arrive later in the day instead of first thing in the morning as on most transatlantic flights. This kills most of the first day, so it essentially you are losing almost a day. Or to say it another way, you are paying for a hotel the first night without getting full benefit of being there. It's like paying an extra night's hotel cost. All in all, it isn't so clear cut.
False economy? As you mentioned time is worth something... Do you get paid a $100+ an hour? Probably not. The OP said she found flights using AC & LH with fees of $1100. With the additional time added to transit via IST the OP would be saving over a $100 for each additional "travel" hour. That savings of $1050 could pay for a very nice hotel stay.
We all value things differently including time. It's nice to always have options then having none.