Originally Posted by spotwelder
The trip looks OK at the moment but I haven't got my validator brain working. IST can be a little difficult to get a cheapie to as a single. However, there is an Istanbul low cost airport with a couple of carriers going there. One way mileage spend on BA Exec Club is a popular option.
I will get round to recalculating the D class ex-Europe shortly but GIB was an interesting option for a time. Monarch do cheap singles off Luton and Manchester and GB airways can sometimes be pushed to a £100 cheap return.
I've invested thousands of keystrokes in figuring how to get cheaply and conveniently to IST. It's a bit of an oxymoron from the UK, given the prices on the BA or TK nonstops. The best compromise keeps turning up as (LCC or train of your choice) to AMS or BRU, then the daily TK flight(s) to IST, the one-ways of which turn up at around £120 - £140. The LCCs that go to IST all either go to SAW, which I gather is way out there on the Asia side of the water, or arrive at 3 in the morning, or both.
We ourselves in April are going to go EDI-PRG-IST on Czech Airlines, and will enjoy an 8-hour layover at PRG, time to go into town and have lunch and several excellent beers, then a 10:30pm arrival at IST. Doing it as an open jaw back to LHR for the end of the RTW. Even if we don't use the return or pay a change fee, it's still cheaper than one-ways. Crazy? Yes maybe.