TK J award US <-> IST - plenty of availability ex-US, but none on the return?
Sep 20, 23, 6:22 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 34
TK J award US <-> IST - plenty of availability ex-US, but none on the return?
I'm looking at TK availability at the end of the schedule (next August-September), and I'm trying to book east coast <-> IST. I'm playing around with several different east coast cities, and there seems to be plenty of J availability going from the US to IST, but literally 0 saver availability coming back. Is this an established thing for TK? And if so, what's my best bet for being able to book something coming back to the US?
Sep 20, 23, 7:45 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 371
I'm looking at TK availability at the end of the schedule (next August-September), and I'm trying to book east coast <-> IST. I'm playing around with several different east coast cities, and there seems to be plenty of J availability going from the US to IST, but literally 0 saver availability coming back. Is this an established thing for TK? And if so, what's my best bet for being able to book something coming back to the US?
Sep 20, 23, 10:26 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 34
Interesting - IAD was one of the first gateways I searched, and (search one-way in each direction) I couldn't find anything available on the return trip, even though ex-IAD had plenty of availability at the end of the schedule. Did you specifically search as a round-trip, or two one-ways?
EDIT: It looks like availability for spring is plenty, but availability once you get to the summer drops off a cliff. I wonder if once the schedule rolls into October, there will be more availability?
EDIT: It looks like availability for spring is plenty, but availability once you get to the summer drops off a cliff. I wonder if once the schedule rolls into October, there will be more availability?
Last edited by slowreactor; Sep 20, 23 at 10:34 pm
Sep 21, 23, 8:09 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,QR Platinum,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold, HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 13,940
The issue is IST -> US flights in August is pretty full, while the opposite direction is empty.
August and September is very popular from Istanbul since many Turkish people living in the US, who have summer houses in Turkey or visiting their relatives fly out in July and return late August, early September which includes families so there is a significant cash demand for paid Business Class travel on O-D travel
In addition, late-August and early-September is the start of the university semester in the USA where many students from Turkey fly that direction on those specific dates on that direction only. However, the impact of this is much lower than it used to be pre-COVID due to the income decline in Turkey, albeit wealthy people would still purchase non-stop Business Class fares for their children despite the price.
For a very high season with very high demand, it doesn't make commercial sense for TK to open up saver award availability at all on a route that could generate revenue.
If someone checks October 2024 or November 2024 availability in a few months, that person would see plenty of availability since those periods have very low demand.
August and September is very popular from Istanbul since many Turkish people living in the US, who have summer houses in Turkey or visiting their relatives fly out in July and return late August, early September which includes families so there is a significant cash demand for paid Business Class travel on O-D travel
In addition, late-August and early-September is the start of the university semester in the USA where many students from Turkey fly that direction on those specific dates on that direction only. However, the impact of this is much lower than it used to be pre-COVID due to the income decline in Turkey, albeit wealthy people would still purchase non-stop Business Class fares for their children despite the price.
For a very high season with very high demand, it doesn't make commercial sense for TK to open up saver award availability at all on a route that could generate revenue.
If someone checks October 2024 or November 2024 availability in a few months, that person would see plenty of availability since those periods have very low demand.
Sep 21, 23, 10:14 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 34
The issue is IST -> US flights in August is pretty full, while the opposite direction is empty.
August and September is very popular from Istanbul since many Turkish people living in the US, who have summer houses in Turkey or visiting their relatives fly out in July and return late August, early September which includes families so there is a significant cash demand for paid Business Class travel on O-D travel
In addition, late-August and early-September is the start of the university semester in the USA where many students from Turkey fly that direction on those specific dates on that direction only. However, the impact of this is much lower than it used to be pre-COVID due to the income decline in Turkey, albeit wealthy people would still purchase non-stop Business Class fares for their children despite the price.
For a very high season with very high demand, it doesn't make commercial sense for TK to open up saver award availability at all on a route that could generate revenue.
If someone checks October 2024 or November 2024 availability in a few months, that person would see plenty of availability since those periods have very low demand.
August and September is very popular from Istanbul since many Turkish people living in the US, who have summer houses in Turkey or visiting their relatives fly out in July and return late August, early September which includes families so there is a significant cash demand for paid Business Class travel on O-D travel
In addition, late-August and early-September is the start of the university semester in the USA where many students from Turkey fly that direction on those specific dates on that direction only. However, the impact of this is much lower than it used to be pre-COVID due to the income decline in Turkey, albeit wealthy people would still purchase non-stop Business Class fares for their children despite the price.
For a very high season with very high demand, it doesn't make commercial sense for TK to open up saver award availability at all on a route that could generate revenue.
If someone checks October 2024 or November 2024 availability in a few months, that person would see plenty of availability since those periods have very low demand.
This information is fantastic, and exactly what I'm looking for, thank you so much! And yes, I'm flexible on timing, so by the sounds of it, I'll probably wait a bit and see how October looks like.
Sep 21, 23, 7:21 pm
#7
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 371
Interesting - IAD was one of the first gateways I searched, and (search one-way in each direction) I couldn't find anything available on the return trip, even though ex-IAD had plenty of availability at the end of the schedule. Did you specifically search as a round-trip, or two one-ways?
EDIT: It looks like availability for spring is plenty, but availability once you get to the summer drops off a cliff. I wonder if once the schedule rolls into October, there will be more availability?
EDIT: It looks like availability for spring is plenty, but availability once you get to the summer drops off a cliff. I wonder if once the schedule rolls into October, there will be more availability?
This was the first time Ive redeemed Turkish, but I remember searching one or two other times and finding absolutely nothing. Not sure if I got lucky or not. Im not sure why, but IAD seems like the easiest gateway to score saver awards from a few different airlines.
