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Home  >  Air France • Delta Airlines • Hot Deals • KLM • Mileage Runs • Turkish Airlines • United Airlines  >  Great Fares to Istanbul on Turkish, Delta and United Airlines (under $400!)
Air FranceDelta AirlinesHot DealsKLMMileage RunsTurkish AirlinesUnited Airlines

Great Fares to Istanbul on Turkish, Delta and United Airlines (under $400!)

Matthew Klint Posted onJanuary 9, 2013December 9, 2016 8 Comments

Quite frankly, I have no idea how Turkish Airlines makes any money. The carrier constantly runs fares sales to destinations around the world, including to a number of U.S. cities, at price levels that bely rationality and prevailing market conditions. But you won’t see me complaining.

Of particular interest is a fare posted yesterday from Washington Dulles to Istanbul at a cost of only $399 including taxes. This is not missing a YQ (fuel surcharge) or some sort of glitch—this is just Turkish trying to fill seat in the low season.

istanbul_fare_sale_1

istanbul_fare_sale_2  

United has matched, offering connecting service through a number of cities (though Newark and Zurich seems to show up the most) for $413.

istanbul_fare_sale_5

istanbul_fare_sale_6

Such a routing gets you nearly 11,000 EQMs (more than 11,000 if you are an elite and receive 500-mile minimum credit on the IAD-EWR-IAD flights) and gives you a tremendous opportunity to explore one of the most fascinating cities  in the word—a true crossroads between east and west.

Delta/Air France/KLM have also matched, with fares of $441–

istanbul_fare_sale_3

istanbul_fare_sale_4

Note the base fare is only $36 each way with a fuel surcharge fo $252.00 (on each carrier). I’m out of the “fuel dumping” game, but two points–one, you may be able to squeeze even more off of this fare and two, the low base fare shows that consumers should not have to distinguish between what is a “legitimate” fare and what is a “fare mistake.” This is certainly a “legitimate” fare but airlines have claimed similar fares are erroneous in the past. But I digress…

I’ve been to Istanbul many times (look for my upcoming review of the Park Hyatt Istanbul) but always enjoy returning. And of course for Star Golds—whether traveling on Turkish or United—you’ll have access to the exquisite Turkish Airlines Lounge, my favorite “business class” lounge in the world.

Now there is one drawback—on United, the fare books into K Class so while you do earn 100% mileage and elite credit on United metal, you cannot use a systemwide upgrade to move from economy to business. Mileage upgrades are available, but simply not worthwhile in my opinion when you factor in the co-pay and mileage required. Forget about upgrading on Turkish, Delta, Air France, or KLM either.

I have not booked anything yet—I’m still waiting to see whether I’ll be in the USA for awhile or heading back to Germany—but if I do end up staying, you can bet I will buy several of these.

My reasons for purchase may be different, though. Turkish Airlines has a robust network to Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia—regions I have yet to fully explore. I’m thinking of getting over to Istanbul on this cheap fare and then use US Airways or United miles to cheaply see such wonderful tourists hot spots as Ashgabat, Tashkent, Baku, Tripoli, and Dar Es Saalam.

But whatever your reason for looking into this fare, there is no disputing it is an exceptionally good deal.

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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8 Comments

  1. Luke Reply
    January 10, 2013 at 11:53 pm

    Was looking at this from Denver…its about 300 cheaper to book DEN-EWR, EWR-IST as two separate tickets on the same flights rather than booking DEN-IST…interesting

  2. Daniel/FriendlySkies Reply
    January 11, 2013 at 12:10 am

    If booking the flights on TK metal, be aware that it can be a challenge to get the miles properly credited if on a G fare. Big thread about this on FT.

  3. Jan Reply
    January 11, 2013 at 1:27 am

    Just beware that K fares flying LH or LX metal aren’t UA mileage earning.

  4. Chris Reply
    January 11, 2013 at 3:58 am

    A oneworld match would be nice to see…

  5. greek2me Reply
    January 11, 2013 at 4:11 pm

    very interested as new UA Plat in racking up some cheap EQMs and returning to IST, but question on whether UA/TK eco for 10-12 hrs is worth it?! To confirm: only way to upgrade to biz is to fly UA metal and use GPUs?

  6. Matthew Reply
    January 11, 2013 at 8:34 pm

    @greek2me: You would need to use miles + co-pay on United.

  7. Hans Reply
    January 11, 2013 at 10:58 pm

    Thanks for the heads-up! Taking the whole family for the price of my last west coast swing.

  8. Andrew Hyde Reply
    January 15, 2013 at 1:31 pm

    I just did this round trip and think it is the biggest steal of a fare I’ve ever booked. One way to IST than back with a couple days in Amsterdam.

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