Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Flights, Airlines and Airports => Flights to Dalaman and Turkey, Airlines and Airports => Topic started by: Chinook on February 13, 2012, 22:12:26 PM
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Only today I've heard of someone being told by Thomas Cook that flights they had booked with them in the summer from Manchester had been transferred to Pegasus and someone else who has been told that their May flight with TC has been moved from Stanstead and transferred to a Monarch flight from Luton nearly a day later.Clearly there were many others in the same boat as they found it took ages to get through by telephone. It sounds like there is a substantial flight consolidation taking place
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To be honest I fear a terrible season coming for Turkey - possibly the worst in ten years (and there have been some fairly poor ones). CBF gets a small commission if people book flights for certain airlines from an advert they clicked on here, so I have a very good idea of the traffic that is being sent to them. I can tell you that bookings have died a death for 2012 - the graph literally has a "fallen off a cliff" feel to it. Turkey was apparently one of the places to do well in 2011 and that might well be true, as comparing flight booking traffic for last year with this year shows a huge fall.
Most other pointers I have are the same - hotel enquiries, private rental enquiries (Calisvilla has had 600 enquiries for 2012, sounds quite good but that is 40% down on enquiries for 2011). That is honest evidence I can share about 2012. I have to say, if Turkey is going to have a good season, the tourists must be coming from Russia or somewhere else because I don't see any great activity coming from the UK.
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Cost of flights is the main reason I think. I'm astounded at the cost of them this year. We will be lucky to get them under £300 each for September!
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Thomas Cook have also charted Freebird for the Norwich flights, or so it seems when I was checking the other day compared to a few months ago. It also seems that the costs to both Bodrum and Antalya are better priced for similar dates compared to Dalaman. We all know good deals can be had when flights first come on sale, but not everyone wants to book so far ahead when you consider the past few years with companies going into liquidation.
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just how many people will stay home this year because of the Olympics, police, fire, Ambalance, Transport are just a few to mention that will all be having holiday leave declined through this period,and Airlines will be looking to divert there planes to enable them to bring the increase in People to the uk for this huge event, which inturn could mean fewer flights available and higher flight charges to and from Turkey.
The Uk will possibley be the number one holiday destination this year, as along with the olympics theres the Queens Dimond jubilee as well so the good old Taxi drivers will not be wanting to miss out by holidaying and the list goes on and on
just got to hope for those of us still going to Turkey this year that we do not see a huge price increase to compensate for fewer holiday makers
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I would have said the opposite - for every person wanting to be (or having to be) in London because of the Olympics, there must be 20 looking to get the hell out of the place till it's all over. I agree with stoop and col, Dalaman does appear to have been overestimated as a destination to fly to, and how much people are prepared to pay. As I reported a couple of weeks ago, Antalya and Bodrum showed impressive growth in passenger throughput last year, and Dalaman put in a fall - even in what was supposed to be the year for the areas just outside the euro zone.
Once again, the misguided rule when it comes to Turkey at all levels is about to let our area shoot itself in the foot once more; that link being that if people are buying lots of something, it isn't because it is great value, it is because it must be way too cheap.
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Our main holiday won't be Turkey this year - never was going to be, we are exploring new areas to us, after 10 years of ONLY Turkey :)
Our flights cost £356 for the four of us, down to Portugal. I just checked the exact same dates in the summer, same airline (Easyjet) to see how much it was (again for the four of us) to Dalaman instead:
(http://www.calisvilla.co.uk/ejdlm.jpg)
It simply isn't going to happen is it!!!
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I would agree that the majority of public service workers countrywide will be affected greatly by the Olympics as lots of leave is cancelled before ,during and for a short period after.Even if you dont work the events ,staff will be abstracted to go to London and those left have to take up the slack.Remember this event takes place for all of june and almost 3 weeks in July(19th or 20th)Then holidays have to fit into the period that is left so maybe a bumper August/Sep.Couple this situation with the high price of flights (doubled for me in past 4 yrs),the economic situation in UK now hitting home with a lot of us and I think you have the answer.Turkey still desirable but getting there(or anywhere at present)not affordable.It would be interesting to see what the figures are like in other countries and winter sun bookings for the likes of Elevenoreef and Egypt
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but WHY so expensive to Turkey/Dalaman/Bodram/Antalya?
What are the contributing factors?
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What a massive difference in prices for a family of four holidaying in Portugal compared with Turkey I am amazed. Times are hard for a lot of people and it is obvious if you just want a nice family holiday and are not too bothered about your desination then looking at those comparisons people are not going to be choosing Turkey!
I like Braveheart would love to know why are the Turkish flights so expensive compared with other places[?]
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I work in London and have to use the underground daily there is no room now for people on trains, so how on earth it will cope during the olympics God only knows, As you say Scunner you would think that there would be a mass exodus to get away from London during this time but with School being given free tickets and lots of people who are working in the city being refused leave through out this event, then it will mean taking children out of School in Sept /Oct it seems people are not thinking the same as me,when i talk to friends and family they are more along the lines of once in a life time event in London !!!
whats the general feel of other forum members who, friends family & work colleagues live in Essex London / South East on the olympics
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I agree Karen - if you look at our personal situation, we have given Turkey ten years of our attention (we holidayed there before moving there, lived there for 5 years, then holidayed there in the years after returning to the UK to live. Our girls really must have thought that the UK and Calis was the whole World! So for us, we have a lot of catching up to do - a huge list of destinations to consider - and where we end up is down to price - I search, find out where is cheap, book flights then read up on where might be nice to stay. Anyone using that system will not be in Turkey this year. It is true that accommodation is cheaper in Turkey, sometimes quite a lot cheaper but not anywhere close to the difference between 4 flights to somewhere cheap and 4 flights to Dalaman.
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Spot on with Portugal Keith. I believe I posted on this last summer when some of my family were going to visit me here, their first time to Turkey. But they got a weeks all inclusive, transfers included to the Algarve and less than just return flights to Dalaman. They are doing the same this year, back to the Algarve because the fights to Dalaman are simply far too expensive. As they also pointed out to me last year, even when they did go out of the hotel to drink and eat, they didn't find it expensive. When they told me the costs, very little difference to here.
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quote:
Originally posted by DANKY
I work in London and have to use the underground daily there is no room now for people on trains, so how on earth it will cope during the olympics God only knows, As you say Scunner you would think that there would be a mass exodus to get away from London during this time but with School being given free tickets and lots of people who are working in the city being refused leave through out this event, then it will mean taking children out of School in Sept /Oct it seems people are not thinking the same as me,when i talk to friends and family they are more along the lines of once in a life time event in London !!!
whats the general feel of other forum members who, friends family & work colleagues live in Essex London / South East on the olympics
I don't live in London and have no desire to join the crowds who will be there crowding on the tubes and trains (I do that when I visit London several times a year and find that enough!) However my daughter and her fiance live and work in London. They are getting married on 21st July in North Yorkshire but have delayed a honeymoon until after Olympics to get to as many events as they can because "it's the Olympics!!" The opening ceremony in London is actually 27th July but events start a few days before that in Cardiff.
They are thinking that, as they live in London anyway, they won't have to pay for accommodation and are used to the travelling at peak times so won't be such a big deal. I think for them it's just making the most of the experience while it's on their doorstep.
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Does the distance to Turkey not have something to do with the more expensive fares? It is quite a bit longer flying time than some european destinations.
Have to say I am holding off booking for September/October because of the prices although have to say May/June were cheap enough.
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The main area of comparison might be the Canary Islands which are also around 4 hours from the UK. It does seem a lot easier to get a cheap flight there unless I am mistaken.
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Just looked on Skyscanner it would cost £70 more to fly to Tenerife for three people in August than to fly to Dalaman
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Well I beg to differ, because we've got daytime reurn fares to Dalaman, half board, return transfers for just under £500 in total for 2 people in May. Cannae beat that me thinks.
:D
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That is posh, half board flights :D
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I agree Toky, we got a good deal this time for June.T Cook flights day/night and Sunshine for accommodation. I think it's the luck of the draw finding a decent flight price on the day your looking, they seem to fluctuate so much. Even if we got a decent holiday price outside of Turkey, don't think we could afford the Euro. Last time we went to Corfu and it was extortianate.
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I think for some years now that the airlines have been taking advantage of the 'flight only' passengers. It is common place to find a package holiday, including transfers for less than the cost of a flight only deal. I have no idea how this becomes possible without feeling that a cosy cartel exists.
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Just back from Tenerife (chasing the sun but it got away) and we found it horrendously expensive. We paid 15 euros for 3 coffees one afternoon and average evening meal was 25 euros each (starter & Main) for nothing fancy.
Drinks expensive too -
Of course you can eat cheaply on the "specials" away from town centres/proms (around 8-10 euros each) but I don't want to scout around for reasonable prices on hols.
No more Canaries for us - looks like an additional trip to Calis..... with a sweater for evenings.