Kalkan Turkey Forum - EnjoyKalkan.com
Travel and Accommodation => Flights and Travel => Topic started by: Blue Lizard on July 23, 2018, 10:06:57 AM
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This year most people we spoke to had experienced flight delays of various lengths..ourselves had 2 hours going and the same returning(Dalaman was dire we were at gate 33 which is in the basement greenhouse underneath the other gates and had gone through security searches before all was revealed it were nearly a riot!)..The flights for which we had paid for priority etc we didn't get so I am currently at war with Thomas Cook for being thieving gits! Now on board coming home the crew were rude and surly and were heard referring to passengers as cattle! Now I am a free thinking non judgemental type of lizard so tend to believe in "whatever floats your boat" but the sight of a transgender stewardess who looked like Jimmy Nail in a frock well! I have seen several transgender stewardesses on Easyjet Monarch etc over the years and they have been very smart in immaculate uniform and makeup leaving an element of is it or isn't it ...Jimmy didn't !..Hooray! food time! oh dear..James Martin only your mum could have liked that! why do airlines give you crackers and a bread roll but only I small knob of butter..leaving you to play spread roulette who gets it the cracker or the roll?..Anyway I have just checked next years prices and the reward TC have given themselves is to raise the price on this year by about £150 aren't they wonderful? I can buy a flight to Florida cheaper but sadly I don't want to go to Florida!
well I have no choice if I want civilised flight times but to bite the bullet and suck it up as it's a long walk! ::) >:D
just sayin
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Sounds like a nightmare BL and I think Joycie had a similar experience recently. It used to be a pleasure and exciting to be on the plane but it just seems so stressful nowadays. Cabin crew used to be really polite and helpful didn't they. I wonder why standards have dropped so much?
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I flew recently with Easy Jet from Manchester ( never want to go there again)- the speel at the start of the safety thing makes it VERY clear that they are there for your safety and not as your servants.....interesting. We were in row 1 and on the way out the crew talked alot about their weekend antics, which was informative....
On the way back we had a 9 hr delay and the crew were AMAZING...they were so apologetic and even the Captain came out into the cabin to express how unhappy he was at the limited information we had been given. They were a credit to EasyJet!
They have already paid out the compensation and I have already spent it on flights with Turkish Airways!!!
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The crew on our return could not give a flying wotsit..they took great delight in telling all that they hadn't been on one of these type of planes before and could not find pillows or indeed anything else they were asked for or even the stuff to demonstrate belts/lifejackets etc so how are they going to ensure passengers get off mmmm? Mrs L asked for a glass of water to take medication and was told sorry we are on a break! good egh? we have had some decent ones over the years but rude ones or sharp ones are becoming more readily available!! :( >:D
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Oh Lizard we had exactly the same experience with Thomas Cook although thankfully no delays. Because it was a special birthday I had been treated to premium economy if there is such a thing. It was a total disaster and won't be falling for it again. The crew coming back were the worst. Leaving Dalaman at 3.00 in the morning is not the best experience and the premium economy thing is a waste of money because who really wants a James Martin meal at that time in the .morning. The free drinks don't work either because again at that time in the .morning there isn't drinks service very often. The cabin crew were elderly and usually this is a good thing but they were surly and papers were strewn all over the route to the forward looking as an elderly air hostess tried to balance her books.
I am still awaiting a reply from TC.
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Don't hold your breath on a reply from TC, you probably won't get one, and if you do, it'll be along the lines of 'tough, nothing to do with us' answer.
TC=Total C**p
Rating: vying with LyanAir for the worst airline in the world.
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I know exactly what you mean Blue Lizard, we booked flights with TUI(or whatever they call themselves these days) with extra legroom & baggage, only to be bumped off their own planes on to Freebird. Never heard of them but Tui informed us that extra legroom seats are not available on their flights, yet no mention of a refund. Tui really are the pits, return flight times changed by 8 hours, will never book with them again. On a brighter note we have booked flights with Jet2 for next year at reasonable times & £250.00 cheaper than Tui this year. Good luck to anyone hunting for flights next year at reasonable times & costs. Come back Monarch!!!
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We've flown Monarch for the last few years from Manchester - always excellent and much missed.
This June we flew with easyjet, same flight times we'd enjoyed with Monarch as I cant do those late afternoon departures and early am returns anymore. I have to say our flight was on time (landing early) from Manchester and delayed by an hour coming back - I can live with that given the experience of others. If they are operating the same flight times again - the flights were full both ways - we will set the alarm on release day and go for it! The flights were £220 each - Monarch before going bust had wanted £450 each! Jet2 seem reasonable and we have flown with them before, but awful times from Manchester.
I'd rather walk all the way to Kalkan in a pair of sky-high heels that pinch your toes than get on a Thomas Cook flight...
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It's such a gamble these days isn't it. I must confess to disliking Manchester airport so I am loathe to book Easyjet flights again despite them being pretty good this year and their response to the compensation claim being swift.
I am still having buyers remorse over the Ryan air flights I have for September ( Birmingham to Dublin, Dublin to Dalaman) - I am travelling with a Kalkan newbie and I want things to be smooth ( that said, this Kalkan newbie has already got a villa reserved for 2 weeks NEXT august!!)
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Cheapest 2019 flights I have seen advertised in last weeks are BA out of Gatwick, way cheaper than Leeds/Bradford & Manchester flights
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Haybo, Liverpool have some morning flights on a Thursday. Also do a Monday later in the day. Worth looking at. Much smaller than Manchester.
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Sorry Haybo, should have said EasyJet flights to Dalaman from Liverpool on Monday and Thursday.
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Hi all, I never realised we could book flights for next year yet . I’m trying to cheat here but I know you will help :) I like an early morning flight ,mid May onwards from Gatwick . Please point me in the right direction.
Lynne
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easyJet wont release their first tranche of 2019 flights until September (which go up to June) then peak summer will be released in October and autumn flights November.
I think you have a lot more options from Gatwick, than we do at Manchester/Liverpool. I would just look on Sky Scanner if you want to price some flights for next year. I think you can also fly Turkish Airlines from London to Istanbul then domestic flight to Dalaman very cheaply if you check their website.
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EJ and BA seem to leave Gatwick around 15.15 afternoon getting to kalkan at near midnight!...not much goes out To Dalaman in the morning TC do a 07.50 ..TUI will charge you the cost of a small countrys national debt for pretty meh times! Turkish air want to take you to Istanbul first..when I get on a plane I want to get off where I'm going! ::) We have had pretty shoddy service from all the airlines at some point so if I threw my toys out of the pram I wouldn't go anywhere so I guess its a case of suck it up and hope for the best... ;)
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I agree Lizard after travelling premium economy this year with Thomas Cook from Birmingham with all its disappointments and vowing never to travel with them again guess what we've booked Thomas Cook. Only economy this time but we're travelling from the East Midlands airport this time with decent flight times particularly the home flights when we actually arrive home in the afternoon and not the early hours of the morning like this year.
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Thank you everyone,I knew you would step up to the challenge
Lynne
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UK airlines would prefer to do the 'bucket and spade' package flights to the Costas first, leaving Turkey to the later times. Unless you do TC at 0250 in the morning (I'm not sure if this is a late flight or an early one…).
Maybe Turkey visitors are older and can thus be relied on to be quietly civil and tolerant, rather than FB'ing every niggle to the world about how the family has been treated so-oo-oo-oo badly by the airlines, how unfair it all is and how they are never told anything.
If you want to get your blood pressure up, try finding YouTube videos on airline travel in the 50s and 60s. (…sigh!)
But then again perhaps not - it might give some of the airlines an excuse to charge extra for respect and consideration (you know who they are).
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Maybe because you can fit more Spain flights in....Less fuel ,more passengers more onboard sales etc..cant say I have found Turkish visitors to be especially old? most of the flights have a fair sprinkling of kids..teens, middle aged and older passengers notice that not many go to Kalkan when bags are collected all inclusives in the big resorts are a better option for families and groups and work out cheaper..Saw on the BBC yesterday that Turkey this year is the number Two destination behind Spain..strange how wheels turn within a couple of years after some airlines pulled flights because demand wasn't there,And the demise Of Monarch whos flights have not been replaced .This created a lot fewer flights and times for those that were looking for flights and has enabled the airlines to inflate prices under various excuses when we know greed is the driving factor. Did hear a rumour tha BA were putting more flights into Turkey but that seems to have died down..just as well if you want your luggage to holiday with you! >:D
I notice on this thread no one has said such and such an Airline were brilliant...I think we have all had pi$$ poor service at some point but with time and the need to get a decent timed flight at a lower cost than Donald Trumps Airforce one I tend to mellow and think Oh well lets try those again simply because of the lack of choice and options.Whoe are you blessing with your prescence next year Chris? you seem to dislike them all more than me ;D
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Blue lizard, we have travelled to Dalaman from Manchester in the last couple of years on Monarch ( morning flights) no problem with the service. Tui Dreamliner great plane and service by cabin crew and EasyJet, also morning flights. All very comparable. I suppose it all depends on the price you are willing to pay. You pay you your money and take your choice. What price for a a holiday in paradise?
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Next year's blessings? M-m-m-m, let's think.
Fundamentally, it comes down to departure airport. Birmingham, Stansted and Gatwick are all 1-1/2 to 2 hours away; add the three hours you need to be there before and you're setting off 5 hours before a 4 hour flight. Add to that the cost of fuel/parking, or taxi (not a major difference) and you've added in another £200-250 to the bill.
The much maligned (and much deserved) Luton is about 45 minutes, taxi is £20-odd, and when we arrive back at time starting with a 0, you can be home in bed before you have to get up.
(I haven't gone into how dire the assistance is at Gatwick, not that it's brill at Luton, either, but that's another story)
Now that Monarch is no longer with us, Monarch's slots became available. TC were selling flights in those slots when they didn't have them this year, and had to cancel most of those flights. easyJet took the principle Dalaman slot from Luton, hence they become favoured airline for the present, purely on lack of choice.
tui don't go from Luton at all and as they are prohibitively expensive, wouldn't even pop up on the comapre prices radar anyway.
Jet2 are Stansted and Birmingham only - see previous comments.
BA are Gatwick only as well, but since they tend to run out of drink by Paris on the outbound flight, well, you get the picture.
Pegasus are Gatwick only as well, see previous comments.
Which leaves Heathrow, which is about an hour on a good day (if there is such a thing on the M25), but means doing the stop and dash for the Dalaman flight in Istanbul - this is a shade more hassle than I (or my partner in crime) would contemplate.
So there you have it - it's looking like easyJet for the present.
Unless the Lottery comes up, and then it'll be a private charter Gulfstream (other executive jets are available) that will fly when you want (roughly - ATC permitting), you avoid security, they don't run out of food and drink, there's no babies screaming nor 6 year-olds kicking the seat, and you get more than 31 inches to the prisoner in front.
Remember when cabin crew/flight attendants were called hostesses or stewards? Doesn't the job title tell you everything about airline attitudes to the paying customer (or SLC as they're known in the industry (=Self-Loading Cargo)).
Yes I know I'm cynical, but we have to just do what we're told and accept it, don't we?
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We have tended to use Thomsonfly (now TUI) flying out of Stansted. The flight departs at 07.00am on a Monday morning and we are usually settled in our accommodation by mid afternoon. The return flight leaves early afternoon Turkish time and arrives at Stansted at 16.30hrs. These flights are more expensive but we feel that it's well worth the extra cost. We have flown with the now liquidated Monarch from Gatwick but much prefer the convenience of using our local airport. As other people have stated it's all a bit of a lottery and no airline is without their faults.
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We booked easyJet at £373 return for the two of us last November. tui have never been below £992 (and that was yesterday, normally £1220) from their nearest airport 2 hours away.
No Contest.
Incidentally, TC may be thinking of selling their airline: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-thomas-cook-grp-airlines/thomas-cook-mulling-airline-sale-sunday-times-idUKKBN1KI0MI (https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-thomas-cook-grp-airlines/thomas-cook-mulling-airline-sale-sunday-times-idUKKBN1KI0MI)
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We had decent service from easyJet this year and they were by far the cheapest and also the best flight times - 6.30am from Manchester means you arrive in Dalaman midday and 1.40pm return means you get home for the Manchester rush hour...but I can live with that! The old Monarch flights were similar times...but as EJ were operating these flight times in 2017 before Monarch went bust, they haven't taken the Monarch slots..which means theoretically they are still available for another airline. Come on Jet 2, you can clean up!
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BTW, it looks as though the early Summer flights for EJ will be released in October this year
http://www.easyjet.com/en/schedule-release
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It's Easyjet all the way for us this year again. We've saved a whopping £1000 again this August compared with our old TC outbound and (good old) monarch inbound routine of old. For us it's worth setting our alarm for 3am and every hour onwards on the day of release and we will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. As K4E said, fab times from Manchester and a pleasurable flight with a decent seat pitch, plenty of on-board refreshments and best of all, speedy boarding. We will hopefully be experiencing this again all over again on Thursday...bring it on 8)
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Following on from my original post on this thread I checked the cost of our flights that we booked in july for next year...Well Grapple my grape nuts!! our already expensive flights have have gone up double in price ..(and that's not including the James Martin pedigree chum that was on offer but does include "early Worm" deal is that for din dins next year >:D!) how they justify that I don't know..sooner more flights start going to Turkey the better so far they have cut flights and created there own demand and charge as they see fit..thieving gits! >:(
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Totally agree Blue Lizard. I've just booked flights for a bit of winter sun in Tenerife in January. Les than £300 for 2 with luggage. I know it's a popular route but it shouldn't be double that to Dalaman.
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Cheapest non special offer flights I have seen recently for 2019 to Dalaman were from Dublin. We normally fly out of Leeds or Manchester, recent prices for June and September coming in around £900 excluding seat bookings or baggage . Price from Dublin £400 and they are better flight times early morning departure and mid afternoon return . ::: Cost of 2 return Leeds /Dublin tickets £100 bringing total to £500 , While we would have to stay at Dublin airport for 6 hours out and return and put up with the additional travel times fro extra flights 4 hours , we are seriously considering the £400 saving = several meals out at our favorite top restaurants and return transfers
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On the dates I fly to Dalaman I can fly from Heathrow to Sydney return by Virgin for £678 smackeroonies! now how does that work if you aren't being shafted :o >:D
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Welcome to the world of Alex Cruz and Michael O'Leary.
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Brian jp - I did the Dublin route in September - I was very lucky with the fare and got Birmingham to Dublin, Dublin to Dalaman return for just under £140...yes, i know!!! Even with an overnight stay at a local hotel we came in circa £200 per person better off!
You need your walking boots though because the Ryanair stands at Dublin might actually be in Kilkenny.......
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And Dalaman is probably Denizli Cardak or Rhodes (even Ryanair wouldn't try landing a 737 at Castellorizo!).
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Thomas Cook have some very cheap flights at the moment from around £60 return during November.
I am coming out on the 21st for a few days, on one of them, and if I can will stay at a hotel rather than opening up the villa just for me.
Can anyone recommend a hotel that stays open over the winter.
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Zinbad are open all through the winter. Good location.
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Also Kleo pension looks good and reasonably priced. We’ve booked Kalkan central suites for new year but it’s an apartment as we wanted the freedom to cook etc, for a really good price. Try looking on booking.com, it’s a good site and lots of choice.