August 3 Fare Sale: New York to Istanbul on Air Canada for $492 Round Trip

From August 3, Canadian flag carrier, Air Canada, has reduced its ticket prices on connecting flights from New York’s John F Kennedy (JFK) International to the Istanbul Ataturk Airport (IST) by slashing nearly one third off the total flight price, according to Hopper’s when fly and buy report on the route.

The move has the airline selling round-trip tickets on the connecting flight via Toronto for just $492, which is approximately $250 less than regular fare prices between the two cities and more than $300 less than the other major competing airlines on the route.

The sudden price reduction is a way for Air Canada to bolster seat sales on their flights between JFK and IST, a route on which they are currently struggling to gain more than 10% of the market share. Indeed, the flagship carrier has also reduced ticket prices on a number of its other major transatlantic connections, with sale departures to the Turkish capital now also available out of Boston’s Logan International, Washington Dulles International and Chicago’s O'Hare International airports.

Currently, reduced fares included in the sale span departure dates throughout the fall, with most seats available in November and December, and a select few in early January of next year. They are set to dominate the budget end of the market, with most other airlines, including a number of national flag carriers like Russian Aeroflot, Swiss International and KLM Royal Dutch, still pricing their seats on the indirect route around the average, at $704 round trip.

"While these prices are some of the lowest we’ve ever seen on the New York to Istanbul route, flash sales such as this rarely last more than a week as most of the low-cost seats are snapped up quickly by eager buyers," said Patrick Surry, Hopper’s chief data scientist. "So travelers need to act fast."

Canadians hoping to take advantage of their flagship airline’s low fares to Istanbul, however, are out of luck. Despite the Air Canada flights from New York, Boston, Chicago and Washington DC all connecting to Istanbul via Toronto, Air Canada’s direct flights from Toronto to Istanbul are still selling for approximately $1,100 round trip.

Fare sale details

-Airlines participating in fare sale: Air Canada-Start of fare sale: August 3-Fare sale length: These types of sales typically don't last longer than a week-Conditions: Most available tickets have departure dates in November or December, though some are available as far out as 2015-Airfare savings: 35% lower than the average price reported in our Hopper’s flight report on the New York to Madrid route

Examples of itineraries recently found by fliers

-$492 round-trip between New York and Istanbul on Air Canada, Nov 2 to Nov 10-$492 round-trip between New York and Istanbul on Air Canada, Nov 9 to Nov 17-$492 round-trip between New York and Istanbul on Air Canada, Feb 1 to Feb 925- See all

About Hopper Research

The research team at Hopper uses data drawn from a combined feed of Global Distribution System (GDS) data that includes 10 million flight price queries per day, containing about one billion individual trips per day, to provide insights on airline pricing to consumers.