Our reader, Sarah, commented on our post “Washington – Istanbul” that a similar fare was available from Chicago. An initial glance indicated that the fare was marketed by Swiss or Lufthansa. We are always challenged by Swiss or Lufthansa fares because most of their cheap fares are non-mileage earning on most programs; Since we believe in not only finding a great deal, but also one that earns miles at under 6 cents per mile, we usually pass on from posting them. But yesterday we saw Air Canada posting the same fare from Chicago. The best part? Air Canada’s fare is mileage earning.  Istanbul for under $600 from Chicago is a good deal.

[Update 8/30/2012 – KLM and Delta has match this fare. Details – KLM: Chicago – Istanbul, Turkey. $521.]

Photo: David Spender, used under Creative Commons License (By 2.0)

Sample Date:

• November 19th – 26th. Valid for travel from October 26th – December 16th or December 25th, 2012 – March 24th, 2013. Use ITA Software Matrix Airfare Search and flexible month search to see availability — enable advance routing codes and enter “ac+” on both inbound and outbound advance routing codes fields to search only Air Canada availability. Must purchase by March 31st, 2013 (this does not mean this fare will be available until then; Air Canada can pull this anytime).
• If you do not care about miles (which is bad since you are giving up enough miles for almost an one way domestic reward), you can search Swiss or Lufthansa by entering “lx+”  or “lh+” instead of “ac+” in the advance routing code fields.

Routing:

• ORD – YUL (Montreal) – FRA (Frankfurt) – IST (Istanbul) – FRA – YUL – ORD. The FRA <-> IST portions are operated by Lufthansa .

Mileage:

• 11,074 miles or 5.0 cents per mile. Air Canada is a member of the Star Alliance and partners with United and US Airways. The fare class for this flight itinerary is booked in K fare class and the Lufthansa segments are actually mapped to W fare class as reported by users on FlyerTalk. Under this scenario, this fare will earn 100% with United. We recommend you credit this flight to United due to it’s superior program relative to Air Canada or US Airways. Provide the checkin agent with your United MileagePlus number to receive full credit

Booking:

• Use dates found on ITA Software Matrix Search and book on AirCanada.com

Background Information:

• Visa: US Citizens – Visa on Arrival for $20. Other nationals, check the TIMATIC Visa Database
• Currency: Turkish Lira (TRY) – $1USD = 1.87 TRY

Tips for saving when using credit cards at international destinations:

• No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards to save on international purchases
• Don’t get hit with Dynamic Currency Conversion
• Get your taxes refunded when shopping

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