Extensions from Turkey: Egypt, Jordan and the Greek islands

A circuit with an extension has two files and one traveller. Ours starts on arrival in Turkey and ends at the hand-over point: the check-in hall of Istanbul, İzmir or Bodrum airport, or the port terminal at Kuşadası, Bodrum or Çeşme. Up to that point, everything stated in a published circuit record applies in the same way: entrance tickets included, licensed guide, domestic flights in the base, breakfast and the meals marked per day, travel insurance not included.

What we do not operate: the international flight or ferry itself, which the agency or its correspondent issues; assistance on arrival in the other country; hotels, guides and tickets outside Turkey; visas for Egypt, Jordan or Greece. When the traveller returns to Turkey after the extension — for example, for the intercontinental flight home from Istanbul — the return leg is ours again: transfer, overnight and departure to the airport are quoted within the same file.

The same person on the reservations team follows the Turkish file from quotation to operation on the ground, and the 24/7 emergency line looks after passengers while they are in Turkey.

Both extensions connect from Istanbul airport, with direct flights of about two hours to Cairo and about two and a quarter hours to Amman. That is why the Turkish circuit that precedes an extension usually ends in Istanbul, and the one that follows it usually starts there: it is the order that makes use of the intercontinental arrival in Istanbul and avoids a second domestic flight on the connection day.

Two sequencing rules we apply when quoting:

• One night of margin in Istanbul before the international flight. A circuit that ends in Cappadocia, Kars or Gaziantep returns to Istanbul on a domestic flight; chaining that flight with the connection to Cairo or Amman on the same day depends on a timetable we do not control. The night in Istanbul absorbs the delay and leaves the last afternoon free.
• Turkey first or Turkey last, not in the middle. Splitting the Turkish circuit in two to insert Egypt doubles transfers and flights. When the wholesaler sells all three countries, the usual order is Turkey – Jordan – Egypt or Egypt – Jordan – Turkey, with Istanbul as the intercontinental gateway in or out.

Egypt and Jordan have their own visa regimes, different from the Turkish one, and the correspondent for that leg confirms them. For entry into Turkey, the requirement depends on the passport nationality and is the traveller's responsibility; the country-by-country detail is in the blog article on entry requirements by nationality.

The Greek islands extension does not leave from Istanbul but from the Aegean coast, which is why it fits at the end of the Ephesus leg: the group visits Ephesus in the morning and boards in the afternoon, or sleeps in Kuşadası and crosses the next day. Three Turkish ports have regular crossings to a neighbouring Greek island:

• Kuşadası – Samos, around an hour and a half of crossing. Kuşadası is also the cruise call from which Ephesus is operated; the Ephesus and Kuşadası page for cruise groups explains the timings between the port and the site.
• Bodrum – Kos, under an hour. It is the option for a circuit that ends on the Turquoise Coast and in Bodrum, like the 15-day grand journey on its Aegean stage.
• Çeşme – Chios, under an hour, about 85 km from İzmir.

The crossings are seasonal and the frequency is confirmed in the quotation: in winter they are reduced or depend on the state of the sea. The port is a border crossing, with passport control on both sides, so the transfer is scheduled with margin before boarding time. Greece is Schengen territory: the entry requirement depends on the passport and is confirmed by the agency or its correspondent. What we operate is the transfer from the hotel or from Ephesus to the port terminal and, if the traveller returns, the pick-up on the way back.

We quote the Turkish leg at net rates, with the same commitment as any programme: 24 business hours for an individual trip and 72 for groups and MICE. For the quotation to fit the other file, four details are needed in addition to the usual ones:

• The hand-over point and date: which airport or port, and what time the flight or ferry leaves, because the last Turkish day is planned backwards from there.
• Whether the group returns to Turkey after the extension and through where, so that the return leg is quoted within the same file.
• The nationality of the passengers, which decides the entry requirements for Turkey and the margin we leave at the port.
• Who issues the international flight or ferry, the agency or its correspondent, so that the hand-over time matches the ticket already issued.

The result is a closed Turkish programme, with hand-over at the agreed point, which the agency joins to its correspondent's proposal. The commercial terms, the deposit and the cancellation scale are the same as for any circuit.