Cheapest flights to Istanbul

If you happen to have looked for the cheapest flights to Istanbul some years ago, you will be pleasantly surprised if you do the search now. As low-cost airlines inject more and more competition into international routes, budget flights to Istanbul are increasingly becoming easier to find, and even those on relatively skimpy budgets can now enjoy the staggering beauty of the Turkish capital, a relatively inexpensive, hassle-free journey included. Of course, flight prices will vary depending on time of year, with dramatic increases in the summer, so if you're coming to Istanbul in peak season it is advisable to book a lot earlier, preferably in winter. Expenses don't quite end with the purchase of a ticket, though. Upon arrival in Istanbul, foreigners usually need to get tourist visas, with fees dependent on nationality. EU citizens should be prepared to pay around €15, while visitors with U.S. and Australian passports will spend $20. Surprisingly, Canadian citizens will have to pay as much as US$60.
There are two major airports in Istanbul: Istanbul Atatürk Airport 20 km west of the city center and Sabiha Gökçen International Airport located about twice that far, in the Anatolian side of the city. Charter flights and European low cost airlines operate from both.
Cheapest flights to Istanbul from the USA:
There's a good deal of direct flights from the USA to Istanbul, with the cheapest offered by Turkish Airlines that operate from New York and Chicago. If you're flying from New York, there's also a choice of KLM and Delta flights, whereas travelers from Chicago can also quite cheaply fly with United Airlines.
Cheapest flights to Istanbul from the UK:
Generally speaking, most airports in UK provide flights to Istanbul Ataturk International Airport. The best deals are offered by British Airways, Turkisk Airlines, and Swiss, with BA leaving from Heathrow, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeenwhile, Turkish Airlines flying from Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, and Dublin, and Swiss operating from Heathrow and Manchester.
With the infinite choice of websites comparing prices of all available carriers, finding the cheapest flights to Istanbul from locations other than UK and USA is just a matter of time. LOT and GERMANWINGS are probably best deals to fly from Amsterdam, Brussels, Bucharest, Cologne, Copenhagen, Dortmund, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Katowice, Krakow, Leipzig, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Minsk, Munich, Montreal, Moscow, Paris, Stuttgart, Stockholm, Vienna, Vilnius, and Warsaw, but it's good to keep track of deals offered by local operators.
Want to fly back home and don't have a return ticket? Most of airline offices are in the close vicinity of Taksim Square, though you can find the offices of Turkish Airlines just about anywhere in the city. The two airlines covering the majority of domestic routes are of course Turkish Airlines and Onur Air, but Atlasjet, Fly Air and Pegasus Airlines are also getting their fair share - just in case you feel like staying a bit longer and want to find the cheapest flights from Istanbul to other Turkish locations.