The “second summer” has begun in Turkey: planes full of Lithuanians are on vacation at ridiculous prices

Many people get caught up in Kristina Brazauskienė’s legendary phrase that “summer ends ONLY for those who have no money.” Understand: those with money can always go where it is hot and sunny, where it is still summer. Although this very logical phrase once sounded a bit jealous and perhaps even “uplifting”, it doesn’t seem like that anymore.

Regarding the proposals of Lithuanian tour operators currently floating on the Internet, Ms Brazauskienė could be corrected. If you want a summer, you don’t have to have a lot of money, 200-300 euros is enough and you can spend a whole week where the columns of the thermometer still rise to 30-32 degrees. Autumn is here only with us, in Northern Europe, but not in Turkey. There is currently a second summer there for thousands of Lithuanians who spend every day at Antalya International Airport and scatter the cities around this tourist region.

It’s hard to believe that we are still living in a time of coronavirus crisis. When you look at travel agency websites on the Internet, your head spins. Imagine that currently even six tour operators Novaturas, Tez tour, Tiketa Tour, Itaka Lietuva, TUI Lietuva, Coral Travel Lithuania offer daily trips to Turkey. The most diverse, luxurious and economical, medium too. The specificity between the organizers is so great that we, the vacationers, win. Interestingly, the same hotels can cost very differently on different pages, even with a hundred euro markup one way or another.

The fact that trips to Turkey in autumn are very expensive, nothing new, was the case every year, except last year, when the Lithuanian organizers did not travel to this holiday paradise. However, in both 2019 and 2018, prices have certainly fallen since mid-September. Only at that time was there such fierce competition, making it more difficult to search for good deals.

And now when you check, keep a price such that it’s hard not to buy. A week with meals in Turkey, which is in its second summer, costs up to two nights without meals at a hotel in autumn in Palanga.

I’ve been following Turkey travel deals for the last week, and I’m not surprised: some organizers have offered weekly packages with all-inclusive meals for 250-350 euros in simpler three- to four-star hotels, or 400-500 euros per person. for the same all-inclusive “Rest in five-star hotels. The most observant may note that even premium hotels that offer all-inclusive food and beverages have cut prices by almost half. In more than one of them a week there can be vacations for 500-700 euros, instead of a few thousand, as it costs in mid-summer. Even those who have already been on vacation in Turkey this year return for the second time.

“I have a couple more weeks of vacation, I had to use it. Therefore, when I saw that a week at my beloved hotel L’Ancora Beach costs only 399 euros, I immediately booked and convinced three more friends to travel together”, says Ms Gražina from Kaunas. She was already in Turkey at the end of May with her husband and daughter. At that time she was resting at the Side spa and now she has come to Kemer.

Algis from Vilnius and his wife Agne, whom I met on a plane to Antalya, said they were flying in this direction for the first time in their lives because they had been against Turkey for a long time. This country seemed worn out and overrated to them. “But there were circumstances that we could not avoid buying. We both work remotely, without differences from home or anywhere else. We did not plan a vacation, but it was attacked by the early cold and the wife saw a travel package for less than € 300 per person. We decided we had to take it, “Algis said. The man couldn’t tell which hotel he was heading to, he just knew enough to get all-inclusive meals.” Something big, with the word ‘bay’ or ‘beach’. We didn’t delve too deep into the hotel itself, it just seduced the price. I wonder if there really is no one there to limit anything and if you can eat as much as you can, ”the man thought.

While walking through the small town of Kemer, I met many Lithuanian families, great companies of friends from our country. Compatriots were glad that the weather in Turkey is very good at the moment, not too strenuous. “Perfect heat during the day, you just want to lie down and swim in the sea, and at night it’s cold enough, up to 22-24 degrees, so you can fall asleep,” said two friends Marius and Darius, who came on vacation for two weeks.

The last time I visited Turkey was at the beginning of the season, in April. And at that moment, I noticed that the resorts of this country were as empty and silent as ever. I will remind readers that it was at that time that all flights from Russia were canceled, for a while Turkey ran out of Russians and it really felt great. Also, the British were unable to go to this country at that time. And now there are many of them. September on the popular Cleopatra Beach in Alanya resort is as thick as July or August.

“Fantastic autumn, lots of tourists, the weather is getting cooler and people are not slowing down. I am glad that many Lithuanians are coming,” said Onur, marketing manager of the luxurious five-star hotel Club Marco Polo. When I consulted with this gentleman to see if it always represented such a cheap hotel, it even collapsed: “In the autumn season we are left with about a thousand euros a week,” he commented, but not exactly. Last week, the price of this hotel in the tour operator Novaturas it was significantly lower: 655 euros per week. “We just realized that some countries were receiving special rates. Lithuania is probably one of them. But the Russians really pay more, “Onur explained.

The fact that Lithuanians were interested in the “second Turkish summer” is evident in the planes flying to and from Antalya. For example, on the previous morning’s flight from this resort to Vilnius, there were only a few vacancies, and on Saturday morning the charter was 100 percent full, with no vacancies. This is likely to be the case until the end of October.