Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Hi there, looking at a flight back from uk next Wednesday there is a cheap Pegasus flight that say it's a self transfer. We would have 2.40 hrs between flights . Has anyone done this and would we need visas? I have them but would need to print them out if needed.

Presume it’s a transfer between flights at same airport. If so then you should have plenty of time providing the flight departs on time.

Presume for self transfer you have to collect your baggage on arrival after the first leg and check in again for next leg. If so then you will need visa. If you are flying in using one airline but flying out with a different airline then it is very likely you will need to purchase a visa, go thro passport control, collect luggage, go to airline check in desk and recheck in your bags ( Unless of course the two different airlines concerned have a codeshare agreement).

Make sure it's not different airports, you'd never make it !

Travelled last week Ercan Istanbul Dubai...via Pegasus..
On departing Ercan first leg..cases went through.issued with just one boarding pass each..
Cases labelled then merrily on their way...
I then reminded checking Guy we were due a connecting flight to Dubai from Istanbul..
Panic stations as checkin Guy..then called the cases back...quite a lot of man power involved but managed to retrieve our cases..
PHEW..
Check in Guy had not checked our paperwork and if I had failed to mention connecting flights our cases would not have been in transit..with us..
Check in guy appearing quite embarrassed... then issued us with two boarding passes each..


Morale of the story...although I presented appropriate paperwork..which check in guy clearly did not acknowledge.....
Lesson learned...
repeating you have a connecting flight is essential on your first leg...
Hope this helps...

Forgot to say..no visas needed.

Interesting experience for you! I decided not to risk it in the end and flew easy jet to Paphos , never tried them before, it was a very pleasant experience and at £35 each plus taxi, we saved money!

I only hope the flights and connection back to a Ercan is as good as going...

Return connection flight..all ok but my advice is at check in....repeat repeat repeat you have connection flights..that way you are sure to get both boarding cards...

Kiplet.,Thanks for that useful tip. We are doing the same journey to Dubai on Monday. Pegasus Ercan to Sabina G. And then on to Dubai. Will make sure check in are aware. Hope the trip and holiday were good.

Re self transfer. I came across this last week when checking flights, as PID says, you do have to collect bags and check in again thus would require a visa in Turkey.

We didn’t ...
No visas required
No collection of bags..
They were sorted by airline..
We just boarded at Ercan..landed Istanbul..went through hand luggage security then in to board for Dubai..
All went relatively smoothly...no real concerns.

kiplet wrote:We didn’t ...
No visas required
No collection of bags..
They were sorted by airline..
We just boarded at Ercan..landed Istanbul..went through hand luggage security then in to board for Dubai..
All went relatively smoothly...no real concerns.

Were your flights advertised as self transfer?

Just a thought if you use a different airline for your onward journey from Istanbul then you would need to collect luggage and check in with new airline. If continuing journey with same airline luggage is sent on and you just go straight through international transfer.

Here is the definition of self transfer bookings, normally made via a site like Skyscanner. I've noticed that they advertise this on flights from UK to North Cyprus even using the same airline (Pegasus) for both legs (UK-Turkey, Turkey-Trnc). However, if you end up with 2 booking references (point 1 below) then you have to collect your baggage from the first leg and check-in for second flight which means requiring a visa for flights landing in Turkey.
Although, I managed to persuade Turkish Airlines to book luggage all the way through on one occasion when the flights were booked separately. However, airlines are generally not amenable to this as sometimes flights booked in this way work out cheaper than a single through booking and they are trying to stop that dodge, I wonder why...

Self-transfer flights

Each flight has its own booking reference
The airlines do not have a friendly alliance
BUT a travel agent will assist you if anything goes wrong
HOWEVER, different travel agents offer different levels of assistance

So if you have different bookings, and the first flight is delayed so you miss your connection, you are on your own - doesn't sound like it's worth the risk to save a few quid.

Also if you miss the outbound flight, your return is usually invalidated.