Turkey is Visa’s Second Largest Market
If you have a Visa card and will be traveling to Fethiye, you’re in luck. “Turkey is Visa Europe’s second-largest credit card market and may become our largest if the current growth rate is maintained”says Peter Ayliffe, CEO of Visa Europe. Dana Pierson, a financial analyst at Credit Card Forum describes Turkey and Visa as “a story of unbelievable business success.” She goes on to say “When you consider that Visa has only been operating in Turkey for 25 years, it’s a very impressive feat to accomplish.”

Using Credit Cards in Fethiye
As you can guess from the previous paragraph, Visa is the most widely accepted credit card in Fethiye. The second most accepted card is MasterCard/EuroCard. American Express comes in third and is accepted at many high-end and upscale places, like fancy hotels. Dana Pierson of Credit Card Forum says “The popular American Express Starwood Preferred Guest credit card is still accepted at Starwood hotels in Turkey. Many other luxury resorts and hotels also accept American Express, but just make sure you have a Visa card handy in case your hotel isn’t one of them. You should have a Visa anyways to pay for normal purchases during your trip to Fethiye.”

Some Important Tips
If you’re paying with a credit card, no establishments require a commission surcharge. If you bargain on a purchase and come to an agreement on price, a seller might try and charge you a credit card commission (komisyon) of between 2% to 4% on top the price you agreed upon. In 2003 this practice was made illegal, so don’t let a seller do that to you. Of course you should also bring along cash because not everyone will accept cards for payment.

Post from: Fethiye Bay - Local English Newspaper

Using Credit Cards in Fethiye

Most all printer inks and toners are very expensive when buying original replacements, this new service offers you dramatically reduced cost on refilling your ink or laser cartridges.

There are 2 ways to accomplish this, you can take your empty printer cartridge to them or give them a call and they will come to you and pick it up.

They are very easy to find and located on the Kaya Caddessi (road) the same road that goes to Kaya and Kale Park Restaurant.

Post from: Fethiye Bay - Local English Newspaper

Credit Crunch on Printer Consumables

It is now a good time for all of us to seek out other types of energy to use to reduce our costs and most importantly reduce our C02 emissions.

Solar electricity panels are the most popular. Now with new panels arriving from Japan, there efficiency is even better than before and with new technology the prices have fallen making it an ideal time for you to invest in the future, and redefine the way you look at electricity and power in your home.

We have found a small shop in Fethiye dealing with Solar Energy, and Mr. Ahmet speaks a little English and is very helpful in finding the right solar system for your home and your budget. The shop is situated at Cumhuriyet Mah. 504. Sokak 10/A and they are contactable by telephone on 0252 612 1102 or 0532 684 5084.

Post from: Fethiye Bay - Local English Newspaper

Electricity price set to rise by more than 20%

Turkish isn´t an easy language to learn, but it’s worth picking up a few words and phrases to amuse yourself and to astonish and delight Turks!

Despite oddities such as the silent ‘g’(?) and undotted i (?) , Turkish is phonetic and simple to pronounce. In a few minutes you can get the hang of the sounds, and then you’re ready to start talking. Most letters are said just as they’re written: but here’s a list of the tricky ones:

A,a short, as in ‘ant’.
E,e short as in ‘bell’.
I,i as ‘ee’ in ‘bee’.
I,i ‘uh’ like the ‘e’ in ‘open’.
Ö,ö as German ‘ö’, or ‘fur’.
U,u short as ‘oo’ in ‘moon’.
Ü,ü same as German ‘ü’, or ‘pew’.
C,c is a ‘j’, as jam.
Ç,ç ‘ch’ is in ‘chin’.
G,g always hard, as in ‘get’.
G,g: not pronounced, lengthens preceding vowel, ignore it!
H,h always pronounced, as in ‘hat’.
J,j as in French ‘j’, or ‘rouge’.
S,s always ‘ss’, never ‘z’.
Ş,ş ‘sh’ as in ‘ship’.
X,x not used, Turks use ‘ks’ instead.

Post from: Fethiye Bay - Local English Newspaper

The Turkish Language | The Essentials

Who knows what will happen next…

Post from: Fethiye Bay - Local English Newspaper

A Bumpy Week for the Turkish Lira

A fantastic day out, a coastal highway you long to drive on, encountering breathtaking panoramic sea views along the way to finally arrive in Kaş – one of Turkey’s Gems, and then to be met by your captain – Selo, who is a splendid and honorable person.

He speaks impeccable english, is extremely professional and well organized in his business and operates two boats.

Here is our step-by-step guide;

Step One – Before you go

Work out when your visa will expire by adding 90 days to the entry date stamped in your passport. Choose a date before the expiry date, taking into consideration the weather conditions are favorable for your day trip.

Contact Selo on his mobile telephone on 05376745572 and book your day of travel. He runs his boats every weekday, Monday to Friday, throughout the year, rain or shine.

Get your Euros before you go, use the HSBC, Garanti, Fortis or TEB ATM’s that issue Euros. You will need 15 Euros for each Visa and some for spending while on Meis, if you want to take advantage of the shopping to be had. Example, the purchasing of bacon, pork products. etc, and also the duty free shopping.

Step Two – Making your Way to Kaş

There are two options for this, by bus or by car.

If you are traveling by bus from Fethiye, you need to get to the bus station (otogar) located at the end of the dalaman road, fethiye junction. The bus leaves at 7:30 to Kaş and the price is approx 10 YTL one way. You can book your seat in advance during busy times so as to guarantee your seat.

If you are traveling by car heading towards kaş, allow 2 and half hours for your journey from fethiye. The journey after Kalkan is a wonderful experience with the road winding round the coast with beautiful panoramic views, and this in itself is well worth doing.

For instance we hired a car from Oscar which was reasonably priced at around 60 YTL and then added petrol at a cost of 60 YTL which took us all the way to Kaş and all around Kaş and back to Fethiye and around Fethiye too. There were four of us traveling and we found this a more desirable alternative to catching the bus, and it gave us more flexibility.
Upon our return journey that evening we encountered dynamic sunsets along the coastal road between Kaş and Kalkan

Step Three – Arriving at Kaş

If arriving by bus, get off at Kaş bus station located at the top half of the town. You can walk down to the harbor or Selo or one of his staff will pick you up and take you the short distance to the harbor.

If arriving by car, park on the harbor and Selo is located as the road goes round to the left opposite the tea garden.

Selo will welcome you on the harbor at his desk labeled Altug Boat Trip.

Give your passport along with the 15 Euros to Selo. Go opposite, have a cup of tea,a meal or a snack. While you are enjoying your food and drink talking to ex-pats Selo will have the boat manifest agreed by immigration officials, this should take around half an hour, after this you will be allowed to board the boat for an half hour journey to Meis. At this time when you are all together on the boat a policeman will check your passports and call out your names.

Step Four – Arriving at Meis

No beurocracy or passport control awaits you on Meis, you simply get off the boat. you normally have 2 – 3 hours on the island and the small duty free shop near to the boat opens one hour before departure.

Step Five – Departing Meis

Enjoy your half hour cruise back to Kaş, as you near Kaş, Selo will collect the boat fare, 40 YTL per person

Step Six – Arriving back at Kaş

A customs person will be awaiting to give everyone a cursory glance, he has no uniform to distinguish him from anyone else, so be warned, try to stick to your allowances, there is normally no problems.

You get off the boat, walk over the road to the cafe and get yourself a bite to eat while Selo takes all the Passports to the immigration police for the new visas to be issued.

Half an hour later Selo will hand your passport back to you with your new visa allowing you to stay another 90 days.

Post from: Fethiye Bay - Local English Newspaper

The Easiest & Simplest Way to Renew Your Tourist Visa

The guide contains daily situations that you may encounter to teach you to speak real Turkish in real situations.

A fantastic small book to carry with you. The guide is written by Mehmet AKTAR.

You can obtain this book from any good book store at a very modest price.

Post from: Fethiye Bay - Local English Newspaper

A practical guide to spoken Turkish for foreign travellers