Pay later in instalments with Klarna
Book now and pay in instalments. The instalment agreement is between you and Klarna, and is subject to Klarna’s own terms and approval.
What a booking with us includes
- Tickets at the best fare we can find on the route you want.
- Seasonal offers from the airlines we work with.
- Someone reachable around the clock while your booking is live.
- Flexible options to change or cancel, within the fare rules.
How we keep the fare down
We negotiate, we do not just search
A comparison website shows you the public fare. We hold agency agreements with the carriers that actually fly these routes — Turkish, Qatar, Middle East Airlines, Iraqi Airways, Fly Erbil, Pegasus, EgyptAir — and agency fares are not always the ones published.
That is the whole of the trick, and it only works on routes we sell constantly. It is why our price to Damascus, Beirut or Erbil is worth asking for, and why our price to a city nobody asks us about would not be.
No agency fee on top of the fare
What the airline charges is what you pay. We are paid by the carriers, not by adding a service charge to your ticket, so the number we quote is the number that leaves your account.
If a quote from us ever contains anything beyond the fare, the taxes and an extra you asked for — a bag, a seat, a transfer — it is an error, and we will take it off.
We price two countries for one city
For most Syrian cities there is more than one way in, and they rarely cost the same. Damascus can be reached through Beirut. Daraa can be reached through Amman. Qamishli and Hasakah are often cheapest through Erbil. Aleppo and Idlib are usually reached through southern Turkey.
A booking site cannot make that comparison, because it stops at the airport and your destination is a city. We price the whole journey — the flight and the road — and quote you one number for it.
We will tell you to move your dates
On these routes the difference between one week and the next is routinely larger than the difference between one agency and another. Flying out on a Tuesday instead of a Friday, or in the last week of May instead of the first of July, is frequently the single biggest saving available.
We will say so, even when it means a smaller booking today. A family that saved money because we told them to wait is a family that comes back — which is a better business than one good margin.
Syria, Lebanon, the Kurdistan Region — and Turkey
These are the four we sell most and negotiate hardest on. Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia and the rest of Syria; Beirut, which is also the gateway to the Syrian coast; Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk; and the whole of Turkey, from Istanbul to Gaziantep to the Antalya coast.
Volume is what earns a better fare, and these are the routes we have the volume on. If you are flying one of them, ask us before you book anywhere else — and bring the price you found, so the comparison is a real one.
Airlines we book with
How you can pay
Credit and debit card
Paid immediately and securely, with the booking confirmed straight away.
SEPA direct debit and bank transfer
Pay from any European account by SEPA transfer or direct debit, in euro, with no card needed.
Local payment options
Depending on the country you are paying from, other local methods may be available — ask us.
Why families book with us
An office in Bochum you can walk into
Fener Travel & Tourism is a registered German business at Südring 36 in Bochum, with a VAT number, an Impressum and a door. If something goes wrong with your booking there is an address to come to and a person behind the desk.
That is not a small thing when you are sending a family of five to Damascus in August. Most of what is sold online for these routes is sold by somebody you cannot find afterwards.
Ten years on these exact routes
Not ten years of selling holidays in general — ten years of Germany to Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, for the communities that actually make those journeys. We know which connection strands people, which airport is easier with children, and which crossing to avoid in which month.
That knowledge is not in any booking engine. It is the reason families send us their relatives, and it is most of what we are actually selling.
Arabic, Kurdish, German, English — with a person
You will not be routed to a chatbot or an overseas call centre. You will speak to somebody in this office, in the language you are most comfortable in: Arabic, Kurdish, German or English.
For a booking that involves a visa, a connection and a border, being able to explain your situation properly is not a nicety. It is how mistakes get caught before they cost you a flight.
We are still there after you have paid
Schedules change, connections get cancelled, and a family already at the airport needs somebody who answers. While your booking is live you have a number that reaches a person, not a queue.
Changing or cancelling is possible within the airline’s fare rules, and we will tell you what those rules are before you book rather than after you need them.
Summer in Syria
Summer in Syria
For a lot of our customers this is not a holiday, it is going home. But it is worth saying plainly that Syria in summer is also somewhere people go for the summer — and has been for a very long time.
The coast at Latakia and Tartus has warm sea from June into October. The mountains behind them, and the plateau at Suwayda a thousand metres up, are cooler in August than Damascus and cooler than most of Germany is humid. The old cities of Damascus and Aleppo are at their best in the evening, when the heat drops and everything opens.
When to go, and when to book
July and August are when everyone travels, which makes them the most expensive weeks of the year on every route in this list. Late May, June and September give you the same coast and the same cities for a fraction of the fare.
If it has to be August, book it in February. On the Damascus and Latakia routes a seat bought in winter is routinely around a third cheaper than the same seat bought in June, and that is before the good connections have gone.
Travelling with family
Most of what we book is families, often several generations at once, often with more luggage than a single fare allows. Tell us that at the start and we will price the bags in rather than leave you to discover them at check-in.
We will also pick the connection a grandparent or a small child can actually make. The cheapest itinerary with a fifty-minute transfer in a large airport is not the cheapest itinerary if you miss it.
Your choice to travel is Fener Travel.
How we book
Fener Travel books as an agent, working with partner airlines. Fares and availability are set by the airline and can change until a booking is paid for and confirmed.
Questions and answers
How can I pay for a flight ticket?
By card, by bank transfer, in instalments through Klarna, or with a local payment method depending on where you are. Flight tickets are the only service that can be paid for online.
Is there a direct flight from Germany to Syria?
No airline currently flies from Germany to a Syrian airport without a stop. You travel on a connecting ticket through a regional hub, or you fly to Beirut, Erbil or southern Turkey and continue by road. Fener Travel books both, and prices them against each other so you can see which is cheaper for your dates.
Can I book now and pay later?
Yes, in instalments through Klarna. The instalment agreement is between you and Klarna and is subject to Klarna’s own terms and approval, so the decision is theirs rather than ours. You can also pay by card, by SEPA transfer or direct debit, or at the office.
Do you charge a booking fee on top of the ticket?
No. What the airline charges is what you pay. Fener Travel is paid by the carriers rather than by adding a service charge to your ticket, so the price quoted is the price that leaves your account — apart from extras you have asked for, such as a bag, a seat or an airport transfer.
What languages can I book in?
Arabic, Kurdish, German or English, with a person in the Bochum office rather than a chatbot or an overseas call centre. For a booking that involves a visa, a connection and a border, being able to explain your situation in your own language is how mistakes get caught before they cost you a flight.
When is the cheapest time to fly to Syria or Lebanon?
Outside July and August, which are the most expensive weeks of the year on every one of these routes. Late May, June and September give you the same destination for a fraction of the fare. If you have to travel in August, book in February — on the Damascus and Latakia routes a seat bought in winter is routinely around a third cheaper than the same seat bought in June.
How much luggage is included?
It depends on the airline and the fare, and on low-cost carriers it is often nothing at all. Tell us how many bags you are travelling with at the start and we will price the fare with those bags included, so you are comparing a real total rather than a headline number that changes at check-in.
Can I change or cancel a booking?
Within the airline’s fare rules, which differ from ticket to ticket. We will tell you what those rules are before you book rather than after you need them, and if a flight is cancelled or rescheduled by the airline we deal with it on your behalf while your booking is live.
Can you arrange the road leg as well as the flight?
Yes. For cities with no airport of their own — Homs, Hama, Tartus, Dohuk and others — the road is part of the journey, so we quote it with the ticket and give you one total. We will also pick a daytime arrival where the onward drive is long, rather than the cheapest landing slot.
Can I book a ticket for a relative who is not in Germany?
Yes, and a large part of what we book is exactly that. We need the passenger’s name exactly as it appears in the passport, the passport number and the date of birth. You can pay from Germany and the ticket is issued to them directly.
Do you book for families travelling together?
Most of what we book is families, frequently several generations at once. Tell us the ages and how much luggage you have, and we will choose a connection that a grandparent or a small child can actually make — a fifty-minute transfer in a large airport is not a saving if you miss it.