Getting from Hurghada to Cairo

[Adr1an]

Exactly, I'd save $270 if I found a direct flight from Quito to Hurghada. I don't know every countries rules, and I was hoping posting on this forum would get answers from other travelers going to the Red Sea who found a way to do it. My understanding is Egypt would let me transit through Cairo airport to Hurghada as well, although that is irrelevant if I need to transit through somewhere that doesn't allow me first. From the answers I've gotten, this is not practical or I asked the wrong audience.

Assuming EgyptAir charges me the same price in person they do on the website (not always a valid assumption) buying a ticket when I get to the Cairo airport and flying to Hurghada is definitely the way to go.

There are ways of avoiding the expensive PCR test ang getting the cheap one on arrival in Hurghada/Sharm/Marsa Alam/Marsa Matrouh (for example flying to Istanbul and then getting on the Pegasus flight to Hurghada) but you have the Lufthansa ticket to Cairo and that is essentially an iron ball tied to your ankle.

This being said, there's nothing so difficult in getting from Cairo to Hurghada by car or even by public bus. You can probably get away with 75$ by taxi or anywhere between 12$ to 25$ by bus, depending on comfort level.

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

There are ways of avoiding the expensive PCR test ang getting the cheap one on arrival [...] (for example flying to Istanbul and then getting on the Pegasus flight to Hurghada) [...]

Not really. Taking that approach would mean that you have to have two independet tickets and pretend that IST is your final destination when starting in the US. According to current entry regulations into Turkey, "passengers must have a negative COVID-19 PCR test result, which must have been taken at most 72 hours before departure from the first embarkation point". So, you will have to have that test done in the US anyway. Not mentioning the hassle of collecting your luggage, going through customs and then checking in again from scratch.

 

[Laurie S.]

When we did our liveaboard in August 2019, we flew nonstop on Turkish Airlines from LAX to Istanbul, and after a 3-hour stop, flew to Hurghada. I had spent a lot of time trying to figure out our flight from Tucson to Hurghada when it hit me that going west first might be the way to do it, and it was.

 

[Sunn]

When we did our liveaboard in August 2019, we flew nonstop on Turkish Airlines from LAX to Istanbul, and after a 3-hour stop, flew to Hurghada. I had spent a lot of time trying to figure out our flight from Tucson to Hurghada when it hit me that going west first might be the way to do it, and it was.

It's the only way... transatlantic flights (or transpacific) never go to Hurghada, but to big hubs, and then connecting flight.

 

[Scared Silly]

When we did our liveaboard in August 2019, we flew nonstop on Turkish Airlines from LAX to Istanbul ...

Many decades ago I flew Turkish Airlines. It was back when smoking was allowed on flights. The left side of the plane was the non-smoking section, the right side was the smoking section.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

After reading this I can't help but think of the airplane flight / map sequence from the Indiana Jones movies.

Good luck, safe travels, and I am very jealous of you.

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

We may have failed given the advise @bvbellomo was expecting...
But i still hope that we will get feedback how this adventures finally went to an end...

 

[bvbellomo]

I would say "failed".

I've talked to a local friend, and many are traveling with just a regular free/cheap COVID test from a pharmacy. This is of course not guaranteed in time for a flight, but most of them come back soon enough, so the $300 test is only a fail-safe in case the regular test doesn't come back. So there really isn't much point trying to coordinate flights so you don't need a test.

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

Well, sorry... perhaps my english is not good enough to understand your problem.
How have you manage to get to HRG from CAI?
And what is this "regular free/cheap COVID test from a pharmacy" you will try to board the Lufthansa flight with?

 

[Adr1an]

Not really. Taking that approach would mean that you have to have two independet tickets and pretend that IST is your final destination when starting in the US. According to current entry regulations into Turkey, "passengers must have a negative COVID-19 PCR test result, which must have been taken at most 72 hours before departure from the first embarkation point". So, you will have to have that test done in the US anyway. Not mentioning the hassle of collecting your luggage, going through customs and then checking in again from scratch.

There are Pegasus counters just before the border control area , exactly where you can enter the transit area. If you travel just with hand luggage you can have your second boarding card issued there without entering Turkey.

It's a grey area of course but I've just met in Sharm people from the Netherlands who did exactly this.