Flight and Luggage

The next step on your Erasmus jorney is to find an airline that flies to your destination, preferentially a cheap one and with good luggage allowances - an almost impossible task if your host university isn't within a major airport.
In my case, I flew from Porto - Lisbon with TAP Airlines, then Lisbon - Istanbul with Turkish Airlines and to finish Istanbul - Izmir also with Turkish Airlines.

Aveiro, Portugal from a flight Porto - Lisbon

The bay of Izmir, Turkey

The cheapest airlines probably won't have a direct flight to your destination, hence you'll need to do a connection (or 2 in my case). If you're fortunate enough to get a good price in such airlines, be sure to pay attention to the luggage allowance. Since you're an Erasmus student you'll need clothes for at least 3 months - and I'm sorry to say that 15 kg isn't enough! Here's a small list of some airlines and their baggage allowances for the economy class as of 2012:

• EasyJet - 20Kg of Checked Baggage Allowance, there's no weight limit Carry-On Allowance, but it must be just one piece 
• Lufthansa - 23kg Checked Baggage Allowance and 8kg Carry-On Allowance
• Pegasus Airlines - 15kg of checked baggage on domeestic and 20kg on international flights and 8kg Carry-On Allowance
• Ryanair - 15kg or 20Kg of Checked Baggage Allowance and 10kg Carry-On Allowance
• TAP Air Portugal - 23kg Checked Baggage Allowance and 8kg Carry-On Allowance
• Turkish Airlines - 20kg Checked Baggage Allowance and 8kg Carry-On Allowance

For a full list check out Airline Luggage Regulations.

Nice meal for a 1 hour-long flight from Istambul - Izmir - Turkish Airlines

 The carry-on baggage won't probably be checked for the weight (except maybe in the low-cost companies), so fell free to add those extra pants there! For that heavy leather jacket, just wear it onto the plane and then take it off. Nobody said you wouldn't have to make some sacrifices!

Don't expect much comfort if you didn't pay for it. Meanwhile, I was pleasantly surprised by the comfort of the Turkish Airlines domestic flights. You even have an on-board interactive TV screen where you can see your favorite tv-series or play a game to make your trip more pleasant - of course you've payed for all of those. =)

Interactive TV-Screen on a domestic Turkish Airlines flight

Some good websites to search for cheap flights are Rumbo, Skyscanner or eDreams.

That been said, have a nice flight and I hope your baggage won't be lost in all of those connections.