ellyse

Last time I transited in IST I noticed that there was a special (opposite) direction to go for those pax who had a connection in less than 60 mins.

BuildingMyBento

Every time I hustle towards immigration, the transit queues look more and more odious. Interesting note about the <60 minute transfer.

Luca T.

Next Sunday I'm flying from Valencia to Moscow, connecting in IST.
My flight from Valencia will land at 18:40 and flight to Moscow will depart at 23,05
That makes it a 4h25 layover. Do you think it's possible to catch a taxi and have a tour around Instabul? Maybe stop to take a couple of pictures? What would you suggest?

I understand it is probably risky...just I can't understand how much risky. Maybe being Sunday evening, there won't be so much traffic? I'm going to be with my girlfriend...no baggages...and some amount of thrill might even be appreciated in doing something a bit "crazy" like this...

Your opinion? Suggestions? Should I give it a shot?

MichaelBaku

I personally wouldn't risk it. IST traffic can be horrendous at any time of day. Coming back in through Turkish immigration/security can take a while. Add the fact that TK start boarding 45 mins before departure. IST is not a bad airport to transit - plenty of eating/drinking places/duty free shops etc. and even a place to smoke!

nacho

We were in IST on a Sunday and traffic was bad as usual. The best bet is to take the metro in, and it will take you 45 minutes to get into the main area. If you have your Istanbulkart (public transport card) ready (load with $) then you will have about 30 mins to take pictures and head back to the airport.

kazuwox

The queue was very long at IST immigration if you are not Turkish, it took more than 40min to clear (arr at 1700hrs or so on Sat). If layover is not more than 3hrs I would stick to IST coz spacious Stargold lounge is there.
To enter restricted area was also very long queue for non-Turks while zero waiting queue for Turks at 2300hrs, which is totally unfair. Needs improvement obviously...

radiotvlaw

Have about a 7 hour layover (6am-1pm) IST weekday early June. I checked the tours offered from TK but the times don't work - anyone else taken a private tour to see the top sights and if so, any recommendations?

How much time should be allotted to get back thru immigration before next flight - And has anyone tried the new electronic visa system (I read the old "get at the airport" visa going away next week.)

TrojanTraveler

Lots of good information here. I'm flying AMS-IST-ADB, but currently only have my AMS ticket on KLM. It appears that Atlasjet is the best option, as TK is many hundreds more.

I'm arriving at IST at 3:45pm. Is it recommended that take a 5:30pm Atlasjet flight, or am I better off with a 9:30pm flight? I've been to IST many times, but have never connected flights.

Atlas also has a "business" fare for about 100TL more. Would this help ease my connection (a la Access No 1 at CDG), and is there a separate business class section, or is it just a more flexible fare?

I realize that this is not related to TK, but wasn't sure what the right forum was.

drewguy

Still looking for answers on tour? I think you could jump in a taxi and walk around the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the Topkapi palace all on your own. Check opening times (and prayer times), but I think you could probably start at 7a and see all 3 (albeit quickly). And then back to the airport. Not sure on minimum check in time, but when I was there a few years ago it did not take long to get through customs and security in the early afternoon.

NellieVA

Maybe I can help. We had an overnight transit last month. We arrived into Istanbul at midnight, stayed overnight near Sultanhamet, saw some sights in the morning, and then made our return flight to IAD at 1320. Here are some things that helped us:

-- our bags were checked through and we had boarding passes for our connecting flight, so when we returned to the airport, we proceeded directly to immigration and security, which saved a lot of time as the check-in queues were crazy.

-- Our flight left at 1320. We arranged a taxi to pick us up at our hotel in Sultanhamet (one block from Blue Mosque) at 1045am and return us to the airport. It was a Sunday morning, and the drive to the airport took 25 minutes.

-- Our taxi from the airport to Sulthanhamet took 35 minutes at 1:00am on a Saturday night/Sunday morning.

-- Allow A LOT of time to clear immigration. We landed after midnight and it took us 50 minutes to get through immigration. We purchases our visas ahead of time on-line, which saved time, but the arrival queue was absolutely crazy. There were at least a dozen immigration officials working, but it took way too long to process everyone.

-- The Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, and Topkapki Palace are all in a row. The Blue Mosque is closed to visitors during morning prayer until 0845am. Aya Sofia and Topkapki both open to visitors at 0900. There WILL be lines at all of the places. We entered the Blue Mosque as soon as they opened at 0845. We were in line for Aya Sofia tickets before 0900 and it took a while to get tickets and get inside. By the time we walked into the Topkapki gardens, the line for tickets was several hundred people deep and we did not have time. We looked around the gardens a short while, visited the gift shop, and walked back to our hotel, arriving only a minute or two before our taxi at 1045am.

-- Our taxi company had originally told us 1100am was a good pick-up time. I was worried about lines after our experience clearing immigration upon arrival, so I moved it up to 1045. In the end, 1100am would have been fine, as we encountered no traffic on the way to the airport and clearing security/immigration for our departure took just under an hour.

yig345

But the second one at check-in wasn't a check. They have another check-in desk (separate for business too.)

TravellingBeard

I'm looking to book a TK flight next year YYZ-IST-NRT and on the way to Japan, the transfer time at IST is 1:45 hours...is that enough time? I have heard mixed reviews on the service of Turkish Airlines (on board in general, is good, but the airport and anecdotes of frequent last minute plane changes make me nervous).

Thanks.

Debian_alex

In my experience (limited to the flights IST-Asia) TK always has a one hour buffer for long haul flights. That means that if the flight is one hour late for departure it shiuld arrive on time. So from my point of view it should be enough. If however you miss the connection and it's their fault they will put you in a hotel till the next day flight.

gordies

Arriving into IST Domestic with Pegasus, transiting on to Egyptair from International. Will have to collect bags from Domestic.

Can I check in online for Egyptair? Is there a bag drop for those with online check-in?

We will have 90 mins scheduled (incoming Pegasus is normally early though).

Have we enough time to catch the Egyptair flight?

thanks.

Cage Rattler

Transited IST yesterday with a 60 minute layover at around 11pm. That was more than enough time as one security person at the jetway was asking disembarking passengers to show boarding passes for connecting international flights, and directed those who had one to the right hand side, where the jetway simply opened up to the transit area - in total 3 minutes to get transit.

On the other hand, arriving at 6am everyone had to go through security which was chaotic. Just take your boarding pass and go to front of queue to agent and show the boarding time on the pass. They will direct you straight to the front if there is very little time left to boarding.