IAN-UK

This might not be entirely congruent with reality. Or perhaps i was just lucky: but pre my exalted status with Turkish, I used this line with my Lufthansa card.

I envy the TAV people.

airoli

Well... that's not my experience. But perhaps I just got unlucky... consistently?

Whenever I arrived on AC and LX (and this was in J, as TK*G), I was denied fast track immigration lines. I was told that it was only for TK*G flying on TK in Y, and TK J passengers irrespective of status.

Of course, these days neither LX nor AC fly to IST and I only transit anyways, so perhaps this has recently changed.

IAN-UK

Nope - seems like you got grumpy line guardians !

dvs7310

It's been officially open to *G for at least 2 years now I believe. But even before that, you must have had bad luck as I was always let through as were many other posters in this forum.

airoli

Looks like it, then.

Thanks for advising me of the rule change. Although it's somewhat moot - very few other *A carrier routes to IST left.

shuly

Aegean, EgyptAir, LOT, Singapore. In 2015, the list also included Adria, Air Canada, Asiana and Swiss.

But who needs them when TK flies everywhere?

Shuly

airoli

...and I've flown both LH and OS to IST before as well.

hfly

LH still flies as still do Asiana, Swiss seasonally. Air Canada was a brief blip and a failure at that.

So of the Star alliance carriers


ADRIA Airways GONE, but was not even daily
Aegean Airlines CURRENT
Air Canada GONE, but were only at IST for a brief stint
Air China HAVE never flown to IST
Air India HAVE never flown to IST
Air New Zealand HAVE never flown to IST
ANA HAVE never flown to IST
Asiana CURRENT
Austrian GONE
Avianca NEVER flown to IST
Avianca in Brazil NEVER flown to IST
Brussels Airlines FLEW many years ago under different name
Copa Airlines NEVER flew to IST
Croatia Airlines I want to say NEVER but I sort of recall them being present for a blip
EgyptAir CURRENT
Ethiopian Airlines NEVER flew to IST
EVA Airways NEVER flew to IST
Juneyao Airlines NEVER flew to IST
LOT Polish Airlines CURRENT
Lufthansa CURRENT
SAS Flew to IST a very very long time ago.
Shenzhen Airlines NEVER
Singapore Airlines CURRENT
South African Airways NEVER
SWISS Supposedly gone seasonal, but in fact gone.
TAP Portugal Never flew to IST
THAI LAst flew to IST perhaps in 2000
Turkish Airlines
United® Airlines FLEW an EWR flight for a season.

dozerman94

I wouldn't call AC's service to IST brief. They started in mid-2013 and ended in early 2017. And during summer 2016 they were up to daily 787-8 flights, it was scheduled to be upgauged to 787-9 in summer 2017 but then they stopped service abruptly. I assume it's because of lack of demand after the coup attempt.

That's wrong, they flew for a few months in 2016. I believe it started in March and ended after the coup attempt.

hfly

I remembered AC flying from 2014 and ending in late 2016, but in fact you are right they operated a whopping four flights in early January 2017 before cancelling (or suspending as they put it), so did limp into 2017.and for most of that time their existence they did not fly daily, so that is brief.

As for EVA, you are correct, they were so briefly in the market that I had assumed that they never launched. They did in fact run a grand total of about 40 flights to IST in 2016 over a four month period.

statusunlimited

Hi guys.
i will be connecting INT-INT TK flights at IST. I am UA Gold. When i arrive at IST, where i need to GO, in order to get gold track for transit security.i

Mict

Depends where your first flight is from. If from what considered 'Safe' country, you don't have to go through security at all.

docbert

As Mict has already said, you may not need to go through transit security at all. Have your boarding pass ready, and if they direct connections in one direction and arrivals in another, head to the connections area and you'll find yourself airside in the boarding area (and then head to the lounge, which can be incredibly difficult to find at they don't have ANY signage back to the central area of the airport! If you don't know the airport, grabbing a copy of the map out of the back of the inflight magazine might not be a bad idea)

If they send everyone in the one direction, follow the crowds and you'll eventually get to the immigration/security area. Find the "transit" queues (as opposed to immigration), and then, as you face them, on your right you'll find the business/*G queue.

Do not be surprised if the *G queue is slower than the main one. Or if it simply merges with the normal queue right in front of the x-ray machine, which results in all sorts of complaining from both sides about people "pushing in". Or if they claim UA *G can't use that line (despite the *G logo being on the sign you'll be standing in front of at the time). Or if they aren't policing the line well and half the people on the flight use that line because they can't read the "business class" sign. Or some other random mess than IST seems so good at manufacturing...

East_and_West

Hi TK experts and sorry for resurrecting a dead thread, but I could not find this info for the new airport.

I have (non-M&S) *A Gold and I will be flying with my partner from IST to ARN on TK Y, both of us on the same booking. IST shows as a gold track location for immigration on *A website, but that "TK only" note is a bit confusing:

Does this mean that as a *G I am eligible to use it but only when flying TK, or rather that only TK*Gs may use it? If am eligible, will I be allowed to bring my partner through Gold track as well (she has no relevant status, just SK*S)?

Thanks a lot and safe travels!
E&W

ISTFlyer

This means that you are eligible to use it only when flying TK. The airline who issued your *G is not relevant. You could use the fast-track lane with a SK*G card but not a SK*S card.
If you are not flying TK, you would need to contact your airline for a fast-track voucher ( for the airport operated fast-track lane ).

Edit: The TK fast-track has a +1 guest policy for *G pax but unfortunately, in your case, you are flying a partner airline so you won't be eligible for the fast-track. However, don't be upset as the lines are generally shorter than 5-10 mins.